GPS-SOUNDER COMBO

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J

JBK

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I'm the owner of the rare 17' Parker CC - love the boat for the type use I have for it (pleasure & fishing) I have an older hummingbird fish finder which works very well but have decided now I want to add GPS. I have a small console so space is limited. Any suggestions on a good either just GPS or combo unit? I've been looking at the Garmin 478 which is on sale at a lot of sites now at a good price, any comments on this unit? I could still keep the fishfinder and just add GPS if needed. Any comments on smaller GPS units is appreciated, I could go up to the 5" screen size and still have some room. Thanks for any input!!!!
 

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Last season was the first for my Garmin 440. A great unit for its price and size. It has fish finding capabilities which seem to work fine. I have been on board a boat about the size of mine which had a larger touch screen Garmin which was awsome but you really need the space and the cost is more than double that of the 440.
Good Luck!!
 
I love my 478 for it's completeness (road & water) and portability. I have mine hooked up to a GSD21 sounder. 'Got mine @ shipdog.com.
 
I also have a 17'. I just picked up a Raymarine A65, with Navionics Gold for the west coast. This unit is a GPS-Chartplotter and digital FF It is not installed yet, hopefully next week.. I picket it up from West Marine for $999 and Raymarine is having a $350 mail-in rebate. I also turned in my Navionics Silver and Navionics will send me $75, so not a bad deal. This will be my first Raymarine product, I was a Lorance guy, but for the price, what the heck.. I will post picts if anyone is interested on the set up..

K9 Willem
 
K9Willem":2rekofz7 said:
I will post picts if anyone is interested on the set up..
Click to expand...

Absolutely!
We're all about project photos here on CP. :wink:
 
I have a Garmin 545s on Offgassin.It has a combo color FF/GPS Plotter w/ all the map features built right in.Very nice unit.I can see an 8oz weight on its way to the bottom,and it gives a good picture of the bottom such as structure,which for me is very important.It's very user friendly,and from what I've seen while using it very accurate with positions of bouys ,and such.
Good luck w/your search,lets us know how it works out for you.
MJ.
 
I have the 545s, its great, a little learning curve from a 128 c i had before.
dont opt for the g2 vision not worth the money, the preloaded charts are great, but the 5in display is worth the price on the 545s
 
jfrostick":w7ghamsp said:
I have the 545s, its great, a little learning curve from a 128 c i had before.
dont opt for the g2 vision not worth the money, the preloaded charts are great, but the 5in display is worth the price on the 545s
Click to expand...
Agreed on everthing stated,that 5''color screen makes a big difference. Check it out!
MJ.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far. (K9Willem) I look forward to seeing pictures of your installation of the Raymarine A65. I have looked at them at a local shop, they are on sale here also. The unit has a great screen but is a bit larger than what I was hoping for. I have also looked at the Garmin 545s and am leaning toward that unit as I have had very good luck with Garmin vehicle GPS's in my vehicles. K9Willem it's good to know there's still some 17's around, only know of two others so far in Md. & Del. near where I live. Still not ruling out the Raymarine as you can't beat the price but I have noticed they have changed the A series and wonder if they are doing away with the A60 & A65. Originally was looking at a Garmin 478 but by the time you buy the sounder, etc. you could buy a better unit for the same price. I hate to drill into my boat and for the hummingbird fish finder I have I have always used a shoot thru the hull transducer in a bubble filled with mineral oil, it has worked great. I know if I go with shoot thru I loose some of the features the transducers can do. We're still undecided about that part.
 
On the boat i just traded in for a parker, i had the Garmin 545s. however i did not use the FF option, i had a Furuno FCV 585, which i used for fishfinding. All that being said I really liked the Garmin 545s and it did a great job as a GPS.
 
If you go garmin 545s let me know i send you pic's of my install ,,,its on a 21se cc, I do have the external transducer on the outside of the transom, I have had zero problems at any speed working correctly, I even figured out how to get it to talk to the icom to broadcast my postion in emergency. Something seems everyone around this area has had issues with.
 
JBK,

I am waiting on a guy to give me a quote. I am hoping to have it started and finished next week. A little info on my 17'. I bought it in Aug 06 from a marine biologist from UC San Diego. The guy kept it in his garage for 12 years. It has a 85hp Yamaha and only had 269hrs on it when I got it. Got the boat checked out and my mechanic said it was in great condition. I have just over 409 hrs on it now. The 85 hp is not the most powerful and mixing the oil/gas is a pain, but so far bullet proof.

Picts will follow when it gets done. I will give before and after..

K9Willem
 
Talk about a great forum. I have been poking around looking for advice and experience because I am looking to put a gps/ff on my 17' Parker!
Mine was originally built as an open boat with tiller steering. It has since had a small center console added. The previous owner had installed a gps and separate ff. I was thinking of combining for space saving. I am interested to hear how the A65 install went and impressions of the operation.
 
Bob,

Here is what the helm of my previous (not a Parker) 17 looked like with separates.
A combo unit would give you a little more room, but I rather liked having separates.

Image-9BC0FCDE7C3C11D7.jpg
 
JBK, I also just bought a Raymarine A65 and absolutely love it. But there are some details you have to be aware of. The A65 is very reliable, powerful, and easy to use but it is not in production anymore. The A65 and A60 I believe are now legacy to the new A70 baseline. The A65 also is not WAAS capable with the RS12 antenna that it comes with. So if you want 3-5 meters of GPS accuracy you are OK but < 3 you are not guaranteed with DGPS. Need WAAS for the corrections. However Raymarine will send you a upgraded WAAS capable RS125 antenna for 150 bucks with the plug type for the A65. A lot of people laugh when you tell them you are looking for that degree of accuracy on a small fishing boat but we all own parkers so getting things right is probably in our blood :)
 
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