What Electronics set up (chartplotter, fish finder, radar) do you have on your boat?

[Brandon]

Hi Gang,

I just ordered a new Lowrance LCX-38C HD w/8.4screen and a new handheld back up, a Lowrance iFinder H2OC. I am also going to try the new Hummingbird sidefinder for my second fish finder. I am not a big Hummingbird fan, but I have heard some really good things about this new sidefinder, so I am going to give it a try.

I am replacing my Furuno color 1650 (it will be for sale in the Tidal Fish Classifieds for a good price as soon as the new unit comes), a very old Garmin handheld that I used as a back up and an older then dirt Lowrance x something fish finder.

After reading Gerald's thread on the Maryland board asking if people use a GPS, I thought I would start a discussion on what electronics set up people are using on their boats.

Brandon

[Persistence2]

Brandon,

I just updated some of my stuff...

I have an older Raytheon SL72 24 mile radar (not color). Unit is very user friendly and works fine for me

Garmin 492C GPS/Plotter. Nice unit for the money and a HUGE step up from my Furuno GP-31 GPS (no chart)

Furuno 620 Digital Color finder. Love this unit...again, a HUGE step up from my Raytheon 470 unit which was marginal at best

I have the Plotter and FF interfaced to a Furuno GD display. The display unit convers Lat/Lon to Loran TD's and also allows me another place to display speed, water temp, depth and a few other items without having to toggle around two units or take up real estate with a lot of text boxes.

I need to get a backup handheld GPS...been on my list for a while.

Standard ICOM radio, backup handheld radio and EPIRB (last two in my ditch bag).

Would love XM radio on the boat and the integrated weather to the Garmin unit...but that's not going to happen soon. I'm going to need to repower soon so that's where my money is headed.

Glenn

[b8 boy]

I have the Furuno 1650 as my primary chart plotter/fish finder and I have a old garmin unit as a backup. Dont have radar yet but Mama is still getting over sticker shock from the 2 new E-Tec 250 outboards. I got the Simrad auto pilot which I really havent had much chance to test out yet but so far so good. I am thinking about the Furuno 4kw radar Navnet and put the 1650 as a backup. Got to do a little at a time to keep Mama happy. Martin

[Rare Breed]

Raymarine C-80 GPS, FF, Radar, Icom radio, handheld radio, Epirb. Eventually will get a GPS unit as backup with XM weather.

[Tom Milan]

I use the Garmin 3210 with the Satt weather which is great for dodging storm cells.
I also use the Hummingbird Sidescan which is great for wreck fishing. The sidescan unit
says it can see out to 300 ft each side but I found when you set it at 120 ft or so gives
the best resolution. It is also good for cruising the CBBT to see which piling the fish
are held up on.

Tom

[ocnslr]

- Icom M-602, connected to Digital 529 antenna and house battery bank. Set-up to use as hailer and automatic fog signalling. Command mic used adjacent to helm.

- Icom M-402, connected to separate Digital 529 antenna and engine battery bank.

- Sitex T-721 color radar

- Lowrance LCX-19C chartplotter/fishfinder, with Airmar transducer

- Garmin GPSMap 376C chartplotter, with Master Mariner MX Weather package

- Simrad AP-16 (just installed as replacement/upgrade for AP-12H)

All electronics fully NMEA interfaced. Both radios set up for DSC use, with the M-602 also providing DSC position reports to the LCX-19C. LCX-19C interrfaced to AP-16 and T-721.

- Handheld Icom VHF, handheld Garmin 76C GPS, and GPS-enabled EPIRB in the ditch bag.

Brian

[Brandon]

I would love to get radar like many have said they have, but I really could have to put a t-top on and I think my 21ft is just a little small. There is no question I need it and will definitely get one on my next boat which will probably be a 22-24ft something. Looking a bunch of options on that. I have to say I found myself in need of radar a few times at the CBBT area and it would have been greatly useful!

