Remote Helm/radio access


twarble

twarble

Member
any of you guys try out some of the WiFi based remote access? I'm looking at Fusion radios which have Fusion Link for Android and Apple...http://fusion-link.com/

and i'm also looking at Garmin Helm which will allow me to view/control my MFD's https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/prod152837.html

and BlueChart Mobile which will allow you to preplan a route and push it to the MFD's https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/prod114005.html

all very cool stuff, but requires a WiFi hotspot (hence my other post). but i'm curious as to how well any of these items works, and any feedback that you might have.

thanks again,
twarble
 
I can only speak about the Fusion. I have the wireless 700I series. I have a simple dlink wireless router set up so i can use my ipad as my stereo remote. No wireless internet just wireless access to my connected devices. I also have an apple airport express (i think) networked to the router so another apple device can wireless link up so we can play music from it while controlling the stereo from the ipad. Does that all make sense? Honestly the easiest is an ipod connected to the head unit with a ton of music on it and just use the ipad to control it all.

The Fusion ipad ap is much more friendly than the iphone ap. Regardless which ever device you use if your router does not have internet connection do not count on receiving any emails or txts via cell on that connected device. They are not dependable when connected via wireless to your on board router w/o internet. For that reason i bought a dedicated wireless only ipad mini, put in a lifeproof water proof case and life jacket so we can leave it on the boat and use it in the water while float and enjoying a cocktail or three. That way my iphone is never tied up and i can always receive my emails an txts.

I cant say enough good about the Fusion wireless series head units and remotes.

I bought my boat used last year. I removed the old wired remote from the transom and install a new wired remote for the 700i. Now that I have used the ipad and wireless setup, I am not sure that remote and extra long cable was worth the money for me. I would have rather paid to have the hole glassed/gelled up and not had anything on the transom.

We are on a lake so nav is not real important to us t/f we will prob not ever upgrade to some of the wireless or compatible nav devices. If we were on the bigger water I wouldn't hesitate to check it all out after my Fusion exp.

I am not familiar with your 45's speaker layout or how you may have your stereo speakers installed if its custom. I have 14 speakers including subs installed in various areas. The Fusion with the Zones is really nice. I have the arch over head speakers in one zone, the speaker in the side of the arch (ear blasters) as zone 2 and i have speakers installed almost floor level in the back lower storage areas as zone 3 and speakers installed at the transom as zone 4.

Being able to control all areas via ipad is so nice plus the ability to control the subs volume if you your amps allow it to be wired up that way.

For some, the Fusion just offers ways too much t/f not worth the money. Me, i like to have all the control. We have a complex system compared to most but I built it for sound quality and control, not for being the loudest guy on the lake.

good luck and enjoy the new high tech stuff its pretty cool

You may be able to hotspot a device into the wireless network if you really want internet over your network.
 
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dstroyed...thanks for the reply. you've hit on a few of the reasons why i want to do this, and some of the issues i've thought of for different solutions. i hadn't thought about a dedicated phone/tablet though. not a bad idea, and perhaps the place to start. i already have an iPad that i use for backup navigation software. perhaps it becomes the boat remote too. ;)

how's your range on the Dlink? where'd you install it, and are you using a DC version? is it a standard wireless AP? or is it a repeater? i wasn't sure if lack of Internet would still allow a standard AP to act as a switch or not. was going to run a test to verify.

i agree on the Fusions...was going to do a separate post on them, but ...i'm looking at the new 750's. they have WiFi built in and would go nicely with an AP. they also have an integrated phone/iPod dock. those speakers in the side of the arch definitely need their own zone as they are ear killers! i'm also thinking about adding speakers to the transom on their own zone so we don't have to blast the cockpit to hear while we're in the water. that and running the TV audio through the stereo would help a lot on football Sunday's. :)

thanks again,
tw
 
I am using the stock Kenwood deck. Then I have the Motorola Deck speaker/bluetooth receiver. This unit has the best range of any unit out there with bluetooth that i have found. You can plug it into your help jack or even into the aux on the deck. Then your iPad or Iphone is now your remote for volume up down and anything you can play on your ios device or android will play thru the sound system.

This speaker also has heist mode, so you can have 5 devices hooked up and take turns playing your tunes.

The fusion is also a nice unit. We had one on a charter boat and it worked great.
 
I just installed the Fusion system and have not had a chance to use it. Will know more in the spring.
Be aware that fusion is coming out with a completely new line in April, with all the optional stuff like Bluetooth built in now. You may want to wait.
 
