2012 185 Sport GPS/Fish Finder Suggestions

[fyrefightr]

After surviving my first summer as a new boat owner, I want to install a small GPS/Fishfinder combo similar to the Garmin 441s. I am pretty clueless so I am asking for advice on what would fit the 185 dash for an external mount not flush and what would be easy to install the transducer. I would like the fishfinder so I can enjoy the boat year round not just summer time

 

[dburne]

Congrats, I survived my first summer as a new boat owner as well - we got an older boat for our first one, 1990 180 BR, and have had a blast with it. Getting it winterized tomorrow, sad days ahead will be glad when it is spring again.

I put the Garmin 531S in mine, and love it. Nice to be able to not worry about getting lost and seeing where the channels are.
I ended up mounting mine on the windshield support pole, using ram mounts. It worked out really well for me.
Have a look at this thread, the specific ram mounts that were referred to me by another gentleman in that thread, worked perfectly for me.
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/52389-Question-on-GPS

Now, I have not yet installed the transducer - as my boat already had a depth finder, but I may go ahead and install the transducer over the offseason just so I have that info on the same screen on my GPS.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[mrdell4150]

I can vouch for the 431s. Got it in the beginning of the summer when Garmin had a bunch of rebates. Absolutely love it, best thing I have ever bought for the boat. Nice compact unit that displays exactly what I like to see. I usually have it on the chart plotter screen and it shows the depth down at the bottom of that screen which is great. Previous owner had a Garmin fish finder so I just used the transducer that was already mounted to the transom. Plenty of info about installing the transducer, it's very simple. I drilled a hole and ran the cable because the previous owner just ran it around the swim platform and didn't route it permanently. The depth readings usually cut out once on a plane which I've seen/heard is the usually case with basically every transducer regardless of style. But once I'm on a plane and cruising, I'll know that I hit bottom well before the depthfinder will ever tell me....

Any questions about the 431s or otherwise feel free to PM me, I researched it for days before finally buying the setup. I personally like the smaller screen of the 431 versus the 5xx series, both in terms of room on the dash and price.

I recommend buying whichever unit you decide on from BOE Marine. Absolutely best price and customer service I've seen: http://www.boemarine.com/

 

[fyrefightr]

Thanks for the response MrDell. I have researched a lot and really feel comfortable about that unit. Im just trying to figure out how to mount it in such a small space on the dash.

 

[fyrefightr]

Dburne, thanks for all your info. I went to the rammount website and am pretty confused about how to mount it. Anyway you can take a pic of how its mounted so I can better understand it. I like the idea but need to see the idea!!!

 

[dburne]

Dburne, thanks for all your info. I went to the rammount website and am pretty confused about how to mount it. Anyway you can take a pic of how its mounted so I can better understand it. I like the idea but need to see the idea!!!

Your in luck, just picked it up from having it winterized and about to cover up and put away.
Here is I have mine mounted with the ram mounts:

 

[MarkD]

I love my Garmin 441s, but I dont use the sounder portion. The GPS part is easy to use and really accurate. The built in charts have been dead on. You can get it with 2 flavors. Coastal or Inland Lakes. As for the mounting, I have a 2008 and i think its similar to your 2011. The position I put it is similar to dburne's pic above. On the 2008's there is a flat gelcoat spot in the lower left dash to mount a remote radio control. Thats where its located....

 

[fyrefightr]

Thanks everyone for your help. I just ordered and received the 441s from West Marine. It was on sale for $349.99 without the transducer. Now I just need to figure out which one I need and should be good to go. Dburne thanks so much for the pics. I saved them and will figure out the rammounts. The pics did wonders to eliminate the confusion on where to mount it.

 

[fyrefightr]

Thanks so much Mark.

 

[dburne]

Thanks everyone for your help. I just ordered and received the 441s from West Marine. It was on sale for $349.99 without the transducer. Now I just need to figure out which one I need and should be good to go. Dburne thanks so much for the pics. I saved them and will figure out the rammounts. The pics did wonders to eliminate the confusion on where to mount it.

Glad to help! If you read through that thread I linked to in my original reply, you will find the three ram mount part numbers that were suggested and what I went with - saved me a lot of confusion in trying to figure out what parts to order.
While I got the 531s which came with the transducer, I did not hook that part up on mine, I just use it as a GPS and it works great. My boat already had a depth finder which is the puck style I guess, and works really well even when running full speed, so I didn't want to go through the trouble of installing the transducer and adding another hole to my transom...