Electronics

[Odyssey]

So…. Open the debate….

Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad or Humminbird? 
 

im looking at 2 12Inch displays, new transducers (chirp, downscan, structure scan), radar…. Maybe AIS as well…

I may also need a deck mounted 9inch screen or potentially an IPad via WiFi to main set ups….

not sure if I’m going ahead as trying to cost it all up…. It’s scary numbers 🤣🤣🤣

but as it’s quiet in here…. Let me know what’s best and why  🙂

[Saintly Fish]

Garmin. 
 

[Odyssey]

45 minutes ago, JonC said:

You have omitted lowrance from your list,  is that intentional? 

Yep…. I’d stick with Simrad over Lowrance as Inknoe the Simrad gear

Edited November 18, 2023 by Odyssey

[Andy135]

1 hour ago, Odyssey said:

Yep…. I’d stick with Simrad over Lowrance as Inknoe the Simrad gear

And Simrad/Lowrance/B&G are basically all the same underlying hardware and OS, just with slightly different user interfaces. All owned by Navico.

[captin slows old outlaw]

13 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

And Simrad/Lowrance/B&G are basically all the same underlying hardware and OS, just with slightly different user interfaces. All owned by Navico.

bet thay have different prices

[Dicky]

Depends if you want the best or the best value. I would say Raymarine are the best followed by Garmin but the value is with Simrad. There are a lot of charter boats that are running Simrad now. But i'm certainly no expert.

[daio web]

i have been very impressed with my new garmin set up but the sort of set up you are talking about will be something else   have you got the space to fit it all 

[GPSguru]

14 hours ago, Odyssey said:

So…. Open the debate….

Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad or Humminbird? 
 

im looking at 2 12Inch displays, new transducers (chirp, downscan, structure scan), radar…. Maybe AIS as well…

I may also need a deck mounted 9inch screen or potentially an IPad via WiFi to main set ups….

not sure if I’m going ahead as trying to cost it all up…. It’s scary numbers 🤣🤣🤣

but as it’s quiet in here…. Let me know what’s best and why  🙂

Similar here, I use 2 x 9 inch displays, with Livescope and twin transducers. Also, AIS800 (B+), all Garmin.

I run the two plotters on their own internal GPS, but I feed the AIS with a GPS Puck mounted on top of the centre console.

The whole system is networked via a GMS10 network Port Expander, so the 2 plotters can share charts, waypoints, transducers etc.

Also networked into the Garmin setup is the Fusion BB100 audio / domestic radio, and the Mercury engine data, both of which appear on both plotters.

 

 

[Saintly Fish]

7 hours ago, GPSguru said:

Similar here, I use 2 x 9 inch displays, with Livescope and twin transducers. Also, AIS800 (B+), all Garmin.

I run the two plotters on their own internal GPS, but I feed the AIS with a GPS Puck mounted on top of the centre console.

The whole system is networked via a GMS10 network Port Expander, so the 2 plotters can share charts, waypoints, transducers etc.

Also networked into the Garmin setup is the Fusion BB100 audio / domestic radio, and the Mercury engine data, both of which appear on both plotters.

 

 

As above for me (8410's) too, except the radio and engine data. But I do have the radome installed. 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Saintly Fish

[Odyssey]

20 hours ago, JonC said:

You like  a Lowrance product I recall? You had some tax dodge expenses claim thing going on or something, that and the floating duck house.  

I do like my Simrad gear. My main issue I’m looking to upgrade my transducer. My MFD doesn’t support latest generation tech so I may need a new MFD. 
 

As for a tax dodge, nope just investing in the boat. Want to increase catch rates, find better marks, find more fish on wrecks/reefs. Having a better sounder will hopefully help this and provide better value for customers. Want to make sure I’m doing my best to find them the best fishing possible. It’s been a great year, but want to cons back bigger snd better next year 🙂 

[GPSguru]

3 hours ago, Odyssey said:

Want to increase catch rates, find better marks, find more fish on wrecks/reefs. Having a better sounder will hopefully help this and provide better value for customers.

Certainly, live scope helps, Kyle is an absolute master at reading that tech and making it work for us. 

