How to choose

[John McLaughlin]

I have been doing my research on GPS/Chart Plotter/ Fish Finder and the more I do the more frustrated I get. I find it like trying to buy a new tv, car or even a phone. It seems the options are endless and it seems like everyone has their favorite one. Some like Garmin, others like Lowrance, Dragon Fly, Ray Marine or Simrad. Some say some are to complicated like the Simrad and others love it an say it is very easy to use. Then there is the transducer some say it will work find on the stern others say it should be thru hull if you want an accurate speed reading. Some come with decent charts others say purchase separate like Navionics. Anyway I think you can all feel my frustration. What I do want is a 7 in screen however some say it is to big for SX 210 any thoughts appreciated here. I will be using it mostly in the local waters off of Ocean City Md and occasionally the Chesapeake bay. I would like it to be able to read structure, show fish and plot and store routes etc. Touch screen would be nice and if its has bells and whistles I can live with that. I will have a professional installing it
Anyway any advice and or opinions would be greatly appreciate.

 

[Bluewater272]

Sounds like a Simrad Go7 with TotalScan Transducer would be up your alley. Head on over to a Westmarine so you can touch different brands and look at their interfaces. I had a Garmin before, went with a Simrad on this boat - haven't used it on water yet, but seems fairly intuitive so far. The Lowrance was also nice, I didn't care much for the input methods on the Dragonfly - but if that doesn't bother you, they're a great option.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Can I jump in here, and ask for a recommendation as well? I just want something that will show me depth and the channels, and route guidance.

 

[Billy Duncan]

I have the Humminbird Helix 5 GPS-DI and absolutely love it. It came with the Navionics card. Mine is only a 5" screen and works well for me. It also comes in 7" and 9" Screen models as well. It has everything you are looking for in a Chartplotter/Depthfinder. I did the same thing you are doing before I pulled the trigger on the humminbird model. I mounted the unit on a RAM Mount that is made for this model and you can just about mount it anywhere you want to. The "DI" stands for Down Imaging which will give you a perfect 3D image of the bottom structure. You can opt for the side imaging as well but that's not really needed unless you are fishing. The chartplotter feature is awesome. If you are on unfamiliar lakes or waters, the Navionics Maps will show you Channel markers, depth changes in 1' increments, and will chart your course the whole day wherever you go so you can get back to where you started, especially after dark. I saved several routes on my home lake from the boat ramp to my favorite spots just so I could get back after dark without having to use my spotlight to much, so i dont hit any channel bouys. It will also store several thousand waypoints that you can set to mark your favorite spots or to track how to get in and out of certain places. The list goes on and on. The Lowrance models are very good as well. I am extremely happy with the Humminbird Helix model thou!

FYI, the Navionics card that came with the purchase is for all US and Canada lakes and coastal regions including Florida Keys and the Bahamas. $150 Value..... I spent about $500 total including the purchase price of the Helix 5, RAM mount, and a Humminbird Cover for the Unit.

 

[bronze_10]

This is how I mounted mine... Easy install

 

[ClemsonTiger]

General Guidelines:

Watt power output (source unit & transducer):
Higher is better and will provide a clearer image and have greater range (depth). 500w-600w, 1Kw, 2Kw, 3Kw are the standard outputs. If your source unit and transducer are different Watts...your available usage will default to the lower of each. (a 1Kw source unit and 500w transducer will only return 500w results. A 500w source unit and a 1Kw transducer will also only return 500w results). It is key to match the transducer to the source unit output!

Transducer frequency:
Higher frequency has greater detail while sacrificing range (depth) and lower frequency has greater range (depth) while sacrificing detail/clarity.

Chirp (Variable frequencies)
Low Chirp 24Hz-78Hz range
Med Chirp 78Hz-130Hz range
High Chirp 130Hz-200Hz
Side/Down Scan 455Hz-800Hz

Standard Transducer (Fixed frequency)
50Hz and 200Hz

Transducer beam:
Narrow, standard or wide. Narrow typically is used for low frequency high watt transducers inorder to sharpen the beam and increase readings in great depths. Standard is exactly as it isstated...standard/generic beam intended for general usage and good at everything but great at nothing. Wide typically is used for high frequency transducers to widen the overall landscape ofscanned area.

High frequency beams are narrow in length and low frequency beams are wide in length....such is the reason for the narrow/low frequency beam and wide/high frequency beam.

The above are your general guidelines with transducers.....now to understand which to use when....is a whole other ball of wax.

Hummingbird and Lowrance are geared toward freshwater.

