Any displays that can do radar, water temp, water depth, and fish finder?

[Fly'n Family]

Pretty new to boat electronics and looking to replace the old gear on my 370 with something new/modern. I realize there will be transducers required and an antenna - but curious if there's a unit that's not crazy expensive that can provide all of the referenced info.

Thanks

 

[trit21]

Depends on what you call crazy expensive. My Garmin 7212 does all of that and pretty well too.

 

[Fly'n Family]

The 7212 looks like a nice unit.

I have 5k set aside for the units to accomplish what I want and installation.

 

[kaz911]

You should consider Simrad NSS12 Evo 2 (2014 model)

It has sounder module built in - so you don't need external $600 sounder box like you do on Garmin. The Garmin 7000 series is an "older" (November 2009) model and does not / will not get many new feature updates like the 8000 series does. The Evo2 is blazingly fast - as fast as the new Garmin 8000 series or faster. And it has both touch and buttons - and have less wasted space on bezel than most other MFD's.

The Simrad 3G /4G rader is also one of the best radars you can find for collision avoidance and the best for close up performance. Garmin's older HD Radar domes are not worth much - but the new Garmin xHD models are much better. (But I still like the Simrad 4G better).

Garmin are great - but so are Simrad - and I think Simrad at this moment is king of the hill

The NSS12 Evo 2 bundle with 4G radar - is about $4500 - and then you just need a transducer for the sounder. The NSS Evo2 supports both normal transducers, chirp transducers and "Side/Down" scan transducers without additional plug in boxes. So you should be able to stay within your 5 k budget. You can also add Simrads $200 Heading Sensor/External GPS - which will give you radar overlay and Marpa. That is the cheapest solution for solid heading indication and radar overlay you can get.

If you tell me a bit more about your fish finder needs (usual depths / typical usage..) - I might be able to help you with the right kind of transducer you would need/benefit from. As you boat is > 30' you should get a transducer with high speed faring so the transducer can break through the flow disturbance around your hull.

 

[Fly'n Family]

You should consider Simrad NSS12 Evo 2 (2014 model)

It has sounder module built in - so you don't need external $600 sounder box like you do on Garmin. The Garmin 7000 series is an "older" (November 2009) model and does not / will not get many new feature updates like the 8000 series does. The Evo2 is blazingly fast - as fast as the new Garmin 8000 series or faster. And it has both touch and buttons - and have less wasted space on bezel than most other MFD's.

The Simrad 3G /4G rader is also one of the best radars you can find for collision avoidance and the best for close up performance. Garmin's older HD Radar domes are not worth much - but the new Garmin xHD models are much better. (But I still like the Simrad 4G better)

Garmin are great - but so are Simrad - and I think Simrad at this moment is king of the hill

The NSS12 Evo 2 bundle with 4G radar - is about $4500 - and then you just need a transducer for the sounder. The NSS Evo2 supports both normal transducers, chirp transducers and "Side/Down" scan transducers without additional plug in boxes. So you should be able to stay within your 5 k budget.

If you tell me a bit more about your fish finder needs (usual depths / typical usage..) - I might be able to help you with the right kind of transducer you would need/benefit from. As you boat is > 30' you should get a transducer with high speed faring so the transducer can break through the flow disturbance around your hull.

Thanks for the post, I'll take a look at that unit. We're on a mountain lake in Colorado - max depth is about 220' - but can drop up to 30' towards the end of the season - creating a areas to avoid as ridges vary underwater. I want to be able to identify underwater structure as clear as possible with it.

 

[kaz911]

Thanks for the post, I'll take a look at that unit. We're on a mountain lake in Colorado - max depth is about 220' - but can drop up to 30' towards the end of the season - creating a areas to avoid as ridges vary underwater. I want to be able to identify underwater structure as clear as possible with it.

For up to 220' almost any transducer will do. But I guess the main purpose is not for fishing but obstacle avoidance ?

Simrad's NSS Evo2 also supports 'Forward Scan' transducers - that will look ahead of your boat. It has not been released yet but should not be far away. http://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-US/Products/Echosounders/ForwardScan/

ForwardScan is NOT a go fast solution - it is for slow navigation but should show you ridges etc ahead of your boat at moderate speed.

 

[Fly'n Family]

Yes....mostly for underwater obstacle avoidance. I watched a couple of vids on that 4g antenna - that is really nice.

