Garmin Fantom radar

[westward]

Anyone have experience with these radars? The technology sounds way cool, but of course I read about it on Garmin's website. I'm especially intrigued by the feature of color identification of moving objects, both towards and away from your position.

 

[Brewkid]

It works great. The weekend before last we ran from city of Des Moines Marina south of SEATAC leaving at 1900. We didn't get back into Langley until 2300....the weather was not cooperating... Targets do change colors depending upon direction the are heading, no warm up time, map overlays are great. I can't speak on the older HD units but I'm happy with what I have.

John
Scallywag

 

[thataway]

BrewKid--good to hear from a C Dory owner's positive experience with the Fantom!

I notice you are using the Garmin 942xs. Unfortunately not all of the Garmin chart plotters work with the Fantom.
list below:
1022, 1022xsv, 1042xsv, 1222, 1222xsv, 1242xsv, 722, 722xs, 7407, 7407xsv, 7408, 7408xsv, 7410, 7410xsv, 7412, 7412xsv, 7416, 7416xsv, 742, 742xs, 7607, 7607xsv, 7608, 7608xsv, 7610, 7610xsv, 7612, 7612xsv, 7616, 7616xsv, 8208 MFD, 8212 MFD, 8215 MFD, 8417 MFD, 8422 MFD, 8424 MFD, 8500 Black Box, 8530 Black Box, 8617 MFD, 8622 MFD, 922, 922xs, 942, 942xs

My 1041xs will not work with it. Many of "Last years" MDF will not work--but the 942 xs, which is a touch screen, seems to have a large number of features!

 

[Brewkid]

Bob,

Sorry it wont work out for your setup...Only thing that I wish the 942xs could do is side scan....but that equals another box and more $$$....Just for clarification, your list is the compatible list for anyone looking. I waited for the new push of electronics and timing before pulling the trigger on the new equipment but came close a couple of times to buying the 741xs.

So far I love the 942xs and Fantom. Anyone local want to check it out or have any questions let me know!

John
Scallywag

 

[westward]

Nice to hear you like it John. I'm planning on getting the same setup: 942XS with 18" Fantom radar. I think my eyes will benefit from going up to 9" from my (recently stolen) 740S. I don't like the $2k price for the radar, but if the "moving objects in color" feature works then it's worth the price as a safety feature for running in fog. What transducer did you select (and how do you like it)? Mike.

 

[hardee]

Sounds like a cool feature. So what are the colors coming at you? and going away? And I am assuming that those movements are in relation to you and the ground is standing still even when you are moving, so they don't color.

And what size is that 942xs?

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[Brewkid]

I got the GT23M-TM, because sooner or later I'll probably come off that extra money for the black box to get side view! All new gadgetry aside I still use my Samsung Tab A with Navionics as well. Not to merge topics but my tablet also uses a internal GPS chip and doesn't need WiFi or cell service. When I do want to run my Marine Traffic app I turn my phone into a hot spot and I'm good to go with at least some AIS info. I also run a couple of Blue Sea USB double ports to keep everything charged and running and a Ram Mount to keep the tablet steady. Posting pictures now.

Harvey, red coming at me and green going away.
From the manual....
The moving targets are color-coded so you can tell at a glance which targets are heading your way and which are heading away from you. On most color schemes, green indicates the target is moving away from you and red indicates the target is moving toward you.

John
Scallywag

 

[Brewkid]

Harvey,
Sorry, the chartplotter is a 9". You can get a size comparison by looking @ the pictures I added to my album. The center color of the moving target is the only thing that changes but is nice to get an immediate indication if the object is moving towards me or away.

John
Scallywag

 

[hardee]

Hi John, Thanks for the info. And I like the Luci Light too. I keep one in my car, and one the boat. I works great, and is usually all the light I need.

Thanks for the quick response.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon