charter plotter suggestion
- Thread starter fred09
- Start date
All of the current MFD (Multi Function Displays) are good. I feel that the Garmin is the easiest to use.
With a shooting thru the hull transducer you are going loose several of the functions that modern fish finders use: Down Scan, Side Scan, and any of the 3 D renderings.
Also you will need to remove all of the core, and get to sold glass between the face of the transducer and the water. You can use the transom transducer to shot thru the solid glass. Even the sump areas (transom, and in some just inside or just outside the cabin door) are cored under the inner fiberglass.
You can then mount the transducer into epoxy, silicone, or mineral oil (make box) to have 100% contact with the glass on the inside of the hull.
You will also need to decide what level of charting you need. Basic, or very detailed charts. Also do you need lakes, and rivers, just coastal or both? Do you boat in the USA, Canada, Mexico, or all?
Do you want only touch, only buttons and dials or both? I find at times the touch are harder to use. Another issue is like I experienced yesterday. I hadn't turned on my Raymarine touch screen, and was depending on a separate depth sounder, as I broke in a new kicker motor. Then I wanted to use the touch screen. I had left the black cover in place, and there was no shade at the helm. Thus the touch pad was very hot, and would not respond to my finger touch...(Not usually going to be an issue on C Dory pilot house boat)
With a shooting thru the hull transducer you are going loose several of the functions that modern fish finders use: Down Scan, Side Scan, and any of the 3 D renderings.
Also you will need to remove all of the core, and get to sold glass between the face of the transducer and the water. You can use the transom transducer to shot thru the solid glass. Even the sump areas (transom, and in some just inside or just outside the cabin door) are cored under the inner fiberglass.
You can then mount the transducer into epoxy, silicone, or mineral oil (make box) to have 100% contact with the glass on the inside of the hull.
You will also need to decide what level of charting you need. Basic, or very detailed charts. Also do you need lakes, and rivers, just coastal or both? Do you boat in the USA, Canada, Mexico, or all?
Do you want only touch, only buttons and dials or both? I find at times the touch are harder to use. Another issue is like I experienced yesterday. I hadn't turned on my Raymarine touch screen, and was depending on a separate depth sounder, as I broke in a new kicker motor. Then I wanted to use the touch screen. I had left the black cover in place, and there was no shade at the helm. Thus the touch pad was very hot, and would not respond to my finger touch...(Not usually going to be an issue on C Dory pilot house boat)
Peter & Judy
New member
My 2005 C-Dory still had the original Raymarine C-80 system until this month. I have just upgraded it to a new Raymarine Axiom+ system, which includes a Axiom 9" for the chart plotter and new Quantum 2 Doppler Radar. I add a second Axiom 7" which is dedicated to the sonar and fish finder. I bought the RV-100 sonar which as 3D and and side vision. I also updated the electronics for my autopilot. I only had the boat on the water for a few hours to make sure things were working and next week I will be going on my first cruise to see how the system works and learn how to use it.
P.S. I will soon have the old system for sale
P.S. I will soon have the old system for sale
Here's an idea. Borrowed from a friend. Keep the thru hull 'ducer and set it up to a depth gauge by itself on the dash. Then add a new (fancy) transom mounted transducer with a new Raymarine Plotter. Provides a bit of redundancy and less likely to loose depth function on the through hull. Axium is nice. Axium Pro gives you knobs and buttons that will work with wet hands or in the heat. I just replaced my old Raymarine C-120 with a new 12 Pro and love it. More intuitive than the old Rm stuff, quick and requires much less power draw.
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
journey on
New member
With a shoot through transducer, it appears that you either have a sailboat or have come from a sailing background. As Dr. Bob/thataway pointed out, this prevents you from full use of existing depth sounders.
Mounting a depth sounder on the transom is the preferred way.
Boris
Mounting a depth sounder on the transom is the preferred way.
Boris
I was overwhelmed with chartplotter choices, so I visited West Marine to see them in person at get advice. It's worthwhile if you are having trouble deciding.
