Best GPS chartplotter for Fountain
01-11-2018, 04:40 PM
#1
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Best GPS chartplotter for Fountain
I’m looking for the largest and most visible in direct sunlight chartplottet for my 35 Fountain with the low windshield. Any advice or experience would be greatly appreaciated. Thanks
03-09-2018, 08:09 AM
#2
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I'm curious to this as well. garmin and simrad seem to be the 2 go too choices. curious the pros/cons in peoples opinion that have already made the decision what way to go.
03-09-2018, 08:13 AM
#3
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I have the simrad go7 xse. Fits well below windscreen. I also bought the sonic hub 2 which is a media server. Fm tuner built in, rcas, USB. Basically makes the head unit obsolete as you can control audio from the simrad or phone app. So far I'm very happy with controls and ability to see in sunlight.
03-09-2018, 04:04 PM
#5
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I have 2 garmins and a simrad on my boat. I love the garmins but the screen on the simrad is much nicer. Not sure if you can tell it in these pictures but the simrad is much more flush fit. The simrad also has a physical knob in addition to the touch screen that is much easier to use while underway. Reason for the different brands is the previous owner had installed the garmins and it already had a Northstar GPS/radar screen where the simrad sits now. The boat also had a simrad Autopilot. The northstar screen was damaged in hurricane Irma and needed to be replaced and guess what. The old radar and autopilot were not nmea 2000 and the northstar screen is NLA. So if If put a garmin screen there, it would not be compatible with the old radar or autopilot. The new simrad would also not be compatible with the old radar but the autopilot steering pump and rudder position sensor could be re-used with a simrad unit. Simrad had a package deal going for all 3 that was cheaper than comparable garmin and the pump and rudder indicator could be re-used so that is the way I went. Also the simraad looks way better being almost flush. The Garmin screens do seem a little more fluid when scrolling or moving the map with your finger. Also Garmins Auto Dim at night. The Simrad brightness has to be MANUALLY ADJUSTED. This is a big miss on simrads part. But hey I don't drive the boat at night unless I have to. Hope this helps.
https://mightytext.net/zrw4VS
Chris
https://mightytext.net/zrw4VS
Chris
04-05-2018, 06:39 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
I’m thinking about going with the Garmin 742 or 942xs (7 & 9 inch screen). Just wondering if the 942 will be too big for a dash mount. I’m opening the boat from winter storage this weekend to measure and determine the best size. Any opinion on these units?
https://buy.garmin.com/en-CA/CA/p/575476
https://buy.garmin.com/en-CA/CA/p/575476
04-08-2018, 08:46 AM
#9
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I have the 742xs hooked to a NEMA 2000 backbone and fusion stereo.
I like it and the interface for the fusion is great, I really never use the head unit to adjust anything just the controls on the Garmin or my phone app. A friend has the Simrad, nice unit as well. If you have room and choose Garmin I would go with the larger unit.
I do like that it will auto auto route if you have the 2g cards or you can also use homeport on your computer and plan routes out then download them to the unit.
I got my stuff from a OSO memeber that sells and install Garmins.
I like it and the interface for the fusion is great, I really never use the head unit to adjust anything just the controls on the Garmin or my phone app. A friend has the Simrad, nice unit as well. If you have room and choose Garmin I would go with the larger unit.
I do like that it will auto auto route if you have the 2g cards or you can also use homeport on your computer and plan routes out then download them to the unit.
I got my stuff from a OSO memeber that sells and install Garmins.
04-08-2018, 09:15 AM
#10
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Simrad here. Love it. Installing the sonichub2 audio server. Don't need a head unit withthis. All controls right on screen. When I start running it asks me if I was to track or not. That's nice. If I'm going to known places I just say no so I don't end up with 1000 tracks on the screen.
