Garmin frustration continues

T

tparrent

New member
This new echoMap chartplotter is driving me nuts.

During a long chat with a Garmin rep the other day, I found out I needed a microSD card in an adapter to fit into the echoMap. Turns out that's not quite true. You need a miscroSD without and adapter. Not a big deal but it pointed out his lack of knowledge.

He also told me the microSD had to be at least 8 GB but not larger than 32 GB and he recommended the 32 GB. Fortunately, I have several 8 and 32 GB cards around I use in cameras. I followed the user guide instructions and purchased the Lake maps for $150. Then I tried to download them - which requires the Garmin Express app. Ok, got that. Then I try to download the package of charts and it says computer does not have enough space. Requires 7 GB free space. I've got 8 GB free. Hmmm. Ok, try the empty 32 GB card. Same error.

So I go get two new 32 GB cards. Love the way the costs are adding up. Same error message. So I spend 90 minutes on various GPS forums and finally find a Garmin document (not included with the chartplotter) that says you need to first insert the blank card in the chartplotter and THEN try to download the charts. Good lord.

So I drive the 30 minutes to the boat for a two minute task after which I will need to turn around and drive home because you have to be online to do the download. I'm explaining this to my ten year old son as we are on the road and, brilliant child that he his, he says, "While we are here, why don't we 'go boating' " with the 'go boating' in finger quotes. Not a bad idea so we spend a couple of delightful hours on the boat before returning home with the initialized card.

I out it in the computer and Garmin Express registers the boat. It then says there are updates needed so I download those. The slowest downloads I have seen in the modern era. 25 minutes for 2 GB. I then try and download the Lakes charts that started this whole mess. Same damn error message about not enough space.

So I pull out my second brand new 32 GB card, copy over the initialization data and Garmin recognizes it. Try to download it and SAME ERROR MESSAGE. It keeps telling me I need 7 GB of space, I have 32 GB of space. What's the problem???

So now I have to wait until Monday to talk to a Garmin rep again. Oh joy.

After all of this, I find out that this unit has been discontinued. So West Marine sold me an old model at full retail. Worse, the replacement unit comes with the transducer whereas mine did not.

While I can certainly boat without the chartplotter, I like to snake my way through some dicey areas to get into backwaters few boats ever make it to. Doing that with a paper chart and depth sounder is doable but stressful - almost as stressful as pouring nearly $1000 into this misadventure so far with who knows what to come.

I continue to be spectacularly unimpressed with the "new, advanced sonar" on the unit. It's not showing anything more than the the old one.
 
Apparently I needed 7 GB on both the microSD card AND the main computer hard drive. This was not clear to me.

Good excuse to clean up the Mac but the only real way to make significant space is to move off the 83 GB iPhotos library. Making a brand new full disk image back up before I try to switch that library to a different disk!
 
Well tom, You got a boat ride out of the deal and it was with your son, Cool. And you are way ahead of some of us in computer skill. You lost me at having 8 and 32 gig cards around the house. :lol:

Sorry for all the hassle. I can relate to the frustration of having to deal with all this. That's part of the reason I take my boat in to a very good, reputable marine electronics place (Rodger's Marine Electronics in Portland, OR) and yes, it's not across the street, it's across the state, but perfectly reliable and customer centered service. They do what needs to be done, and I have peace of mind, and functional "stuff" on the water.

I actually think I come out money ahead and certainly less stressed. Obviously YMMV, but just wanted to share my experience.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I may travel all the way across the country to Portland just to get this done! The latest "fix" didn't work either.

Perfect boating weather today to go lurk in the backwaters and watch the eagles' nests but it's too tricky to do without the chartplotter :(
 
tparrent":8144kd3i said:
I may travel all the way across the country to Portland just to get this done! The latest "fix" didn't work either.(
Click to expand...
This is nuts. Down the street, the local marine supply store has a longtime employee whose specialty is selling and helping customers through these hurdles. You need someone with his experience and knowledge. Guys like him can't ALL live on the West Coast!

PS Rodgers Marine is the go to outfit in the Portland, OR metro area, for sure. I have had good service there, also.
 
tparrent":9bgobjmy said:
Perfect boating weather today to go lurk in the backwaters and watch the eagles' nests but it's too tricky to do without the chartplotter :(
Click to expand...