I wanted to stay under $1000, and looked at simpler models geared to small boats - Garmin Echomap, Simrad Cruise. Ray Marine Element, Lorance Hook. I thought a 7"screen was adequate to display navigation charts and sonar and even a split screen; I thought a 9"screen might take a lot of room on the C-Dory dash.
I thought Garmin was the easiest to navigate, with Ray Marine close behind. I thought the Garmin touchscreen was easier than buttons for navigating display screens and features, and the Simrad buttons seemed especially bothersome. The salesman told me some people find touchscreens difficult on a bouncing boat, but the Garmin has several buttons that can be set to commonly used screens. The Ray Marine uses buttons, but they were more intuitive and easier to navigate that the Simrad buttons. The Lorance chart simulation didn't seem to be working, so I didn't spend much time looking at Lorance.
The salesman told me that Ray Marine was the only one of these inexpensive chartplotters that will display 3D sonar images of the bottom with the supplied transducer. Garmin will do it with an expensive add-on transducer. RayMarine included US and Canadian coastal charts;Garmin. Lorance and Simrad included only US charts. Ray Marine was also the only one of the less-expensive chartplotters that would accept radar input. The salesman told me the disadvantage of Ray Marine is that its chartplotters use older connecters; it you plan to add a lot of peripherals, you will need adapters.
I finally bought a Garmin Echomap 74sv UHD, primarly because I like the touchscreen and the navigation charts. The Garmin charts are excellent, but the manual says I can also download free NOAA charts, which I may do since I am used to the old paper variety. I am more interested in beachcombing and exploring than fishing, but the Garmin sonar is impressive. The Echomap gives a traditional broad-beam display, a high-definition narrow-beam display and side-view sonar. The high-definition display shows incredible detail.
I wanted to stay under $1000, and looked at simpler models geared to small boats - Garmin Echomap, Simrad Cruise. Ray Marine Element, Lorance Hook. I thought a 7"screen was adequate to display navigation charts and sonar and even a split screen; I thought a 9"screen might take a lot of room on the C-Dory dash.
I thought Garmin was the easiest to navigate, with Ray Marine close behind. I thought the Garmin touchscreen was easier than buttons for navigating display screens and features, and the Simrad buttons seemed especially bothersome. The salesman told me some people find touchscreens difficult on a bouncing boat, but the Garmin has several buttons that can be set to commonly used screens. The Ray Marine uses buttons, but they were more intuitive and easier to navigate that the Simrad buttons. The Lorance chart simulation didn't seem to be working, so I didn't spend much time looking at Lorance.
The salesman told me that Ray Marine was the only one of these inexpensive chartplotters that will display 3D sonar images of the bottom with the supplied transducer. Garmin will do it with an expensive add-on transducer. RayMarine included US and Canadian coastal charts;Garmin. Lorance and Simrad included only US charts. Ray Marine was also the only one of the less-expensive chartplotters that would accept radar input. The salesman told me the disadvantage of Ray Marine is that its chartplotters use older connecters; it you plan to add a lot of peripherals, you will need adapters.
I finally bought a Garmin Echomap 74sv UHD, primarly because I like the touchscreen and the navigation charts. The Garmin charts are excellent, but the manual says I can also download free NOAA charts, which I may do since I am used to the old paper variety. I am more interested in beachcombing and exploring than fishing, but the Garmin sonar is impressive. The Echomap gives a traditional broad-beam display, a high-definition narrow-beam display and side-view sonar. The high-definition display shows incredible detail.
I was overwhelmed with chartplotter choices, so I visited West Marine to see them in person at get advice. It's worthwhile if you are having trouble deciding.
I wanted to stay under $1000, and looked at simpler models geared to small boats - Garmin Echomap, Simrad Cruise. Ray Marine Element, Lorance Hook. I thought a 7"screen was adequate to display navigation charts and sonar and even a split screen; I thought a 9"screen might take a lot of room on the C-Dory dash.
