Combo Chartplotter/FF??

[Fluke Whisperer]

Looking for advice on a good combo unit to be mounted on a 17' Boston Whaler Montauk- my father's boat.
He stays primarily in the bay so not looking for a high end unit.
Just want something basic to be able to track drift lines while fishing, show depth good, and be able to help find his way back to the dock on a foggy day. Its an open boat with no T-Top or bimini so it needs to be something that is visible in sunlight.
My unit on my boat is a Lowrance from 2003 so I'm behind in the latest technology.
Thanks.

I have a Humminbird 788ci that is a few years old, in great working condition, if you haven't already bought one for your dad, I am offering you this unit for free, I fired it up about an hour ago and ran diagnostics, everything is working perfectly.
It has down imaging and would be perfect for a 17 foot Boston Whaler. I have included pics, if you want the unit let me know where I need to ship it.
Unfortunately I do not

have the manual, but you can download it at Humminbird's website.
Oh, almost forgot, it has a 2 gig simm card for saving those favorite spots or recording.
Jay

 

[Chinacat]

I have a Humminbird 788ci that is a few years old, in great working condition, if you haven't already bought one for your dad, I am offering you this unit for free, I fired it up about an hour ago and ran diagnostics, everything is working perfectly.
It has down imaging and would be perfect for a 17 foot Boston Whaler. I have included pics, if you want the unit let me know where I need to ship it.
Unfortunately I do notView attachment 27202View attachment 27203View attachment 27204 have the manual, but you can download it at Humminbird's website.
Oh, almost forgot, it has a 2 gig simm card for saving those favorite spots or recording.
Jay

Wow!!
That is awfully generous of you! ??
Do you know off hand if it can be flush mounted into the dashboard?
I forgot to mention thats on the wish list?
You are in CT correct??
From time to time i go to CT for work

 

[NoFlukenName]

I have a Humminbird 788ci that is a few years old, in great working condition, if you haven't already bought one for your dad, I am offering you this unit for free, I fired it up about an hour ago and ran diagnostics, everything is working perfectly.
It has down imaging and would be perfect for a 17 foot Boston Whaler. I have included pics, if you want the unit let me know where I need to ship it.
Unfortunately I do notView attachment 27202View attachment 27203View attachment 27204 have the manual, but you can download it at Humminbird's website.
Oh, almost forgot, it has a 2 gig simm card for saving those favorite spots or recording.
Jay

That my friends is one generous offer. Good man Jay

 

[Fluke Whisperer]

Wow!!
That is awfully generous of you! ??
Do you know off hand if it can be flush mounted into the dashboard?
I forgot to mention thats on the wish list?
You are in CT correct??
From time to time i go to CT for work

No, it won't Flush Mount, yes, I am in Ct., Milford to be exact. If you still want it, it's yours.
Jay

 

[Chinacat]

Jay-
As much as I appreciate the offer, my dad prefers to go with a flush mount unit to save dash/console space.
I can't believe I'm saying this but I have to pass.
I trust it will find a home with the right person!!

 

[Fluke Whisperer]

Jay-
As much as I appreciate the offer, my dad prefers to go with a flush mount unit to save dash/console space.
I can't believe I'm saying this but I have to pass.
I trust it will find a home with the right person!!

No problem, I was just thinking about your dad not having anything and my experiences this summer.
Jay

 

[Macks]

Helping my daughter in law pick one out for my son's 15 whaler,question about the maps,witch one do I order,is the lakeVU just fresh water? He will be useing it in the bay on the south shore or maybe North Shore a few times?What a s the blue chart G3?

 

[Macks]

Guess I'll contact Garmen and get the low down on the maps..

 

[Capt Richie]

G3 is just more detail mapping I have a new garmin but havent hooked it up yet..but Im told they have detail bottom mapping 3D wrecks & reefs

 

[Leprechaun]

Macks - you need to get one with the suffix "SV" in its model number. CV is usually inland lakes, SV is coastal. However, the unit you illustrated appears to have both, at least that what it states in that ad. I would be real careful with that, and would check the Garmin website to be sure. UHD are their latest version of the Echomap series, btw.

