Chartplotter with or without a sounder

[Beartrap]

Gang,

Any thoughts or preferences on whether to use a combined chartplotter/depthsounder or keep them as independant units?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[sailingandsuch]

I have a Garmin unit that has them combined although when I use it, it's almost for the chart plotting capabilities only. With a draft of only 3' with the board down and 1'9" with the board up I honestly don't worry a whole lot about depths other than extreme shoals or coral heads. I can see the shoals most of the time and when I'm in an area with coral heads (Florida Keys) I just turn on the chart plotter if I'm worried.

 

[RAD]

I had a depth sounder with the transducer mounted right under the helm on my center cockpit Oday and my thoughts were I'd be hard aground by the time it registered so I installed the black box sounder to my chart plotter with the transducer at the bow and it performs much better than my original which I left in place as a backup so I recommend doing it.....we discovered one issue and that was the transducer making a pinging sound at night because I would leave the GPS on for the anchor drag feature so I had to install a separate switch at the sonar power supply to shut it off

 

[jrowan]

We have the Garmin 440S GPS unit which is a good deal, but you have to pay extra for the sounder unit, which comes seperately. I like having all of my nav. info. consolidated in one place on the screen. It is a lot easier to keep track of the direction of the boat via chart, speed, and of course depth which show in the corners of the map. We also mounted our sonar transducer in the bow, so it can give earlier warning of shallows.
You can adjust the depth for accuracy based on how high the sensor is mounted in the bow through the gps settings. I also placed a measuring tape over the side at the dock just to confirm the true depth reading. The transducer does make a small ticking noise under the V birth when running, but its good to be able to confirm its working this way. For around $500 with the sensor, the Garmin 440 is the best deal for a color chart plotter & sounder around.

 

[sailingandsuch]

I have the Garmin 440S to, and it is indeed a great unit. Lucky for me though it came with my boat brand new in the box! Never been hooked up!

 

[Ward H]

I gave this a lot of thought this winter. I have a defunct Hummnbird depth sounder and a 10 yr old Garmin GPS Chart Plotter. I decided I will replace the Humminbird since it is permanently mounted and I will have it on 90% of the time I am sailing. I only pull out the GPS for longer sails and unless I permanently mount it why pull it out just for the depth sounder. Looked to me like the sounder option added about $150 to $200 to a GPS Chart Plotter.
I would only buy the combined unit if I had the extra cash or would be using the GPS for every sail.