[Malc]

I like my Lowrance, does everything and more that I need from a ff plotter combo. Didn't cost the earth, been dunked and is still going after 8 years. 

[JDP]

After 30+years of lowrance and Simrad products (top of their lines) I moved over to Garmin simply because of poor reliability issues and poor customer service from the Navico group. I do still use some eveo 3 16 and 12 ins units on a few boats I skipper, however the one commercial boat I use is on its third replacement. Often issues occur after firmware updates which I must admit can be frustrating even on my Garmin's. My Gamins are the 8412 and 8410 which have glass touch screens, which if broken they become a throw away item, yes I broke one. My daughter also runs Garmin in her own boat and both of the game fishing boats she skippers also have full Garmin suites also, as do many of the game fishing boats do here these days.

With any head unit you intend to find fish with, the more resolution the screen packs the better, especially in deeper water. Even though Ive dropped a fair amount of money into my full garmin outfits with the three transducers Im running, if I had to choose just one item I enjoy using the most, its the little Garmin 67i hand held. The 67i paid for itself in the first two trips commercialy fishing and the fact they are such a useful safety item makes mine the best gadget I own.

To be fair all manufacturers produce some pretty good tec for fishinding, so you won't go wrong for the UK shallow water fishing with any of them. Transducers are a pretty important thing to get right also. Its like buying a $10,000 camera body and sticking a $50 lens on it, if you don't match with a decent transducer, what you see on the head unit can be let down.

The biggest failures with sounders is the fact most people don't take the time to learn how to use them properly for the styles of fishing or work they use them for.

[willyhookit]

think you.ll find  Navico owns  Garmin    

 

[JDP]

On 11/21/2023 at 11:15 PM, willyhookit said:

think you.ll find  Navico owns  Garmin    

 

Wasn't it Garmin bought them out ? They own all the charts I believe but I don't bother searching into who owns what. There was some sort of legal dispute between the two regard sonar etc a few years ago but not sure if that ever got sorted.

Edited November 23, 2023 by JDP

[GPSguru]

57 minutes ago, JDP said:

Wasn't it Garmin bought them out ? They own all the charts I believe but I don't bother searching into who owns what.

There is some confusion here over company names.

Navico is owned by the Brunswick Group and have the Simrad and Lowrance brands.

Navionics, who were the marine chart folk, is owned by Garmin, who also own the Fusion brand. Garmin bought Navionics in 2017.

[captin slows old outlaw]

this is turning out to be very intresting thread.

[captin slows old outlaw]

who would have thought this type of discution would be had on this site when it was started , just a few years back

[JDP]

8 minutes ago, captin slows old outlaw said:

who would have thought this type of discution would be had on this site when it was started , just a few years back

Its good though that someone was able to explain the differences. 

I don't think it really matters what brand people go with really as they all work well, simply go for more resolution if wanting more detail, many of the big wide screens are actually quite lacking in the top to bottom detail due to low res. In most UK depth waters seeing fish and terminal tackle should be quite achievable .
 

[Malc]

1 hour ago, JDP said:

In most UK depth waters seeing fish and terminal tackle should be quite achievable

It certainly is, I quite often sit on my kayak and can watch my gear working away and most of the time hits come out of the blue but sometimes I see an fish following and can try to induce a take. 

[GPSguru]

3 hours ago, JDP said:

In most UK depth waters seeing fish and terminal tackle should be quite achievable

Deepest that I am going to find is almost 300ft, but that is 30 miles out. Mostly I fish in 150 - 20Oft. The absolute deepest we are likely to encounter is Hurd’s Deep, just off the channel islands where it is 550ft, however, that would be a 65 mile steam for me.

