gpsmap 741xs by garmin

jkswor · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:52 pm Post subject: gpsmap 741xs by garmin

anyone know anything about this chartplotter/radar combo? is it anygood, any better options/ on sale as a combo at west marine.
Cant seem to find any info about a radar for my 22 cdory.

SounderSolutions · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:58 pm Post subject:

The 741xs is base Multifuction Display (MFD) that you can plug whatever else you want in to. Each of the modules aside from GPS charting (to a degree) are purchased seperately and plugged into the unit. For Radar, you can choose any of the Garmin radar products to plug in and away you go. You can also go all in and purchase the sounder, radar, DownVu, SideVu, CHIRP and other modules.

As far as 'is there anything better', that all depends on what you want and is very subjective. The best thing to do is go trial one at West Marine on the shelf. Take a look at the resolutions and diplays and ask lots of questions. Also, remember that the simulation and demo modes show the best possible screens and examples and your actual displays may vary.

Hope this helps.
Steve
Soundersolutionswa.com

thataway · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:44 pm Post subject:

The 741xs comes with preloaded excellent charts of all coastal US (and I believe Canada--at least my 1041xs does) and Lake Vu High Def. inland waters--again these are very good resolution charts.

The GPS is the latest 10 hz (vs most being 1 hz--so 10x faster) with both GPS (US) and GLONASS (Russian Satellites) GPS systems.

The redraw time and reception are fast enough so that as long as the boat is moving you will get good overlay for the radar over the chart. I have checked this at both 3knots and 25 knots with the 1041 xs

The 7x1 series, is touch screen--and some like that. I have the 740S (older version, but touch screen, and it is nice.

The xs series communicates with the I pad and i phone, so you can see the same information as on the chart--and this may give you a larger radar image if you wish.

The sonar is good--is it the best? That is hard to say--but for fishing and the down scan, it seems to be as good as any I have seen.

The radar works fine--the 7" , especially if you use half the screen for fish finder/sonar, makes a fairly small screen, but it is a good picture. I went with the 10" because even with half for sounder it is good enough for any poor visibility work. It may get a little crowded with AIS, chart, sounder and radar all on one…But radar alone is a good radar image. If I wanted the best for near targets, I probably would go with Simrad G4. But for a longer range Radar the Garmin is good enough.

Sunbeam · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:37 pm Post subject:

I am about to update my chartplotter and would like to add radar as well. Last year I couldn't get excited about the options, but now I have two "contenders." One is the Garmin 741xs and the other is the Raymarine A97. I'm waiting until I can play with the A97 in person. I like the idea of the slightly larger (taller) 9" screen on the Raymarine.

It does seem hard to beat the value of the 741xs if the screen size is large enough for you. But as far as "better".... who is to say? What are you looking for in a chartplotter? I think people could help you better with more information from you.

When I last really looked, there was a bigger "price penalty" for a larger screen in the Garmin line (whereas the 741sx seems like a great deal), but the 7" screen seemed a bit small for me. Raymarine has a 9" screen that is a logical jump up in price from a 7", but not "too much." I have not re-checked that though, so there may be a clear Garmin contender in the ~9" size that I don't know about.

With both the 741xs and the A97, as Bob mentions, you don't need a heading sensor as the GPS is fast enough.

One last point of comparison that I have not found an answer to yet: The 741xs will work with either the regular or "new fancy" sounders (you have to buy the transducer of course). Since Raymarine offers the A97 for regular and A98 for "fancy" I don't know if you have to lock in when you buy. I, for example, would like to use a regular transducer now, but would like to be able to upgrade (without changing chartplotters) in future.

I'm in research phase myself, so there could be mistakes in this post.

Sunbeam

BrentB · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:38 pm Post subject:

it saves 5,000 waypoints. wow!

Aurelia · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:36 pm Post subject:

I have this model in the garage with a new radar and transducer waiting for me to install them. The recent update supporting android devices over wireless closed the deal for us over the proven 740s. We can use a tablet for a second or third station anywhere on the boat with the helm app. The sounder is integrated and the size is perfect for us. Got xhd radar and I will relay our thoughts after we get some time with it next month.