Brandon

[Miles Offshore]

Furuno 582L Bottom machine
Standard Horizen Matrix VHF
Icom VHF- back-up only
Garmin192C GPS chartplotter integrated with the SH VHF
JRC 1000 radar (soon to be upgraded)
Northstar 800X loran
Walmart FM boombox

[Brandon]

How many people who use Furuno fish finders have had problems with them holding the bottom at mid to higher speeds. That is the experience I have had with them on my boat plus four of my friends. Great unit when it works, but we moved, fine tuned etc the transducers and they never worked right. Note, all the boats had them professionally installed and two of the boats had transducers on the back, one through hull and the other in a through hull modification application.

Anyone else with the same thing?

Brandon

[naclh2ophishing]

My furuno 600l will lose the bottom at higher speeds the screen just turns to wash, it only does it sometimes and if i slow it returns to normal, not sure why and it's not a normal occurence, I have a thru hull transducer as well
Tight lines
Monty

[Here We Go]

My 582L does fine at all speeds.

[Persistence2]

My 620 has the ducer mounted inside the hull (shoots through the glass) and I don't lose bottom at speed. ONly a hard reverse...

Glenn

[TideH2O]

Furuno 600L shoot thru hull doesnt loose signal at any speed ,Garmin182c Standard Matrix DSC VHF thinking about upgrading sonar to a Furuno 620 or 585. Sonars I prefer Furuno.:thumbup: GPS I prefer Garmin

[Sea Gristle]

I'm garmin man - but they're not getting rich on me. I used and old handheld 48 until recently when I saw how much closer a WAAS enabled gps gets - so I splurged on a 76 handheld! I thought seriously about the color and chartplotters but in the end I have the map page so close all I would see is blue anyway so I saved the money. I use a Garmin Blue 2-something or other - dual frequency fishfinder.

Color is cool but a good resolution grayscale works fine for me.

[barnold]

I'm rigged with:

Garmin Color GPSMAP 440
Garmin 176 Backup
Garmin 340C Fishfinder w/ transom mount ducer (that holds bottom at full speed):D
ICOM M504 VHF integrated with the GPSMAP 440
Furuno 1715 2.2kw 24 mile Radar - already paid for itself. (not color but Love it!!)

[lmontagnaj]

Brandon:
I have dual Furuno Navionics II, one a 10", the other a 7". I read bottom while running offshore at 45 + mph no problem, unless it's super rough. My transducer is flush mounted through the center of my hull. It also has 4kw radar and I use that all winter long, leaving in the early morning fog.

I also have dual Icom VHF with all the bells and whistles and an Simrad Autopilot.

I had the Lowrance LCX on my previous boat and loved it until about 2 months later when it started crapping out. I got nowhere with tech support and a bud of mine also had the same unit and the same problems. I ended up returning it and went with the Raymarine C-80 which was awesome.

My preferences are Furuno, Garmin and Raymarine. Their customer support makes all the difference in the world.

Happy Hunting!!!

[G-Daddy]

I use a Garmin 478 GPS, Lowrance X510C sounder and Icom 402S VHF.

[Heaver]

Furuno 1712 radar, Icom M602 VHF, Garmin GPS Map 180, Lowrance Fish finder (sorry cant remember model), Raymarine S1000 autopilot.

Bought the boat new in 2001 and since then installed all the electronics myself. Its been quite an expense. :eek:

I let the dealer do the fish finder transducer install but they goobered it up by installing directly behind a chine. At any speed above planing I would lose the bottom. I move it myself to any area with undisturbed water (between two chines) and the fish finder began working at planing speeds on up to fill throttle (40 knots).

Lou

[FishinMagician_IV]

Furuno GP1650W GPS linked to the
Furuno 1715 Radar and also linked to
Raymarine S1G Auto Pilot

Furuno 582L fish finder which I had the same problem Brandon had of not recording the depth at higher speeds, so I installed a Airmar through hull and it's great!

