WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

HA GUYS WHAT KIND OF INSTRUMENTS DID YOU PUT ON YOUR BOATS?
I BOUGHT A FURUNO 600 L DEPTH FINDER WITH THE THROUGH THE HULL TRANSDUCER WITH THE TEMP/MPG READING, A RAYMARINE 45 VHF AND TOMORROW I AM GOING TO PICK UP A GARMIN 182 GPS. THEY WILL ALL FIT IN THAT ALUMINUM ELECTRONIC BOX ON THE LEFT SIDE ON THE CENTER CONSOL.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

I went with the Furuno stuff. On the "other" boat I installed the GP1650DF with the sounder along with another GP35 and an open aray radar, (forgot the model). I really like the GP1650DF so I am going to put that and a small Icom VHF in the 20.

I will be installing a full Furuno Navnet System on a friends new Contender 27 Cuddy this and next weekend. I will photo document the process. He held back no stops on this one so the set up should be very nice. 3 displays, open aray radar nework sounder and GPS/ Plotter. With another display for Lat/long or speed/water temp.

Should be interesting

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Hey Jason

Have you tried to run the NAVnet yet???

I know we talked about it and I looked...Its a great little unit for a smaller boat ...but ....
A little difficult to operate.....there is a thread over on the hull truth and its getting kicked around a little. I think CME is selling the 1722C for $3,200 Color screen/ plotter/GPS(not differential however need to get a GPS 36 for that to happen) and a 600 watt fishfinder / 18" 2kw dome. Its a very nice unit ... but when the guy in the store couldnt figure it out.... well that was a problem...the menus did not flow easily (from my perspective)....

I would guess it gets easier to use once familiar with it but it just brought back memories of the early Loran C units....

Tell me your experience with it cause I really liked it!! just dont want to have to go to a book every time to figure something out.

[ April 18, 2002, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: Scott ]

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Since we have the freedom of speech, Here's my 2 cents worth. Furuno nav net systems are great on big boats where they have backups for nearly everything. When you have one system and no others, you have to ask yourself, " do I feel lucky" coming in at night in fog (nor not) over a nasty bar. At that point, the system decides to have a brain fart. oops. Hail mary's come to mind. I'm not saying they're not a great system. But I dont' like putting all of my eggs in one basket. At least with seperate units, one goes, you still have something left to get home on. The census is that furuno is best for radar. Then Garmin for GPS, for a fishfinder; garmin or furuno, or any others. I'm also not a big fan of color units as I do alot of night fishing and the color units are too bright and confusing to look at. . Hence monochrome is preferred. There you have it, for my situation in boating, this is what I have.
Furuno 1731 MKIII Radar 4Kw
Garmin 232 Chartplotter C-Chip - with backup furuno gps 36
Garmin 240 Blue
Icom VHF radio with handheld backup + cellphone
and a plexiglass water tank

Steve

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Steve,
Does the plexi water tank do backup as an aquarium?

d.h.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

It's for my ,lets just say JUICE, for when my elect.s go south. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

scott:

Go to the hull truth boating & fishing forum/ punch in electronics/go to:electronics
choice your opinion.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Have any of you guys heard of a compass?Rumor has it it you have one and a chart of the navigatable waters you can get to where you want to go.Hve used dead reconing with great success many times including when the Northwest channel ight in the Bahamas was knocked down and still made it to Nassau Harbour 170 nm. from Fort Lauderdale.Is a great invention/piece of nav gear.
d.h.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Compass? Huh? Just kidding. On the other boat I had one of those KVH Azimuth Digital jobies mounted on the top of the console instead of a standard magnetic compass. Man that was the stupidest thing I have ever done!!!! It was back for repair twice in 1 year and when I "awoke" the boat this year it was all messed up again. Missing digits and the whole thing. I replaced it with a Richie ??5000 and have to say that the Richie is the best darn, and most bueatiful, piece of nav equip on the boat!!

One thing to note.....CRT Radars have magnets!!! It took a while to compensate the compass for the radar's added skew.

You ever notice there is NO such thing as an easy project. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Why use a compass ... Its much easier to get lost using these plotter GPS things [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Steve I know [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] ....and I do have a problem with depending on ONE screen for all my navigation aids....at first I was thinking Furuno 1850 DF and I was concerned about losing one or the other (GPS or Fishfinder) NAVnet adds the radar on top of that.....The price is teasing me !! I think I would have to spend another 1,200 to 1,600 to get a similar system in separates.....and the other issue is that I'm already a Furuno fan...cept the radio….. I like the ICOM 402 [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

It wasnt his fault but the fact that the guy at CME was having trouble just going screen to screen and changing background colors didnt do too much for me..what happens when you really need to use it.....That being said I hear the Garmin 2006 is a nice machine...

