Chartplotter advice

[Ajsimp]

Hi,
I have recently purchased a 2007 ribeye 650s, the chartplotter fitted is a navman tracker 5600. I would like to update this!
On my last rib I had a garmin 45dv which worked well but I would like a bit more functionality now. I would like the ability to use it as a fish finder and also to hook up to the engine (2007 Yamaha 150 4 stroke fuel inj model) to keep an eye on fuel consumption.
I have the boat on the west coast of Ireland.
The old unit measures 180 Height * 195 width and I would prefer not to leave an hole on the console, but I have no problem making the hole already there larger.
Any help or suggestions would be great! Thanks

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Ajsimp

Hi,
I have recently purchased a 2007 ribeye 650s, the chartplotter fitted is a navman tracker 5600. I would like to update this!
On my last rib I had a garmin 45dv which worked well but I would like a bit more functionality now. I would like the ability to use it as a fish finder and also to hook up to the engine (2007 Yamaha 150 4 stroke fuel inj model) to keep an eye on fuel consumption.
I have the boat on the west coast of Ireland.
The old unit measures 180 Height * 195 width and I would prefer not to leave an hole on the console, but I have no problem making the hole already there larger.
Any help or suggestions would be great! Thanks

As with most things it comes down to budget & preference. I've had Lowrance & Raymarine kit & used Garmin over the years, personally I prefer Lowrance, but that's purely personal. My advice would be to fit the biggest screen that you can afford/fit of whichever brand you decide on. I find Raymarine biased towards sail, whereas Lowrance is more power/fishing biased. Lowrance, Simrad, B&G are all owned by Navico & are essentially the same kit in different packaging, Lowrance is the cheaper end whilst B&G is the premium end, don't pay extra for the name. I'd make sure that your engine is NMEA 2000 compatible, 2007 was around when NMEA 2000 started to appear in mainstream engines, you might have to fit a gateway to connect your engine to a N2k network.

[diver 1]

Lowrance HDS range of chartplotters are excellent although personally I'd avoid anything touch screen - mine has buttons.

I've successfully linked my 2002 Suzuki DF140 to my Lowrance HDS via a NMEA network and I can see full engine and fuel info despite Suzuki and Lowrance both being unsure whether it would work

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by diver 1

Lowrance HDS range of chartplotters are excellent although personally I'd avoid anything touch screen - mine has buttons.

I've successfully linked my 2002 Suzuki DF140 to my Lowrance HDS via a NMEA network and I can see full engine and fuel info despite Suzuki and Lowrance both being unsure whether it would work

I have the HDS gen3 which is hybrid, buttons & touch screen. We mostly use the touch screen but the buttons come in handy now & then.

[Ajsimp]

Great, thanks, I will look into lowrance, I hadn't even considered them before.

[Andy_Rs600]

I'd echo what PD says. Biggest screen you can. Don't pay for too many fancy options - most of what you do on a RIB (unless you dive) will be displaying the chart and a numerical depth.

I've got a Lowrance HDS9 which is doing very well at the moment. Touch plus buttons as a backup if it really is too wet to make the touch work (which is extremely rare).

[GuyC]

I have a Garmin 75sv which is a 7" screen and buttons. The screen was the biggest I could afford and buttons to enable me to use it wearing gloves.

In a Finbarr Sounders moment your hole is too big for a landscape style chartplotter. A 9" screen Garmin is 6.5" high so 160'ish mm so whilst it would be long enough you would still see the top and bottom of the old cut out.

I'd suggest choosing a chartplotter and then mounting it on a backing plate sufficiently big enough to cover the hole. Your backing plate could be 25mm bigger than the chartplotter for example.

Alternatively put a doubler over the whole console area. You could cut out the bit behind leaving a frame to attach your new console top to.

[jonp]

Lowrance and simrad are the only ones I would consider if I was replacing. I've used Lowrance for around the last 15 years, each time I replace my boats I've replaced back to Lowrance if they come fitted with other makes. Don't get me wrong as most manufactures are all able to do the same or simular job, it's more about what you ge used to using and I find the hds units very intuitive.

Mine holds bottom in water 600m deep with a standard 200/50 transducer and will hold bottom at my cruse speed of 40kmh. If you dive or fish then consider a unit capable of sidescan incase you decide to add a sidescan transducer along the way.

I've used white plastic cutting boards to fill holes in dashes before.


Screen shot from a shallow 30m dive spot.