Also, consider moving up to a 7" machine, instead of the 6". Doesn't sound like much more screen, but if you go look at the difference, its really amazing. West Marine and Freeport Marine have enough units on display that you can get a good feel for their relative size and also the cartography.

If you have time, go to www.thehulltruth.com, log onto their electronics board and put whichever unit you have an interest into their search engine. You should have enough reading to last 'til your eyes fall out.

I know all this because I'm considering adding a 9" Echomap UHD to my boat this Winter and have done my homework. I've had a pair of the smaller GPS 182C Garmin machines in my boat for 17 years and am well satisfied that I've received way more than my money's worth of service out of them. In general, Garmin offers excellent products at competitive pricing. Also, a very friendly, user-intuitive interface. And if you run into any issues, their CS is outstanding.

 

[Roccus7]

Blue Chart G3 is a very advanced chart. It does things like overlaying a satellite image of an area atop the land on the NOAA charts, along with improved underwater topography. It's nice, but for my use, and I've only got the G2 features, it's a bit of overkill as the extra G2 & G3 features don't provide me anything other than eye candy. I would hazard a guess that most weekend warriors would not find them useful, BUT if they're not much more than the normal cost when "it's time for a new set of charts", then go ahead.

Factoryoutletstore.com has great prices on Garmin charts. I bought the newest version for my area at a price far reduced than buying them directly from Garmin.

 

[Macks]

Thanks for the input guys,went with the G3 map as it's really the only option other then the world map at the same price,now after researching these awesome units I got get one for my boat this winter??

 

[Chinacat]

Macks - you need to get one with the suffix "SV" in its model number. CV is usually inland lakes, SV is coastal. However, the unit you illustrated appears to have both, at least that what it states in that ad. I would be real careful with that, and would check the Garmin website to be sure. UHD are their latest version of the Echomap series, btw.

Also, consider moving up to a 7" machine, instead of the 6". Doesn't sound like much more screen, but if you go look at the difference, its really amazing. West Marine and Freeport Marine have enough units on display that you can get a good feel for their relative size and also the cartography.

If you have time, go to www.thehulltruth.com, log onto their electronics board and put whichever unit you have an interest into their search engine. You should have enough reading to last 'til your eyes fall out.

I know all this because I'm considering adding a 9" Echomap UHD to my boat this Winter and have done my homework. I've had a pair of the smaller GPS 182C Garmin machines in my boat for 17 years and am well satisfied that I've received way more than my money's worth of service out of them. In general, Garmin offers excellent products at competitive pricing. Also, a very friendly, user-intuitive interface. And if you run into any issues, their CS is outstanding.

Hey Pete!
Im looking to do an upgrade on my boat this spring
Did you end up going with the Garmin Echomap UHD?
Im looking at the 74sv and trying to get some first hand feedback
Thanks

 

[magictoo]

Hey Pete!
Im looking to do an upgrade on my boat this spring
Did you end up going with the Garmin Echomap UHD?
Im looking at the 74sv and trying to get some first hand feedback
Thanks

you will not go wrong with a Garmin 74 sv. very good unit and incredibly easy to work. I put one on my boat as a "back up" unit to go with a 12" Garmin 7612. the 74 sv works as well as the much more expensive 7600 series (now the 8600 series)

 

[Leprechaun]

Hiya Mitch, yep, I went with a GPSMAP 743 stand-alone GPS, no FF in it. It's a really nice unit, lightening fast chart refreshing and no external antenna needed. I never thought I'd like a touch-screen unit, but having to input 400 waypoints on a touch screen is tits, compared to the endless scrolling needed for a non-touchscreen plotter. I highly recommend it!

Even better would be the 9" model - the GPSMAP 943 - if you can handle the extra cost. Nice to look fwd to the helm from the cockpit and clearly see the chart when drifting for fluke.

