The pace of change in marine electronics can be overwhelming, but if you take a close look at the major innovations hitting the market this year, you’ll find that the biggest trend is in giving consumers much more bang for the buck. As engineers find new ways to bring advanced technology to recreational fishermen and boaters, “high-end” features are trickling down from flagship models and landing at more accessible price points. Plus, because technology is worthless if you can’t figure out how to use it, designers are focusing on making easy-to-use electronics, many with familiar touchscreen functionality. Unlike on land, where electronics often distract us, your onboard electronics should add to your fishing experience by making it safer and more productive.
SIMRAD NSS EVO2
A new multifunction system from Simrad, the NSS evo2 uses high-power processing to deliver lightning-fast chart, sonar, radar, and entertainment functions with an intuitive icon-driven menu interface. The unit has a sleek low-profile look with classic black or brushed silver trim panels that maximize screen size. The ultra-bright widescreen displays feature multi-touch control, allowing charts to be moved, zoomed and per- sonalized with familiar tablet-like gestures. Built-in fish-finding technologies include the BSM-1 Broadband sounder, CHIRP sounder and StructureScan HD, and the NSS evo2 is compatible with all Simrad modules including Broadband 4G and 3G radar; GoFree Wireless Wifi-1; SonarHub sounder, SonicHub marine audio server; Sirius satellite weather/radio and more. Available in 7-, 9-, 12- and 16-inch screen sizes.
$1,529; $2,949; $3,999; $5,699; simrad-yachting.com
Humminbird ION
The new line of ION multifunction displays offers anglers a centerpiece for build- ing an expandable platform of networked devices. ION’s 10.4- and 12.1-inch high-definition XGA LCD displays offer an easy-to-use touch interface that lets users navigate menus and activate features with a tap, swipe or pinch. Anglers will find it easy to use their fingers to mark waypoints, zoom in on fish-holding structure or chart locations for a better look, or swipe and drag screens to create custom views. The ION platform can be customized to include Humminbird radar, autopilot, wireless connectivity, even a built-in web browser to monitor weather and stay connected miles from the dock.
$2499.99; $2,999.99; humminbird.com
Furuno MU-T Marine Monitors
Furuno’s new MU-T monitor series matches with their NavNet TZtouch Black Box system to provide professional-grade multi-touch displays in 17-inch, 19-inch, and 24-inch sizes. They offer an edge-to-edge glass design without any physical buttons or switches. This will give any bridge or helm a stylish, rich and beautiful appearance. Extremely bright TFT active-matrix LCD and LED backlight technology are easy to see in high-light conditions and are completely dimmable for low-light conditions.
$8,595; $9,295; $9,695; furunousa.com
Raymarine CP100 CHIRP Sonar Module
The new CP100 sonar module brings CHIRP DownVision technology to Raymarine’s latest generation multifunction displays, including the compact a-Series, the HybridTouch e-Series, and the flagship glass bridge gS-Series. The CP100 delivers a photo-like view of the world beneath your boat with two independent sonar channels. The first is a high frequency range that allows you to image bottom structure with amazing de- tail, while the second is a lower frequency range that is optimized for imaging fish using high contrast sonar resolution.
$519.99; raymarine.com
Garmin GCV-10 Black Box
This year, Garmin is introducing their brand of scanning sonar, DownVü and SideVü scanning, to a number of their popular fishfinders and combo units. They’ve also announced the GCV-10 black box, which adds both SideVü and DownVü with CHIRP scanning sonar technologies to compatible Garmin echoMAP and GPSMAP devices.
$599.99; garmin.com
Cobra HH450 Dual Marine Radio
A rugged, waterproof, floating handheld radio, the HH450 DUAL
marine radio unit includes Cobra’s exclusive Rewind- Say-Again feature and both marine VHF and walkie- talkie GMRS technology for higher-powered functional- ity. The radio features select- able options between Low, Medium and High power for short- and long-range com- munication, plus access to weather alerts with Specific Area Message Encoding for threatening weather nearby.
$129.95; cobra.com
Lowrance Spotlight Scan Sonar
Similar to the way a scanning spotlight reveals objects in the dark, SpotlightScan Sonar clearly pinpoints structure and fish ahead of and around the boat, with a maximum range of 150 feet. The transducer fits on bow-mounted trolling motors and provides picture-like images of key fishing areas on an HDS Gen2 or HDS Gen2 Touch fishfinder/chartplotter display.
$499; lowrance.com
Ocean LED Amphibian Extreme
Ocean LED has introduced two new product families, the Amphibian Xtreme and Amphibian Pro Xtreme, the latest in its line of LED lights for vessels up to 65 feet. The lights are up to 3.5x brighter than any previous Amphibian equivalent and now offer color-change and fish strobe options. The Pro Xtreme color-change option allows boaters to toggle, or strobe, between eight different colors or eight differ- ent color scene variations. Now boaters can choose the colors of their underwater lights at any time, and strobe to attract fish and bait, light up their wakes, and create incredible nighttime lighting ef- fects above and below water.
Priced from $179 to $1249; oceanled.com
Lowrance Elite-4 HDI
Packing big technology in a small and affordable package, Lowrance’s Elite-4 HDI standalone fishfinder and chartplotter combo features a 4.3-inch color high-resolution display. The unit also features a built-in GPS antenna, high-definition mapping options, and Lowrance’s Hybrid Dual Imaging technology that combines Broadband sounder and Downscan Imaging.
$299; lowrance.com
FLIR MD Series
While most fishermen could see the benefits of FLIR’s thermal imaging cameras, few could afford them. Now, FLIR has introduced the MD Series, their most affordable and compact thermal night vision system. Ideal for ventur- ing out to fish at night, they will allow boaters to steer around obstacles and avoid collisions. The display can be mounted separately on the dashboard, or the feed can be integrated into an existing display to save space. Available in 320 x 240 and 640 x 480 resolutions.
$3,499.00; $4,499; flir.com
Airmar Wide Beam Broadband Transducers
Airmar is expanding the company’s award-winning CHIRP broadband transducers with the introduction of a new wide-beam product line offering an expanded high- frequency range of 150kHz to 250kHz. Current high-frequency CHIRP transducers have an 8-degree beam width that changes with the frequency. New wide-beam CHIRP transducers have a constant 25-degree beam width across the entire frequency. An- glers using the new wide-beam trans- ducers will achieve more than twice the coverage under the boat compared to cur- rent high-frequency CHIRP transducers.
Starting at $2,050; airmartechnology.com
SPOT Trace
Described as an anti-theft tracking device, the Spot Trace can be used to monitor boats and other assets, notifying owners via email or text when movement is detected. Spot Trace users can view their boat’s GPS coordinates online 24 hours a day in near real-time through Google Maps. Battery life lasts up to 18 months, and notifications are sent when power is low or turned off.
$99.95 plus $99.99 annual subscription; findmespot.com