 

[kaz911]

Yes....mostly for underwater obstacle avoidance. I watched a couple of vids on that 4g antenna - that is really nice.

Simrad gear is nice I have 2 x NSS12 Evo2 going in - just sitting here right now - replacing a NSS8 "Evo1" and Lowrance HDS12 G2 Touch. All I'm waiting for is my new panels which has just arrived at my US PO Box - so about 1 week to go. Once they are in I'll post some pictures...

On my shelf sits a Garmin 741xs and Garmin 8008 I use for testing. But I prefer the NSS (Evo1 and Evo2) by far. Much more elegant - easy to network with and all systems in "one box" more or less. So wireless network interface $200'ish or you can use your own.

Once my Evo2's are in - I'll pull an HDMI cable to the cabin TV - so chart plotter display will be visible in the cabin as well.

My boat came with a Raymarine C80 - so my first upgrade was to put in a Raymarine c97. But that was a terrible experience. Then I pulled that out after 3 months and put in the Simrad NSS8 and liked it. I have before that always been a Garmin user - but the NSS8 was a big step up. And the radar is really great. We get thick rolling fog here - and I feel very safe with the 4G radar as it show even the small fisherman plastic "ball's/buoys". They are about 4-5 inch in diameter - but visible on radar when water is flat.

But our site owner sell's a lot of Simrad gear - so you can always ask Jim for a quote. The prices I found and quoted was from Starmarine Depot.

But one thing you should check before anything else is the chart quality. Simrad uses Jeppesen CMAP or Navionics (Plus their own) and a few others. Garmin only uses Garmin maps. So you should try and check both maps for which are the best for your location.

 

[FootballFan]

My e120's do that - 6 years old.

 

[kaz911]

My e120's do that - 6 years old.

That sounds great - which radar is that? I must say it surprises me as my two friends boats with C80's and domes can't see what I can see. They can see the radar enabled buoys - but not the small cheap plastic only ball's. They do not spot plastic kayaks or dinghies either unless there is a bit of metal on them. I see those clear as day at 500-800 meters away. So when we go on trips I have to lead if the fog comes rolling in as we have plenty of fishermen who likes to put their nets in the middle of marked canals....

My Garmin 18 HD did not see much either - that was worse than the old Raymarine dome.

But I have slightly shorter range than the old Raymarine dome - but I'm not so worried about targets > 30 miles away.

 

[Fly'n Family]

Simrad gear is nice I have 2 x NSS12 Evo2 going in - just sitting here right now - replacing a NSS8 "Evo1" and Lowrance HDS12 G2 Touch. All I'm waiting for is my new panels which has just arrived at my US PO Box - so about 1 week to go. Once they are in I'll post some pictures...

On my shelf sits a Garmin 741xs and Garmin 8008 I use for testing. But I prefer the NSS (Evo1 and Evo2) by far. Much more elegant - easy to network with and all systems in "one box" more or less. So wireless network interface $200'ish or you can use your own.

Once my Evo2's are in - I'll pull an HDMI cable to the cabin TV - so chart plotter display will be visible in the cabin as well.

My boat came with a Raymarine C80 - so my first upgrade was to put in a Raymarine c97. But that was a terrible experience. Then I pulled that out after 3 months and put in the Simrad NSS8 and liked it. I have before that always been a Garmin user - but the NSS8 was a big step up. And the radar is really great. We get thick rolling fog here - and I feel very safe with the 4G radar as it show even the small fisherman plastic "ball's/buoys". They are about 4-5 inch in diameter - but visible on radar when water is flat.

But our site owner sell's a lot of Simrad gear - so you can always ask Jim for a quote. The prices I found and quoted was from Starmarine Depot.

But one thing you should check before anything else is the chart quality. Simrad uses Jeppesen CMAP or Navionics (Plus their own) and a few others. Garmin only uses Garmin maps. So you should try and check both maps for which are the best for your location.

Sounds like you have a lot of experience with a variety of these units. The more I read and videos I watch, the Simrad stuff looks good - especially with their radar.

Thanks for the heads up on the site owner, I'll get in touch with him to get his input. Will definitely confirm my lake is on the maps. Jeppesen gets the Challenger I fly around the world, so I'm hoping they can get me around my lake.

Definitely post pics of your upcoming install, in fact maybe start a thread on it as I'm sure everyone would like to see.

