need new electronics

[xltier]

I am looking to upgrade to a fish finder-gps w chart. I have a 22 foot islander and will be fishing coastal water and rivers with a occasional trip out to cod grounds.i am not super electronics savy , just want basics.somthing easy to run. looking for some suggestions from anyone in my similar position. thanks

 

[StingrayMike]

IMHO, which everybody has, Garmin is pretty easy. There are a lot of different screen sizes, models to suit what you want.
big questions:
1. How much room do you have to mount the chart plotter? flush mount or bracket
2. Do you want a transom mount transducer or a thru mount.
3. what depths will you be fishing at? How deep is the Cod grounds?

I would think go with a 15" Chartplotter and get a transom mount transducer. Maybe a GPSMAP1242xsv touch with a GT50M transducer

 

[JimS123]

I've had a dozen different units and manufacturers over the past 50 years. My 2017 Whaler came with a Raymarine and its the best I ever owned. It talks to the engine as well, and has capabilities far beyond what i need.

 

[dingbat]

IMHO,

I would think go with a 15" Chartplotter and get a transom mount transducer. Maybe a GPSMAP1242xsv touch with a GT50M transducer

Why put a 300w transducer (GT50M) on a 1kW machine?

At a min. want you want a GT51M. Fishing deeper water I would split up the duties and install a GT51M on the transom for side scan and an Airmar B175 thru hull for the CHIRP sonar.

If probing the depths isn’t a concern, run a pair of GT51M-THPs

 

[Old Ironmaker]

It's all about budget, some of the units mentioned above are well beyond my budget and would love to have a 15" Raymarine. Garmin or Hummingbird are simple to use and won't cost what some guys pay for their 89' Bayliners.

 

[JoLin]

If budget is a concern I'd recommend a 5-7" GPS. I have a 7" Raymarine on my boat that does a good job and is fairly intuitive. The only thing I'm this way/that way about is the touch screen. Not so easy to use when the boat is pitching and rolling. Stabbing the right part of the screen can be a challenge.

Another unanticipated quirk- I was running at night and dimmed down the display to preserve my night vision. Next morning (in daylight) I powered it up and couldn't see anything on the screen. Now I had to hunt around, touching the screen until I stumbled on the brightness control. A little aggravating.

My .02

 

[sly_karma]

My 2 cents worth is about screen size. 7" screen is about as small as you can go if you want to split the screens to display GPS and sonar together. On a 22 ft rig that will probably be too small anyway, as you'll want to mount it at the helm for easy reference whilst under way, but then how to see it way up front when you're fishing from the aft position? A 12" unit carefully positioned might be readable from the dance floor, but it will cost more than two 7".

It's probably worth buying one of the full feature line units that can be networked with a second unit later if you decide you need it. Then you can see position and depth data while you're concentrating on those rod tips. The one I'm familiar with is the Lowrance HDS series, but I'm sure Garmin, Raymarine et al have models with the same capability. The second unit is plug and play with the right cabling and you don't need a second transponder for the sonar.

Don't fall for the phone or tablet-based solutions unless you have a fully shaded and sheltered location for the screen. The high cost of marine GPS/sonar is mostly in the screen, because they are high brightness units designed to be weatherproof and viewable even in direct sunshine.

 

[StingrayMike]

Why put a 300w transducer (GT50M) on a 1kW machine?

At a min. want you want a GT51M. Fishing deeper water I would split up the duties and install a GT51M on the transom for side scan and an Airmar B175 thru hull for the CHIRP sonar.

If probing the depths isn’t a concern, run a pair of GT51M-THPs

My thought was the 50 has a higher mid range freqs than the 51, to me atleast.That's why I asked what depths he would be fishing at to get a better idea of which frequencies.

 

[dingbat]

My thought was the 50 has a higher mid range freqs than the 51, to me at least.That's why I asked what depths he would be fishing at to get a better idea of which frequencies.

Both transducers use the same 85-160 kHz mid-range frequency. The difference between the two other than output power and side scan frequencies, 260/455 kHz vs. 455/800kHz.

GT50M is a 300w transducer with 85-160 kHz CHIRP, 455 and 800kHz (500w) for side and down scan
GT51M is a 600w transducer with 85-160 kHz CHIRP, 260 and 455kHz (500w) for side and down scan.

The 260 kHz offers much improved side and down scan imagine stability (over 455 and 800kHz) in open water applications. I would go with the GT51 for no other reason than image stability.

Cod stay close to the bottom in deeper water. He's going to need all the power he can get to locate them

 

[StingrayMike]

Both transducers use the same 85-160 kHz mid-range frequency. The difference between the two other than output power and side scan frequencies, 260/455 kHz vs. 455/800kHz.

GT50M is a 300w transducer with 85-160 kHz CHIRP, 455 and 800kHz (500w) for side and down scan
GT51M is a 600w transducer with 85-160 kHz CHIRP, 260 and 455kHz (500w) for side and down scan.

The 260 kHz offers much improved side and down scan imagine stability (over 455 and 800kHz) in open water applications. I would go with the GT51 for no other reason than image stability.

Cod stay close to the bottom in deeper water. He's going to need all the power he can get to locate them

Gotcha, that makes sense then.

 

[xltier]

lots of good info I think.I just wish I understood it all.lol.

 

[high&dry]

I have a Humminbird 987c SI seven inch screen flush mounted in console main unit and a Humminbird 5 inch brand new Helix 5 GPS SI top of console gimbal mounted. Both run Navionics charts. They are not networked and do not see my engine which has it's own electronics instrument display.

But, that said, someday, when the ten year old 987c SI dies, if it ever does, I will move the Helix 5 to my kayak or project 15 foot BW and I will install networked (probably Humminbird) units, a nine or ten inch flush in console and whatever five or six inch unit they have at the time up top gimbal mounted.

I like Humminbird, owned four of them, no issues ever, easy to use. Nothing against Garmin, not fond of Lowrance, the others, not sure. No matter what you get you need to be able to run charts. The way I intend to use my current set up is to use my larger 987 for my bottom machine and navigate on the new, faster CPU Helix 5. Or, run the 987 for whatever ever function is currently primary to me, nav or bottom, and use the smaller machine for the secondary function, if you follow.

 

[xltier]

I ended up with a raymarine A78 multifunction display. Now I need to decide what transducer I should get. Coastal waters and lakes-rivers. possibly out to the ledge for cod-haddock.A friend has said 500ft max.for this area. any suggestions would be great.I am just getting my feet wet in this stuff. oh ya-boat is aluminum. (islander)

 

[xltier]

I ended up with a raymarine A78 multifunction display. Now I need to decide what transducer I should get. Coastal waters and lakes-rivers. possibly out to the ledge for cod-haddock.A friend has said 500ft max.for this area. any suggestions would be great.I am just getting my feet wet in this stuff. oh ya-boat is aluminum. (islander)

I should add its a E70203LNC MODEL.

 

[StingrayMike]

Do you know anyone else running that model? or even what others are using for a transducer. If they are happy with Garmin, Furuno, Simrad transducer model XXXX, you should be able to get the same one for Raymarine.
We can give you advice on what one we think will be best, but if you can get some actual real life input, that would be the best

 

[xltier]

anybody I know is just using walmart type .like a low end hummingbird. cheap version.thats what I had and it was worthless.one other guy told me a airmar b260 was good.must be for what it cost.if I could go 300 feetdown,that would probably do me fine.ill check around some more.

 

[xltier]

Both transducers use the same 85-160 kHz mid-range frequency. The difference between the two other than output power and side scan frequencies, 260/455 kHz vs. 455/800kHz.

GT50M is a 300w transducer with 85-160 kHz CHIRP, 455 and 800kHz (500w) for side and down scan
GT51M is a 600w transducer with 85-160 kHz CHIRP, 260 and 455kHz (500w) for side and down scan.

The 260 kHz offers much improved side and down scan imagine stability (over 455 and 800kHz) in open water applications. I would go with the GT51 for no other reason than image stability.

Cod stay close to the bottom in deeper water. He's going to need all the power he can get to locate them

does the gt51m fit the raymarine a7 series. thank you

 

[dingbat]

does the gt51m fit the raymarine a7 series. thank you

No, you can not use a GT51. Way overkill for your unit. Your unit doesn’t have enough power and doesn’t support sidescan.

i did a bit of research on your unit. Not much information on its sonar capabilities. No output power. No reference to frequencies outputs.etc. Very unusual to say the least.

Ray sells black box sonar solution so it’s quite possible that rudimentary sonar capabilities where added to the unit for marketing purposes.

Anyhow, it looks like your stuck with their OE CTP 100xx transducer although the CPT-S looks interesting.

With only 300W of power to work with, your 300 ft. requirement is suspect.

 

[xltier]

I can return this .I am not very educated on marine electronics in case u didn't notice. would you have a suggestion for a fish finder w-chart slot that's good for coastal waters and rivers.may out to 300ft. occasionally. I don't need a lot of hoop-la just good images.I like the sound of the chirp technology.thanks for ur time.

 

[dingbat]

I can return this .I am not very educated on marine electronics in case u didn't notice. would you have a suggestion for a fish finder w-chart slot that's good for coastal waters and rivers.may out to 300ft. occasionally. I don't need a lot of hoop-la just good images.I like the sound of the chirp technology.thanks for ur time.

Sent you a private message