GPS Advice?

[hcalmar]

I just replaced my radar with a Furuno 1942 Mark-2 6kW very nice unit. I need to replace the Garmin 215 GPS tied into Raychart 620. Although the Raychart's size is nice I do not have confidence in either unit. I am looking for a single station GPS chartplotter. Does anyone have experience with Raymarine's A65? Any other ideas. Money is running low in this years boating budget.
Hal

 

[Maynard Rupp]

We have Navman GPS/chartplotter and a Navman fish finder/fuel flow system. They have several different models which vary mostly by screen size. We love them, they are inexpensive, and the displays are bright but can easily be dimmed. What more do you want or need. our Navman GPS also has a NMEA output which we routed to the lower station to put the boat on our laptop with Nobletech program.

 

[Genesis]

I've been crazy-happy with Garmin's plotters over the years in my boats..... Gigabite had one and so has every small boat I've owned since 2000. Their new line contains INTERNAL charts for the entire coastal and inland US! No chips required.

 

[Rickysa]

I've been crazy-happy with Garmin's plotters over the years in my boats..... Gigabite had one and so has every small boat I've owned since 2000. Their new line contains INTERNAL charts for the entire coastal and inland US! No chips required.

Ditto

We got the 3010 w/ XM weather/radio and have been very pleased.

 

[Dave Phipps]

I just finished installing a new Garmin 3010C chartplotter with XM Weather radio a few weeks ago. This unit replaces my 3 1/2 year old 2010C, which was a nice, but which I'll move to the flybridge as a back up.

The 3010C allows the satellite weather download to be overlaid on your nautical charts and includes (by subscription with XM Radio) wind and wave heights, doppler weather radar, frontal boundries, and other graphical weather products. This represents a quantum leap forward for boaters, and provides a decided safety advantage. It is a huge step forward; much the same magnitude of having a chartplotter added to the old GPS units!!! Imagine, having a full time, accurate weather eye instantly, when you want it, regardless of your location or time of day! You can purchase the chartplotter, XM radio module, depth sounder module, and network port expander to connect them, in a "bundle" for just under $3,000. Or buy the individual units and build the system as your budget allows.

While I would caution people about networks...(you don't want your ONLY source of navigational information all in one basket...what would you do if the display screen or network failed?) and (you should always be plotting course and position on paper charts).....I do think that a network system has some advantages when backed up with something else..and the Garmin 3010C system is very nice.....I actually have more weather information at my fingertips on the boat now, than I do in the cockpit of the airliner I fly for a living. I highly recommend it!!!

Dave

 

[Will]

We are happy with our Sitex Fish Plot 10, color plotter. It has NEMA connections to the Furuno radar and Robertson autopilot. It is a commercial grade unit. I don’t know if this model is still available but if not, there must be comparable models out there.

Will

 

[solanderi]

Hey Dave,

I have been impressed w/ the Garmin 3210C also. Where did you purchase your system? Did you install it yourself ? The XM weather link looks cool. How does the sounder look? Did you use an existing transducer or a new Garmin model? Thanks for any help,

Greg

 

[dougl33]

I've been using a Garmin 182c on my 33 Bert for 5 years. Prior to that I had a Garmin 160 on my 28 Bert.

2 years ago I bought a new radar when I had my hardtop installed. I decided to go with a 2kw Raymarine Radome with a C70 display. This year I added the Navionics Gold chart chip and fed a gps signal from the Garmin to the C70 so I could overlay the radar on top of the chart.

While it has worked great, I would not want to use the C70 as my sole chart plotter. Its not as easy to use as the Garmin and in my opinion the Navionics Gold is not as good as Garmin's Blue Chart.

If I was getting a new stand alone plotter I would go with Garmin. That being said, I would not go with their radar as I've heard its not very good.

Regards,

Doug L.

 

[Mike36c]

I recently bought a Garmin 376c w/XM weather and music as a back up for my 36. I've found that the WX function is downright incredible. On my last trip home from the Bahamas I was able to dodge HEAVY weather by animating NEXRAD. It sure was nice to be in West End while it blew 40kts than out in the gulfstream. Since the system is portable I'm also able to place it on the dash in the airplane, works great there too and is very accurate. Well worth it.