 

[Fly'n Family]

This is a really good video on the 4g radar. Very impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q05njCtV4g

 

[kaz911]

Sounds like you have a lot of experience with a variety of these units. The more I read and videos I watch, the Simrad stuff looks good - especially with their radar.

Thanks for the heads up on the site owner, I'll get in touch with him to get his input. Will definitely confirm my lake is on the maps. Jeppesen gets the Challenger I fly around the world, so I'm hoping they can get me around my lake.

Definitely post pics of your upcoming install, in fact maybe start a thread on it as I'm sure everyone would like to see.

Will do - I have a more important install coming up within the next few weeks so it might be a little delayed (Baby girl on the way - due on the 23rd.....)

Navico does support some lake maps incl. their own. But I have NO idea about the quality... And I do think Jeppesen maps are better for air usage than marine usage....

But right now - Navico/Simrad is the most flexible MFD out there of them all. I think they are ahead on Price/Performance, Map support, speed, Touch/Button interface and Radar.

Their VHF RS90 or RS35 is pretty good as well - and if you take price into consideration you wont find other AIS receiving NMEA 2000 VHF's for less - but performs as good as Standard Horizon. RS35 is $300-$350 dependent on tax - and supports "wireless handsets"

And if you put in the Wi-Fi part - I might have Phone/Table software you can use for a bit of fun late in the year... It is in prototype phase now. But the GoFree API from Navico makes it darn easy to catch Nav/engine data from Tablets and Phones.

So overall - Simrad has the edge on most things IMHO. Garmin is still the king of Auto Routing though. But to interface Garmin AutoRouting with an Auto Pilot - you can only use Garmin Autopilot - which history shows do not have the best pumps. Simrad does do auto routing - but so far only in "non-US of A lawyer" territories. So really not applicable yet to most CSR folks.

Raymarine is working on "getting there" and is getting there fast. The c97 was a disaster - mostly due to lack of touch (e97 is miles better) - but Raymarine will catch up - and maybe overtake Simrad at some point. I expect new models from Raymarine in February '15. Raymarine also insists on slightly "odd' transducer impedance - which makes their transducers very much Raymarine only. Garmin/Lowrance/Simrad/Furuno are "changeable" with pigtail cables - so if you change MFD brand you can keep the transducer.

Garmin are in general - a little split on direction. They have the current 8000 series which costs a bundle. Then they have the 5 year old 6000/7000 series - but they do not get all the new features as the 8000 series and mostly just bug fixes. Then Garmin has the 5x1xs/7x1xs series with touch which are really great but only up to 7" - and then the 800/1000 which for some strange reason does not come with touch support at all. Only buttons... But the 800/1000 series are great machines as well. But after using Simrad/Lowrance Touch I can't go back to buttons only.

And finally - the NSS Evo2's absolutely looks the best... for an integrated MFD. It's like getting B&O looks without paying extra for it <- VERY SUBJECTIVE OPINION

 

[trit21]

Just a word of caution, I know KAZ is crazy about Simrad and Navico and I am sure he will have a response or can enlighten us, but Navico's customer support is horrible, or at least it was when I called them about 1.5 yrs ago. Took days to get a response and wasn't even the correct answer. I had a question on hooking up a Simrad AP to Garmin network so I called Garmin up to ask if they knew. They had the manual for the SImrad AP, sent me a copy, and gave me the answers I was looking for, in 30 minutes. I understand Raymarine also has a good customer support but I hate Raymarine and all my Raymarine stuff is in the closet, or the garbage. Customer support is very important to me, my bad taste with Navico with the Simrad AP and (back in the day) a Northstar chart plotter has me very leary on using any of their equipment. Look around at what the pros are using will give you a good idea on what works as well. USCG around here uses Garmin and Furuno on the ribs, haven't been close enough to the cutters to take a look at what they use though.

 

[dpmulvey]

I have a Garmin 741xs and 3g radar to be installed this winter. I bought it on the recommendations from boaters who do lakes, inland, shore, offshore and carribean crossings. They are crazy about the ease of use and customer support. I have pilot friends who use nothing but Garmin in their planes for the same ease of use and customer support.

I just need it to get from A to B and from what I understand, with the radar and the Blue Chart chip, the track will actually lay itself! It's all NMEA 2K compliant so engine info is there as well if youre engines can provide it and you want it.

