Electonics Help!

[Pagoda64]

I am in a 25' Parker WA. Most fishing will be in the Chesapeake Bay. Stripper, flounder, spade, cobia, trout, etc.. I have been looking at Raymarine, Furuno, Simrad, Nortstar and Garmin. I had a Garmin 2006c in old boat. Not happy with Fish Finder. With the new boat, I will be adding Radar and autopilot either now or later. Garmin has an interesting unit, but I have to take the new boat in the next few weeks. Dealer is giving free install. With your recommendations, I am looking at in hull, with concerns on thick Parker Hull or transom mount. I would like to see better Fish Finding than on the 2006c. I never knew what was bait, beer cans, fish or whatever else. Looking at $2500-$4000.00. Will come back with radar and autopilot in the next few months. Mainly looking for GPS, Chart and Fish Finder to start. Please HELP!!!

 

[Cheerios]

I use the Raymarine C80 with a shoot thru the hull depth, fish finder along with the radar. All in one unit fits right in the dash of my 2520XL. I am very happy with the unit.

Good luck with your new boat.

 

[Pagoda64]

What transducer did you install? How is the Fish Finder working for you? Do you have speed and water temp?

 

[CCparker]

I also have the C-80, with the transom transducer and the DSM-300 digital fish finder. I have the 4 kw radome also. I am very happy with the system, and the digital fishfinder presents a great picture.

 

[Megabyte]

I don't think you can ever go wrong with Garmin GPS Chartplotters. I have a 2010 on my boat and love it.
My sounder is a Furuno FCV600L which has been relatively unchanged for many years. In my area, the Furuno 600L sounder is a staple with the charter fleet, so that tells you something. :wink:

Here is a shot of the helm in my 2520...

That Furuno sounder is connected to an Airmar "tilted element" through-hull transducer which performs flawlessly. It is seen in the photo below to the left of the bilge pumps.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[TopShot25]

Not exactly sure what your setup was before that you did not like. I suspect the culprit was the transducer. You can have the best electronics in the world and put a cheap transducer in the mix and well, it will suck. It’s like having a 5,000 dollar stereo and spending 50 dollars on the speakers. If you want a good picture you need to invest in a good thru hull transducer. I have talked to a lot of people on this and you have to take everything with a grain of salt. If I tell you this is the best depth sounder I have ever seen that may be true, but if I have only seen two what do I really know.

All in all I think it’s personal choice. They all make pretty good stuff in some things and not so good in others. If you want to keep it all the same brand I would stay with Furuno or Raymarine.

Personally I have a Furuno 1834C-NT radar chartplotter.
Furuno black box depthsounder with an Airmar B-260 transducer.
Furuno 511 autopilot -by the way one reason Furuno charges more for there autopilots is they include the heading sensor.

I love my setup, but then again this is the only one I have owned personally. Oh and as far as how it works. My tower guy asked me how deep it reads at crusing speed. I checked it coming home one day, passing a drop off at 24 knots I finally lost bottom at 2200 feet. I didn’t even have the sounder setup to read deep so it may have done even better.

 

[Capt. Ronnie]

I don't think you can ever go wrong with Garmin GPS Chartplotters. I have a 2010 on my boat and love it.
My sounder is a Furuno FCV600L which has been relatively unchanged for many years. In my area, the Furuno 600L sounder is a staple with the charter fleet, so that tells you something. :wink:

Here is a shot of the helm in my 2520...

That Furuno sounder is connected to an Airmar "tilted element" through-hull transducer which performs flawlessly. It is seen in the photo below to the left of the bilge pumps.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

You should check out the Furuno 585L, I had the 600L also, but never liked it, and it is considered a low end unit as furuno goes, but the 585 is amazing !!!

 

[Megabyte]

You should check out the Furuno 585L, I had the 600L also, but never liked it, and it is considered a low end unit as furuno goes, but the 585 is amazing !!!

Ronnie... Is that one of their newer ones?

I'll admit that I haven't kept up with some of the newer gear. I've been too satisfied with what I have.

Guess I'd better go look. Thanks!

 

[Outta Here]

You should check out the Furuno 585L, I had the 600L also, but never liked it, and it is considered a low end unit as furuno goes, but the 585 is amazing !!!

Furuno also makes a 60kw radar, and a sounder good for 2000 meters. Remember, the're really a commercial electronics firm. In this context, I guess the 600L is a "low end unit" :roll:

A few other Furuno Fun Facts...

-Won 163 NEMA awards since 1971
-2006 Marine Electronics Manufacturer of The Year-Support (read CS)
-Won NEMA radar award 31 years straight (current winner NavNet)
-Best Fish Finder 35 years straight (winner FCV 585, previous 600L)
-Just finished a $10m Coast Guard up-fitting contract
-Just rewarded $5.5m CG up-fitting search/rescue boats contract. The boats will be equipted with (among other Furuno stuff) the GP 37 DGPS/WASS and NavNet vx2.

If you're lost and the Coast Guard comes lookin', looks like they'll be lookin' with Furuno. :wink:


Hey Mega...Is that some dust I see in your bilge????? :lol: