Don't like the new digital gauges!

[PM203]

Could digital be a fad or is it here to stay?

 

[Audiofn]

For sure - the best of both worlds...

Mark I have the solution for you!

 

[DoTheMath]

Mark I have the solution for you!

I'm almost afraid to ask Jon but... what would that be?

 

[Sean H]

Could digital be a fad or is it here to stay?

I don't think it is a fad. I think you will see as the engines step over into full digital controls (ie Merc 1350) you will see more and more of a digital interface in the cockpit.

I will buy the arguement if you want true mechanical gauges, but if you just want a dash full of gauges piggy backed off the smartcraft, why not just display a virtual gauge on a Garmin or the like? Smartcraft monitors the vitals faster and more accurately than you can anyway, the gauges are there just for looks basically.

I don't think Livorsi or anybody is going to stop making gauges either, but look for more high tech gauges like their prop slip/gps gauge.

 

[Audiofn]

I'm almost afraid to ask Jon but... what would that be?

Don't be afraid to ask. I have a converter that takes the analog feeds from your guages and you can feed that to you NEAMA devices (GPS, Touch Screen....)

 

[DoTheMath]

Don't be afraid to ask. I have a converter that takes the analog feeds from your guages and you can feed that to you NEAMA devices (GPS, Touch Screen....)

HA! I thought you were just going to be a smart azz! I read you had something you were working on along these lines - when will it be ready for the general public!?

 

[Audiofn]

HA! I thought you were just going to be a smart azz! I read you had something you were working on along these lines - when will it be ready for the general public!?

Ready for a boat now. Just need my first victim! The good thing with this set up is you leave your old guages in the dash if you want. So you can tie into them up there. Then you calibrate and off you go.

Pictures are:
1) Daytime layout. This can be changed up any way you want.
2) Nighttime layout. This can be changed any way you want
3) If you have a touch screen it can turn on your lights, bilge pumps, stereo....
4) Monitoring fuel/water tanks.....

It works very well and if fairly affordable.

 

[Slandrew]

Digital didn't last long in trucking. Couldn't stand up to the pounding and vibration.
And ya...I like rows and rows of gauges and maybe a few toggles too

Yea what he said:cheers2:

 

[DollaBill]

looks like........................................... digital sucks:sifone::smash:

 

[Geronimo36]

Years of racing experience... your focusing on the course, your bouncing around and everything is dust covered. you can glance quickly at a gauge, but you really cant read it..that light will catch your eye though.

I've seen some guys turn their gauges so that when they are running, all the needles point straight up and are all equal... If one of the needles isn't straight up you know you got a problem! :cheers2:

I'm not a fan of this digital thing either... Not really into smartcraft either.... Was on a boat this past summer that had smartcraft combined with gauges and it was amazing how different the readings were on the smart craft vs. the gauges....

 

[Sean H]

I've seen some guys turn their gauges so that when they are running, all the needles point straight up and are all equal... If one of the needles isn't straight up you know you got a problem! :cheers2:

I'm not a fan of this digital thing either... Not really into smartcraft either.... Was on a boat this past summer that had smartcraft combined with gauges and it was amazing how different the readings were on the smart craft vs. the gauges....

Were they mechanical gauges or just fed off the smartcraft harness?

 

[Dreamer]

All of you old school guys kill me. I understand "TO EACH HIS OWN" but, Really??

How can you like that old crap over something like the new OL or Statement! dashes?

acid wash tapered jeans and white tennis shoes...


ill take smart craft, a big honking gps/simulated gauges/ telemetry, motec dash please...

not accurate? worked in all of my race cars run WAY HARDER than a boat(20k rebuild after 500 miles)

formula one and inycars must be wrong


:drool5:



oh wait... i dont even have a boat



nevermind pay no attention to me

 

[Slandrew]

acid wash tapered jeans and white tennis shoes...


ill take smart craft, a big honking gps/simulated gauges/ telemetry, motec dash please...

not accurate? worked in all of my race cars run WAY HARDER than a boat(20k rebuild after 500 miles)

formula one and inycars must be wrong


:drool5o they bounce around much?

 

[Uncle Dave]

Whats wrong with a hybrid of both?

