Remote monitoring: Sensar Marine expands its boat monitoring system with the Expansion Hub

The Boat Monitor from Sensar Marine concentrates on monitoring a bilge area (water and temperature), a bilge pump, two batteries and the boat's position. The Expansion Hub significantly increases the range of functions. In addition to additional batteries and sensors, devices in the boat's NMEA2000 network can also be monitored.

NMEA2000 monitoring with memory

The Expansion Hub must be connected to an existing Boat Monitor in order to function. The connection intended for the Bilge Sentry transducer is used for this purpose. The bilge sensor is then connected directly to the hub. The extension adds numerous new monitoring options to the system: in addition to a second Bilge Sentry for monitoring the water level and temperature in the bilge, three additional battery banks (five in total), an additional bilge pump and monitoring of fire, theft and shore power. The hub is also equipped with an NMEA2000 interface.

The clever thing about this is that as long as the boat is in operation and the NMEA2000 network is supplied with power, the system provides the current data. If the power supply to the network is interrupted because the boat is moored, the Expansion Hub saves the last values from the network and displays them. The time since the last update is indicated to show the age of the data. So you can easily check at home how much fuel or water was left in the tanks when you disembarked.

Intelligent power supply

A special feature of the Sensar Boat Monitor is its sophisticated energy management. The device only draws power from the boat batteries when it recognises that the battery voltage is high enough, which indicates that charging is in progress. The rest of the time, the monitor works with its own internal, rechargeable battery. This can power the monitoring system for months. This principle is also retained with the Expansion Hub so that the boat batteries are not unnecessarily burdened.

What the system costs

The basic package of Boat Monitor and bilge sensor costs 507 euros. The Expansion Hub is available for 475 euros. A mobile phone subscription is required for operation. Sensar currently offers three options for the monitoring service: 16 euros per month, 123 euros per year or 203 euros for two years (equivalent to 8.50 euros per month).

Technical data:

• NMEA2000 connectivity
• Second Bilge Sentry (water level and temperature)
• Three additional battery banks (five in total)
• Additional bilge pump
• Input for optional satellite connection
• Fire, theft and shore power monitoring

• Overview of other monitoring systems