electronics - 5m RIB

[lakelandterrier]

What would the experts fit to a 5-5.5m RIB in they way of VHF and chartplotter/sounder.

Would a Garmin GPSMAP551s and a Std Horizon GX1500e inc DSC be suitable & reliable kit, good value and simple to use?

What else would fit the bill?

LT

[BogMonster]

I have just been through the same head scratching process. I originally had the 551s down on the list but in the end went for the Garmin 556s - the reason being that it has a 640x480 screen res instead of 320x240 - so there is four times as much info on the screen. I did this without seeing them side by side - and I won't see the finished product until September/October so I can't say whether it was worth the extra or not but I figured a 320x240 would struggle to show chart and sounder in any detail and an image I saw of an Advansea unit with the higher resolution looked much much better.

I wanted an Icom 421 but that is now only available in white and I wanted black, so I ended up with the Icom 411 instead but it was 50/50 between that and the Standard Horizon 1500.

[lakelandterrier]

Stephen, thanks for the reply. I think you're right - the on a small 5" screen the highest resolution is important - it's what- about £100 more for the 556?- not a lot in a scale of a new 5m+ boat.

Can't really decide between the I-com m411 and SH 1500 but as my handheld is a SH, it probably makes sense to have 1 marque with the same buttons / functions.

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Would a Garmin GPSMAP551s and a Std Horizon GX1500e inc DSC be suitable & reliable kit, good value and simple to use?

I've got this combo in an SR4.7 and they work well. A bigger screen would be nice, but my console doesn't have the space for one.