Most guys here dont seem to actually go anywhere overnight, at night, or in anything but perfect weather or Id see way more radars than I do.

Whats also kind of strange to me is that I also see a lot of really low end electronics on seriously high end rigs.

I love the big gauges and prefer to see a needle sweep to a digital readout anyday, but if you cant see a radar/gps/AIS display in front of you you arent going anywhere in the fog or at night in any kind of traffic.


Uncle Dave

 

[Dreamer]

acid wash tapered jeans and white tennis shoes...


ill take smart craft, a big honking gps/simulated gauges/ telemetry, motec dash please...

not accurate? worked in all of my race cars run WAY HARDER than a boat(20k rebuild after 500 miles)

formula one and inycars must be wrong


:drool5o they bounce around much?

um bounce around? an indycar or F1 car? r u joking? WAY more severe than in a boat... the harmonics and vibrations in a stressed chassis car are insane... they r just engineered and installed properly.... not rigged... just screwed in a dash with a loom neatly wired

 

[Uncle Dave]

I don't think it is a fad. I think you will see as the engines step over into full digital controls (ie Merc 1350) you will see more and more of a digital interface in the cockpit.

I will buy the arguement if you want true mechanical gauges, but if you just want a dash full of gauges piggy backed off the smartcraft, why not just display a virtual gauge on a Garmin or the like? Smartcraft monitors the vitals faster and more accurately than you can anyway, the gauges are there just for looks basically.

I don't think Livorsi or anybody is going to stop making gauges either, but look for more high tech gauges like their prop slip/gps gauge.

Agreed its no fad, the NMEA 2000 protocol has made a wide variety of accessories available even mercury is off smartcraft and onto the more widely industry accepted nmea 2K standard, as well as fully digital dashboards and well certainly see more digitally driven analog faced gauges and displays driven off this and GPS data.

The boat in you photo attached looks awesome but I would not want a screen only dash- what if an electrical problem takes the screen out? - or maybe all of them?

You can route NMEA 2000 to the screens as a primary data feed - but have mechanical backups as well- even a few quad Livorsi's.


Uncle Dave

 

[Jesse James]

I am with dolla on this and apparently serveral others...I prefer the look of the gauges... i like the smart craft in the race boat, but still prefer the tachs and heads up trim indicaters in the 388.... the next one I do for myself will be all liquid filled true mechanicals and pointed to a 12 o clock position for a safety glance.... i think it looks cool, it is easier to see at a glance, and if I have non boaters with me i can tell them they all need to be at 12 o clock and that is something they can help with and understand...

 

[Scarab KV]

I am with dolla on this and apparently serveral others...I prefer the look of the gauges... i like the smart craft in the race boat, but still prefer the tachs and heads up trim indicaters in the 388.... the next one I do for myself will be all liquid filled true mechanicals and pointed to a 12 o clock position for a safety glance.... i think it looks cool, it is easier to see at a glance, and if I have non boaters with me i can tell them they all need to be at 12 o clock and that is something they can help with and understand...

True mechanics is the only way. My Pete that I drive now has all electronic gauges and they suck. Fuel is always off by 25-50 gallons, no fluctuation in oil psi with deceleration or use of the engine brake, no change in water temp on hard pulls, etc, etc. When they do finally show a change, it's like a drastic update instead of actual gradual change. Just not real impressed.

 

[Uncle Dave]

True mechanics is the only way. My Pete that I drive now has all electronic gauges and they suck. Fuel is always off by 25-50 gallons, no fluctuation in oil psi with deceleration or use of the engine brake, no change in water temp on hard pulls, etc, etc. When they do finally show a change, it's like a drastic update instead of actual gradual change. Just not real impressed.

The behavior you describe I would associate with the quality of the sending units being used vs. the actual gauge.

Sounds like cheap senders and or maybe a computer that doesn't have enough free cycles to drive the displays causing chunking. Ive seen what you describe with early 8 bit auto style cpus.

I think you got a bad implementation of the technology.

UD

 

[MacGyver]

nothing like this, which is what it should look like

Wow, I counted 36. Thats allot of gauges to keep track of.