[Odyssey]

Ok…

If I was to stick to Simrad I could go single 16in to go with existing 7inch as well or 2 x 12in…. 

there is a chance I may move over to another brand and that would be 19 inch high resolution screen with a 12in low res for radar… but that’s undergoing discussion. Sadly the cost of moving over entirely to Raymarine or Garmin is not going to work due to the radar and backbone costs

the research continues…. Still need to work out to how to best fit in all on the helm 😬😬

[captin slows old outlaw]

1 hour ago, Odyssey said:

Ok…

If I was to stick to Simrad I could go single 16in to go with existing 7inch as well or 2 x 12in…. 

there is a chance I may move over to another brand and that would be 19 inch high resolution screen with a 12in low res for radar… but that’s undergoing discussion. Sadly the cost of moving over entirely to Raymarine or Garmin is not going to work due to the radar and backbone costs

the research continues…. Still need to work out to how to best fit in all on the helm 😬😬

bit like all thoes mirrows on a mods scuter

[JDP]

10 hours ago, GPSguru said:

Deepest that I am going to find is almost 300ft, but that is 30 miles out. Mostly I fish in 150 - 20Oft. The absolute deepest we are likely to encounter is Hurd’s Deep, just off the channel islands where it is 550ft, however, that would be a 65 mile steam for me.

Yes thats what I would consider shallow, its not unit I go deeper than 300m that I consider using the deep drop electric reels.

5 hours ago, Odyssey said:

Ok…

If I was to stick to Simrad I could go single 16in to go with existing 7inch as well or 2 x 12in…. 

there is a chance I may move over to another brand and that would be 19 inch high resolution screen with a 12in low res for radar… but that’s undergoing discussion. Sadly the cost of moving over entirely to Raymarine or Garmin is not going to work due to the radar and backbone costs

the research continues…. Still need to work out to how to best fit in all on the helm 😬😬

There are things I really like about the Simrad gear but its two of the 16in screens and one 12 that have put me off them a bit. It might of been fixed on the 16's but both the ones Ive used have been very temperamental in regards to the touch screens, as in not responding. Another issue which I've even had in the smaller ones is how they shut down so often when you start pushing boats hard into big seas. This might be a safety feature to protect the units but Ive had it happen in four different boats. I do like the sonar black screen option which really makes any fish big or small stand out well. The colour palettes on the garmins don't seem to offer black. Like you say, changing over can be costly but if people can see the gear you own working on the boat would help with re-selling it on. I do have two 24in Simrads I'm selfing for a friend. One is new in box and the other has some issues, hence the new one under warranty. However he decided to move away from Simrad to Garmin. Aus price is $12000 neg for the two which is half price on new. 

You mention the Raymarine which is the only unit I've not had any experience using, they just don't seem popular with the fishing community as much here, yes sailing boat users seem to like them. A good friend back in the UK uses high end Raymarine and has for quite sometime. He might actually be someone you are familiar with as you both have similar target species. He fishes from the IOW from his Lochin out of Bembridge. Most of our marine rescue vessels got a deal to change over to Raymarine but these are used pretty much as plotters only as we don't do underwater rescue so sonar isn't so important.

[JDP]

4 hours ago, JonC said:

Do you actually need new tech? I know it’s great to have novelties onboard but what more  would you get out of it? As a business it would take years to recover the cost of such upgrades as opposed to running the same kit. 
If you wanted to run panoptix type sonar you could just add another new plotter. As for the external display could you use a water resistant monitor on a usb cable? 
 

Realistically the tech hasn't changed that much, simply small improvements which often take more user skill to actually use. Yes live-scope has improved but you really need flat conditions and be prepared to constantly stare at a screen most of the day. In saying that, being able to see a fish, tell what it is and how big it is, then put a lure right in front of it is pretty exciting to watch.

The Garmin 8400 series that I use have now been around for quite a few years. I like the way I can integrate other items such as Garmin in reach, phones, Fusion stereo and electric motors etc. The best thing for me is the fact that our coast is so big that much of it isn't surveyed, meaning reveal, G3 vision and Navionics charts aren't always useful. Being able to build my own charts and colour code each 30cm change in depth allows me to build my own charts and quickly understand the underwater terrain. I can have endless custom made charts from shallow water river systems to deeper water beyond the continental shelf, much of which I do cursing at around 20kts. Most people though won't even know their electronics are able to do this. Quickdraw has been around for many years with most manufacturers, it would be interesting to know how many use it that have it, also how many share theirs or download other peoples. Ive downloaded quick draw charts from online for river systems Im heading to for the first time.