Yet another chartplotter advice thread...

[deadsquirrel]

hi All,

I finally placed an order for a Zodiac Mini Open 480. It was a cancelled order so i had little choice with the layout of the boat but overall I'm extremely happy with my choice (perfect for my needs) and the dealer who seems to be a proper gent and so helpful. ( Lindsay from CTC Marine ).

The only problem is that i always wanted a very decent chartplotter/gps/fishfinder combo and I'm not sure how large i can actually fit on that tiny console without it completely obscuring the screen. (see images)

I would love as a minimum a 7" but would prefer something that maximises screen space over large mechanical buttons.

Any suggestions?

I will be using it for wreck freediving, spearfising, fishing, days out with family etc.

Ideally i would love to have some peace of mind with oncoming rocks near the shallows (my biggest fear living in Lizard) but understand most transducers point down so probably not an option at my price range.

Budget is 1k max for the unit, charts and transducer. (preferably around £600 though)

Was thinking this looks good: https://fishdeal.co.uk/t/fish-finder...-tm-transducer

Opinions welcome

[paintman]

Big screen - definitely.
Colour - definitely.

Think a lot of the rest is personal preference - button op, touch screen etc.
Lots of info/advice on here.

I have a Dragonfly 7. Fine for what I do - fishing. Downsides are that the mount is a bit flimsy & wobbly at speed unless braced & the boat icon that shows your position is about the size of the QE2.
The downvision feature is OK, but not as sharp as the promotional videos would have you believe in saltwater although it's not bad in fresh.
I haven't even scratched the surface as far as navigation & route planning with it is concerned.

Don't believe the manufacturer's videos, look for real world users on youtube & you'll get a better idea.

Do you intend to have the boat seller fit it or are you able to DIY?
If you have easy access to the boat then consider using card/cardboard to do a simple full size mock-up of those you are considering & see how they look when you hold them in position.

This might be of interest: https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=e...ey=mzjpH~ja%5D

[deadsquirrel]

Thanks paintman. The seller will fit prior to delivery. Is this over the top do you think?

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/690358

[paintman]

I've no experience of Garmin chartplotters -although I've used their GPS for walking years ago.

Do a 'Search' on here & you'll find quite a few speak highly of various Garmin plotters.

Have a look on youtube for actual use of the one you're thinking of - not the 'lets unpack it & run the demos in the garage' stuff.

What I will say is I'd rather spend a little more & get the right thing first go than find what I've bought doesn't do what I thought & have to buy something else.
But difficult without seeing it in use or speaking to someone who's got one. The ad shows 'without transducer'.

[jonp]

I put a 10ins Garmin on my daughters little zodiac. I had lowrance and simrad for over 20yrs but got fed up of them constantly having issues. I also run Garmin 8410 on my own boat which I'm about to replace with the next size up, also on a small 14ft boat with a limited sized centre console.

[deadsquirrel]

Originally Posted by jonp

I put a 10ins Garmin on my daughters little zodiac. I had lowrance and simrad for over 20yrs but got fed up of them constantly having issues. I also run Garmin 8410 on my own boat which I'm about to replace with the next size up, also on a small 14ft boat with a limited sized centre console.

Thanks for that Jonp!

So from what you say a 9" will be absolutely fine right? Does the fact that its completely obstructing the screen an issue at all? Or in practice no one looks through that anyway?

[deadsquirrel]

Also, jonp, if you look at my first pic, it shows a dip on the top of the console where it would be fitted to. yours does not seem to have that and i'm a little worried it may make it difficult to mount.

[GARYSHORT]

Small RIB console model: inexpensive and excellent: Garmin echoMAP Plus 43cv

[paintman]

Originally Posted by deadsquirrel

Also, jonp, if you look at my first pic, it shows a dip on the top of the console where it would be fitted to. yours does not seem to have that and i'm a little worried it may make it difficult to mount.

Ask the boat seller whether they would have any concerns.

[jonp]

Originally Posted by deadsquirrel

Thanks for that Jonp!

So from what you say a 9" will be absolutely fine right? Does the fact that its completely obstructing the screen an issue at all? Or in practice no one looks through that anyway?

We never use seats in any of our boats including the commercial ones I skipper, we are standing all day. Driving in big seas is far easier standing so that we can bend at the knees to brace ourselves and keep our legs apart when turning among heavy waves at speed.

Looking at that bit of plastic on your console, I would look at changing it personally if I couldn't fit a decent sized sounder in. Once you split a screen to half sonar and half charts, even a 10ins seems small (hence why Im going back to another 12 on my other little boat). So in this image I will be putting a 12inch Garmin at the bottom and the smaller one in this image at the top, the simrad will be sold. The simrad evo 3 units Ive used on four different boats all shut off as soon as we start hitting rough seas, must be some sort of protection maybe.

I take my fishing and spear fishing pretty serious, the two screens might sound like overkill but the bigger head unit will run three transducers simultaneously for sidescan, traditional down scan with an airmar 175 1kw and a panoptics for live view in shallow water. The top one will run split charts, one for detailed g3 vision and the other split for wider coverage of the coast.

[treerat]

I used to run an EchoMap 45, a great unit, small enough on the console and accurate enough for my needs around Cornwall.

On the new boat she came with a Garmin 7612 - larger at 10" screen with a full range of functions.

Both do the same job but the larger one is easier to see a bigger picture, that said the smaller unit being button control was easier to use when underway.

If I had the choice, the biggest that fits would be my advice.

[jonp]

Comes down to needs, for those who simply want to use a unit for navigation and basic depth, then a low resolution small screen will do just fine.

For those looking to clearly identify fish and structure in deeper water, then the high res screens truly come into play. There are however large screens that are not high res and represent the same pixel count as many head units half their size. My Garmin 8410 has a screen res of 1920 x 1200 which of course gives far more detail than say a lowrance elite 9 (same size) which has 800 x 480. So if the screen is split in two on the 9ins Lowrance you will half that res, even more if you split the screen to three or four pages on the one screen. Hence why my sonar for fish and structure is using just one full screen to give the full max res and show fish and structure in great detail.

The right transducer to suit both the head unit and what you are wanting to achieve is also vitally important. No point sticking a 1kw transducer on a head unit only capable of producing 600w max.

[roger dodge]

Hello, I am in the same position at the moment , have you looked at the Simrad 7 or 9 inch which cone with the transducer?
Roger

[paintman]

jonP says he's had issues with Simrads.

[GuyC]

I've got a Garmin 95SV and I find it very good. It's flush mounted rather than on a bail mount. The extra screen size reduces the amount of zooming and panning you need to do. I upgraded from a 75SV that was bail mounted.

I do have a bit of an issue with the planning software as Garmin no longer support the HomePort PC based software and now it is all app based so you are relegated to using a phone or a tablet to plan from. I suspect that is not unique to Garmin.

The obstructing your view bit would be applicable to many plotters unless you can accept a phone sized plotter which you can 'look through'. I suspect, in reality, even in the seated position your eyeline would be above the top of the screen but I don't know. A lot of people do spend their time stood up which would overcome the issue.

In short I'd suggest fitting the biggest one your real estate and budget can cope with.

[paintman]

Looks like there's a few 95SV models, incl discontinued ones. Possibly the reason for no support if yours is one of those?

[paintman]

How clear do you find their clearvu & sidevu?