Marine Electronics Cost Guide

This page does not claim verified installed prices. Equipment prices vary with model, region and package, while installation depends on the actual boat. Use dated written quotes; the companion budget guide contains dated retailer hardware prices with installation and boat-specific items excluded.

What does not change is the allocation problem: given a finite budget, what should it be spent on, and in what order?

That is where most owners lose money, and it is answerable.

#The costs that never appear on the hardware quote

A quote listing a display, a radar and an AIS looks complete. It is not the complete project: the proportion attributable to installation varies with access, retained equipment and the work required.

The last two are the ones cut when a project runs over, and they are the ones that determine whether the system tells the truth. A correctly wired, uncommissioned system is a set of boxes with plausible numbers on them — see commissioning and sea trials.

When comparing quotes, ask explicitly: what commissioning is included, and what documentation will be left aboard?

#The spending order that actually works

1. DC power integrity. Voltage drop, protection, connections, spare capacity. New electronics on poor wiring are still unreliable electronics — see marine DC power.
2. Safety communications. DSC VHF with correct MMSI, a registered beacon, a charged handheld. The cheapest meaningful safety spend available.
3. Sensors. Transducer, heading, GNSS antenna, wind. These set the ceiling on everything downstream
4. Network. Backbone designed once, with spare capacity — see marine networks
5. Autopilot drive. Sized from displacement, rudder and steering load, not length. A premium computer on an undersized drive is wasted money — see autopilots.
6. Radar and sonar for the actual mission. Not for the mission you imagine
7. Display. Last

This is close to the reverse of how most people shop, and it is the same order the refit guide recommends.

#Tiered system examples

The tiers below describe capability levels, not price points. Use them to sanity-check what you are being quoted against what you actually need.

#Cruising sailing yacht, 35 to 45 ft

Essential tier

• 9 to 12-inch multifunction display
• reliable depth with correct offset
• wind, speed
• modern heading sensor
• Class B AIS
• DSC VHF with position input
• charged handheld VHF
• properly sized autopilot
• tablet with offline charts
• registered EPIRB

Offshore tier — adds

• 20 to 24-inch solid-state Doppler radome
• SOTDMA Class B AIS
• dedicated instrument display
• autopilot drive margin, and a backup steering strategy
• satellite messenger
• documented network

Premium tier — adds

• second installed display
• GNSS compass where the magnetic environment justifies it
• satellite broadband
• forward-looking sonar if remote shallow-water cruising justifies it
• cameras

See sailing yacht navigation.

#Offshore fishing boat, 8 to 10 m

Essential tier

• 9 to 12-inch chartplotter-sounder
• quality CHIRP transducer matched to target depth
• DSC VHF, handheld backup
• registered EPIRB
• engine data over NMEA 2000

Serious tier — adds

• 16-inch or dual 12-inch displays
• 1 kW class CHIRP through-hull where depth justifies it
• side imaging
• Doppler radar
• Class B AIS
• hydraulic autopilot

Premium tier — adds

• live sonar, if the fishing technique genuinely uses it
• open-array radar
• satellite communications
• second display for working space, plus a separately assessed independent backup

See offshore fishing electronics.

#Trailer boat, 5 to 7 m

Essential tier

• 7 to 9-inch chartplotter-sounder
• transom CHIRP transducer, patiently sited
• radio equipment appropriate to the waters and applicable rules
• required beacon and safety equipment; a PLB does not automatically replace a mandated EPIRB
• phone with offline charts

Better tier — adds

• 9 to 12-inch display with side imaging
• fixed DSC VHF with position input
• dedicated fused electronics feed, second battery

See trailer boat electronics.

#Motor yacht

Essential tier

• large multifunction display
• Doppler radome
• Class B AIS
• autopilot matched to the hydraulic system
• DSC VHF
• engine integration

Premium tier — adds

• dual large or ultrawide displays
• Doppler open-array radar
• GNSS compass
• thermal camera
• engine-room and docking cameras
• satellite broadband

See motor yacht navigation.

#Staging an upgrade over several seasons

A staged approach spreads cost and lets the boat teach you what it needs. Repeated labour and changed requirements can raise the total; a planned scope helps control that risk.

Stage 1 — power rectification, new NMEA 2000 backbone designed with spare capacity, primary display, retain usable sensors.

Stage 2 — AIS, radar, heading upgrade.

Stage 3 — autopilot computer or drive as required.

Stage 4 — instruments, cameras, advanced sonar.

The critical discipline: design the backbone and Ethernet plan once, properly, at stage 1. Staged refits become fragmented systems when each stage adds network improvised around the last.

#Value decisions worth making

Keep, do not replace:

• a quality through-hull transducer in a good fairing block
• a sound autopilot drive with a serviceable ram, quadrant and mounts
• a recent AIS transceiver
• compatible NMEA 2000 sensors
• a good VHF antenna and sound coax

Replace equipment because it fails the mission or the compatibility plan, not because it is old.

Spend, do not economise:

• the transducer
• the heading sensor and its location
• cable gauge and circuit protection
• the autopilot drive
• commissioning

Economise happily:

• screen diagonal beyond what the helm and viewing distance justify
• advanced sonar you will not use
• a second display that shares power, network and GNSS with the first and is therefore not redundancy anyway
• brand-new-model premium where last season's platform meets the mission

#The best value spend on any boat

Three items, cheap on any budget, that improve safety more per dollar than any display upgrade:

1. A charged handheld VHF — independent battery, survives main-power failure, goes in the grab bag
2. A registered distress beacon, in date — see EPIRBs and safety equipment.
3. A tablet with offline charts, usable independent position and separate charging — a useful backup, while shared chart errors or GNSS disruption can still affect more than one device.

If a budget cannot stretch to the system you want, it can almost always stretch to these.

#A quote comparison sheet for the same boat

Ask each supplier to complete the same scope. A cheaper figure is useful only when the inclusions, retained-equipment assumptions and acceptance conditions are comparable. Mark uncertain items as allowances and specify how additional work will be approved. Keep GST and the quoted validity period explicit, and distinguish travel, freight and haul-out from labour actually aboard.

The budget versus premium guide itemises hardware baskets of A$2,099, A$4,668 and A$14,265, checked on 3 October 2026. These exclude installation, the pilot and other stated boat-specific costs; they are not complete installed-package prices. If a steering defect or difficult hull access changes the work, revise the scope before buying optional displays. A useful staged project fixes the current operational limitation and leaves a documented route for later additions.

#Apply the same spending discipline to different vessels

A 32-foot monohull may benefit most from a reliable depth installation and a reachable compact screen. A 50-foot yacht may need more steering work and better access at two stations. A cruising catamaran can add cross-boat wiring and source-identification work. These differences are why a universal price per foot is unhelpful.

For pilot hardware, the manufacturer’s drive selection illustrates the need to establish loaded displacement and steering type. For safety carriage, use the relevant authority: NSW guidance specifically says a PLB does not replace a mandatory EPIRB. Optional electronics tiers should never be mistaken for statutory equipment lists.