Thanks GSENT....yeah, i'm looking at the UD750 which isn't out yet. it has everything built in including the wifi, bluetooth, and the device dock. very slick system.
 
I don't know exactly how far my usable range is. I know at the dock I can go 4 boats down and the remote works fine. so that about 100 feet with not issues at all. Another guy on the at the marina probably 200 yards said he is picking up my signal but I don't know if it is a good enough signal to operate.

My dlink is mounted under the counter trash can at the galley where all the amps are located. It is standard home model plugged into the a/c outlet under there where the tv antenna amp is plugged into. I don't know what model for i have about 6 of them laying around and I just picked the smallest one. Single short antenna. Not the best router or location but it does just fine for me.

Not that you are interested but if someone doesn't want to go the fusion route another decent way and pretty cheap is buy an apple airport express ($100). Use he 3.5 mini plug into your head unit. connect your iphone or ipad to the airport express via wireless apple link. Then your device music ap will control all you music and you can control the volume from the ap. Not a bad way to go for $100.

I bought the Fusion MS-AV700i with the DVD. My future project will be to get it to feed the dvd to the cockpit tv. I pulled the VHF radio out of the dash and installed the ipod dock in that hole.
 
twarble said:
it has everything built in including the wifi, bluetooth, and the device dock. very slick system.
Click to expand...

just a slight correction. after emailing with Fusion for a bit, I found out that WiFi is NOT built in. you have to run an Ethernet cable to a WiFi AP/router to get WiFi based access. i'm hoping that Bluetooth will have sufficient range for what I want to do and I can avoid the WiFi based access at this point...
 
ok, so stereo is all done. i plan on putting something in Modifications on the install. took me several weeks, but holy smokes was it worth it!

check my other post to see what i did for WiFi, but in short i went with a DC powered WiFi AP and use my phone as a hotspot for Internet. i'm waiting for a few items from Vimar so i can turn the DC WiFi on/off, and connect Ethernet directly to the AP if i need to change something without taking the salon couch apart, but other than that, i'm done.

a few lessons learned...

the Bluetooth works pretty darn well...from my swim platform i can stream Pandora or Google Music flawlessly. go another 2 feet or so, and things start to clip. go forward, and it doesn't like being more than 6 feet or so away from the radio.

even though the Fusion supports bluetooth and 'wifi', the Fusion-link app doesn't work over anything other than wifi for now. i put wifi in quotes because as i said earlier, it's actually Ethernet on the radio, and you have to get that through a WiFi AP to have access from your iPad/phone. also, i found out that Bluetooth access to the newer units via the Fusion-Link app is coming. should be out in a few weeks they say. once that happens, most problems will be solved with the exception of your distance limitation.

WiFi based control of the Fusion is quite cool! you can individually control each zone as dstroyed discussed, and you can control sub level, etc. as well as change sources, radio stations, playlists, etc. it's important to know though that the radio seems to be very Apple device centric. probably mostly because the Android interface isn't as friendly. for example, the iPod/iPhone/iPad's give you full access to playlists/artists/songs, as well as access to your Pandora account. the Android's only allow you to skip songs on Pandora, and Google Play. no access to stations or playlists or thumbs up/down. also, when plugged into USB, you only get access to songs stored locally on the Android, not your Google Play or Pandora...those stream via Bluetooth still. so, my Android gets a charge on the USB, but that's it.

all of that being said, if you had an Apple device plugged into the USB, the Fusion-Link remote would give you excellent control over everything.

i wish the Fusion-Link gave you the ability to enable/disable zones as we have stern mounted speakers that i normally keep disabled. i also wish you could rename Aux inputs, but other than that, it's pretty much awesome. major ability to control everything going on in your stereo, and all of the input/outputs are very useful. as dstroyed said, it might be overkill for some, but it's pretty cool when it all comes together. also, one of the clearest units i've heard. might also have something to do with the new speakers, but before i did that, i think the Fusion seriously upgraded the listening experience.

thanks all for the advice early on!
twarble
 
I agree it would be nice to be able to mute or disable the zones. The only solution i have found is use a an amplifier that has the ability to run a volume knob. Most JL amps will have that. Then you can just turn it all the way down and it doesn't matter that the Fusion says volume is for that zone. It won't play until you turn the volume back up via the knob.
 
not sure which model you have, but on my UD750, you can disable the zone. i was referring to the Fusion-Link app not giving you access to that setting. having an amp knob would give me the same problem...not able to enable the speakers from my inflatable chair floating in back of the boat. ;)
 
Yes I understand, i was not clear. A little box one could click on and off from the ipad to kill that zone would be perfect.
 
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