Garmin Plotter Camera?

wyrman

Well-Known Member
Jul 12, 2012
1,917
Tri-Cities, Wa
Boat Info
2007 310 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 350's, V drives
2003 Fisher 17 aluminum
90hp Honda 4 stroke
I have a Garmin 942xs, and want to put a camera on the arch so I can see better when backing into my slip, especially when the canvas is on.
Garmin wants a lot of money for theirs, so I was wondering if anyone has added one of a different, more affordable brand.
 
Not to rain on your parade, although I realize I'm doing that :), but do you really think a back-up camera is going to be helpful?

My boat is moored stern-in, and I feel like when I'm docking, my eyes are usually focused on the lateral to make sure I don't contact the dock on the side. (I pretty much know the position at my dock when I need to bump forward to avoid a stern collision.)

Now, as to my car, yes...I rely on the back-up camera like crazy. But the only situation where I'd value a camera on a boat for docking is if it were a top-down setup on the port side.
 
I found one cheap on ebay so I said what the heck. I find it helpful if I have a lot of people on the boat and at night. It's a bit of a novelty and is not required in most cases. It's cool though. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on one.

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I want to add one because I have a huge blind spot from my helm. I can’t see basically 1/2 the cockpit and it makes me nervous that I’ve lost a passenger. I wouldn’t mind some help when backing or monitoring the dinghy when running either. I’d like to have one in my engine space too.

Adding the cameras can be complicated, from my looking into it. Garmin does have some info on what’s needed to add various cameras. Things like hubs, network cabling, POE injectors, video encoders, etc. It can be done but seems like to need a good bit of knowledge.
 
Not to rain on your parade, although I realize I'm doing that :), but do you really think a back-up camera is going to be helpful?

My boat is moored stern-in, and I feel like when I'm docking, my eyes are usually focused on the lateral to make sure I don't contact the dock on the side. (I pretty much know the position at my dock when I need to bump forward to avoid a stern collision.)

Now, as to my car, yes...I rely on the back-up camera like crazy. But the only situation where I'd value a camera on a boat for docking is if it were a top-down setup on the port side.
I just want one to help backing into my spot with the canvas on. I have a lot of blind spots, especially at night.
 
Greg, I have some horrendous blind spots (the entire stern of the boat) and gave some thought to adding a backup camera. I decided it would be too distracting to be focused on the position of the boat and then have to focus on a backup camera.

I back in facing the stern and I'd have to turn 180* around to see the camera then focus on it to read the screen.

I decided it would be much easier if I just focused on my port side (if the port side is OK it makes sense that the stbd side is OK also) and painted a small (3" x 8") rectangle on the finger pier positioned such that when the boat was far enough into the slip the rectangle would be alongside the helm.

So far no runs, no hits, no one left on base. Oops, wrong sport. Suffice it to say I haven't hit the dock!
 
Camera's displaying on Garmin chartplotters…. I just went through all of this during the electronics' retrofit on my boat and I have lessons learned...
My boat has three cameras, two in the engine room and one in the aft cockpit looking rearward. I used a Lorex system which is a division of Flir. My cameras are IP night vision cameras and integrated with a NVR so they second as a security system that I can view on remote computers and my smart-phone. The camera system NVR connects via ethernet to a typical WIFI router then integrates into both the Garmin network and to the Coastal Marine WiFi long distance antenna system. In reviewing the Garmin 86xx MFD documentation (before I selected and purchased the Lorex system) it appeared that as long as one installed a Garmin POE isolator there were no restrictions on what IP based cameras could be integrated into the Garmin ethernet network.
Ok, now the system is fully installed and they cannot get the cameras to display or even be recognized by the Garmin chartplotters…. The cameras display on the cabin televisions (via HDMI) and remotely as designed but no matter what we did, they will not display on the Garmin equipment. After a multitude of calls to Garmin technical they dug up a bulletin on camera compatibility which we now find out only the Garmin Axis and Flir IR cameras are compatible. Now there is an $800 lesson to pass on. So, where are we now? We have a HDMI cable ran from the Lorex NVR to the Garmin chartplotters and now we can see the cameras just fine but have no control (camera selection or zoom) from the helm. In the below photos you can see the Garmin network expander and the POE isolator (yellow device now disconnected). The bright light in the camera view is the other camera looking the other way.
Oh, as an edit, the Lorex camera system IP address conflicted with the Garmin Helm WIFI and, additionally, that would not work...… All fixed now.
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I have a cockpit camera that is facing rearward. When backing down into a visiting slip, I typically don't use the camera function. I use it most of the time when I am running the boat and someone wants to go down to the cockpit of salon and the camera allows me to keep track of them. I use the split screen function so I still have my navigation info showing as well as the camera feed.
 
I pretty much want one to help me see where the boat's at when backing into my slip at night with my canvas on.
My canvas has one small window in the back, and I can't see squat.
I'm going to have a new camper canvas made with bigger windows, but until then....
I want to do this for docking after the lighted boat parade coming up in a few weeks.
Thanks for all the replies.
 
I pretty much want one to help me see where the boat's at when backing into my slip at night with my canvas on.
My canvas has one small window in the back, and I can't see squat.
I'm going to have a new camper canvas made with bigger windows, but until then....
I want to do this for docking after the lighted boat parade coming up in a few weeks.
Thanks for all the replies.
If you have wifi...you could just mount it on the roof pillars behind you and watch it on the phone/ipad
Could double as a security camera too
 
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Our WiFi isn't worth a crap at the marina, you have to refresh it every 15 minutes.
I bought a camera similar to the one The Bill Collector linked to. That particular one isn't available anymore.
I'll post back when I have it hooked up, and how well it works.
 
I have a Garmin GC12 camera, wired to a Garmin 8610xsv and they play real well together. Great camera whether day or very low lighting conditions, and it even has the back-up lines like a car.

Having a flybridge, you can't see the back at all, except a little of the port corner if the stair door is open. Ironically, I thought I'd use it all the time, but haven't. I stand in the middle of the boat facing back, and work the sticks the same as I did on my cruisers. I have a point picked out on my dock I line my body up with and it works well. Plus, it has the added bonus of better situational awareness in the event I need to employ the bow or stern thruster. Staring at a helm mounted chart plotter while backing in proved to be uncomfortable......at least for me.
 
I just want to use it to glance at here and there.
I have a new neighbor, and their boat is pretty wide. I just want to be able to do a quick look to make sure the stern is where it's supposed to be since I can't see squat with the canvas on.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a Garmin 840xs. I'd love to be able to see video whether a camera or even better my directv receiver at the helm. How would I wire up an hdmi source?
 
Greg, would it be less expensive for you to take your slant back canvas to a canvas shop and have them put in a much larger window?
 
I'm going to have a camper canvas made with big windows.
They can't come to the marina anymore, so after I hinge the arch, I'm going to drag it to them now that I have a trailer.
 

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