Boat Monitoring: Yacht Sentinel, Siren Marine, or other?

[O C Diver]

So, I'm considering some monitoring for my boat. This is for when I'm away and the boat is at the dock or mooring field. Probably only going with cellular communication. Looking to monitor battery voltage, shore power, bilge water level, intruder entry, and boat location (geofencing). Yacht Sentinel's YS6 and Siren Marine's Siren 3 Pro are what I'm currently focused on. Anyone have experience with either of these models or companies?

Ted

 

[Ka_sea_ta]

I've used boat command for the past two years, It does everything you have asked for plus keeps logs of all monitored events. https://www.amazon.com/Tracking-Monitoring-Protection-Sailboat-Telematics/dp/B0753KFMSL/ref=sr_1_2?crid=29O70A2PI3UKM&dchild=1&keywords=boat+command+monitoring+system&qid=1610151979&sprefix=boat+comman%2Caps%2C280&sr=8-2


annual cost is around a 10% of a boat unit. and by the time you get intrusion, and AC monitoring the cost of the unit is still under $400.00... It took under two hours to install but like all things YMMV.

 

[tpbrady]

Second the comment on Boat Command. I've been using it for 4 years.

Tom

 

[Ken E.]

I am also in the process of installing a monitoring system. I have ordered the Boat Command system based on the experiences of a TF friend and the favorable comments by Ben Ellison at Panbo. Siren was another system I looked at, which has more features and is more expensive. I just wanted the basics...high water, bilge pump cycles, battery voltage and entry.

 

[O C Diver]

I looked at Boat Command and wanted to like it. Tried to find an owner's manual / installation instructions to download. Nothing, except a few poor videos. Watched the one about wiring to a bilge pump, amateur hour. While no wire nuts were involved, using trailer stab connectors and electrical tape in the bilge made me wonder what the quality of the components and fabrication in their black box was.

Ted

 

[AdmiralS]

Siren Marine is worth every penny in my book. The annual cost is a drop in the bucket of boat expenses and they are constantly adding features and improving the system based on feedback!

Also, if you have any questions they quickly respond to email, or you can pickup the phone and call them!

 

[FF]

Any boat alarm should be distinctive, a beeper buzzer that sounds like a clock radio or oil pressure alert wont do.

A bell is not found on many boats today , and a simple relay to an electric horn might disturb enough that someone would come take a look.

The local auto parts supply will have simple alarm kits that include a timer to reset the system after 2 or 3 min to stop false alarms from sounding 24/7.

 

[timb]

Also, if you have any questions they quickly respond to email, or you can pickup the phone and call them!

I totally agree I have be thru 3 hurricanes with this joule and it's the older mtc it's been well worth the money. I plan on later starting my ac unit with the controllable relays when I leave for the boat.
I haven't winterized the boat since I installed it 3 years ago.it gives me peace of mine living three hours away and being away from it 2 to 6 weeks at a time.

admirals
I see you have the hard wired sensors on your freezer . I have the hard wired ones ones in engine room and galley .do you think I could just throw the remote sensor in the freezer it ices up a lot before I get around to defrosting it .

 

[Leatherneck]

A caution on the Siren Marine MTC model that uses 3G cellular service or any other manufacturer who uses 2G or 3G cellular service for connectivity (Siren 3 Pro uses 4G LTE and will be around for a decade or more). 2G support is mostly ending by June of this year. Cellular providers have identified the following for ending their 3G services:

Verizon 3G service will end at the end of 2020 - "Virtually all Verizon data traffic runs on our 4G LTE network. We have very few customers who are still accessing our 3G network."

AT&T 3G service will end in early2022 - "This will help free up spectrum to better accommodate next generation technologies and services."

T-Mobile 3G service will end over the next several years but they haven't shared timing. "We will be phasing out some older technologies to free up even more capacity for LTE and 5G."

Boat Command uses 3G cellular service.

Hope this info helps in your decision making.

 

[O C Diver]

A caution on the Siren Marine MTC model that uses 3G cellular service or any other manufacturer who uses 2G or 3G cellular service for connectivity (Siren 3 Pro uses 4G LTE and will be around for a decade or more). 2G support is mostly ending by June of this year. Cellular providers have identified the following for ending their 3G services:

Verizon 3G service will end at the end of 2020 - "Virtually all Verizon data traffic runs on our 4G LTE network. We have very few customers who are still accessing our 3G network."