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

I feel the reliance on the new technology navigation devices is great.But when the electronics take a dump or can't work,the backup is the baisic navigational skills that every person who takes his or her boat offshore should posess.It is very easy to learn (I have!).A backup is something that can keep you alive.It has worked for me on more than one occasion.The more you know the better off you are.
d.h.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Trayder,
You are correct in stating that the Ritchie Compass is considered the best.Has allways worked for me and is routinely installed in most quality boats.Has gotten me thru many passages.The comnpass doesn't lie.People do.
d.h.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

D.H.-

No doubt about it. There is no substitute for solid navigation skills. Dead reckoning and compass navigation.

True Story:

Sailboat race from Marion Massachusetts to Bermuda. Rules: std. sailing rules but NO electronic navigational equipment unless in the case of an emergency. A sextant and the sun were cruicial. 2 Days out and no sun, nada nill bupkus. A virtual guessing game except for the general course from the start, factoring in the gulf stream currents and what not, a general idea but far from a pinpoint location. 3rd night out BERMUDA!!!.......nope.....a Cruise ship....Doah. Next morning the crew is a bit restless beacuse again it is overcast. Hmmmmm again no sun sight. One thing that is good is the boat is making amazing speed and wherever the boat was headed, it was going to get there fast but going north or south of Bermuda would suck, for obvious reasons.

The crew is a bit resless until the gentleman at the wheel calmly looks up at the sky , then looks at a piece of paper he pulled out from his back pocket, looks in the sky again and eloquently point off the bow 30 degrees and proclaims " Bermuda is that way" Everyone stops their tactical conversation and in almost unison and looked at the helmsman and say "HUH"????."look up" the Helmsman said. Nothing but an overcast day and a set of Airplane contrails........Yup, that peice of paper the helmsman had was the Airplane routing scheduale and he knew what type of plane flew over head and sure enough it was American Airlines flight XYZ from Boston to Bermuda. The Boat made port severall hours later in 2nd place out of 300+ boats. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] BAsic Navigational skills and a bit of ingeanuity

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

DH
Very good point not to be taken lightly....yeah we joke around ... but more than once its paid off knowing more than how to turn on a piece of electronic equipment....When I started working on the boats I had a great bunch of mentors that taught me the ropes and how to get back when all hell breaks out. Its a big ocean that far too many dont seem to respect...

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

That was the first thing I put in my dog house.It's what I grew up with.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Great topic folks, I have a lot to say but I wont bore you guys about the old days running lines with the old Bread box lorans,lol.I actually have a brand new RDF still in the box vintage around 1970 or so, neat stuff. Some of y'all are very fortunate to own that higher end electronics which I would love to own but alas I dont. I do have a lot of eperiance with lower end units that I run and can talk about in lenght. I am currently running a ICOM VHF M-45 which I purchased last year because the old Standard I had was at least 20 years old and starting to act up a little. I purchased the ICOM because of all the "were not worthy" comments I have read and heard about from everyone over the years. It has been back to the shop once already for one problem and it also picks up noise from my bottom machine (Older Apelco 470)that the standard never did. Dont think I will buy Icom again. My Bottom machine as stated above does a pretty decnt job although I would buy Lowrance X-15/16 if I had my "druthers". I am running an OLDER Garmin 20?fixed mount gps that has served me well for the last 7 years.( Hated switching over from Loran , actually would love to own the "Northstar" stuff.
I got a great deal on a new floor model JRC 1000 radar last year and it paid for itself after the first 2 months I owned it. Lower power LCD radar but its been great and serves my needs. Also use a Cobra CB "breaker, breaker", which is easier than the cell phone for some of that now semi- private fishing talk.he,he,he. I admit to have gotton lazy relying on my electronics but I love navigating and this new stuff is just so much less "stressfull" than the old days, especially when making those long offshore runs. Have a grat weekend everyone, Craig

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

The first time I sailed to Eleuthera in the Bahamas (1970s) we used a compass,RDF,charts,and a cruising guide to navigate.It got us there and back no problem.Do not try navigating the Bahamas without the cruising guide it contains invaluable info about reefs,shoals,approaches etc.I wonder if the RDF signal towers are still operational?
d.h.

Re: WHAT KIND OF ELECTRONICS???
 

Has anyone had any experience with the Garmin 2006 or 2010??