Hello I came across someone selling a Lowrance 337 CDF GPS chart plotter for 225 it doesn't come with a GPS antenna or the transducer... 1. Is this overkill for my O'Day 22 2. Would this kill my 12 volt battery quicky as I don't have an alternator... just a pair of 1.8 watt panels. 3. Would a transom mounted transducer give me reliable readings? 4. Is this thing way over priced for a 2 year old plotter?
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Any Nav Eqpt on Any Boat is a Saving Grace...
Just be sure about it. GPS is so much ever-changing, just be sure it's not cheaper, elsewhere. And it is what you want.
Just be sure about it. GPS is so much ever-changing, just be sure it's not cheaper, elsewhere. And it is what you want.
Don
Don~ Honestly by the time you have buy an antenna and ducer for the older technology unit you won't be far away from a new unit. 1. No, it is not over-kill 2. It will not kill your battery 3. A thru-hull ducer is better choice 4. It is not overpriced to a guy who already has the antenna and ducer and card, but it's a poor decision to try and piece it together.
Don~ Honestly by the time you have buy an antenna and ducer for the older technology unit you won't be far away from a new unit. 1. No, it is not over-kill 2. It will not kill your battery 3. A thru-hull ducer is better choice 4. It is not overpriced to a guy who already has the antenna and ducer and card, but it's a poor decision to try and piece it together.
Where
It's not a matter of the boat as much as it's a matter of where/how you sail. If you're on a small inland lake or never out of sight of your marina, it's a waste of money. Don's probably right about the cost. You can probably find a new one for close to the cost of this and the parts you're going to need
It's not a matter of the boat as much as it's a matter of where/how you sail. If you're on a small inland lake or never out of sight of your marina, it's a waste of money. Don's probably right about the cost. You can probably find a new one for close to the cost of this and the parts you're going to need
Deciding on Chart Plotter and Sounder....
Hey guys thanks for the info... I spoke to a current owner of the system and he gave same advice. Will probably keep an eye out for something else. Any Advice on what else? My sailing will mostly be in Naragansett Bay and along a wide river with maybe a longer trip to the Vineyard and maybe along Long Island Sound in a summer or two. I would love something which can be used dual purpose in my car but I'm guessing anything with a sounder is going to be marine focused. Do I need a sounder with less than 2 feet of keel? I grew up on the 17's with centerboards in deep water so it was always centerboard up if you hit shallow water. I would imagine that we would see the shallows coming esp with a chart plotter but those could be famous last words... Thanks Guys, Don
Hey guys thanks for the info... I spoke to a current owner of the system and he gave same advice. Will probably keep an eye out for something else. Any Advice on what else? My sailing will mostly be in Naragansett Bay and along a wide river with maybe a longer trip to the Vineyard and maybe along Long Island Sound in a summer or two. I would love something which can be used dual purpose in my car but I'm guessing anything with a sounder is going to be marine focused. Do I need a sounder with less than 2 feet of keel? I grew up on the 17's with centerboards in deep water so it was always centerboard up if you hit shallow water. I would imagine that we would see the shallows coming esp with a chart plotter but those could be famous last words... Thanks Guys, Don
If I were in a river....
... I'd want to know how much water is under me. I don't think you'll be able to "see" shallows in all cases since rivers tend to get a bit murky in some conditions. So, a depth gauge would have some value. It sounds like you're new to keelboat sailing. I'd suggest spending a season with it before spending a lot on gadgets.
... I'd want to know how much water is under me. I don't think you'll be able to "see" shallows in all cases since rivers tend to get a bit murky in some conditions. So, a depth gauge would have some value. It sounds like you're new to keelboat sailing. I'd suggest spending a season with it before spending a lot on gadgets.
My 2 Cents
I agree with John: sail for a season and see what you really need. When I bought my Oday 23, she didn't have a depth guage or a working knotmeter, only a very outdated Magellan hand held GPS. I found that even in LIS where I sail, I have been able to do without a depth gauge very nicely (although I am always thinking of adding one). I never fixed the knotmeter, but I did upgrade the GPS when the Magellan finally crapped out. I went with a second hand Garmin (eBay) that has all of the buoy locations pre-loaded, but can't show charts. Is a full-on chart plotter too much for an Oday 22? It may not be necessary given the type of sailing you describe, but hey, if its a toy you want that increases your fun factor, then I say go for it. I think you have found that if you want something than function as a chart plotter and that you can take in your car, you will not be able to find something that will also serve as a depth guage.
I agree with John: sail for a season and see what you really need. When I bought my Oday 23, she didn't have a depth guage or a working knotmeter, only a very outdated Magellan hand held GPS. I found that even in LIS where I sail, I have been able to do without a depth gauge very nicely (although I am always thinking of adding one). I never fixed the knotmeter, but I did upgrade the GPS when the Magellan finally crapped out. I went with a second hand Garmin (eBay) that has all of the buoy locations pre-loaded, but can't show charts. Is a full-on chart plotter too much for an Oday 22? It may not be necessary given the type of sailing you describe, but hey, if its a toy you want that increases your fun factor, then I say go for it. I think you have found that if you want something than function as a chart plotter and that you can take in your car, you will not be able to find something that will also serve as a depth guage.
