New Garmin to replace Raymarine

C

Captains Cat

New member
Bit the bullet here and bought all Garmin for Captain's Choice II. I will have my C-80 system, Autppilot, Radar etc for sale by late winter, early spring. It is a 2005 original install (by Les at EQ marine, I'm the second owner) and, while it would have done the job, I just craved something "new". Went with a 10" MFD and a totally integrated system including HD Radar, AIS and AP. I'll install it and a "new to me" 6HP Evinrude 4 stroke kicker on the boat in my big garage. The Black kicker and White ETEC will clash a bit but I've always been a bit of a maverick... :wink: Going to sell the Wallas too, it needs service and we don't plan to use the boat in a way where we would need it here.

What's money for anyway if it isn't to spend on boats? :roll:

Any recommendation on mounting of the kicker? Bracket? It's a long shaft. I'm going to do it myself b/c our local marine shop guy just rolled his eyes when I asked about undercutting the transom holes. :crook It will have to go to Starboard as there's a swim ladder to Port and Bennett trim tabs to work around..
 
Funny: I just bought some Raymarine to replace my original Garmin :D I actually really liked the Garmin I had (it was just old and slightly obsolete), but for me the new Garmin offerings just didn't quite combine the screen size/type I wanted. If they had I would have stuck with Garmin for sure.

Captains Cat":14d3hynp said:
What's money for anyway if it isn't to spend on boats? :roll:
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Exactly :D

Captains Cat":14d3hynp said:
Any recommendation on mounting of the kicker? Bracket? It's a long shaft.
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Both my previous Honda 8 and my current Mercury 5 (although I haven't used the Merc yet) are long shafts. I mounted a "Mini Jacker" fixed aluminum bracket on the transom for the Honda (it was originally mounted directly on the transom, but that had to change when I installed the Bennett trim tabs). So far I have no complaints about the Mini Jacker, and for me, the 3" fixed lift it gives, plus the setback, were both benefits. I also have my kicker to starboard as my swim platform is to port (I like that as then I don't have to climb over/through the engine cables). I ran my transducer cables "behind" the Mini Jacker and used Weld Mount wire tie bases glued to the Mini Jacker to hold them - so no extra transom holes needed for those.

One note though: The Honda 8D, being a relatively big "small" engine, sat just perfectly on the "bare" Mini Jacker vis-a-vis the trim tabs. The Merc 5 I have now is a much more "spindly bodied" 2-stroke and I had to space it aft slightly further to clear the tabs. I didn't change the Mini Jacker, but rather made a set of fiberglass pads that go between the engine bracket and the Mini Jacker so the engine sits back a touch further.

Captains Cat":14d3hynp said:
I'm going to do it myself b/c our local marine shop guy just rolled his eyes when I asked about undercutting the transom holes.
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Well at least they were clear on where they stood! :roll: This way you'll know it's done right.
 
Must be that time of year for upgrades. I too just bit the bullet and ordered the Garmin GPSMAP 840xs and the Garmin GMR 18HD. If anyone is interested, I have my Raymarine SL72+ Radar for sale now. $500. It works very good, but is Black & White. Buyer would also have to pay shipping. I do have photos of the unit, that I can post later to my album, or can email (easier). Colby P.s. BTW Charlie, regarding kicker installation, you can look at my setup in my photo album.
 
Sunbeam, great info and Colbysmith, great pictures. My 6HP is a 4 stroke which will tie right into the main (90 ETEC) gas line. Not sure yet if I'll tie steering in but the bracket is there on the ETEC Seastar setup. The mini jacker looks like the way to go, don't even have to pull the gas tank which I was dreading a little.

Now I can dread it longer!! :disgust

I've had both Garmin and Raymarine integrated systems on 22's and TC255's. Will see how I like this one. WM has some great deals right now, through today and tomorrow I think.

Charlie
 
Captains Cat":2zehd7nw said:
Not sure yet if I'll tie steering in but the bracket is there on the ETEC Seastar setup.
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I didn't have my Honda 8 tied in to the steering. Main reason on that engine was that -- with it mounted to starboard -- the tiller arm got in the way of a straightforward linkage. However, I did discover that it steered pretty well with the main, just using the main like you would a sailboat rudder, at least in good conditions. Of course I also had the option to go back and just use the tiller handle.

I may tied in the Merc 5 because it looks a lot simpler, but like you, not sure yet.
 
Hey Charlie! Have not been on for a while until just lately. Been a while since we have chatted. Good luck on your new system & set up. Crazy what we paid for our complete Raymarine systems back in 2006....and what we can buy similar systems for today. Just wanted to say Hey!
Byrdman
 
Well I got all my new electronics and got them installed today. Looking at the Garmin GPSMAP 840XS and Garmin GMR 18HD. I'm a little concerned about the noise and vibration from the 18HD radome however. I never heard my old Ray Marine Pathfinder radar, unless I stuck my head next to the antenna. But this new one, it's like a jet engine firing up. I do have it mounted directly to my roof top...with some plastic spacers to lift and angle it a tad bit. Is this normal for this newer radar to make a very audible noise? Colby

P.s. Anyone interested in my old radar. It is VERY Quiet! :-)
 
Colby,
We have the Garmin 18HD radar. It's up on a radar arch with a five or six inch pedestal. No vibration by I can hear it spinning up and when not running I can hear it. For me that's a good thing. It reminds me to put it on standby or shut it off when we are not traveling if I have the chart plotter on looking at other screens.
D.D.
 
The vibration is not bad. Really can't feel it unless I put my hand on the ceiling. But the noise is definitely a negative to me. I agree it's nice to remember to put it in standby, but just as you hear the sound, I see the caption on the screen. :-) I think it's bad if the boats next to you can hear it winding up and running! I think if I had known it was going to be this noisy, I may have rethought my choice to purchase it. Perhaps I should have looked up more reviews on it. Other than that, so far it seems like a nice unit! I did do some review searching about the noise and found out I'm not the only one that it caught by surprise. Someone also said Garmin is aware of it, but nothing they can do. Guess it has something partially to do with being gear driven as opposed to belt driven. In any case, hopefully it will hold up and last for a long time. Colby
 
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