I thought Garmin was the easiest to navigate, with Ray Marine close behind. I thought the Garmin touchscreen was easier than buttons for navigating display screens and features, and the Simrad buttons seemed especially bothersome. The salesman told me some people find touchscreens difficult on a bouncing boat, but the Garmin has several buttons that can be set to commonly used screens. The Ray Marine uses buttons, but they were more intuitive and easier to navigate that the Simrad buttons. The Lorance chart simulation didn't seem to be working, so I didn't spend much time looking at Lorance.
The salesman told me that Ray Marine was the only one of these inexpensive chartplotters that will display 3D sonar images of the bottom with the supplied transducer. Garmin will do it with an expensive add-on transducer. RayMarine included US and Canadian coastal charts;Garmin. Lorance and Simrad included only US charts. Ray Marine was also the only one of the less-expensive chartplotters that would accept radar input. The salesman told me the disadvantage of Ray Marine is that its chartplotters use older connecters; it you plan to add a lot of peripherals, you will need adapters.
I finally bought a Garmin Echomap 74sv UHD, primarly because I like the touchscreen and the navigation charts. The Garmin charts are excellent, but the manual says I can also download free NOAA charts, which I may do since I am used to the old paper variety. I am more interested in beachcombing and exploring than fishing, but the Garmin sonar is impressive. The Echomap gives a traditional broad-beam display, a high-definition narrow-beam display and side-view sonar. The high-definition display shows incredible detail.
I wanted to stay under $1000, and looked at simpler models geared to small boats - Garmin Echomap, Simrad Cruise. Ray Marine Element, Lorance Hook. I thought a 7"screen was adequate to display navigation charts and sonar and even a split screen; I thought a 9"screen might take a lot of room on the C-Dory dash.
I thought Garmin was the easiest to navigate, with Ray Marine close behind. I thought the Garmin touchscreen was easier than buttons for navigating display screens and features, and the Simrad buttons seemed especially bothersome. The salesman told me some people find touchscreens difficult on a bouncing boat, but the Garmin has several buttons that can be set to commonly used screens. The Ray Marine uses buttons, but they were more intuitive and easier to navigate that the Simrad buttons. The Lorance chart simulation didn't seem to be working, so I didn't spend much time looking at Lorance.
The salesman told me that Ray Marine was the only one of these inexpensive chartplotters that will display 3D sonar images of the bottom with the supplied transducer. Garmin will do it with an expensive add-on transducer. RayMarine included US and Canadian coastal charts;Garmin. Lorance and Simrad included only US charts. Ray Marine was also the only one of the less-expensive chartplotters that would accept radar input. The salesman told me the disadvantage of Ray Marine is that its chartplotters use older connecters; it you plan to add a lot of peripherals, you will need adapters.
I finally bought a Garmin Echomap 74sv UHD, primarly because I like the touchscreen and the navigation charts. The Garmin charts are excellent, but the manual says I can also download free NOAA charts, which I may do since I am used to the old paper variety. I am more interested in beachcombing and exploring than fishing, but the Garmin sonar is impressive. The Echomap gives a traditional broad-beam display, a high-definition narrow-beam display and side-view sonar. The high-definition display shows incredible detail.
I went through a similar process as mutski and ended up with a Garmin for similar reasons, though a different model. Keep expandibility in mind. If you are not buying radar now but might down the road, not all Garmin chartplotters are also MFDs and some will not let you add radar later without adding a second screen.
WM only sells certain brands of plotters.
I recently got a Lowrance HDS Carbon 9. It has a 9' screen which is higher resolution than most (1280x720), has a touchscreen and button control, comes with a sidescan/down image/CHIRP transducer, NMEA 2K and 0183, and C-MAP charts for US and Canada inland and coastal.
Less than $1K.
I recently got a Lowrance HDS Carbon 9. It has a 9' screen which is higher resolution than most (1280x720), has a touchscreen and button control, comes with a sidescan/down image/CHIRP transducer, NMEA 2K and 0183, and C-MAP charts for US and Canada inland and coastal.