AT&T 3G service will end in early2022 - "This will help free up spectrum to better accommodate next generation technologies and services."

T-Mobile 3G service will end over the next several years but they haven't shared timing. "We will be phasing out some older technologies to free up even more capacity for LTE and 5G."

Boat Command uses 3G cellular service.

Hope this info helps in your decision making.

That information is greatly appreciated!

Ted

 

[Leatherneck]

I became directly aware of the 2G/3G phaseout just a few days ago when I spoke with my home monitoring service SimpliSafe. They told me they use 2G cellular backup and overnight shipped me (for free) a new 4G modem circuit board to replace the current 2G card. So a simple fix for SimpliSafe. I wonder if the Siren Marine or Boat Command will do this for their models? Might be worth a call to them before eliminating them from consideration.

 

[O C Diver]

The Siren 3 Pro is 4G. Yacht Sentinel YS6 in 2G, 3G, and 4G. So they both seem to be safe.

Ted

 

[Propnut]

I installed the Siren System.
Easy straight forward install and works great. Good customer support if you have questions.

 

[AdmiralS]

admirals
I see you have the hard wired sensors on your freezer . I have the hard wired ones ones in engine room and galley .do you think I could just throw the remote sensor in the freezer it ices up a lot before I get around to defrosting it .

My thought was that the refrigerator was a glorified faraday cage, so opted to install the wired sensors for the fridge and freezer. We had a Fridge and Freezer spoil on a prior boat and vowed never to let that happen again, which was the driver for the whole siren system. You could smell our boat from 20 slips down the dock. It still haunts me.....

That said, our MTC is in the engine room, midships. Our engine room has a metal material over several inches of foil covered foam, cork and rubber wood. This definitely has an impact on signal reception for the MTC. We have sensors from bow to stern and the far sensors sometimes have an issue. A quick call to Siren and they sent me a special 12v signal repeater which has worked wonders for us.

 

[stevemitchell]

I have the following installed on board:

Siren MTC
Siren Pro 3
BRNKL
Boat Command
Yacht Sentinel
Blue Guard
Vesper Cortex

I have a couple of others that don't directly market themselves as monitoring but have lots of similar features.

I wrote a review on the Boat Command a few years ago on Panbo (https://panbo.com/boat-command-remote-vessel-monitoring-for-the-app-age/) but I wouldn't recommend it now. It has some gaps, noted in the article, in particular around heartbeat notifications, and was originally developed for the RV market. Most of the other solutions above have better connectivity options.

Siren is great - I've had the last 3 generations of their hardware including the MTC with the very troublesome wireless sensors. The Siren 3 Pro has some benefits, but I'm still testing it - I've had some issues that they are addressing. Out of all of these, they probably have the best support and app, but they seem to have smaller boats in mind as their target market.

BRNKL is very similar to Siren, but is more modern in terms of the app and hardware, and leverages Samsung SmartThings sensors for lots of expansion. They have a good background in dealing with government vessels and cameras, and have some neat differentiation from Siren.

Vesper Cortex is new on the market, and has a lot of remote monitoring capabilities that are similar to the above. They don't have the depth that the other solutions have, but it is a compelling solution since it combines some other things together. Their app is the most modern and easy to use, and they are adding new capabilities, but because their product isn't remote monitoring alone, there are some expansion limitations.

Yacht Sentinel and Blue Guard are my least favorite. Yacht Sentinel has lots of features, but it is very expensive and has some older technology interspersed. Blue Guard is fairly new, and their sensors are not as marine-grade as they should be, and their product has some holes.

If I were to choose something right now, it would be either the Siren MTC or the BRNKL, heavily leaning towards the BRNKL. I think the Siren 3 Pro has some teething to do, and it could be a contender, but not quite yet.

 

[ksanders]

I prefer to use a non marine dedicated system. SmartThings by Samsung.

Here is my boats alarm panel. This is a live shot and I'm 120 miles away right now.

My new Victron based AC system also has great remote features, and here is a screenshot of that.

OH, and yes my Wallas furnace now has it's own online web page

 

[oscar]

I looked at Boat Command and wanted to like it. Tried to find an owner's manual / installation instructions to download. Nothing, except a few poor videos.

