Large screen GPS /Chartplotter

G

Guerillabill

New member
I've been upgrading the electronics on the used C-Dory I recently purchased, and one of the things I wanted was a large screen GPS to replace the small black and white mapless GPS that came on the boat.

I've spent some time trying to find a compromise between size and price - but it seemed that once you passed the 5" wide color screen size, you were in $1,000+ territory.

Yesterday a friend suggested I look at the Humminbird 900 series, and after trying them out at the local West Marine, I was really impressed with the size, the features, and the readibilty of the Humminbird.

But at $1,395 for the least expensive 955c, it was still out of my price ballpark.

Then while doing more research, I discovered that Humminbird had just discontinued the 955c, and the remaining inventory was being sold at closeout prices.

I checked around and found that the BoatersWorld website had them in stock for $499, new in the box, full warranty and included the external GPS antenna - with free shipping and no sales tax.

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/MP63816620.htm

At that price, I couldn't resist. I ordered one immediately.

Now all I have to do is make room for the 11" wide color 955c GPS / Chartplotter somewhere inside the cabin.

Note: the Humminbird 955C does come with pre-installed internal maps, but most people upgrade to the navionics Platinum maps.

Bill
 
Bill,

I think you will like the Humminbird. I bought the 757c as a backup to my Raymarine C80, and find that I use it as much or more. It's a smaller screen than you have, but still does a wonderful job. I had a problem with the display that HB said they fixed, but it reoccurred. They replaced the unit without a question. Works good, as advertised.

Steve
 
After using Coastal Explorer on a tablet computer with trackball, I can't think of any better way to go. The price is much less for a comparable size screen, the charts and updates are free, the response time on redrawing is much faster, and you can watch a movie on rainy nights. Trip planning is a snap, and you can export the projected route to Google Earth. During the trip, you can make notes about things you saw and they are referenced on the chart.

The only caution, you need to understand a little bit about computers, USB devices, and serial communications (NMEA 0183).
 
Check these guys our In Washington State: Cascadegps

http://www.cascadegps.com/

I bought all my boat electronics from radar to stereo speakers from them and i have never found anyone cheaper. They have the 955c for $479, but if you call them up they may cut you a better deal. Also no tax if you are out of state.
 
Thanks for bringing the Sitex Explorer plus device to our attention. It is most interesting. You would need a 12 volt LCD screen or a power supply and computer screen, plus a GPS antenna. The screen size would be large, but I am not sure what the resolution would be when blown up on the larger screen. Also I don't see that it takes the more modern NMEA 2000 protocol.

As for great places to buy our Captain Matt's on line store is excellent in services and price:
http://commercialcaptains.1freecart.com/
 
Bill,

Thanks for the heads up on the 955c. I had just been out to Kitamat with my x-deck hand now "Captain" and was checking out the 917xs he just bought. Nice unit. So I picked up the 955c for 'Lucky 7's'. Looks like it will work well using my 178c for backup and sounder.

Once again thanks,

Glen
 
If I was looking at large screen, I would consider the new C-120 Wide from Raymarine because it has a separate input reader specifically for AIS. And it will fit on the console of the 22.

Nice size for split screen display. YMMV

Harvey
SleepyC
 
Glen,

I installed the 955c two weeks ago, and was happy to discover that I didn't need to drill holes into the cabin roof to mount the GPS receiving unit.

I mounted the GPS receiver on the shelf above the cockpit, and it works fine.

Receives 5 satellites through the roof!

Bill
 
Well, OK. If I understand correctly, the Si-Tex EXPLORER PLUS allow one to interface C-map charts to a VGA display, for $900. Does not advertise a PC interface. So one would have to buy a separate VGA screen, which is available at ~$300.

Wait!!! The EXPLORER PLUS also indicated it interfaces with the Si-Tex radars. Thus for the EXPLORER PLUS with GPS ($900) plus a Si-Tex radar ($1050) plus a 12" LCD screen ($300) for a total of $2250, you'd have a great radar/mapping/12'" display system. Compare with Raytheon or Garmin (~$3600.) If you want NMEA 2000, add $100 for the Simnet Converter AT10 and there you are.

C-Map sells a card reader for ~$125 which allow you to interface with a PC. If that's all you want, the card reader is cheaper. I have one. Unfortunately, I use the C-map cards in the dedicated plotter when we're underway. And the program they supply is limited in it's navigation capability. So I run Fugawi (others are just as good,) and the NOAA charts, plus a DVD of Canadian charts. They're raster charts, but NOAA also has vector charts.

Boris
 
Bill,

That's good to know. I mounted mine to the radar arch. It's going to be nice to have the whole screen dedicated to charting.

Glen
 
One thing to watch with LCD screens is to be sure the one you buy is daylight viewable. I use a Dell Tablet PC (12") running Coastal Explorer that is pretty bright and usable in daylight in the cabin. The other issue is power consumption. I looked at a couple of LCD displays and their power consumption at 12 VDC was 1.2 amps. I need to check my notebook again but I seem to recall the draw was 2.4 amps. I use a USB powered GPS so that is the total draw for the entire system for navigation. Based on that, you want to be sure you unplug the 12 VDC power supply I use for the computer when you shut the engine down for any length of time.
 
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