GPS update

Captain Spike

Active Member
Oct 14, 2020
208
California Delta
Boat Info
2002 Sun Dancer with 6.2 L v drives
Engines
6.2L mercury v drive
I’m looking to upgrade my Garmin 172c original on my 2002 340da
I’m looking at 9” Garmin vs Simrad 9” I think I can fit it were the original is with trimming.

looking for any input, not much concern of depth sounder side, will add a new VHF & potential option of adding a radar dome. Mainly just want quick visible charts for delta occasionally SF bay.
Ease of use underway the primary focus.

thanks for your input!
 
I went with Garmin based on previous experience and find them easy to use. I have a 942XS and 8612XSV and they both perform the same functions if your not looking for down view or side view sonar. I believe there are differences in processing speed which quite frankly is very good on the 942 IMO but the biggest difference I see is the sunlight visibility on the 8612. I just upgraded my Smartcraft to Vessel View 703 which is a Simrad display and it is similar to the Garmins in the way it functions and is also easy to use. I would get the largest screen you can fit.
 
I went with Garmin based on previous experience and find them easy to use. I have a 942XS and 8612XSV and they both perform the same functions if your not looking for down view or side view sonar. I believe there are differences in processing speed which quite frankly is very good on the 942 IMO but the biggest difference I see is the sunlight visibility on the 8612. I just upgraded my Smartcraft to Vessel View 703 which is a Simrad display and it is similar to the Garmins in the way it functions and is also easy to use. I would get the largest screen you can fit.
Great thank you for the input. I’ve had and have garmin it’s old slow and small so I think anything new and 9” should be great, fairly well shaded from the sun too. I’m leaning towards the 942 cheers
 
I debated between Simrad and Garmin. With input from and installer! I ended up going with Simrad Go9, and they have a rebate until the end of April.
 
I upgraded the original Raymarine electronics on my 2001 340 Sundancer last year. I went with all Simrad--mostly because they are owned by Mercury (or Brunswick) now and the vesselview features are built into the MFDs. I went with the Go9xse MFD, which is a step down from the NSO series, but works fine for my needs. I splurged on the radar, which is a new Halo+ series. The features are amazing. Simrad sells an autopilot package, with the AP44 gauge, compass, rudder feedback unit, autopilot computer and pump. Medium duty was sufficient. You may need the larger pump and higher amperage computer. The last piece was the VHF. I splurged again and went with the RS40B, which has an AIS receiver and transmitter built in. Everything is networked on NMEA 2000, so the AIS feeds into the MFD and shows on the charts and radar, the chart routing feeds directly from the MFD into the autopilot, and the vessel view engine data and cruise control are all available on the MFD as well. I find the Go9xse to be a little slow at times in terms of switch screens, but otherwise the entire package has worked flawlessly.

This was taken for the funny boat name, but you get the idea. You can put all the necessary data (radar, chart, AIS, engine) on one screen. It's very customizable.

index.php
 
One feature associated with Gamin worth consideration is the Active Captain integration. It's worth toying around with it before you make a decision.

I'm also a bit of an Apple fan and felt the Garmin UI is a bit more intuitive, like an Apple device. Simrad felt a bit more industrial to me. Very much a personal preference, to be sure...
 
One feature associated with Gamin worth consideration is the Active Captain integration. It's worth toying around with it before you make a decision.

I'm also a bit of an Apple fan and felt the Garmin UI is a bit more intuitive, like an Apple device. Simrad felt a bit more industrial to me. Very much a personal preference, to be sure...

I am strictly Raymarine only because I have about 20 years experience with it, but if I still had a gas Mercruiser/ Mercury power plant I would go with Simrad just for the Smartcraft integration. And you are exactly right about one being recreational and the other being industrial. Simrad has been the go to for commercial mariners for years. It’s only since being acquired by Brunswick that they have been courting business from googens.
 
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I upgraded the original Raymarine electronics on my 2001 340 Sundancer last year. I went with all Simrad--mostly because they are owned by Mercury (or Brunswick) now and the vesselview features are built into the MFDs. I went with the Go9xse MFD, which is a step down from the NSO series, but works fine for my needs. I splurged on the radar, which is a new Halo+ series. The features are amazing. Simrad sells an autopilot package, with the AP44 gauge, compass, rudder feedback unit, autopilot computer and pump. Medium duty was sufficient. You may need the larger pump and higher amperage computer. The last piece was the VHF. I splurged again and went with the RS40B, which has an AIS receiver and transmitter built in. Everything is networked on NMEA 2000, so the AIS feeds into the MFD and shows on the charts and radar, the chart routing feeds directly from the MFD into the autopilot, and the vessel view engine data and cruise control are all available on the MFD as well. I find the Go9xse to be a little slow at times in terms of switch screens, but otherwise the entire package has worked flawlessly.

This was taken for the funny boat name, but you get the idea. You can put all the necessary data (radar, chart, AIS, engine) on one screen. It's very customizable.

index.php
 
Thanks for the great information. What is entailed in getting the vessel view ? Mine is 2002 I didn’t think they had that capability.
That moves Simrad up a notch on my list, not sure if the Garmin has that capability. Thank you!
 
