Radar and AIS are not accessories on the Australian east coast. The Gold Coast Seaway, Moreton Bay shipping, night runs behind Fraser and the winter hop to the Whitsundays all punish a helm that can only see what a chart chip already knew. The Coomera trade used to specify those systems beside the plotter, not after it.
This hub covers the four decisions that still generate the most yard arguments. Read AIS Class A versus Class B in Australian waters before you buy a transponder because you saw one on a racing forty-footer. Use marine radar, dome versus open array if you are choosing a scanner for a flybridge or a sailing mast. Autopilot buyers heading north should start with the east-coast autopilot guide. Chart card loyalty is covered in Navionics versus C-MAP for Australian charts.
A surprising number of expensive plotters fail because the antenna, the ground and the NMEA talker were treated as afterthoughts. GPS plotter installation mistakes is the piece we send to owners who have already bought the screen.
If the display itself is still an open question, return to marine electronics. Night running also depends on navigation lights and comms and safety.
