Help picking out chart plotter
 

looking at all different models...anyone with experience on Huron/Lk st clair?

correct me if im wrong, but most garmin need the G2 vision card?
i.e. garmin 541s

what about standard horizon cp190i?

any others i might be missing, overlooking?

i guess im looking for something with the most loaded up chartplotter in stock form, without dishing out extra bucks ...

any input is greatly appreciated..looking to upgrade out of a older garmin handheld gps desperately :)

thnx

I had an older Garmin GPS210, black and white and you needed a PhD in electronics to use it, LOL!

I got a Raymarine A50 for Christmas last year, and I am pretty happy with it, they are reasonably priced and it works real well. I like the "sea talk" cable, it lets you add a pile of stuff "down the road" without having to buy a new plotter or a bunch of adapters.

My second choice would be the Lowrance HDS series, they are really nice.

Good Luck!
Michael

haha..those raymarine are very nice..ill have to check into those further. do u get a lot of detail on your a50? some garmin folks say that some detail doesnt show up unless you buy the g2 vision card..

I am pretty happy with the detail, it's only a 5" screen, so, it can get "compressed" looking if there is lots of clutter, I use the "zoom" function to clear it up, there is also a really cool "decluttering" thing that eliminates some of the unnecessary stuff on the screen to make it easier to read. My boat is small (25ft) so I don't have room at the helm for a 8 or 10 inch screen, sadly.

I use the Navionics Platinum card, it's 8gb and shows a lot of detail, including the overhead and 3D views, which is cool.

Good Luck!

I had a Lowrance HD chartplotter on a previous boat, it was so damn clear. I really liked the unit.

Does anyone make a chartplotter that can control media? Was it Raymarine that did this?

Nice top gun!! Any temporary mount suggestions? Not really interested in permanent fixing to dash

I got a Lowrance HDS5 this winter, been very happy with it so far. Came preloaded with Great Lakes and all inland lakes, lots of detail and very good display. Also very easy to use.

I have been keeping an eye on prices on the Garmin 546s. It comes loaded with great lakes charts and is higher res than most in it's price range.

What charts came with the unit?

I just installed a Raymarine e7D and am real happy with it. The screen is brighter than the Garmin and I like having both the touch screen and knobs. Also, it's a new model so it has a faster processor than the equivalent Garmin.

The A50 came with basic "maps" I added the Platinum Navionics compact flash card for where I boat [Eastern Great lakes/St Lawrence]

I've been eyeing this one up as well....what charts come with it? I would like to connect it to a Mercury Smartcraft engine as well.

Mine came with both coasts and the Great Lakes, but I think there may be different models, so you better check.

I use a Garmin GPSMAP 640 came with lake charts already preloaded, has a quick release to remove for security, works well, could use a little brighter dispay.

I used to sell Marine radios and chart plotters etc.

Garman- by far one of the top of the line units for a large cruiser or big water boat. Expensive units but cool touch screen actions!
Disadvantes- charts are expensive and high maintenance of plotter
Advantages- great info and even pictures of marinas. Lots of extras can be added later but at a cost.
Lowrance- not a bad unit. Not very customer friendly for updates and limited for info. Charts expensive
Raymarine- not bad. Can have added radar etc.

My favourite... Standard Horizon.
Reasons-Reasonably priced for budget minded boaters, great charts at reasonable prices. Menu driven and easy to use. My particular model cp350 has built in radio and my MMSI number is all done internally. Small compact 7 inch screen is small enough to read but doesn't take up the whole dash!

By the way all ne plotters can be wired to existing radios with DSC so when you press the distress button and your have properly input your MMSI number, they transmit your gps coordinates and info.

I hope that helps? Let me know if you have any questions regarding particulars. They are all good and bad in thier own ways, so I hope my advice wil steer you in the right direction of your personal needs.

GREAT INFO STINGER!!!

Not looking to "Hijack", but, have a quick question? My Raymarine has the new "Sea Talk" set up, as well as the regular NMEA wires, any thoughts on which is better or experience with "Sea Talk"?

I also need a new VHF radio, on a smaller boat is it worth spending the money for the one with AIS? I think Standard Horizon is the only one who makes it. Or is it more of a "toy"?

I just bought a garmin 500 series. Just used it on Wed.
You dont have to have the cards, but it does add some pretty nice functionality. The cards are expensive (retail), but you can find them used. I got a used Huron/erie (includes LSC) for $50 shipped.

I have never used a marine GPS unit and this has been very userfriendly thus far.

Inland shores only needs the AIS. This is done by adding the NMEA output from the plotter to the radio so it transmits to commercial vessels. They will be able to see you and anyone else around them because you are transmitting your lat and long at intervals.
I suppose this would be helpful in the narrows of LSC or in the Thousand Islands, but in the open lakes I guess your vision is enough?
It is a very cool feature and all boats can see each other on the plotter screen.

By the way, Standard Horizon is not the only one who makes it. It is available from Icom (which is probably imho one of the finest radios manufactured) Uniden and all other rigs with the new DSC. they are all climbing aboard the same technology recently. Older radios are still being sold without these options, but beware as I just threw six radios in the garbage that I could not even get 25 dollars for!!! Brand new in the box- had them on the shelf as a blowout sale, but they had no DSC and no one wanted to buy them , even for their little aluminum fishing boats?

One other neat option is the MMSI numbers inputs for the DSC equipped radios. It is free to get these numbers and your encouraged by government to do so and register your vessel. The MMSI number is inputted into the rig and cannot be changed once installed, so therefore the radio is now "fingerprinted" so to speak.
This has cut down on radio theft from marinas in the last few years.
The neat option is that you can set up "groups" of have all your pals in a list and you can talk on the radio and see each other on the plotters.

***note of caution***

When applying the MMSI number into any rig you only have TWO (2) chances to get it right! If you fluff it up the rig must be sent to the manufacturer to be reset internally.
Read the instruction manual for your particular rig and input these numbers very carefully into the rig.

I hope I answered your questions?

I have heard that the Standard Horizons customer support isn't as good as Garmin? Since you seem to be well versed on the various GPS makers, What do you recommend for a guy that runs 70+ in Northern Lake Huron where the bottom changes radically and boulders are big as a house?

Standard horizon cp190i have good detail for lk st clair?

Thanks! I actually DO boat in the 1000 Islands area, our cottage is on Wolfe Island, its right at the mouth of the St Lawrence where the lake ends and the river begins, nice area, but, A LOT of ship traffic

Maybe I will spend the extra loot and go with AIS, I learned all about the MMSI when I took the VHF radio license course, VERY COOL!!

I guess with everything now required to be class "D" and everyone wanting DSC there is probably a pile of antiquated stock out there. Although, I think you can still buy a handheld VHF thats not class D?

If you could recommend a good model VHF with AIS I will look into it, Thanks Stinger!!

Michael

Standard Horizon has great customer support as i was a dealer for them. Garmin is another company that has great customer support and thier head office in Canada is in Mississauga and repair is in Montreal so you don't have to send it overseas for repair.

Your question regarding the charts for Huron, Garmin is very good but like I said before the charts are pricy at 125-175 per lake, as the Standard Horizon chart is 125 and includes all five lakes and the St.lawrence Corridor inclusive.
Bothe charts are very good it's just a matter of how much you want to spend.

Hi Micheal.
Not sure what kind of boat you have or your resriction on dash space but you may consider looking at these models and figuring out where to put them.
As I said before I think the Standard Horizon is a good deal for the model CP350 with the built in radio. All inclusive it has a nice 7 inch plotter easy on the eyes and is menu driven so it's quite easy to operate without reading the four inch manul seven times like some units have.
Second choice is the Garmin however you better have a thick wallet. Very good quality but pricy and charts are only avaialble in singular lakes so if you boat on more than one lake you need multiple charts (gets expensive at 125-175 per chart)
Maybe I'll see you at the Poker run next month? I will be navigator in my buddy's Profile. I actually cut a hole in my buddys Profile in the dash and mounted the unit solidly into the upper dash as a flush mount. On my boat I just mounted it on the bracket that came with the unit above the dash. Both work very well.
I just did some work on a customers 39 Top Gun Cig this past week and saw that it had dual Garmins flush mounted ( a bit overkill I think?) It was very well done though!
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n202/ve3lt/055.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n202/ve3lt/056.jpg

Thanks Stinger! I will look into that Standard Horizon radio, I AM pretty limited for space, its a small [25ft] boat, but, I will figure out a place to mount it if its gonna work for me.

NICE work on the Cigarette, Jeez thats a nice boat, I doubt that thing was cheap, I always loved the Cigs!

I will be at the Belleville Poker run and at the 1000 Island run as well, but, just as a spectator, since the 1000 Island run is usually full of "big dollar" boats [That cigarette with 2 plotters would fit right in!]

I have a cottage about 10 mins from Kingston, so, I will be there all weekend, we should meet up at the run? Thanks again for the info!

Michael

Stinger

I already have a Raymarine A50 chart plotter now, I am just looking for a good VHF radio, might look at mounting it in the cabin, I have seen a few people mount them there, dash is pretty cluttered, maybe I should look at a bigger boat! LOL

First...Great info on this thread! looking to upgraded my electronics.
Second...Apologies for the coming hi-jack!

Belleville has a poker run???:cartman:

Can't beat the Icom series radios. The 400 series or anything along that line is a good match for the Raymarine and you can run a small wire from the radio to the Raymarine for the NMEA output for the MMSI connection no problem. Average price for a reasonable radio is about 175-250 approx.

Make sure you get a new rig with the DSC whatever flavour you purchase.

We had a Std Hrz CPV350 until last year (went with the boat) and I really liked it, for all the reasons Stinger stated. It was all inclusive, radio, DSC, AIS & Radar capable, depth, weather etc. Plus hailer and a number of other features. We opted for the C-Map NA-M026 card as it covered the Great Lakes plus. We used it in Southern Lake MI, Lake St Clair - Lake Huron, Charlevoix area and running between Cheboygen - Drummond and in the Les Cheneaux Islands. Worked great - and as Stinger said, one card. It is the benchmark I'm using as we search for a GPS for our current boat.

Unfortunately, it looks like Standard dropped it from their line-up. I don't think they pushed it enough. Anytime people looked at our boat / radio they never heard of the set-up. Too bad. We never had any issues with it, never let us down. On thing I like about Standard is all their manuals etc are on-line to download, useful when researching. The CPV is still there, under the archived tab. There may still be stock out there if interested, do an I-net search.

What we're looking at now is the Std Hrz CP190i and Lowrance HDS5. I'm leaning towards the Lowrance as I'd like to be able to monitor fuel use, and with the addition of a $60 sensor the HDS5 can do it.

Good luck on your search.

Yes, its the first year for the "Bay of Quinte" run, its sanctioned by "Poker Runs America" so, it should be a pretty good event, come on out!

Thanks Stinger and CCH20!!!


Will definately look at the ICOM stuff, its within my budget and sounds like a perfect fit!