Chartplotter advice

[60N]

I'm after a chartplotter for my RIB, with not a huge budget (ideally under £500) but wanting something that's fairly robust to survive the Shetland weather beatings. I like the Standard Horizon CP180i, but having held it in the flesh it doesn't seem that resilient or suitable for a RIB. I've seen a lot of people on the forums raving about the Garmin 750s, but the price is that much more. Unfortunately the shopping options to go and see and hold up here are VERY limited, so and advice or steers of what not to look at most grateful.

Many thanks,

60N

[willk]

I can't help you with the price of the 750, other than to say that there are some great deals around and it's a nice bit of kit.

I've had personal communications that suggest the SH kit has weather issues. Whatever you do, install your kit in the "flush" position, not pedestal or bail mounted - it often doesn't have the same IP rating.

Also worth noting, the 750s is the sounder ready model (just add transducer) so is not "like for like" with the SH kit. The basic 750 is a closer/cheaper comparison.

[redthunder]

If you can stretch to the 750 it's great. I have been using one for three years. Very robust and you can add lots to it such as radar fuel flow etc.

[martini]

£700 at the mo at cactus

Sent from my portable speaking device using Rib.net

[willk]

Where's ma heid at?

Surely the SH180 needs an additional chart cartridge to operate usefully? This is going to throw the equation very much in the 750's direction (onboard UK charts). If your sounder is old or tiny, seriously consider the 750s - a 7" sounder screen is a joy to behold while fishing.

[9D280]

FWIW, I had decided ages ago that I "interacted" best with Lowrance kit having blagged a play on various friend's boats. Like all electrionic gubbinry, my fave will be the next bod's worst nightmare....


Having decided Lowrnace, I basically sat & watched ebay / Ribnet bits'n pieces until what I was looking for showed up "preloved" & within budget. What I ended up with wasn't my "Money no object" ideal (I wanted the version with the built in GPS antenna, to keep the clutter off the A- frame) but as I now have an unplanned NMEA cable runing to the back of the boat & a plotter that has "engine data" capability (Stuff that wasn't on my original wants list) I am now looking at installing cooling pressure & cyl head temp senders which will plug into the cable I have already laid nicely, and give me a degree of engine monitoring that wasnlt even an option when Merc built my engine!


Thing with plotters is that a new map set is going to add a good couple of hundred quid to the price, regardless of the machine you bolt to your console, which is where a used machine may work in your favour and come with the charts.

As already mentioned, sounders may or may not be a simple "plug in", although a newer NMEA2K plotter should take a depth input from anyone's NMEA2K sounder module. When I had narrowed down my options, one was the "plotter only" version of what I ended up with, the theory being I spend about the cost of a fishfinder (which I have no console space for anyway) on a 2K sounder.


FWIW, one of my deciders was I prefer the look of the Navonics charts, so a Navonics compatible machine was a must. - If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, the field is fairly open. I personally would aim for something with NMEA2k capabilities, which will if nothing else help to "future proof" it a bit.


Back to the ribnet massve for stories of durability!

[two stroke mick]

I have a old garmin 550 I think it was replaced by the 551. Easy to use, circa 5" screen, It has an extrenal port for an antenna. This needs to be sealed which was done by the seller of the unit. I am very happy with it. It is small enought to suit a small rib but the screen is still large enough

TSM

[martini]

Originally Posted by redthunder

If you can stretch to the 750 it's great. I have been using one for three years. Very robust and you can add lots to it such as radar fuel flow etc.

Originally Posted by martini

£700 at the mo at cactus

Just got a flyer from TCS Chandlery, they're doing deals on garmin plotters, 750 is now £585, 551 is £340 etc

[beamishken]

we had the big brother to the standard horizon cp180 which has mostly the same functions the cp1000 which we bought new in 2005 & used for 5 years until we sold the boat in 2010

when we bought the new boat we installed a garmin 2010 with radar & quite frankly the cartography on the standard was better & the refresh rate was faster there was also more dynamic nav aids on the standard unit

it had the ability to show tidal streams which you could toggle through hour by hour if you were planning a transit I had assumed the garmin would have the same function but it either hasnt or I cant find it either way I miss the function

we did have an issue with the standard unit just out of the warranty period which I think is 3 years after sending it back expecting to have to pay for the repair they replaced the unit FOC

if the standard unit had supported radar I would definately have considered it for our new boat


If the standard unit fits your budget then I wouldnt be frightened to fit one

[redthunder]

Originally Posted by beamishken

we had the big brother to the standard horizon cp180 which has mostly the same functions the cp1000 which we bought new in 2005 & used for 5 years until we sold the boat in 2010

when we bought the new boat we installed a garmin 2010 with radar & quite frankly the cartography on the standard was better & the refresh rate was faster there was also more dynamic nav aids on the standard unit

it had the ability to show tidal streams which you could toggle through hour by hour if you were planning a transit I had assumed the garmin would have the same function but it either hasnt or I cant find it either way I miss the function

we did have an issue with the standard unit just out of the warranty period which I think is 3 years after sending it back expecting to have to pay for the repair they replaced the unit FOC

if the standard unit had supported radar I would definately have considered it for our new boat

If the standard unit fits your budget then I wouldnt be frightened to fit one

My garmin 750 has tidal streams. Can't remember how I switched it on though

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by redthunder

My garmin 750 has tidal streams. Can't remember how I switched it on though

The 2010 does have them but they are not as easy to referance to a particular area at a given time they are shown at a time before of after high/low water where on the standard unit you could focus on the area & toggle thru the time & the tidal stream arrows would change direction & strength as the time changed

Ie if we were crossing from northern ireland to the bottom of the mull we could easily check the tide direction & strength at our arrival time without having to add or subtract times lazy i know but handy

i'm not saying the garmin unit is rubbish but I think the standard gives it a good run for the money

[paulbrown22]

We've had a Standard Horizon CP300 on the sailing yacht for 5+ years now, outside at the helm station, and it's been brilliant. Works seamlessly with our Digital Yacht AIS transponder as well.

No issues whatsoever with the hardware. Last year when I phoned Standard one day to ask about some strange behaviour in AIS plotting I'd noticed, they instantly put me through to a technical guy, who recognised it was a bug they'd already fixed, and shipped me out a software update free of charge. Completely out of warranty, but that wasn't even discussed. I thought service was top notch, all too rare these days!

[willk]

In fairness, Standard Horizon are a Yaesu brand, and they certainly have a good name for radios.

Very innovative too: Linky

That product reminds me, I've seen some nice VHF/GPS and VHF/AIS combos recently. I wonder where the trends are headed.....

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by willk

In fairness, Standard Horizon are a Yaesu brand,

I didn't know that, and I thought I knew everything

[60N]

Now it's starting to come more into the price range, thanks all! Any second hand 750s out there?