Chartplotters

[JD]

Being from the older school of LORAN, GPS, compass and paper charts I've been shopping for a chartplotter/sonar combo. Mucho stuff out there. Question: how far offshore do the electronic charts cover? Howzabout bottom topography?

I recall that there was some dissatisfaction with Lowrance; is Garmin the best as far as reliability and customer service?

Thanky

[Duff]

I can speak from experience with Lowrance. I purchased a $2000 top of the line unit just over a year ago. The sonar works great - have read bottom out to 600 feet. The maps are great - very accurate and available for as far offshore as any recreational boater or fisherman is likely to travel. Mine is the unit with the hard drive which includes all maps available.

Now for the bad. My antenna started having issues picking up satellites from the first week I had it. My dealer first tried updating software, then resetting everything. After having to use my handheld garmin to get back in one day I put some pressure on them and they relocated the antenna. Still had problems and they weren't getting anywhere so I called Lowrance myself. I must have spent a total of 8 hours on hold and sent 15 emails over a period of 3 months before I finally got a replacement antenna. West Marine doesn't even have Lowrance units on their display case anymore.

Everyone I talk to at all the dealers and marine supply stores is telling me that Humminbird is on the cutting edge of technology these days and they have the very best customer service. That sideview sonar looks very impressive and I wish I had purchase one of those. Humminbird used to be cheap and clunky compared to everyone else but I guess times have changed. As for Garmin - my handheld has been good although has some glitch with WAAS causing lock-ups and they haven't released a software update for my unit yet - perhaps they never will according to the tech I spoke with. I was on hold for about an hour to finally talk with him. I think their bluecharts are expensive also, and I can't get mine to register so I'll have to sit on hold for another hour to get that fixed, whenever I get an hour to spare :rolleyes:

So, my vote goes for Humminbird - all they make is fishing electronics as compared to the other guys, and I believe they are here in America, as compared to the other guys. I can remember even with my ID10 which had about 200 big black square pixels - the red ones were supposed to be fish (lol) when I had a question I got right through and they sent me the owner's manual out right away at no charge, even though I had bought the unit used years ago and it was discontinued. Support counts for a lot! My $.02

[JD]

After mucho reading and price comparisons, including the Humminbird, I opted for the Garmin 3210 bundle which I found at one distributer to be less than half MSRP (new - and they answer the phone ;) ). Has the 10" display (for us visually challanged), sonar unit (still have to buy a transducer when I figure out if I need the long or short shaft), the XM module for radio and NEXRAD reception. I'll get the extended warranty and this should do what I need. Also expands for conventional radar.

Soooo, the den is stacking up with boat stuff. The boat comes home on July 3 so I'll have a long weekend to outfit her. Getting the itch to be on the water again real bad :) Four years is wayyyyyyyy toooooo long.

My list has now dwindled to safety flares, DSC VHF, fuel filter, head and console cover. At that point I'm ready to spalsh her for the first time. Hopefully 7/6.

[Zane]

JD, thats the unit we run on our canadian boat. We love it, we did not get the bundle, just the ffinder and chart as it is not compatible to our brand radar. Everything works good and easy to operate.:D :D

[JD]

Zane - glad to hear a good report on the unit. I looked at the comments on the 3210 on Mont's board and they were favorable.

What type of transducer did you put in for the sonar/fishfinder? The GSD22 lists 2 thru hulls and I haven't been able to figure out which one.

Dan

[Zane]

JD, we couldn't put a through hull in as it is an aluminum boat with a 1/4 inch bottom. Couldn't find any anywhere that would read down 200' or more throught the aluminum. If the thru hull you are talking about included drilling ahole to mount one, our boat has a sealed chamber with "no" through holes. I wanted something to climb up on if I ever sunk it. I was a bit worried when I hit that log at 35mph:mad: :mad: We also use that unit when we are fishing close to shore among the big rocks on the north coast. The chart shows the rocks and the digital sounder confirms what the chart is saying, works great in split screen. I know it is not as important to youse guys but you can also pull up the current tide chart for the area that you are running. Very important up here.:D :D
Good luck with it and I may find the time to come down and help you learn the basics, HeHeHe over adult beverages and fried fish of course :cool: :cool: