Newbie! - Chartplotter, fish finder, ipad or other??

[SigmaF]

Hi All,

Apologies for the beginner type post - have tried the search facility but perhaps a little more confused now!

We've just purchased our first little 4.7m Rib. It came with a basic gauge GPS, so I'm looking to install a chart plotter/fish finder type device.

Main application will be depth monitoring/helping with coastal navigation etc.

It looks like there are options for dedicated chart plotters, combination units (Firefly) or, I could use our old spare ipad potentially?

What would be a good, basic starting point in terms of kit and maps?

Thanks all,

Scott

[jeffstevens763@g]

Look on force-four chandlery they have some deals this week

[Brinormeg]

Cactus also worth a look as I got a decent deal there lately after getting some good advice from the guys here.
If you scroll down through the electric/electronics bit of the forum there loads of post on the subject.
But sometimes the more you read, the more you confuse yourself, and in the end just set your budget and take a shot at one or other of the main brands and you wont go far wrong.
Forsce 4 also do many videos which might help......or just confuse you even more

[Balthazar]

Being on a RIB forum I would advise to NEVER (never again) use any “civilian” touch screen devices such as iPhone or iPad or whatsoever. A single drop of rain or water will make them irresponsible. Plus the chartplotters apps are using a lot of power so you will discharge your device very fast unless you have a holding bracket with appropriate quick charge 2.1A wiring.

I had some very unpleasant experience when being caught by a moderate rain (I was on an Excell 485 inflatable with 20hp, coming home from Medway toward Grays) and was foolish enough to use my iPhone with Navionics app subscription. With the first drops of rain my iPhone stopped working straight away. I was running on Blyth sands flats and to avoid to run overground had to make a massive detour just to stay in deep waters. I knew the route so stayed safe but this experience made me re-think my navigation set-up.

Lesson learned - never use a touchscreen if you risk a rain which means you are in a RIB/SIB. Since then I use only the chartplotters with navigation buttons.

I used a Furuno GP1670 for few years, which was replaced this year by a Simrad NSS7 EVO3.

If you don’t bother with network set up you can very well buy some pre-owned chartplotters on eBay. Ranging from very cheap to £300.00-£500.00 for very good ones. If you wish to have a network capacity (even in the future) I would recommend the units having the NMEA2000 capacity. You hook up all your stuff (engine, vhf, NMEA fuel gauge, AIS, etc) and have all the information on the screen.
Cheers.

[jonp]

I had touch screens on my last zodiac that I owned for two years clocking over 900 engine hours and never had dramas from touch. Ive fitted a Garmin echompa ultra 105sv in my daughters zodiac and also has no dramas from spray. If it rains you can lock the screens over to manual control if they were to play up. Even my latest little centre console which is prone to getting wet has had no issues with the simrad evo3 and Garmin 8410.

I also have charts on my phone (full sea floor surveyed charts from Garmin g3 vision). You can get similar surveyed sea floor mapped charts through Navionics reveal, these charts are far better than navionics gold or platinum charts. In this part of the world you can download the Navionics reveal for a free two week trial and then pay a 12 month subscription which is very cheap this side of the pond, it maybe the same for you if you check it out. Its handy having the charts on a phone as I can then use these on anyones boats I hop onto.

[Balthazar]

Originally Posted by jonp

I had touch screens on my last zodiac that I owned for two years clocking over 900 engine hours and never had dramas from touch

In my post I was referring to the iPhone or iPad or other devices that are NOT designed for marine use. Any chartplotter with touch screen has a completely different technology that is designed for use in wet environment.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Balthazar

In my post I was referring to the iPhone or iPad or other devices that are NOT designed for marine use. Any chartplotter with touch screen has a completely different technology that is designed for use in wet environment.

My touch screen Lowrance plotters work fine with a wet screen. My IPhone is pants, even in a light shower. Horses for courses