Garmin GPSMAP 7610

[Rick Fisher]

Hello

I bought a used rib and it came with the above mentioned GPS. My previous boat had a Simrad Go 9 ..

Ths Garmin 7610 is a 2014 model. I have found it very frustrating to operate.

The Simrad would automatically connect to my home internet and upgrade itself .. the Garmin doesnt. I just realized it's never been upgraded and I need to download to an SD card and then install ..

The most frustrating is the fish finder .. I actually wonder if it even is considered a fish finder ? The Simrad beeped and showed fish at different depths .. it showed big fish, small fish, schools .. it was very good .. the garmin doesnt show fish and it doesnt beep.

Sonar module had down view and side view .. that's it .. neither show anything legible..

I'm considering just pulling it out and installing a 2019 model ? It's a 10 inch display ..

I find the manual online gives me instructions to hit buttons that this 7610 doesnt actually have .. is Garmin like apple vs PC .. is it just too old ? I dont have a pc with a sd card slot anymore .. so upgrading this will be a real pain .. is it even going to be any better ?

Thanks

[gpsguru]

Originally Posted by Rick Fisher

Hello

I bought a used rib and it came with the above mentioned GPS. My previous boat had a Simrad Go 9 ..

Ths Garmin 7610 is a 2014 model. I have found it very frustrating to operate.

The Simrad would automatically connect to my home internet and upgrade itself .. the Garmin doesnt. I just realized it's never been upgraded and I need to download to an SD card and then install ..

The most frustrating is the fish finder .. I actually wonder if it even is considered a fish finder ? The Simrad beeped and showed fish at different depths .. it showed big fish, small fish, schools .. it was very good .. the garmin doesnt show fish and it doesnt beep.

Sonar module had down view and side view .. that's it .. neither show anything legible..

I'm considering just pulling it out and installing a 2019 model ? It's a 10 inch display ..

I find the manual online gives me instructions to hit buttons that this 7610 doesnt actually have .. is Garmin like apple vs PC .. is it just too old ? I dont have a pc with a sd card slot anymore .. so upgrading this will be a real pain .. is it even going to be any better ?

Thanks

Updating software on that model will be a download onto an SD card, then pop the SD card into the Garmin and the update is automatic. Later Garmins have WIFI to your phone and can update via the active Captain app.

You can also download the internal charts to an SD card and then plan your trips / add marks etc on your PC by using 'Garmin Homeport'

Garmin sonar is pretty good ........ if you really want to 'mark' fish an see them as a fish symbol, then you can do this from the sonar settings ..... its very easy to do. Unfortunately when that is activated on most sonar setups (from any manufacturer) it will often give you a false 'mark' on a fish ...... because it could be weed or general debris. It is better with sonar to read the screen as it is and interpret exactly what you are seeing.

The 7610 XSV model has 'chirp' and does side scan / clear view (down scan) assuming you have the correct transducer.

These days ......... Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad, Raymarine, etc are all pretty good and produce very similar results ...........

[Rick Fisher]

Thanks for the reply.
I found an SD card and borrowed a laptop. Downloaded the most recent software and installed it on an SD card.

The version of software I have is 5.2 the newest garmin software is 15.1

Went through the steps and attempted a software upgrade but i got an error message.

GPSMAP 7610 V1510 (V5.20) error
GCV 10 V3.3 (V 3.00) error

I've tried 3 or 4 times .. I may need to contact Garmin to see why the upgrade is failing

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Rick Fisher

Thanks for the reply.
I found an SD card and borrowed a laptop. Downloaded the most recent software and installed it on an SD card.

The version of software I have is 5.2 the newest garmin software is 15.1

Went through the steps and attempted a software upgrade but i got an error message.

GPSMAP 7610 V1510 (V5.20) error
GCV 10 V3.3 (V 3.00) error

I've tried 3 or 4 times .. I may need to contact Garmin to see why the upgrade is failing

i had similar expierience when i tried to upgrade my 451s

[gpsguru]

Originally Posted by Rick Fisher

Thanks for the reply.
I found an SD card and borrowed a laptop. Downloaded the most recent software and installed it on an SD card.

The version of software I have is 5.2 the newest garmin software is 15.1

Went through the steps and attempted a software upgrade but i got an error message.

GPSMAP 7610 V1510 (V5.20) error
GCV 10 V3.3 (V 3.00) error

I've tried 3 or 4 times .. I may need to contact Garmin to see why the upgrade is failing

I looks like you have a GCV10 scanning sonar module connected to the 7610 and I would guess that the latest firmware that you are trying to load into the 7610 is not compatible with the current firmware in the GCV10 ............. you will need to also download the latest GCV10 software. I think you can put it all on the same SD card and the 7610 will sort it out ......

[Rick Fisher]

I'm trying it again .. gotta say ... three simrad method of it automatically connecting to my house wifi and asking if I would like to upgrade is something Garmin could consider ..

The simrad was very good at finding fish .. we will cruise until we find a massive bait ball .. then jig .. the simrad would alert and show the depth and size of the ball and was fairly accurate. I'm hoping the Garmin is improved once upgraded .

I'm sitting here optimistic that it might be upgrading this time .. for some reason it seems like something caught this time ..

[Rick Fisher]

Okay this time the gcv sonar upgraded but the 7610 came back with an error code and is still version 5.2