Marine NavigationAustralia · 2026

Equipment & Sensors

Chartplotters, radar, AIS, sonar, autopilots, networks, radios and power — what each device does well and where it fails.

9 guides65 min of reading
A glass helm showing a chart on the main multifunction display with soundings and a vessel symbol, a wind instrument dial, and an autopilot head holding 040 degrees. 1219824 SOG 6.4DPT 12.4 WIND 040° PILOT · AUTO MFD · INSTRUMENTS · PILOT
Chart, instruments and pilot. The display cannot improve the quality of the data reaching it.
A glass helm showing a chart on the main multifunction display with soundings and a vessel symbol, a wind instrument dial, and an autopilot head holding 040 degrees. 1219824 SOG 6.4DPT 12.4 WIND 040° PILOT · AUTO MFD · INSTRUMENTS · PILOT

chartplotters

Marine chartplotter buying guide

Why the chartplotter should be the last thing you choose, what actually matters beyond processor speed and resolution, and how to match the ecosystem to the boat's radar, sonar and autopilot.

Equipment & Sensors7 min read

Read the guide A radar display showing range rings, a rotating sweep, a coastline return, an approaching vessel with a velocity vector, a receding vessel and a rain cell. 6 NM · DOPPLER

radar

Marine radar: Doppler, solid-state and open array

Radar is the one recreational technology that independently observes the physical world. What it detects, what it misses, why maximum range is overrated, and how to install and learn it.

Equipment & Sensors9 min read

Read the guide A plot of two AIS targets on converging courses, with the closest point of approach circled and CPA and TCPA values labelled. CPA 0.2 NM TCPA 8 min CLASS B · SOTDMA

AIS

AIS for boats: Class B, SOTDMA and MMSI

AIS exchanges identity and movement data brilliantly and shows nothing that is not transmitting. How to choose a transceiver, set sane alarms and combine it with radar.

Equipment & Sensors8 min read

Read the guide A cross-section of the water beneath a hull: the transducer cone spreading downward, a dashed thermocline layer, arch-shaped fish returns and a contoured seabed. THERMOCLINE CHIRP

sonar

Marine sonar: CHIRP, side scan and live sonar

Different boats ask completely different underwater questions. This guide separates dependable cruising depth from serious fishing sonar, and explains why the transducer decides the outcome.

Equipment & Sensors7 min read

Read the guide A cross-section of the water beneath a hull: the transducer cone spreading downward, a dashed thermocline layer, arch-shaped fish returns and a contoured seabed. THERMOCLINE CHIRP

transducer

Depth sounders and transducer selection

The transducer decides what your sonar can possibly know. Display choice comes second — and a misconfigured depth offset is the most common error on the water.

Equipment & Sensors7 min read

Read the guide A plan view of a hull with the autopilot computer displaying a target heading, the rudder deflected, and a feedback path returning rudder angle to the computer. PILOT 040° FEEDBACK DRIVE · RUDDER REF

autopilot

Marine autopilot guide

On a shorthanded offshore yacht the autopilot is often the hardest-working system aboard. The control head matters least; the drive, the heading source and the sizing matter most.

Equipment & Sensors7 min read

Read the guide A network diagram showing a trunk cable with a terminator at each end, four device drops for display, AIS, wind and autopilot, and a power injection point. TERM TERM MFDAISWINDPILOT 12 V IN NMEA 2000 BACKBONE

NMEA 2000

NMEA 2000, NMEA 0183 and marine Ethernet

A single bad connector can make a premium display, autopilot or sensor look defective. Treat the network with the same seriousness as the vessel's DC electrical system.

Equipment & Sensors7 min read

Read the guide A yacht masthead antenna radiating to a coast station across the horizon, with a separate satellite communication path shown from above. VHF · DSC · SATELLITE

VHF

Marine VHF and DSC in Australia

VHF remains the primary local marine communication system, and Australia's radio framework changed in 2025 — older advice about individual station licences can now mislead.

Equipment & Sensors7 min read

Read the guide A vessel using satellite broadband, a handheld satellite messenger and VHF, each drawn on its own separate path so no single failure removes them all. broadband messenger VHF INDEPENDENT PATHS

communications

Satellite communications for boats

Broadband offshore is extraordinary, but connectivity is not emergency communication. A resilient system assigns different jobs to different, independent technologies.

Equipment & Sensors6 min read

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Other topics

The library is organised so each shelf answers a different kind of question.

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