Furuno GP32 GPS that I use as a backup and keep it on the Loran numbers when offshore, and is also link to a
Furuno FM3000 radio for the DSC functionality

Hand help West Marine VHF radio

ACR Globalfix 406 EPRIB

[HisDoghouse]

Brandon,

I have been very happy with my Raymarine electronics. On my last boat (2000 Wellcraft 290 Coastal) I had: Raytheon RayNav 420D, Raymarine 220 VHF, a C80 w/24" dome, the S1G course computer with the ST6001 Autopilot control head, FloScan Twinscan dual tachs and fuel flow meters, and a Interphase Twinscope forward looking sonar. The Interphase was the weakest part of that suite IMHO.

On my Luhrs I have an ICOM M602 VHF, and the following Raymarine hardware:

E120 MFD at helm
E80 MFD in tower
48" 4K Open Array
DSM300 Sounder
B256 Thru-Hull Transducer & B120 Speed/Temp
ST6001 & S2G course computer
AIS250 receiver
SR100 Sirius Weather & radio
NMEA Multiplexer
ST600R wired Autopilot remote
Smart Controller wireless AP remote
SeaTalk HS switchI have been VERY HAPPY with my Raymarine equipment.

[gus]

furuno gp7000fnt

[Sanity]

....a hand held compass, astrolobe and sextant for navigation. Two cups and a string for communication. A sounding weight for depth finder. And as many sets of eyes on lookout as there are passengers.

Works respectably in daylight hours..........;-)

[jimpyne]

I have an old Garmin 185 Map/Sounder, Icom 55 VHF, an old icom s (yes s)-700 SSB, and an old Raytheon XX20 radar. As back up I carry an Aquafix EPIRB and an old Garmin GPS II Plus handheld.

[justkiddin]

Twin Raymarine c-120's
Raymarine Autopilot St-6002
Raymarine 4kw open array radar
Airmar through hull transducer 600 watt

Double Down
2007 Hydrasport Vector CC
Twin Yamaha 250 4's

[thill]

Brandon,

For a chartplotter, I have a Garmin 192C, which is the same as the 498, but without the depth finder built in. I have had outstanding success with Garmin's GPS units

For fishfinder, I have a Lowrance 320DF. I opted for the B/W version, but the color unit is nice, too.

For backup, I have the Lowrance M68C, a color GPS/fishfinder that really does a nice job, as well as a Garmin GPS III handheld.

-TH

[Bayrunner]

Furuno 582 sounder
Furuno VX2- Plotter GPS- 9" display W/ Remote
Furuno 1670 Radar W/ 24 mile open array
Furuno GP-32 Back Up GPS/Plotter
Furuno-VHF, Icom VHF, Icom Hand Held
Epirb.
AP-12 interphased to GPS and Radar.
Jensen Marine Sound W/ Jensen Amps.
Polaroid 27" Flat screen TV/Monitor

[harry buggs]

got a stern light on my yak. eat fish 3 or 4 times a week.

buggs

[surferbill]

Furuno 1720 NavNet 7" dual screen Chartplotter/GPS and Fishfinder.

Furuno 1735 (i think) NavNet Radar with 34m radome

Icom VHF radio with enhanced antenna

Handheld waterproof VHF radio

[TOPAZ 24]

Brandon, My electronics are as follows: 2 Icom 502 radios hooked up to 2 digital antennas, Icom command mic, Uniden MHS 550 handheld vhf as back up, ACR Globalfix 406 epirb with internal GPS, Lowrance LCX-113C HD Plotter/Sounder with 1000 watt tilted angle low profile transducer coupled up with LRA 4000 Open array radar and Lowrance sounder 1 digital sonar module, old school Sitex 106 CRT bottom machine for back up, Icom GPS set up to read Loran numbers, Megellan handheld GPS for back up and a Dual CD player. RED EYE-24 TOPAZ