 

[DeeRow]

Mike,
Does the XM Weather work in the Abacos? Someone posted on another forum that he could not get weather data for Elbow Cay. What has been your experience?
Mark

 

[Dave Phipps]

Greg,

I bought my bundle through Consumers Marine on the internet. Pretty good prices and no sales tax...1-800-332-2628.

I installed the unit myself, and while I'm pretty handy, there are enough boxes and antennas that it was a fairly involved project. The hardest part is simply firguring out where to place each component, and how you'll run wiring between boxes. You'll also want to keep the appropriate distances between your new GPS and Satellite antennas and the already installed VHF and radar antennas. That "mental engineering" will take some time, but once you figure out your particular installation it goes pretty quickly. The result is definitely worth the time and effort.

I would suggest that you look at the Garmin website to explore the available display modes and functions. You can also download or view the owners manuals and installation manuals without charge.

My only criticism of the bundle is that each box requires it's own power supply....so you're running wires to a terminal board for each box, as well as it's associated "data" cable to the network port expander. It would be nicer if Garmin incorporated the power wires into the data cable, but maybe this wasn't feasable because of the potential for electrical interference with data signals....

I haven't yet connected the depth sounder module...primarily because I already have 3 sounders installed by the previous owner, and I'm concerned about "interference" between four sounding units...(one unit picking up the return signal from another...) so I have to figure out which transducer location is best (there are limited choices now)...and will likely remove one of the older depth sounders.

I believe that West Marine also carries the Garmin 3210C Network, where you may be able to see the units in person and get some idea of their size and display capability.

Best of luck!

Dave

 

[Mike36c]

Mike,
Does the XM Weather work in the Abacos? Someone posted on another forum that he could not get weather data for Elbow Cay. What has been your experience?
Mark

This is our first year with the unit and we got as far east as Green Turtle, the receiver showed a full signal, it even worked in heavy thunderstorms. The NEXRAD coverage extends east to about the middle of Grand Bahama, everthing else including sat extends well out into the Islands. It worked fine 30NM east of Spanish (tuna fishing). Maybe other members can shed light on the signal strength say out to Cat Island?

 

[Genesis]

I have a 3210C network bundle on my 23 CC and its awesome. Sounder, XM weather, XM radio and the plotter. Will likely add the radar as well.

The weather is the cat's meow - near-real-time Nexrad literally anywhere in the US, and its quite detailed.

The new GSD22 sounder works nicely too.

I've got no complaints.

 

[(Nobody You Know)]

Last year I bought a Garmin 2010 color chartplotter, one of the last available. Very pleased. Not all whistles and bells, but it has a big color screen. Suitable for a "ditch" runner.

Be careful what you buy. Some GPS software asserts coverage of particular regions but may fail to show all markers and other aids.

Stay away from notebook pc free stuff. Used one on a freinds boat and the savings are not worth it. The pc is no match for daytime glare, and at night you cannot adjust them down enough. I also found the ENC charts to be insufficient. Besides you really do not want to be fuming with a pc mouse/cursor when the boat's underway.

 

[CDB101]

I have found what I think may be the best price on a 3006c or 3010c from tvnav.com. The bundle price on 3006c is under $2000. I'm not sure if they carry the new model yet. I haven't bought one, but I did order a garmin streetpilot from them 2 yrs ago- had good service, delivery and a great price. Let me know if anyone finds any other good deals!
-Chad

 

[DeeRow]

Check out the pricing of Garmin on http://www.boatfix.com. They offer low prices and good service.

Mark

 

[Genesis]

You can buy the entire 3210C network bundle - with weather receiver and digital sounder - for right about $2500.

Don't waste money on the older stuff.....

 

[egaito]

I have a 3210C network bundle on my 23 CC and its awesome. Sounder, XM weather, XM radio and the plotter. Will likely add the radar as well.

The weather is the cat's meow - near-real-time Nexrad literally anywhere in the US, and its quite detailed.

The new GSD22 sounder works nicely too.

I've got no complaints.

Be careful with their radar. It's been promised for years, and I'm not sure if the bugs are worked out of it. My info may be a bit dates, so do your research.

A quick search yielded this result from Boater's World:

Due to an overwhelming demand, this product is no longer available.

Garmin's website says the 20 and 40 are shipping, but the 21 and 41 are expected to ship in May of '06 (time for a web update).

If their shipping product, you still might want to wait to see what the market response is for them.

Love their GPS' though.....



-Ed G.

 

[Genesis]

Yeah, I know... that's why I haven't bought it yet