Under "Support"

https://boatcommand.com/support/

 

[SteveK]

I have the following installed on board:

Siren MTC
Siren Pro 3
BRNKL
Boat Command
Yacht Sentinel
Blue Guard
Vesper Cortex

I have a couple of others that don't directly market themselves as monitoring but have lots of similar features.

I wrote a review on the Boat Command a few years ago on Panbo (https://panbo.com/boat-command-remote-vessel-monitoring-for-the-app-age/) but I wouldn't recommend it now. It has some gaps, noted in the article, in particular around heartbeat notifications, and was originally developed for the RV market. Most of the other solutions above have better connectivity options.

Siren is great - I've had the last 3 generations of their hardware including the MTC with the very troublesome wireless sensors. The Siren 3 Pro has some benefits, but I'm still testing it - I've had some issues that they are addressing. Out of all of these, they probably have the best support and app, but they seem to have smaller boats in mind as their target market.

BRNKL is very similar to Siren, but is more modern in terms of the app and hardware, and leverages Samsung SmartThings sensors for lots of expansion. They have a good background in dealing with government vessels and cameras, and have some neat differentiation from Siren.

Vesper Cortex is new on the market, and has a lot of remote monitoring capabilities that are similar to the above. They don't have the depth that the other solutions have, but it is a compelling solution since it combines some other things together. Their app is the most modern and easy to use, and they are adding new capabilities, but because their product isn't remote monitoring alone, there are some expansion limitations.

Yacht Sentinel and Blue Guard are my least favorite. Yacht Sentinel has lots of features, but it is very expensive and has some older technology interspersed. Blue Guard is fairly new, and their sensors are not as marine-grade as they should be, and their product has some holes.

If I were to choose something right now, it would be either the Siren MTC or the BRNKL, heavily leaning towards the BRNKL. I think the Siren 3 Pro has some teething to do, and it could be a contender, but not quite yet.

I chose BRNKL as it was a local company after comparing and so far great service provided and the product has given me confidence the boat is OK. With all the rains these past few weeks it was refreshing to see the bilge pump operating on average once per week. Alerts on power disconnect, bilge activity and log in for an overview.

 

[sseltzer]

Does anyone have experience with the Garmin OnDeck Hub System? I am adding a full suite of Garmin electronics and have been considering this system.

 

[dutch-barge]

If you have any victron products.....use the control units they have
I have on both my boats the Venus and on the other the Gerbo
it is FREE, NO MONTHLY cost like the others. their VRM webbed solution is GREAT
I have bilge alerts, smoke alert, door alarms, Geo fence, shore power, turn on remotely 3 relays, ( I use one for heat, another for when I want shore power to charge the batteries, when the solar panels can't keep uo during winter time)

 

[O C Diver]

So I ended up going with a Siren Pro 3. Really wasn't interested in all the wireless sensors between the cost, added complexity, and consumption of batteries. After much research and some calls to Siren, I was able to eliminate the wireless sensors and have all the features I wanted. The unit, accessories, and a healthy dose of OCD should be arriving shortly. Hope to get it installed in a couple weeks. Might even do a thread about it and my OCD.

Ted

 

[Bigsfish]

Ted. As you know I don’t have any of these units but my dear friend of over 40 years who owns one the best marine electronics shops in southeast Florida and I had a discussion about this exact subject. He told me on his boat he would only use Siren. Now You will sleep better tonight with the addition of some craft beers.

Cheers

 

[albinalaska]

Just installed our new BRNKL security system and couldn’t be happier! Great features and interface- and the owner himself worked me through a couple growing pains with my install. Such a relief being able to monitor everything remotely!

Www.BRNKL.io

 

[SteveK]

Just installed our new BRNKL security system and couldn’t be happier! Great features and interface- and the owner himself worked me through a couple growing pains with my install. Such a relief being able to monitor everything remotely!

Www.BRNKL.io

Did you know you can add additional bilge pumps via the spare battery terminal and I also added spare bilge floats for high water alarm. You ground one wire and take the other to an input terminal.

 

[tpbrady]

I just received an email from Boat Command. For those with 3G equipment, they are offering an upgrade to LTE for $145. After 5 years, that seems reasonable.

Tom