Greg

thataway · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:59 pm Post subject:

Sunbeam · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 12:58 am Post subject:

Okay, so it sounds as fi the Garmin is more on a par with the Raymarine that way, and I can take that off as a "point" in favor of the Garmin. One certainly can't be too careful in figuring out the details!

Foggy · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:42 am Post subject:

About new out of the box, installed and somewhat used for about 2 weeks, my
741xs is the master screen and interfaces via NMEA 2000 the radar, sonar, AIS,
GPS, weather and autopilot. All appears satisfactory except the below. The
hard wired US coastal charts are superior.

A mysterious quirk, actually 2 quirks: the vessel icon shows onscreen moving
backwards on course about 90% of the time and the touch screen does not show
an "X" when you touch a position for a waypoint. I have recalibrated the touch
screen a half dozen times, works a couple times, then reverts to malfunction.
Of course, the unit can obtain a waypoint differently, but loss of this touch the
screen is at least inconvenient.

Aye.

BrentB · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:12 pm Post subject:

I dont know if this will help but is the firmware up to date?

Foggy · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:03 am Post subject:

New this spring.

Aye.

BrentB · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:40 am Post subject:

ok ver 3.70 releases this month

Change History
GPSMAP 741/741xs software version 3.70

as of July 15, 2014
Changes made from version 3.60 to 3.70:

Fixed a defect introduced in Release 3.60 where the Sonar data graphs would not display the line graph.
Added support for A-scope visibility when traditional sonar is displayed in a custom combination.
Fixed the software update mechanism to support older GMR radars.

Changes made from version 3.50 to 3.60:

Added support for sharing internal sonar across the Garmin Marine Network.
Added ability to select the sonar source for traditional sonar, DownVü, and SideVü if multiple sources are available.
Added support for synchronized scroll rates between traditional sonar, DownVü, and SideVü. Includes improvements to scroll rates and new and improved Auto scroll rate.
Added customization options for sonar data overlays.
Added the ability to hide individual data fields on overlays.
Added support for Garmin Helm on Android devices. Note: This requires version 1.20 of the Garmin Helm app for compatibility.
Added support for NMEA2000 and NMEA0183 GPS sensors.
Improved sailing (wind) gauge page.
Added support for hiding the menu bar while on full screen functions.
Improved the user experience for marking waypoints on paused sonar.
Fixed a shutdown when powering off device while adjusting media volume.
Fixed an issue where water speed wheels wouldn't function with DownVü transducers.
Fixed a shutdown on the engine page when the system language is Russian.
Fixed an issue with tides and currents dates being incorrect.
Other performance improvements and bug fixes.

Changes made from version 3.40 to 3.50:

Improved drying heights map presentation to be more readable.
Fixed output of RMB NMEA0183 sentence when not navigating.
Fixed a potential issue with calculating Auto Guidance paths when using certain LakeVü HD Ultra map cards.
Improved Wi-Fi connection reliability.
Several fixes to improve system stability.
Fixed issue when receiving Masterbus alarms over NMEA2000.

Changes made from version 3.30 to 3.40:

Fixed an issue with certain Yamaha engines not being recognized.
Fixed a potential issue that caused some sonar frequencies to not be recognized.
Fixed an issue introduced in Release 3.00 where AIS SART/MOB/EPIRB messages would not display if the database was full.
Fixed a potential issue that would cause "Unsupported Transducer Connected" to display with a supported transducer.
Removed the "No DGPS Position" message that was incorrectly displayed when a differential WAAS GPS fix was lost.
Fixed a potential lock-up after configuring dynamic lake level on a very large number of lakes.
Fixed the traditional sonar scroll rate when selecting Fast, Medium, or Slow.
Fixed software update issues when updating software via the network.
Changed the demonstration inactivity timeout to 1 minute.

