Navigation system overhaul

I decided it was time to re-wire and re-tool my entire navigation system.  I’ve written articles on parts of each of these, and they’re linked below.  Here’s a general overview of what I had, and what I wanted to do.  I started with:

• Raymarine ST2000+ autopilot with wireless remote
• Tacktick wireless instruments for depth, speed, GPS, wind, compass, heading, including NMEA interface
• Handheld Garmin 76 GPS
• Uniden VHF radio with wireless remote

None of the systems above really worked well together, other than the Tacktick instruments and the autopilot.  I used those two to sail a specific set degrees off of the wind when under sail.  The purpose this process was to increase the capabilities of the system, and make sure everything talked with everything else.
I ended up with:

• Raymarine ST2000+ autopilot with wireless remote
• Tacktick wireless instruments for depth, speed, GPS, wind, compass, heading, including NMEA interface
• Uniden VHF radio with wireless remote
• Shipmodul NMEA multiplexer with Bluetooth
• Smart Radio AIS receiver and VHF splitter
• Garmin GPSMAP 5208 chartplotter
• PC using Coastal Navigator software