Lights, Stereo, Action: Three Easy Aftermarket Products
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2019
By: Jordan Balbresky
A boat is like a house – it’s never really done. And, one thing is for certain, the technology available to boaters, from navigation and safety equipment to entertainment and aesthetics, is always evolving. Whether you’ve had her for decades or this is your first season, there are always a few upgrades you can make to personalize your boat and make your time on the water more enjoyable. Here’s a few of the latest pieces of gear from some of the top names in marine electronics.
Lumishore Smart Lighting
Enhancing boat aesthetics for a variety of leisure and safety conditions, Lumishore’s Smart Lighting LEDs are built with cold and warm white, as well as red, green, and blue LEDs in each light, allowing the system to create an infinite number of hues, customized to suit a particular mood or atmosphere. What’s really cool is the new range of Smart Lighting products can be controlled from a boat’s MFD or a user’s personal smart device.
The Lumishore interface panel features a simple-to-use palette wheel for color selection, horizontal slide bar for quick adjustments to lighting intensity, control of lighting across multiple zones with optional presets, and the ability to choose from pre-programmed effect modes like strobe, sweep, or cycle. In addition, Lumishore’s unique ‘Sound-to-Light’ mode makes for the ultimate party accessory, pulsing lights to the beat of any song currently playing on an MFD’s built-in media player. The white balance can be tuned for different functions such as reading, dining, or simply waking up. The system has the capability to switch ambient mood lighting in specific zones or the entire vessel through an intuitive drag and drop menu, as well as create lighting ‘scenes’ based on user preferences.
At the heart of the innovative system is the compact Lumishore ‘Black Box’. Plug and play compatible with an MFD or Lumishore display via Ethernet cable, it does not use the bandwidth of the NMEA backbone and is easily upgraded with an SD card. Lumishore’s MFD partners include Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad, and B&G, with others to follow.
FUSION Panel-Stereo and ARX70 Wireless Remote
Purpose-built for outdoor installations in the marine environment, the Panel-Stereo is the ultimate all-weather audio entertainment solution. Combining all the elements required for excellent audio reproduction – Class D amplification, Digital Signal Processing (DSP), dual 3-inch speakers, a passive bass radiator all inside a perfectly tuned enclosure. Offering AM/FM, USB, AUX, and Bluetooth streaming source options, the freedom of control via the Free FUSION-Link App and new ARX wireless remote, exceptional sound reproduction from a single product and even more flexibility in installation options, FUSION Entertainment has created another incredible audio solution.
Available in three mounting options to suit the requirements of any installation, the Panel-Stereo is a seriously versatile product. Designed for surface mounting with the optional 43mm surface mounting spacer, Panel-Stereo can be installed directly onto any flat surface with no mounting cut-out required. Minimal depth also makes it ideal for installation in shallow wall cavities, with only a single cut-out, where standard speakers will not fit. Requiring only 12V DC power, ground, and AM/FM connections, the Panel-Stereo is designed for quick and easy setup to provide a true plug-and-play audio entertainment solution.
To add to the flexibility and control of your onboard entertainment, the new, easy-to-install ARX70 remote gives users the freedom to control their FUSION ANT-enabled marine entertainment system from anywhere on the boat. The compact, low profile design, IPX7 water resistance, matched with the 1-year battery life of the ARX70 allows it to be installed wherever is most convenient without cutting holes, running wires, or tools required, simply place, pair, and play. The ARX70 can be installed in dry or wet areas and is ideal for installation on the swim platform, bow, or transom.
FUSION’s Multi-Zone™ technology within its stereos allows you to create multiple independent audio zones, so you can enjoy different music in every area of your vessel. The ARX70 can interface with compatible FUSION stereos and act as a media controller for a single zone at one time, with the ability to cycle through all independent audio zones for global control. Multiple ARX remotes can be installed across the boat with one or more in each zone giving more control options on board than ever before.
SIMRAD RS40
Simrad RS40 is the latest innovation in marine VHF radios. With its integrated GPS receiver, the Simrad RS40 now has four ways to ensure GPS reliability in the event of an emergency. A GPS antenna in the face of the radio is perfect for open-air installations, and the SMA connector can be coupled with a GPS-500 antenna. NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 connections allow the user to get GPS data from a chartplotter or from another antenna that’s already in the system.
The Simrad RS40 also answers the call for increased situational awareness on the water. The built-in dual channel AIS receiver monitors the position of nearby AIS-equipped vessels to assist in collision avoidance in crowded waterways. The information is clearly viewable on the Simrad RS40’s screen or can be overlaid on top of a chart or radar through a compatible multifunction display.
A number of other features have been added including Navigation mode, which displays speed and course, and a Man Overboard (MOB) function, which drops a waypoint in the current location and provides distance and steering instructions to retrieve a person in the water. The waypoint is also transmitted over NMEA 2000 to the rest of the network. The RS40 offers an increased level of safety in all conditions with DSC for easy calls to friends and in emergency situations even if the rest of the on-board electronics are powered down.
About Jordan Balbresky
A former public relations practitioner serving the high-tech and consumer electronics industries, Jordan Balbresky returned to the agency world following a decade of hands-on marine experience. Living in the Caribbean and working in all aspects of the marine industry — from boat building, restoration and maintenance, to charter captain and delivery crew of sailing and motor yachts — Balbresky has a first-hand understanding of the outdoor and maritime markets. Fully immersing himself in the industry, he is a licensed scuba instructor, as well as master mariner and has lived on-board a custom-built schooner while skippering charters on boats of all sizes in the US Virgin Islands.
tags: Accessories, Electronics, Lighting, Service & Repair