Less than $1K.
I was trying to stay under $1000. The last time I put electronics in a boat was 25 years ago. I had a depth sounder that plotted a line for the bottom and occaisionally showed something like a fish in the water column. I used paper charts and eventually a hand-held GPS for navigation. ALL of the chartplotters available today are light years ahead of what I'm used to, lol.
Radar would be nice, but this is a 22-foot flat-bottom boat, not an off-shore cruiser. Another option is a VHF radio with AIS, which will plot large vessels with their courses on my $700 Garmin chartplotter. If you want to go that route, make sure you get a plotter with NMEA communication.
Radar would be nice, but this is a 22-foot flat-bottom boat, not an off-shore cruiser. Another option is a VHF radio with AIS, which will plot large vessels with their courses on my $700 Garmin chartplotter. If you want to go that route, make sure you get a plotter with NMEA communication.
The Garmin Echomap UHD 94sv (ocean water maps) recently came on sale at West Marine online for $699 (down from 899) and we're intrigued. We have an 10+ year old Raymarine we were thinking of replacing.
But when I went to the actual Garmin site, it says the unit is discontinued, and the new similar unit "now ships with a newly redesigned transducer" at a price of $1299. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether there are problems with the GT54 transducer that is included in the price of the one I'm looking at with West Marine? (Not going to West Marine, the nearest is 3 hours away
But when I went to the actual Garmin site, it says the unit is discontinued, and the new similar unit "now ships with a newly redesigned transducer" at a price of $1299. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether there are problems with the GT54 transducer that is included in the price of the one I'm looking at with West Marine? (Not going to West Marine, the nearest is 3 hours away
zuunami":2o6g4b8r said:The Garmin Echomap UHD 94sv (ocean water maps) recently came on sale at West Marine online for $699 (down from 899) and we're intrigued. We have an 10+ year old Raymarine we were thinking of replacing.
But when I went to the actual Garmin site, it says the unit is discontinued, and the new similar unit "now ships with a newly redesigned transducer" at a price of $1299. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether there are problems with the GT54 transducer that is included in the price of the one I'm looking at with West Marine? (Not going to West Marine, the nearest is 3 hours away
I have the 94USV. There is nothing wrong with the GT54 that I am aware of. They have a newer model with better side scan now, the GT56. I think they are just clearing out the old inventory. I ended up selling the GT54 that came with mine and went with the GT51 (i think thats the model) as it was better suited for ocean trolling depths
zuunami":608wr8yf said:Also, I'm surprised that the display is only 480 x 800 pixels. Is that common in this price range? Sorry, relative newbies here
Yes that is pretty common screen resolution for plotters 9" or less screen size. I recently got a Lowrance HDS Carbon 9 mostly because it has a higher resolution screen (1280x720). Even the 7 inch model has a higher rez screen than commonly found. It's 1024x600.
Might be an issue with available screen sizes that also have the required brightness. Lots of screens available in the <500 nits brightness range. A chart plotter screen needs to be at least 1200 nits. Brighter is better.
We have the garmin 9sv unit on order, but we also want to change out our 6 or 7 year old icom vhf. So have been researching, and the more I research, the more confused I get If someone can direct me to a helpful post, or maybe I need to just start a new one
If we were to get the standard horizon GX2400, which has ais receive and gps, mostly for the redundant gps, how would you connect the two. I'm truly showing my ignorance here, but does the Garmin chartplotter need to be connected to the antenna (which is an older Shakespeare). Or do you wire the new VHF to the antenna, and then the chartplotter to the VHF in order to see the AIS info on the chartplotter?
If someone can direct me to a helpful post, or maybe I need to just start a new one If we were to get the standard horizon GX2400, which has ais receive and gps, mostly for the redundant gps, how would you connect the two. I'm truly showing my ignorance here, but does the Garmin chartplotter need to be connected to the antenna (which is an older Shakespeare). Or do you wire the new VHF to the antenna, and then the chartplotter to the VHF in order to see the AIS info on the chartplotter?