Simrad, Raymarine, Garmin are geared toward saltwater.

 

[Sbrown]

@John McLaughlin All the ones you are looking at are good. Choose the one that you find easier to operate and whose price makes sense. The Garmin will come with the maps you need for the areas you specified that you boat in, just FYI. I bought a Garmin Echomap chirp and am very happy with it. It does everything you require and is fairly intuitive to use. As far as speed accuracy with a transducer.......the unit is a GPS and gets its speed signal from satellites as any other GPS unit will do. The 74 series (cv or DV) would provide your 7" screen. You won't go wrong with any of the units you are looking at.

 

[biglar155]

Things that I consider important: How quickly can you get to the screens you use most, size of the screen (big enough to see, not too big to be in the way), size of the buttons.

I've got a small-ish Garmin (forget the model) and I like it, but sometimes I have to do more menu-scrolling than I'd like. This can present problems:

First, there's "eyes off the road" time. Yeah, you can get away with it more than you can in a car, but you still need to be playing "heads up" when running the boat. If you're horsing around with the GPS trying to pick a route that is 3 menus deep, it's usually just after launching which means a more congested traffic area. You're gonna bump somebody eventually.

Another issue is bouncing around in chop. This is where screen size and button size get really important. Mine is a little small-ish so I sometimes have to come down off-plane to be able to get to what I want. Again, I think there are too many menus to scroll through.

I really miss my old hand-held Garmin GPS 76s sometimes. You HAD to scroll through all of the available screens, but that only required two buttons and you quickly learned where they were in relation to each other. I hardly ever had to go into menus.

 

[Maillis]

Like you’ve already figured out there are too many options. A 7 inch screen, side scan (for structure), and depth down to maybe 250 ft max based on what you said above.

What’s your budget? That’ll help narrow things a bit.

 

[John McLaughlin]

I did some more research today and put my hands on the Garmin and the Simrad, both were touch screen and both at least in the demo mode easy to use. I liked the screen on the Simrad a little better then on the Garmin, however I liked the charts that Garmin provided better. It was recommended that I go with an in-hull transducer due to the turbulence caused by the jet drives. I will have to think about that as it an added expense and will probably not get me the side views that both systems offer. I really do want the ability to read structure both under and around at the boat. So I will have to see if the GPS will give me the speed reading and the transom transducer the the best fish finder capability. I will also not be doing my own installation so that is an extra expense. I suspect it will come down to total price as they are both capable chart plotter/ fish finders.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

in-hull transducer

in-hull and thru-hull are 2 completely different applications.

Typically in-hull are for larger applications and high power.
http://www.airmar.com/uploads/Brochures/in-hull-keel-chirp.pdf

I'm about 99.9% sure your referring to a thru-hull transducer.

 

[John McLaughlin]

You are correct. It is a thru hull transducer that i am looking at.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

And YES! Thru hull is this way to go...period. Does transom mount work? Sure. Is it optimal? No! Especially if your spending the $, why go cheap on application? Defeats the purpose.

Now, there will be all kinds of people that come out and say their transom mount ducers work perfectly and are crystal clear.....and I'm positively sure they honestly believe that.

But how would they know? They are comparing it to what? Do they have a thru hull and a transom mount? Highly unlikely.

I have both. 2 transom and 1 thru hull for 3 total transducers. I have the structure scan 3d computer and transducer for simrad....that ducer is transom mount and it reads for shyt! Massive amounts of interference (and I don't even have a jet boat, I have an outboard with less turbulence).

To each their own. Best of luck with whichever way you decide to go.

 

[John McLaughlin]

"Clemson Tiger" do you have the three transducers on the same boat connected to the same plotter. I ask because I was thinking of doing that as it would seem to give me the best of all worlds especially if the transom transducer is included.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

Yes, all on the same boat.

Thru-hull 1kW medium chirp and transom mount 3D structure scan connected to Simrad EVO2 12in MFD.

Transom mount 200Mhz/50Mhz connected to Garmin 74DV.

I used to live on the Chesapeake myself (Kent Island). To be honest, even in brackish water, your not gonna pick up structure deeper than 50ft (for the side/down scan feature). Optimal use for you, if it was my boat, thru-hull high chirp....1kW (depending on your budget and which source unit MFD you choose). Entry level MFD only output 500W. Also, once you step up to a 1kW transducer....your in the 1.5K-2K price range...for the transducer alone.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

2 transom, 1 thru Hull, structure scan 3d module, autopilot, MFD units...