One feature associated with Gamin worth consideration is the Active Captain integration. It's worth toying around with it before you make a decision.

I'm also a bit of an Apple fan and felt the Garmin UI is a bit more intuitive, like an Apple device. Simrad felt a bit more industrial to me. Very much a personal preference, to be sure...
I too like Apple products, I’m old school used to fish out of Half moon bay pretty much with with a string and iron needle! Thought I was special with a small LORAN ! Haha. One of these puppies is coming home with me.
 
Thanks for the great information. What is entailed in getting the vessel view ? Mine is 2002 I didn’t think they had that capability.
That moves Simrad up a notch on my list, not sure if the Garmin has that capability. Thank you!

2002 was a borderline year for Smartcraft, it was out but not available on all Merc platforms. Additionally Sea Ray didn’t start installing the gauges until a couple years later. For example our 02 280 had a Smartcraft enabled engine, but Sea Ray installed it with analog gauges.

You should look at the engines. Merc applied decals to the engine shrouds on both inboard/sterndrive and outboard engines, that said something like “Smartcraft Enabled”. If you have these, you have a way forward. Even if you don’t see a decal (they do peel off), get the serial numbers and contact Mercruiser. They can tell you if the engines are capable.

If the engines are Smartcraft, you may be port the data to a N2K network, or Simrad display without converting your analog gauges.
 
If you don't have the Smartcraft features you can also add NMEA connectivity from your engines via Fox Gateways. Folks around here have used the gateways to get engine data up to most any brand chartplotter.
 
If you don't have the Smartcraft features you can also add NMEA connectivity from your engines via Fox Gateways. Folks around here have used the gateways to get engine data up to most any brand chartplotter.
Hey thanks!
 
Thanks for the great information. What is entailed in getting the vessel view ? Mine is 2002 I didn’t think they had that capability.
That moves Simrad up a notch on my list, not sure if the Garmin has that capability. Thank you!
Going with Simrad specifically only makes sense if they have the smartcraft built-in, as Simrad has the vesselview built in which is designed for smartcraft. If it doesn't, any of the new MFDs (Simrad, Garmin, Raytheon) will work with NMEA 2000. Depending upon the engine and ECM, if it's not outputting NMEA 2000 already, you can likely obtain a compatible Fox Gateway as well. That will pipe the engine data via NMEA 2000 to any modern MFD, which all have their own built in gauge displays.

I'm doubtful that even 2002 smartcraft technology would give you that much extra functionality even if you went with Simrad and vessel view.

On the new engines that have all of the bells and whistles, however, it is pretty cool. With the Simrad display hooked to my new 8.2s, I have 'cruise control' (autothrottle), access to maintenance and check engine alerts, and all of the basic engine data in the Simrad MFD, in addition to all the standard charting, depth., etc.
 
Going with Simrad specifically only makes sense if they have the smartcraft built-in, as Simrad has the vesselview built in which is designed for smartcraft. If it doesn't, any of the new MFDs (Simrad, Garmin, Raytheon) will work with NMEA 2000. Depending upon the engine and ECM, if it's not outputting NMEA 2000 already, you can likely obtain a compatible Fox Gateway as well. That will pipe the engine data via NMEA 2000 to any modern MFD, which all have their own built in gauge displays.

I'm doubtful that even 2002 smartcraft technology would give you that much extra functionality even if you went with Simrad and vessel view.

On the new engines that have all of the bells and whistles, however, it is pretty cool. With the Simrad display hooked to my new 8.2s, I have 'cruise control' (autothrottle), access to maintenance and check engine alerts, and all of the basic engine data in the Simrad MFD, in addition to all the standard charting, depth., etc.

First generation Smartcraft engine and boat data was pretty complete and I might add there are some things the SC5000 lcd display could do that I can not get the brand new Axioms to do. Granted things like auto throttle control are not available on the Smartcraft line up from 02, but then neither is the hardware, so the point is moot.
 
Going with Simrad specifically only makes sense if they have the smartcraft built-in, as Simrad has the vesselview built in which is designed for smartcraft. If it doesn't, any of the new MFDs (Simrad, Garmin, Raytheon) will work with NMEA 2000. Depending upon the engine and ECM, if it's not outputting NMEA 2000 already, you can likely obtain a compatible Fox Gateway as well. That will pipe the engine data via NMEA 2000 to any modern MFD, which all have their own built in gauge displays.

I'm doubtful that even 2002 smartcraft technology would give you that much extra functionality even if you went with Simrad and vessel view.

On the new engines that have all of the bells and whistles, however, it is pretty cool. With the Simrad display hooked to my new 8.2s, I have 'cruise control' (autothrottle), access to maintenance and check engine alerts, and all of the basic engine data in the Simrad MFD, in addition to all the standard charting, depth., etc.
 
Thanks again for your help. It sounds like the fox gateway may be an option. Now I just need to play with the units and get a feeling for what works for me. Mainly need the chart plotter and the 9 “ size I think will fit nicely.
 

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