To be fair to the prior owner, you're only assuming he used a drill to make a cut-out! It's entirely possible that that he had a well-trained pet beaver whom he held up to the dash. Was the boat previously named "Yabba Dabba Doo"?
I also ordered up some cheapo Ratheon stickers from eBay for the suncovers. I may paint the suncovers for both my radar and pilot and do the autopilot face at the same time.
So Stee, how about an update/review?
Are you pleased with the 742's?
How do you use them? Are you using the Media page for your Fusion, or do you find the remote more convenient?
How's that AP650 painting project coming along?
Are you using ActiveCaptain for anything aside from updates?
Hey thanks for asking, Roller! I couldn't be more pleased after having run one "long distance" trip so far since the install. I have another coming up in a few weeks and hope to continue to refine my process.
I'm currently using the 742's both for guidance while underway. I really like having the same route on both screens but have one zoomed out to see the entire route while the other is zoomed in to see depth and contour detail along with the Active Captain inputs. This may seem strange but I've also gone one unit running in nautical miles with the other running statute. You can never have too much data? ha. I believe you can run two charts (zooms) on one screen as well....but having them full size is pretty cool
I really appreciated the dual screens during my recent trip to Chicago. I was about 40% of the way across Lake Michigan when NOAA issued a special marine warning for Chicago for some wicked storms quickly forming over the city. I took the opportunity to use one of the 742 screens to find the nearest port south of my position (Michigan City, IN), created a new course and even got the phone number for the harbor master. While navigating to the new course I kept the other screen set to Chicago to see how far I was deviating. Not necessary but definitely nice to have.
I've got a 15meter NMEA cord waiting behind the helm to be pulled to the Fusion headunit. I'll get it done this month for sure. But for the time being I've been very pleased with the stick-on remotes. The only exception being that keeping both remotes paired seems inconsistent. I regularly have to repair both remotes to keep them both connected. Once paired they are good while the power is on but once I shutdown it's a crapshoot as to whether or not either one, or both, will connect when I power back up.
For local trips I definitely plan to use the second screen for audio control very soon. And engine data next year
On Garmin in general - love it. The updates for the plotters push to my phone. Once onboard I simply turn on the plotters, they connect to my phone and start their own updates (including routes I add on my phone). So easy. I probably only know 5% of the cool things these plotters do so far. But it's been great. Gateways are in the future for sure. Having an engine room camera or cabin camera would be super cool too but....I don't really want a second job.
AP650 painting is on my list for winter. I don't want to tear my dash apart again this summer! I'm planning to replace the entire panel over winter...do a better job on cutting the openings.
Good call on the HDMI, I think you're right! The boat came with a TV and DVD player in the cabin - I could route a cable up to the helm. Another future project!
Brad, did you have an external card reader installed? If not, there are card readers on the back of the MFDs but they might be a PITA to access. You will need to have a card in place for ActiveCaptain functionality at a minimum and for copying and transferring charts if that is something you need to do.
I didn’t have a external one installed, but I did consider how to get to the back post-install.
That is clearly designed by someone who has worked on their boat once or twice. Love it.
