More of this Feature • Part 1: Electronics Installers • Part 2: Electronics Installers • Electronics Q&A • Simrad • Furuno • Argonaut • Northstar

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A striking feature of the new yacht I climbed around while researching this month’s column is how each helm station has a 15-inch Simrad monitor set alongside a 15-inch Simrad CR54 plotter/radar. They match perfectly, and the owner thus gets his conventional nav tools neatly supplemented with programs, like PC charting and weather, running on the ship’s PC and/or feeds from his entertainment system or video cams. The CF15, typical of this size, sports XVGA (1024x768 pixels) resolution. Inputs include high-performance DVI and S-Video as well as their conventional computer and video counterparts (RGB and NTSC/PAL respectively). The displays are waterproof when flush-mounted, but their brightness, specified as 250 nits, may not be sufficient for open bridges (see “Q&A” for more on nits). In fact, the owner of the yacht I saw plans to eventually upgrade his flying bridge monitor to a sunlight-viewable version that Simrad is reportedly working on. The CF15 costs $4,600, and there are also 17-, 19-, and 23-inch sizes available.

Simrad USA Phone: (425) 778-8821. www.simradusa.com.

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