Electronics selection ?

Old Goat · 01-05-2008, 12:02 PM

I need to buy a new fish finder and plotter for my boat. Is there a consensus about combination units vs. stand alone? My gut feeling is that I want separate units...no split screens with reduced size and also not having all your eggs in one basket.

What specific model of chart plotter would you recommend. Would like to spend on the lower end of the scale...maybe $500 or so. I am willing to wait for sales, but need to know what to look for. It is hard to know what to buy...what maps come with unit and what is extra, etc.. I fish mainly Columbia and near shore ocean...newport, tilly, depoe bay.

Grady252 · 01-05-2008, 01:19 PM

I got a combo GPS/Sonar and I think that is fine. You rarely need them at the same time, so you can use GPS when motoring, and sonar when needed, without having to split screens. Eagle is a lowered priced unit and they are made by Lowrance. I also had a Garmin combo unit for several years and it was a good unit. I have a separate Radar, and I carry a back-up GPS.

I have a Lowrance LCX111CHD, but there are much less expensive models available. This is last years unit, so you could get a good price on E-bay or soemthing maybe??

You will not get unanimous agreement on this one...

flapbreaker · 01-06-2008, 11:05 AM

If you want radar I would highly recommend an all in one unit since you can overlay the radar info over the CHartplotter info which greatly reduces the learning curve as far as radar is conserned. It's always good to have a handheld gps as a backup incase you have electrical problems on the boat.

Duckworth Dave · 01-06-2008, 01:17 PM

I have a C80 Raymarine fully intergrated. You can lay the radar over the ploter. I am re doing the electroic's on my new boat this month. I have a Garman stand alone GPS back up, Frundo fish finder which I am moving to the rear of the boat, and the boat came with a C80 radar & screen. I am adding a second screen with radar,gps,ploter,fishfinder. Both screens with share info. The Garman backup GPS is something I like, the back up gps that is. I will be adding weather to the C80 so I will have full screen weather patterns with a overlay on my ploter Going to the boat show to buy a raft & ebirt this week. Most of these companys now make big screens and its common to have two screens these days. I picked Raymarine because of upgrade software & intgration, but like you I like many screens to see.

Aaron97759 · 01-06-2008, 07:24 PM

Yeah, you'll find a lot of differing opinions on this. Much like Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge.

I've been running w/ Lowrance gear on my last 3 or 4 boats. Never had any trouble and really enjoy the features of the combo units. Currently have a pair of LXC-113c's and the 18" radome, and while they're all networked together, I do have them on completely separate power supplies in case of a failure on the water. Easy enough to disconnect the network and run them independantly should I need to.

Also, Lowrance now allows you to overlay the radar images on the chart, so you're not having to split screens for that any longer. And they've got a number of cool sensors that can tie in for fuel, temp, fluid levels, and even engine management for some engines. All that stuff is managed on the sonar/chart unit.

As a previous post stated, I rarely use the split screens myself. I just toggle to the screen I need at the time.

Happy shopping.

Paddler · 01-06-2008, 08:44 PM

Aaron, do you know if I can overlay my radar (24NM) on my 111c HD? Last year I split the screen.

Jsteel · 01-07-2008, 08:08 AM

Don't think it's worth it to get separate units. Space & cost argue against it. I've had a dual Lowrance unit for several years -- easy to toggle back and forth or use the split screen. Sounds like I use it similar to the way you would -- Columbia and ocean.

ripnlips1 · 01-07-2008, 08:40 AM

Paddler, I think you can overlay radar on your 111c but you will need to add an electronic compass.

Grady252 · 01-07-2008, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ripnlips1

Paddler, I think you can overlay radar on your 111c but you will need to add an electronic compass.

Unless there is something new and the compass allows you to add it, you do not get overlay with the LCX111C....

I have the LCX111C, and the "Big" change to the LCX113C is the ability to do overlay. So I was told..... That is also the reason why I went with a stand alone Radar, that way I can look at both..... As far as cost, it was less to purchase a 20 mile JRC Mark II 1500, stand alone than it was to purchase the Lowrance radome to hook into my unit.

The Duck · 01-07-2008, 09:42 AM

There are many units out there that you can put in a chart plotting chip. I use C-map in my northstar unit. I know C-map fits in Furuno and many others and it is incredible. However the chip is $250.00 for all the west coast from Canada to South America and the Bahamas. Detail down to the boat ramp at Dopey Bay. If you have an outboard you might consider Lowrance as they also have a gas flowmeter with their unit (very nice feature). I would also look for a unit that has 320X320 or more pixel count as this allows you to see sturgeon. Good luck.

ripnlips1 · 01-07-2008, 10:34 AM

Yes, adding a heading sensor will allow you to overlay the radar image on the 111c. However, the 111 might not except the new HD radoms, yet.

hot wire · 01-07-2008, 05:34 PM

I second the Raymarine C80 setup. I had a left-over Ray 600DX DF that I added to the rear cabin. Upgradability with quick software updates!