need advise on Chartplotter & Radar combo

[skoub]

hi everyone!

im a new sailboat owner and i would like to buy a chartplotter & radar. There's so many options out there that im a little bit lost. I need your advise to buy these tools.

Heres the criteria:

• 1500$ to 2000$ budget
• No screentouch. On youtube, you can see that the Garmin GPSMap 740 will have difficulties to understand the commands if there's water on it
• I can buy from eBay if i can save money

thank you very much for the help!

 

[stephen Penny]

I installed a Garmine 3210 chartplotter with 24" HD radar last year on my Hunter 31 for less than $1700 installed (parts cost $1400). I recently installed a Raymarine chartplotter + radar on my Hunter 386 same cost. Please feel free to contact me for details.

 

[DannyS]

Be careful with ebay (not that you didn't know that already). I bought my Raymarine C80 on ebay and it has worked great but several clues have led me to believe it was stolen from another boat. I feel bad for that guy but there's not much I can do about it now. When I installed it on my boat, I made a locking mechanism that would make a thief find an easier target.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Two is better than one. If the chartplotter goes down for some reason you could also loose the VHF. Better to have a little redundncy in the critical communications area like a hand held also.

 

[FastOlson]

While I would never again recommend a Garmin chart plotter (my 3005C still works most days but dates to their last production series before they went to a powerful magnet for their little chart door), my Furuno radar works extremely well and is still the easiest one to see in daylight or darkness. Have a look at the 1623 model. It's a rock solid basic model from a builder of tens of thousands of commercial radars.

Having done several deliveries at night on other boats with Furuno's, I came to realize years ago that they had the sharpest displays.
Their tech support is IN the USA and they actually answer their phones, too!

Like others here, I too would advise against eBay for stuff like this, both for reasons of basic trust and because you really should be dealing with a vendor near you to answer questions before and after purchase and expedite any warranty issue that might arise. Same caveat, to a lesser extent for the "big box" vendors like We$t Marine.

F.O.

 

[skoub]

thank you for the answers!! I understand that we should buy a gps unit and a radar unit in case one of them go down but i think i will choose something that can show gps and the radar on the same screen. We know the sector where we will sail so this is not so critical if we don't have redondancy.

What about the Lowrance HDS8?

The Garmin 3210 seems good too but its discontinued and the stores seems to not have it anymore!

@Bill Roosa, i had the idea to buy an handheld gps too. thank you for the advise!

alex

 

[Roger Long]

i think i will choose something that can show gps and the radar on the same screen.

Unless you are highly trained in radar and have someone who can stand full time radar watch in fog, this is absolutely essential. You can watch the chart overlay and see how targets are moving very quickly and intuitively compared to keeping a plotting sheet going or fiddling with radar controls. Very important when short handed.

 

[skoub]

@roger, what do you mean exactly? if i have a screen that can be splitted in two to show the gps and the radar at the same time, everything should be fine... right?

 

[BobD17833]

A couple of decisions before you choose.
What cartography do you prefer?
C-Map, Navionics, Garmin?
That choice will lead you to plotter families based on cartography.

What size screen? In your price range I think you are looking at about 7".

Where will it be mounted, do you want portable or permanant mount. There are some very good choices with quick disconnect brackets, so you don't have to deal with wires and possible broken pins when you remove the unit for storage or anti-theft.

Do you want radar overlay over the chart? not all units have that capability. BTW for radar overlay you will need an electronic compass signal to the plotter to orient the radar plot.

There many choices, I wouldn't have Garmin. Furuno, Simrad is Exc. but $$$ - Suggest you look at something like the Sitex EC7I or E. C-map, overlay, 800x400, 7" TFT screen, quick bracket. Enough I/O to control an autoplot too. Defender has them for under $800 plus C-map about $200. Radar dome $1200-1500. It's a straight forward install you can probably do yourself.

Bob D
Boston

 

[Snotter]

For the money you are talking about, if it were me (been there, done that), I'd go with all used equipment off of ebay. Look for a 4kw Raydome and a C80 chartplotter. On eBay, 2 C80's are cheaper than one C120. I am very pleased with my eBay system.

If you are not a do-it-your self type, triple your budget and go with new equipment and pay someone to install it.

 

[skoub]

@bob, since that im new with my boat, i don't know whats the difference between each cartography provider. Can you make a quick summary of each?

I will use the unit outside but i want to be able to remove it and store it inside. I don't need the overlay feature. Well, if i have it, that's good but i just need to be able to split the screen in two and have the gps & radar showing side by side.

@snotter, thank you for the tip, i will look at that for sure!

 

[BobD17833]

Get a look at the different cartography displays and features either online, in a magazine or at a retailer. The features (port info, nav aid displays, depth contours) will be available from all vendors, choose what looks most pleasing to you.
Overlay is very useful, especically with a small 7" screen, 7" too small to split screen. You can get an overlay unit, and use it split screen until you provide a compass input signal.

IMHO
If you are new to sailing, you probably will not be venturing too far off shore and always have land in sight, and not running in the fog. Consider using paper charts to learn basic navigation and dead reckoning, it will always serve you well. Maybe settle for a small hand held GPS that willeventually be your backup after you decide to upgrade.

 

[skoub]

Im not totally new to sailing. In fact, i have one year of practice and learning (remove the winter season . I have studied navigation on paper charts so im ok on that side and i've also done the Exumas in the Bahamas and it was a very good practice.

Now that my friend i've bought an Hunter 31, we want to put some electronics on it. This is the part that we need help. And since that theres a few mail in rebates for all the companies, i was lost on what i should look, what is good and not, etc...

alex