 

[Chinacat]

Hiya Mitch, yep, I went with a GPSMAP 743 stand-alone GPS, no FF in it. It's a really nice unit, lightening fast chart refreshing and no external antenna needed. I never thought I'd like a touch-screen unit, but having to input 400 waypoints on a touch screen is tits, compared to the endless scrolling needed for a non-touchscreen plotter. I highly recommend it!

Even better would be the 9" model - the GPSMAP 943 - if you can handle the extra cost. Nice to look fwd to the helm from the cockpit and clearly see the chart when drifting for fluke.

Thanks for the feedback Pete!
I am space challenged at my helm and do not have a hard top to “hang” a unit from above
Im looking at all options and sizes to figure out what works best for me and appreciate all the input you give me

 

[Leprechaun]

So I just re-read the title of this thread. You want to use this as a combo plotter/FF? That I wouldn't recommend if you plan to split-screen it. Have two tiny 3.5" images next to each other would be kinda tough to use. Running with one or the other full-screened would be O.K., but as a split-screen instrument, not so great.

The way I fluke fish I have the Garmin 7" plotter tracking my position in real time and the 8" Lowrance FF watching the bottom. I can see both from where I fish on my rear deck - but, having a 9" plotter and a 10" FF would be infinitely better - I do have the room, but I'm not replacing perfectly fine instruments while they are problem-free. I'm cheap that way.

I know you say you are "room-challenged" at your helm, but if you do go with a 7" screen, I would plan on using one function or the other at a time, if you do want to see what's going on around or under your boat from any kind of distance at all.

 

[Chinacat]

So I just re-read the title of this thread. You want to use this as a combo plotter/FF? That I wouldn't recommend if you plan to split-screen it. Have two tiny 3.5" images next to each other would be kinda tough to use. Running with one or the other full-screened would be O.K., but as a split-screen instrument, not so great.

The way I fluke fish I have the Garmin 7" plotter tracking my position in real time and the 8" Lowrance FF watching the bottom. I can see both from where I fish on my rear deck - but, having a 9" plotter and a 10" FF would be infinitely better - I do have the room, but I'm not replacing perfectly fine instruments while they are problem-free. I'm cheap that way.

I know you say you are "room-challenged" at your helm, but if you do go with a 7" screen, I would plan on using one function or the other at a time, if you do want to see what's going on around or under your boat from any kind of distance at all.

Totally understood
My current unit is a 20 year old Lowrance LCX 18c combo unit
In a perfect world, I am trying to keep that in place and add the Garmin unit so I can have 2 machines working at the same time

 

[captmike28]

Totally understood
My current unit is a 20 year old Lowrance LCX 18c combo unit
In a perfect world, I am trying to keep that in place and add the Garmin unit so I can have 2 machines working at the same time

Having the much larger information display a full screen offers is always a plus. As Pete said, and many others who have tried it notice, unless you are running "PC Monitor" sized displays seeing the most critical information from a distance is futile on a split small screen display.

In addition, redundancy on ay boat is always another plus, just in case a glitch happens on one machine.

My other suggestion is that when you do go shopping and observe the displays at a show or showroom be sure to stand at the same distance you would be while fishing in the cockpit of your boat. I literally took a tape measure and flashlight with me the last time I upgraded my electronics to make sure the readability factor for both distance and different lighting situations was optimal.

 

[Roccus7]

I'll chime in Mitch with a single comment, but you already have the wisdom of the Jedi Council above. IF you really want the combo GPS/FF, get a screen of at least 12".

I "fell into" a Garmin GPSMAP 4212 with radar! when I landed my current boat, and I've never suffered "individual unit" anxiety. Running that sized screen in split screen mode provides more than enough space for me to see from the transom of my boat. AAMOF, I run in split screen 99.9% of the time.

Now that being said, if I was routinely groundfishing in 300+', I might start thinking about a Funaro sounder unit with a 1KW transducer, but I don't so no need...