 

[kaz911]

Just a word of caution, I know KAZ is crazy about Simrad and Navico and I am sure he will have a response or can enlighten us, but Navico's customer support is horrible, or at least it was when I called them about 1.5 yrs ago. Took days to get a response and wasn't even the correct answer. I had a question on hooking up a Simrad AP to Garmin network so I called Garmin up to ask if they knew. They had the manual for the SImrad AP, sent me a copy, and gave me the answers I was looking for, in 30 minutes. I understand Raymarine also has a good customer support but I hate Raymarine and all my Raymarine stuff is in the closet, or the garbage. Customer support is very important to me, my bad taste with Navico with the Simrad AP and (back in the day) a Northstar chart plotter has me very leary on using any of their equipment. Look around at what the pros are using will give you a good idea on what works as well. USCG around here uses Garmin and Furuno on the ribs, haven't been close enough to the cutters to take a look at what they use though.

If you want the latests updates on support go to THT...[in no particular order]

1. Simrad - good but not perfect
2. Garmin - usually great customer support - especially post warranty repair scheme. But the odd outlier with bad/wrong advice?
3. Raymarine - impossible wait times (hours) - and rather arrogant treatment on their online forum (read - sensors anything bad said)
4. Lowrance - below Garmin/Simrad but better than Raymarine....

I do not have any brand political agenda - I don't give a s**t about which brand MFD's I put on my boat. I just want the best technology for the price paid.

Right now I would still not consider Raymarine due to their transducer lock in. If you only go Chirp - you should be safe as they do not have the impedance issues the normal transducers have. Raymarine did a good job exchanging their old sounder even out of warranty. But they favour new features over making existing ones better for a lot of the time. You can look up my long discussion with the CEO of Raymarine on THT... But they are catching up with Flir leadership in place.

Northstar - was "bought" by Navico and "implemented" into Simrad from Mercury. That Northstar support was bad is no secret. I think Simrad could have done a lot better on that front but I think it was either a Mercury "Mercy killing "or a "sell the assets" for low cost. So I think a lot of "brain power" was lost in the transaction - which impacted the Northstar support. I do not know the details so this is just pure speculation based on what I have read and heard.

So as I said - right now - Simrad is the King of (my) hill - best features for the best price. But that might change next year or the year after... I used to be "only Garmin goes on my boat" but not any longer.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

We have been running a Lowrance Gen2 HDS10 GPS with Sonar Depth and Structure Scan (Side Scan Sonar) coupled to a Simrad 4G Radar and our VHF Radio.
Fuel flow meters are also run through it. We have been very pleased with the package I put together, especially the clear detail of the Broadband Radar.

Best of luck with your search.

 

[2000SR380]

Our 2000 Sea Ray has Raymarine multi-function display. The Radar is an open array and works really well. The Chart Plotter is slow and antiquated. I find everything all in one display is complex. It can be confusing and slow switching between screens. In general the information is adequate and useable, but requires a degree in Engineering. I find it clumsy to operate effectively while underway in anything but ideal conditions. Nobody here has mentioned Furuno?? I worked on a fishing boat for two years with all Furuno Equipment. Both our previous boats had all Furuno Equipment. The Furuno Chart plotters are fast, and super accurate. We have made some pretty interesting night 'Landings', once at the Pfeiffer anchorage on the Big Sur coast in very foggy conditions. We never had a glitch through rain, storm, and fair weather. We always found Aton's, anchorages, and inlets, exactly where they were marked on the electronic chart. When I had trouble with a radar install I left a message on-line and received a cell phone call within 20 minutes from a Furuno Tech who walked me through correcting the set-up. When a sailboat rammed us in Racoon Straights (while we had been running the Chart Plotter), I took dated pictures of the Furuno screen showing our coarse and speed. I sent these to Furuno and they wrote a very nice letter for me explaining which parameter's were adjustable and what they could tell from looking at the pictures. This was super helpful in supporting my version of how the collision occurred, and saved my insurance company some significant duckets. In Short, the Raymarine stuff we have is functional and working well. When it dies I will upgrade with Furuno Equipment. I will have redundant devices and not look for everything on one screen.

 

[kaz911]

Furuno in the USA have extreme and supreme support - and great products. But they do also cost 50-100% extra. It would be impossible to stay below $5000 for chartplotter with radar unless you go 2nd hand.