Chart plotters and fish finders (again!)

[divelandy]

I am getting delivery of a new rib at the end of this month and am considering the electronics to have. Previously we had an Lowrance 310 GPS and an X65 fishfinder.

I was looking at something like the Garmin 182 (b/w) and a Lowance X47 unit for the new boat. However for the same (similar) price, i can get the Lowance 330C combined unit in color.

So, 3 questions:
1. Does any one have any experience/comments about the Lowrance 330C
2. Is it better to have 2 units or one.
3. Any other suggestions/recommentations?

Thanks,
Steve

[Bilge Rat]

Hi

Some people advocate having seperate units, this way if one goes wrong you can have it away or being replaced and still use the other unit, if one fails at sea you still have the other unit working, another advantage is being able to have a big screen for the plotter and a big screen for the echo, this way at speed you've got a better chance of seeing everything.

However if you dont have the consoul space then you might be restricted to a smaller compact unit that does everything.

Something else you may want to consider is the mounting location and how much protection from the elements your set will have, Garmin, lowrance etc are deemed as splash proof, on a big rib with a big wide wind screen that might be sufficent enough protection for them, on a small open rib thats prone to getting very wet and swamped (like mine) you really want all your electrical kit to be completely water proof, to my knowledge Hummingbird are the only manufacturer to claim 100% immersion proof.

[Nickytynick]

Right then,

I have a Lowrance X47 and have been using it for a while now, it is an excellent piece of kit. The waterproofing is not an issue as I hose it off along with all the other stuff in the console and it loves it!! I believe it is rated at IPX7 which means it is submersible to 1meter for 1 hour.

I have a Garmin GPSMAP 182c on order which is also rated at IPX7. I know of several other RIBs with this unit fitted and as far as I know, noone has had an issue with the waterproofing.

I have gone for seperate units 'cos if one fails youve still got the other one.

I would also consider fitting the F/finder and GPS on the brackets (not flush mounted) -as I have- so you can remove them for security purposes and also connect the GPS to your PC.

Hope this helps.
Nick

[divelandy]

Thanks for your comments.

From the previous threads on this, the recommendation has always been to go and have a look at these units beforehand/see what is easiest to use. I have not been able to make it to places like the boatshow/ribex. Can anyone recommend a dealer in the within a couple of hours of Oxford where i can look at a number of different units for comparison.

Steve

[stevetheboat]

Hi there, sound advice from contributors and I see you are considering Garmin, which uses there own Bluechart cartography, and Lowrance, which utilises Navionics Gold cartography. Both fine choices.

Just to give the full picture why not look at Navman or Standard Horizon on the plotter front as these use C Map NT + cartridges which can be considerably cheaper (dependant upon size of cartridhe required).
Also Standard Horizon newer models now come pre-loaded with "Cruising" C Map cartography as standard (this does not contain the finite detailing such as marinas etc that you will get on a C Map precision cartridge but will give depth contours and soundings, navigation aids including lit bouys etc) which non of the others do.

We are dealers for all of the above manufacturers and also cartridge programmers for all three forms of cartography so if you need any further advice please feel free to call for free, no obligation, advice - details at www.nautequipe.co.uk

[Bilge Rat]

Ok so you pay your money and make your choice, if i were you though i'd do a search on the forum and see what sort of problems people have with various plotters, recon if we ran some stats Garmin would come high on the list

Think though at the end of the day it comes down to how much you want to spend on a plotter and what you really intend to do with it.