Changes made from version 3.10 to 3.30:

Added support for LakeVü HD Ultra MaxDef content.
Added support for automatically synchronizing waypoints, routes, and saved tracks via the Garmin Marine Network. Go to Nav Info->Manage Data->User Data Sharing to enable feature.
Added tide & current slider to quickly see tide & current conditions at different times. Go to Navigation Chart->Chart Setup->Tides & Currents-Tide & Current Slider to view the feature.
Added support for Garmin Helm app for remote viewing and control. (Note: use also requires downloading Garmin Helm from App Store)
Added support for enabling or disabling output of the HCHDM NMEA 0183 sentence.
Added support for displaying the compass tape on the sonar combination pages.
Improved the usability of the user defined sea surface temperature scale.
Other performance improvements and bug fixes.

Changes made from version 3.00 to 3.10:

Improved Garmin GCV 10 sonar black box (DownVü/SideVü) support.
Re-added support for Airmar® B75 and B175 Chirp transducers, which were unsupported in version 3.00.
Fixed a lock-up when displaying the Engine page after updating to version 3.00.
Other performance improvements and bug fixes.

Foggy · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:18 am Post subject:

Wow. Lots of changes there.

Saw no improvements or changes made to the touch screen in there though.

Aye.

colbysmith · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 11:40 pm Post subject:

Looking at updating my electronics. Not real impressed with my garmin GPSmap 541s, as the depth sounding is pretty lousy. I also have an older ray marine B&w radar, and the Navman that came on the boat as backup depth/fish finder. Looking seriously at the garmin 741xs package with radar and the glc10, or whatever number the downvu sideview box is... I want to be able to see gps chart plotter and depth sounding all the time, with radar also on when necessary. When fishing or interested in bottom structure I can just look at that without the chart plotter navagation always on. I see Bobs post on the larger units also, but don't want to break the budget or get something so big I lose sight out my windows. Smile

my intent is to get rid of the individual units and just go with the one screen. Any suggestions or advice or reviews on the garmin units? I intend to stick with garmin due to already owned software and chart chips. Thanks, Colby

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:47 am Post subject:

Colby, I've had both Garmin and Lowrance on my boats (Garmin on the previous 22 and Lowrance on the current boat) and I've used Raymarine on the boats of a few different friends. Garmin is by far the easiest/best user interface, Raymarine is by far the most difficult/worst user interface and Lowrance is in the middle but closer to Garmin. Lowrance has the better fish finder/sonar but the Garmin units are getting very good in this regard. The digital radar of Garmin and Lowrance are comparable and have very high spatial resolution at short distances. These low power digital radars aren't as good for long range (> 4-8 miles) but for avoiding collisions, they are excellent the short range (which is the most common use). As far as sticking with a single screen, you might want to reconsider. I just got done installing a secondary chart plotter on my current boat (a Lowrance HDS5 gen 2) to go with an HDS 8 gen 1. The HDS Gen 1 was giving me some troubles on a recent trip and was frequently re-booting. When it was rebooting, I had my backup ipad for navigation but was without radar and sonar. This was on a VERY wet and foggy day and the lack of a radar backup was particularly annoying. I've always had multiple backups for navigation but hadn't really given much thought to a backup display for radar until now. Keeping 2 domes for radar is impractical so I don't really have full backup for the radar but it is nice to have a backup display at least for GPS and sonar.

So if I were you, I'd consider getting the Garmin package but keeping the 541s as a secondary display. A 7" display is OK for a single screen but 8" or 10" is better. Once you have more than one display, you'll find yourself using it in unanticipated ways. For example, I frequently run with my ipad chart plotting software zoomed out for a large view and my HDS8 zoomed in to see potential hazards close to the boat. I've found that very handy as the large view lets me choose my course for more efficient long range travel, and the close view allows me to correct that for local hazards/obstacles. Alternatively, while trolling for salmon or jigging for rockfish, I might devote the entire HDS8 screen to sonar so I can see it more easily from the cockpit. Then I leave the chart plotter on the ipad zoomed in to the local area. There are a lot of option for display combinations if you have more than one display.