For that kind of money
For that kind of money you can buy, brand new, a little depth sounder like a Hawkeye, and a hand held, battery powered GPS. There are other brands similar to the Hawkeye, and probably all made by the same mfg. as they all look the same. I have had one for several years, and have found it to be accurate and dependable. There are several little hand held GPS units around that can be had new in the hundred dollar price range. Check on ebay, and you can probably find a hand held GPS and a little depth finder for 200 bucks. How much do you need either? Depends on where you sail, how familiar you are with the area, and how much the bottom changes to name a couple.
For that kind of money you can buy, brand new, a little depth sounder like a Hawkeye, and a hand held, battery powered GPS. There are other brands similar to the Hawkeye, and probably all made by the same mfg. as they all look the same. I have had one for several years, and have found it to be accurate and dependable. There are several little hand held GPS units around that can be had new in the hundred dollar price range. Check on ebay, and you can probably find a hand held GPS and a little depth finder for 200 bucks. How much do you need either? Depends on where you sail, how familiar you are with the area, and how much the bottom changes to name a couple.
Father's day
The big (Airmar OEM) through hull transducer is a thing of beauty, but its probably overkill. Lowrance has some excellent transom mounted transducers, the Skimmer model is fairly well known, and they give good results; I have one on my Whaler. You can also mount these less expensive transducers to shoot through a solid fiberglass hull. This which would serve to protect the transducer from damage, which a transom mounted transducer is vulnerable to. Its a very neat installation, nothing shows from outside. That's the what I would recommend for your circumstances. Specifications are changing pretty fast in the area of displays, so the 5" 480x480 black and white display on the 337 is now outmoded, Lowrance does not appear to even sell B&W this year. And I agree that by the time you add a transducer and a GPS antenna, you will be up over $400, so at that point you would be better off going to $600 and getting a new 5" color model (same specs 5" 480x480). Color displays are much easier to see in daylight. I don't consider a 5" GPS chartplotter and sonar to be overkill on my 17' whaler, so it makes perfect sense to me on your 22' sail. The LMS-520c and LMS-522c look good to me. I can't actually tell them apart from a specification standpoint. The 525 and 527 are the dual frequency models. I have a dual frequency and I use 200Mhz pretty much all the time. So save the money and go with a single frequency model. One additional thing - data really matters on these, and having the Navionics chip for your area makes a chart plotter much more useful. Father's day is coming up.
The big (Airmar OEM) through hull transducer is a thing of beauty, but its probably overkill. Lowrance has some excellent transom mounted transducers, the Skimmer model is fairly well known, and they give good results; I have one on my Whaler. You can also mount these less expensive transducers to shoot through a solid fiberglass hull. This which would serve to protect the transducer from damage, which a transom mounted transducer is vulnerable to. Its a very neat installation, nothing shows from outside. That's the what I would recommend for your circumstances. Specifications are changing pretty fast in the area of displays, so the 5" 480x480 black and white display on the 337 is now outmoded, Lowrance does not appear to even sell B&W this year. And I agree that by the time you add a transducer and a GPS antenna, you will be up over $400, so at that point you would be better off going to $600 and getting a new 5" color model (same specs 5" 480x480). Color displays are much easier to see in daylight. I don't consider a 5" GPS chartplotter and sonar to be overkill on my 17' whaler, so it makes perfect sense to me on your 22' sail. The LMS-520c and LMS-522c look good to me. I can't actually tell them apart from a specification standpoint. The 525 and 527 are the dual frequency models. I have a dual frequency and I use 200Mhz pretty much all the time. So save the money and go with a single frequency model. One additional thing - data really matters on these, and having the Navionics chip for your area makes a chart plotter much more useful. Father's day is coming up.
knotmeter, depth, wind, then chartplotter
Started sailing with nothing as the knotmeter and depth where broken and there was no windex. Did fine for 2 years then got a cheap GPS/depth and could finally tell if that pull on the sheet actually made a difference in speed. I never used the location much as sailing on the Chesapeake you don't get out of sight of land much. Didn't use the depth/fish finder much either as I always could look at the map and tell that. In hind sight I wish I'd bought a knotmeter first as that gave me the most important bit of information, my speed through the water. Depth is nice when you are anchoring to check out the local area prior to dropping anchor. Having wind data was a boon to getting the ex-wife to make the sails work without having to "coach" her. I've never used the location feature much but knowing the speed over the ground (and speed through the water) helps to figure out tide set and drift which is handy when the fog rolls in.
Started sailing with nothing as the knotmeter and depth where broken and there was no windex. Did fine for 2 years then got a cheap GPS/depth and could finally tell if that pull on the sheet actually made a difference in speed. I never used the location much as sailing on the Chesapeake you don't get out of sight of land much. Didn't use the depth/fish finder much either as I always could look at the map and tell that. In hind sight I wish I'd bought a knotmeter first as that gave me the most important bit of information, my speed through the water. Depth is nice when you are anchoring to check out the local area prior to dropping anchor. Having wind data was a boon to getting the ex-wife to make the sails work without having to "coach" her. I've never used the location feature much but knowing the speed over the ground (and speed through the water) helps to figure out tide set and drift which is handy when the fog rolls in.
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