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Christmas GPS $600.00 Budget

3K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  ltgoshen 
#1 ·
O.K Moma has given me a Christmas GPS $600.00 Budget.

I do coastal cruising and want to get as much as I can with that money. What to do???
Your suggestions?
 
#2 ·
Well, given that budget you are going to be looking at 5" plotters, from what I've seen you basically have a choice of Garmin, Lowrance or the Standard Horizon units for that sort of money. The Lowrance 5 is on a cracking deal at WM at the moment, transducer, Gold charts for under $450 plus taxes so you'd have a few bucks left over for other toys.
I liked the interface on it, I've tried several different manufacturers out and that Lowrance seemed the most obvious, followed by the Garmin with the SH just not seeming that easy. I also didn't like the little stick control on the SH.
I'm sure with some study of the manual they would all be fine. Pretty sure the Garmin and SH don't come with charts, or transducers if you want depth.
Haven't looked at the Hummingbird units, nor the smaller Raymarine which is on special at the moment but I think still out of your budget.
Best bet is to get yourself to a marine supplier and play with a few, see which one you like.
 
#3 ·
Do I have to have a GPS antenna and a thru hull transducer to make these things work?
My Garmin 215 I use now is outdated but it has a white mushroom antenna mounted on hte back of the boat. How does it get the depth reading? it does have a memeory card in the unit. Do I need to update the card or do I have to buy a new card?
Can I update the old card and use it in a new unit?
Sorry for all the questions.
 
#4 ·
The units most likely have an internal gps antenna and won't need that mushroom antenna. The units that measure depth will come with another transducer. If you have a depth sounder already, I really don't see the major benefit for installing the chartplotter's. I believe that chartplotters that come with depth transducers typically are for finding fish. I would save $$ by buying a plotter without that feature but then I don't fish.

Tod
 
#6 ·
You might be able to network them. You can also check on each units website to see compatible transducers. As far as details about how to do that, you need to review the documentation, often located on-line, for the unit.

Tod
 
#7 ·
I like the Lowrance Elite series plotters if one is looking for a standalone plotter or plotter/depth combo- great value for the money, especially pre-loaded with navionics charts- it saves a substantial amount of cash.
Lowrance Elite-5m HD Gold Chartplotter

I know, it is only NMEA 0183, but if you are looking for a capable standalone, not trying to link it to the rest of your electronics suite, it is more than enough.
I have had one aboard for 5 seasons, and have zero complaints.
 
#10 ·
I have 8.4" of chartplotting doolally at the moment, not sure I could go as small as 4" and still be able to actually see it from the helm. 5" is pushing it, the 7 would be better. Anyway, I am not spending any more money on the boat this year. Repeat. I am not spending any more money on the boat this year. Although I wouldn't mind a traveller that is actually usable. And genoa tracks. And some new sails.
 
#11 ·
echoMAP 50s GPS. With the Off shore G2 Chart
And A thru-hull Transducer?


The guy at west marine said my st50 transducer I have now "would not work". They want $179.00 for the bronze transducer they sell.
What a shame. I just want a good 5" unit that I can see the bottom and nav-aids It would be nice if it couse use the data from the 5 transducers I have already mounted for the Autohelm stuff.
Bumer. Whats a man to do.
 
#12 ·
ltg, I and others have had good success with simply hull-potting the transom mount transducer that many chartplotter-sounder combos include. If the hull isn't cored, it will work fine shooting through the hull. Another plus for the lowrance elite gold series- everything you need is included- just plug and play. no chips or transducers to buy.
 
#18 ·
I found this researching the web for answers.

Connect your Navman NMEA Out (+) to the Autohelm NMEA In (+). Connect the NMEA Out (-) on the GPS to the electrical (-) of the autopilot, (NOT the NMEA (-)). Configure your GPS to talk NMEA 183. Set a course on your GPS, Sail that course. Hit (Track) on the Autopilot. Watch out for other boats. Good luck Steve Alchemist #909 p.s. The Raynav ST-4000 manual tells you all of this. You may need to cousult the Navman manual for the colors of the wires. It will be fun finding the right size terminals to connect the
two.

Is this corect information?

Is there differnent versions of 0183? like veirsions 3 and V3.01?
 
#20 ·
NMEA0183 stuff is usually pretty easy to get to talk to other NMEA0183 stuff, most of the time just wire it up and you're off, default speeds are normally 4800 for everything aside from AIS which runs at 38400. I haven't played with NMEA2000 stuff but I think it's similarly straightforward.
 
#21 ·
NMEA 2000 is even easier than NMEA 0183 in my experience. It is a lot easier to expand the network.

At $600 you are just getting to the price point where NMEA integration is an option. Check units and manuals carefully if you want that feature.

I do find the fish finder view useful when anchoring. It gives you a pretty good understanding of bottom conditions that is difficult to get with just a depth finder number.

Depth transducers are often compatible between brands if you can figure out the wiring. Airmar makes the transducers for everyone and documents the wiring for almost all brands. A 200khz transducer is the most common.
 
#22 · (Edited)
After a lot of research and asking a a lot of questions.
I came up with the Garmin echoMAP50s.
It has a lot of stuff I need and I can upgrade it later with no problem. The biggest concern was that it would send the information to my Raymarine st4000 autohelm. I need to be able to steer the boat with the gps some of the time. It has a photo map chip that will help create routes using google earth maps. What that means is that is I put a way point on one side of an Island and the second way-point on the other side of the same island it will create a rout around the island not threw it. I will have to load some basic information into the unit first. Draft, height, length etc.
Not sure if it will read my depth/ temp thru-hull transducer I own now. All of my instruments are rarmarine st50 0183 seatalk. it would be great to link in all or at least the the autohelm st4000 and depth into the new echo50s.

I want to be confident of my off-shore training. I needed a good unit to help with that. I now have a GPS 76 handheld that does not have maps. I think I will upgrade that unit to a hand held that does have maps. and this new unit. I have been studying charting as well. Thanks for all the help guys.
As I move forward in this most excellent journey I have you to thank for much of my advancement in the process.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-water/echomap-50s/prod119856.html
 
#23 ·
O.K so my new Garmin GPSmap 50 in the mail today. The cabling looks to be straightforward. I have to find out what to hook all the other stuff to.
The GPS and the ST4000 are all that I really want well, I will want the depth and temp transducer as well.
Anybody know which of 3 choices will be better. Thru hull bronze I have a hole in the boat for that now that has a plug in it. It was for the paddle wheel water speed. Or the outer choices a transom mount or a in hull puck?
I will have to take this slow.
all greek to me.
Thanks for your help.
 
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