www.iFourWinns.com

Well, Unfortunately I have to agree with Ric on this one... Bluetooth is the better choice, and it h as nothing with being a newbie, I've had boats for 20 years.... I wouldn't say people who don't use it are cave men either. But, to stay on point, Your phone becomes a remote, I guess you don't have dexterity to use 1 hand on the phone, most people do.... You can still control the volume and everything else with the stereo as well... As for the 200 ft range on the alpine remote, yeah, now thats funny... I have that stereo and the waterproof remote works maybe 15ft,, total waste of money. I would take the alpine over the fusion any day of the week....

I wouldn't mind having Bluetooth but I am not a big fan of the touch screen on my cell....been using phone for over a year and still can't hit just one letter. I do like idea of call notice over speakers...I'm constantly having to check phone for missed calls while boating.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

I have never owned an Alpine. Sony & Clarion, yes. The sound is much cleaner and better. They use a higher end DAC. Its controls is much simpler to use too. The screen is brighter, bigger and displays the artwork of the artist.

For a boat like Ric's, it could be over kill. With the NMEA2k hook up makes for an easier install for hard wired remotes and will display depth, speed or almost anything on that bus.

At 70 watts per, you may not need an extra amp. Also its 4 zones is great for bigger boats and the remotes can be programed to control any combinations of zones independently of the other remotes.

What deck or head can you use to watch movies on? The output is not the best, composit, but I ran the wire to my TV and the sound comes over the speakers. Not the TV.

Now you could use your phone, tablet, laptop ..... to control it. It has an ethernet port, plug in a wireless router and your good to go. Again, for bigger boats!

Garmin & Fusion are now teaning up. From there new GPSs, you can control your Fusion head though the NMEA2k port. No need for a remote at the helm.

I'm running almost 1000w's of power to two front speakers and one sub on my boat. Overkill? lol. Yes. I use a windshield mount on my boat for the phone. I also have a Samsung Note 2, which is 5.5 inches of LCD. It's android so I created automated processes when it connects to the radio. It turns wifi off (if on), sets screen brightness to max, gps on, opens my favorite streaming music app, opens the JVC radio control app, and opens navionics, sets volume to max, and turns screen timeout to 5 minutes. I'm can't wait to get the multitasking update, so half the screen will be Navionics and the other half will be radio. Welcome to 2013! All I gotta do is start the boat* and untie the ropes.

*I'm working on that too with a remote starter with blower control/safety delay. Now this would be bad ass
http://www.viper.com/smartstart/

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

I agree with ric on this too. If you got the tech gadgets and know-how, why not? While I don't think I will ever duplicate ric's entire setup, I will probably cherry pick some of his mods to suit my wants/needs. For instance, running the TV sound thru the stereo speakers. I can see that happening on my boat.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

I may have not made my self clear, SORRY ABOUT THAT. When I said "overkill", what I meant is the Fusion is really meant for bigger boats. Besides what I already mentioned, it can control multipletable Fusion heads that can be installed on board for those 100 footers out there. BUT TO EACH THERE OWN!!

But Ric, I get a kick out of you. Some of us are on bigger bodies of water require different needs & wants.

Now you say "Welcome to 2013!" & display your MMSI#. Your on a lake!! Do you really need it, your the only one that displays it. A boater that want to be in the " Welcome to 2013! " would be using this to the fullest. Your MODS don't bring up NMEA2k bus, AIS working with your VHF or even Radar. But your on a lake.

If I am going from Boston to Ptown, a 50 mile trip. I can turn on my AIS, VHF, GPS (Garmin 740), fishfinder and fuel flow sensor. Though the network, they can display and exchange data. About half of the Rec boaters and all of the Com. boaters use AIS. If the other boaters are using AIS, the will show up as targets on my GPS. I tap that target and it will display, speed, course, name of boat, size, & MMSI#. Now if needed, I can hit "call target" and now my VHF will call that target & that target alone. In turn, they can call me. The conversation is puplic, but the other boat not knowing me can call me and get my attention. Even if the other knows me, he can call me and my GPS will display the incoming call. Which is great, because most of the time I can't hear over the engine. My radar will pick them up, but AIS gives more usefully data. I don't want to sound like I am "whinning", but the "Welcome to 2013!" is not needed.

The Edmund Fitz. which was 500ft long sank on a "lake"... Just sayin

Whoa whoa whoa, we're talking about stereos here. What's all this about VHF, AIS, fish finders?

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Welcome to 2013

That was a sad story.

Yes but there's things to mix and things to not. Entertainment and ships systems should be independent. VHS, AIS, GPS are at times life saving equipment and you don't want a shorted out swim platform radio controller wiping it all out. You can do it, but we all know boats.. and what COULD go wrong does.

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

[quote="ric"]Yes but there's things to mix and things to not. Entertainment and ships systems should be independent. VHS, AIS, GPS are at times life saving equipment and you don't want a shorted out swim platform radio controller wiping it all out. You can do it, but we all know boats.. and what COULD go wrong does.[/quot

Why not?? The bus is sharing data. It not powering the GPS, AIS or VHS. If the bus went down, you should only loose the info between the GPS & the AIS. Also in my case, fuel flow sensor. Even my fusion would still work, minus the remotes. The NMEA2k bus is very robust if you have ever worked with it.

Lowrance (which I don't care for) makes a, for the lack of a better term, a music server that works with there HD units. Again, Fusion & Garmin are teaming up on this too. The idea of having one bus (network) and tapping into it is great. No need for home runs back to the helm or engine compartment. Just tap into it and your good to go.

As someone else said "Welcome to 2013"

OK, To sum it up, if someone wants bluetooth they will go and put it in, their choice in the end... Doesn't matter what any of us think of the subject.
Arguing with ric is like wrestling with a pig in mud, after your done your both full of mud and the pig loves it.

No. It's just I like technology. "Marine" radios are nothing but car radios that are 2-3 generations old. There's nothing fancy or bleeding edge about your choppy slow GPS being able to change the radio station with a $100 cable. For the price of that alone I can dedicate an Ipod Touch to the boat with 64 gigs of music that is bluetooth streaming and radio control anywhere on the boat.

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Your right!!!