I use a Garmin in my 292 Formula Fastech (see thread). It is removable and can also be used for roads and give directions, etc. Works great. Got it about 4 years ago, so there are newer models available today.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...gps-292-a.html

Did not get their flyer, or I might of thrown it away. What is their price? On the web it is $799.00 I saw on internet some place's are selling for $459.00 to $499.00.

As the resident guy that spent more on marine electronics than anyone I know......

Your answer depends on your point of reference for "good" and how far you want to take it in the future with add ons. The basic Northstars are decent little units and the livorsi trim kit is very nice.

Ive ridden in several Northstar, Garmin, and Furuno boats and have a background in marine electronics. The Northstar will certainly get you from point a-b, its update speed is ok if a tiny bit pokey, but not to bad. Route & waypoint planning is pretty good.


It also accepts the hacked mercury nmea2000 protocol which can get you a duplicate digital dash if you have a smartcraft compliant engine (smart-craft was a good idea but NMEA 2000 is a universal protocol)

If this is all you need this is a fine unit.

The northstar 6000 is their "expansion platform" but it suffers from a second rate radar and lack of a 3d mode and chart photo-fusion.

It stops being sufficient as a platform if you try to expand from there.

Heres a pict of my setup I have integrated radar, Arpa, & AIS, as well as the capability to split the screeen into quarters halves or a mix with inputs coming from anything.

This is a third party video that shows some of the capabilities Im talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90SaP6nVnD4



Uncle Dave

OOOOP'S

Just took a closer look at their web site and found the price to be $400.00.

Are these the units that have AIS? Seems to me if you can get AIS without a bigger form factor Id go for it especially if you have no radar.

Or the older ones that livorsi may have in stock?

AIS makes the little Northstar a cooler unit at least you can pick up commercial traffic.

Take a look at the screen pict above you can see two triangles one with a red line indicating his course, (leaving avalon Harbor) and you can see what is the Catalina Flyer docked to the right.
Although there is much more to worried about at least you know where the big fast boys are going. AIS is Very useful and worth spending the money on.



UD

P.M. me your email and i'll forward you the xmas flyer,lots of deals on there

Happy Holidays :drink:

try hear, www.boatersland.com best prices I have found online, service and delivery were perfect.

I say go Garmin. We have a 3210 in the cat and its great.

Thanks for the info. I do not plan on using radar feature. Mostly looking for a chartploter that is user friendly and accurate.

My wife bought me the Northstar Explorer 550 for Christmas and I was hopeing there is a way to be able to use it between now and spring to get use to it but I don't know if there is a way or not. My gps has a purple bezel on it and it comes with a white cover so I'm guessing you can get different colors. Question does anyone know if you can hook a battery pack or something to the wires and use it or would that mess it up?