Sorry you are having the issues. The Garmin Chart plotters and DS work very well. It is bit tricky buying the Echo Map series--since they can come bare bones--(no charts no transducers, to ones which are ready to go. I scored a 94 DS which has Down View, Side Scan, and conventional sonar for my son, for a little over $600 in last August--and I know then that the series was being phased out. The more expensive the units, the more versatile they are. (network, NMEA 2000, Radar, Weather etc). My son's came with a transducer which gives great down scans.

I wonder if you got the wrong transducer?==one only giving traditional sonar. The Down Scan/ Side scans are going to be much larger. I have the 1041sx and it works great (no side scan)

Don't forget that GPS chart plotters are really relatively new in the greater scheme of life--and that before chart potters, we all wandered around the back woods--and back estuaries--even crossed oceans. Don't let a good boating day go to waste! There are plenty of back waters where there are no charts available. I find that printing out Google Earth images of those areas works very well. You can even take a few waypoints on the "way in" and leave a bread crumb trail, even if there is no chart of that specific areas. I do this all of the time still.

You have some great lakes in your neck of the woods--I even took a little time to explore a few when I lived in Richmond VA and had a 16 foot runabout....(50 years ago)
 
My advice would be to return what you bought from West Marine. Get into contact we BOE in Stevensville Md. They sell and install and in our dealings with them they have always served us well. 1 866 735 5926 the hours are 10 am to 5 pm. www.boemarine.com
D.D.
 
Online with Garmin chat support this morning. He was unable to offer any suggestions at all and suggested I call support - and then gave me the wrong number. I found the right number and called to find out the wait is over 30 minutes and that I should call in the morning for best service - of course it IS morning so...

If I return the unit - which is what I'm thinking of doing - I will have to remove the transducer, have a new one installed and start the circus all over again adding even more money, time and frustration.

This should not be so difficult.
 
On hold with Garmin support for over 40 minutes so far. That's given me ample time to search the various forums for suggestions. Turns out there's no end of problems with Garmin Express, their chart update utility, thus rendering my unit useless as it did not come with Lakes preinstalled.

I've tried Navionics+ on the iPad and was really impressed with its ease of use and functionality. It supposedly pairs up with Raymarine plotters. If I rip out all the Garmin stuff I may switch to Raymarine as they have a $400 unit that comes with Navionics+ but I sure as heck won't buy anything myself. I will drive 90 miles to a Raymarine dealer who does installation and tell them exactly the functionality I expect and let them put the whole package together.

Or I'll just get a lead line and give up on electronics.
 
Hi Tom,

I am a BIG fan of Garmin GPS units in my car or RV - easy and intuitive, even the Voice Command is reasonably accurate... well, other than the fact that if it doesn't understand what I want to find, it asks, "Did you say Olive Garden." :wink:

Two of the commercial boats I have been driving have Garmin GPS/sounder combo units, and I am not a fan.

For the boat we recently bought, I bought a small Raymarine unit, a DragonFly 4. (For the record, we had Raymarine E-Series in our CD-25 and really appreciated the capabilities.) This DragonFly only has a 4.3" screen (fine for our local use of the boat), but it has CHIRP Downvision sonar, and split screen options. It has been trouble-free and accurate, AND includes the Navionics+ charts. $299 at Bass Pro Shop. I got it when we bought the boat there, and they installed it free... I had assumed I would be installing it when we looked at it, and it is a straight-forward process.

Sorry to see this issue you are having with West Marine and Garmin. I really hope you get to use the boat a bunch before you start this next new chapter.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
I waited on hold for an hour with Garmin. A spectacularly uninformed agent finally came on. I told him I was using Garmin Express to download the charts and he said that's not what Gamrin Express if for. Huh? I asked him what it is for and he said it is used to download updates.

I then asked how I was supposed to download the charts I purchased and he said, "Use Garmin Express" WTF?

I then methodically went through the steps I had followed, the manuals I had referenced, the Garmin forums I had searched and he said he had never heard of any problems with downloading charts. That might be true because I don't think he knows what the words download or charts mean.

He then said they only thing they could do is send a card directly. Kind of old fashioned but if it works I'll take it.

I obviously won't be buying their marine products again for three reasons: 1) unclear sales material explaining what you need vs what is included, 2) obvious technical problems as evidenced by both my experience and that of hundreds of other users and 3) terrible customer support.

I need to go boating to decompress. The weather is supposed to be perfect all week so I'll just go to my normal anchorages.
 
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