Re: what 2 look 4 in electronics
My 1981 Lowrance depth finder still works like brand new and it has features that are no longer on the newer menu driven units. I also have a Furuno 1981 Loran C and works perfect and even thou I also now have a Garmin GPS and a Lowrance GPS I still use the Loran C for 90 percent of my navigation.
I not a fan of hummingbird at all since in the past there were new unit failures every day. Since the matrix series came out they have been much better.
Old does not mean it bad
Eagle GPS is the same company as Lowrance, both have the same address. I would say Eagle is very good unit.
Vertical lines on the screen is usually not the unit but noise interfearance from some electrical iteam on the boat.
You can buy new units but a clean power line and proper noise supression may be all you need.
Start by trying the units with the motor off and all other electronics, blowers, pumps turned off. If it works good then start the motor and check then each electrical device. Check the unit after each new device is turned on.
Make sure your battery connection is clean and tight. All the power connectors are clean and not green. A ferrite bead on the power line can stop a lot of noise like from Spark Plugs.
Check to make sure you have at least 12.6 volts to the input of the units.
VHf is the one unit you likely do need to upgrade unless it is new.
Newer model VHF units have a DSC button and if you have the VHF hooked up correctly to a GPS unit it can send out your position and vessel information durning a MAYDAY distress call. It would brodcast on channel 70.
Hitting the DSC Red button will send out your vessel information and position for Coast Guard and other Vessels to recieve. You must also have a free MMSI number for it to work.
The DSC in still pretty new (Less than 5 years) and the Coast Guard in many location is still not monitoring it.
Buying a new GPS and Depthfinder is not a quick thing to do in my opinion.
How and where you use your boat and electronic can make one unit worthless and another like Gold Bars.
If Your going to buy new make a list of what you want each unit to do.
Example Depthfinder needs to work down to 500 feet of saltwater and see small fish on the bottom, This would mean you need a high power unit with large screen and high vertical resoultion and at least 4 times bottom expantion and dual frequency with narrow cone angles.
Maybe you would say I never fish more than 40 feet deep in fresh water.
In this case you can get buy with a small screen, low resoultion and do not even need bottom zoom
Kind of like buying a new vehical, it could be a ford pinto or a truck that can tow a 12,000 pound boat in the hills.
I would imagine, however, that there are probably some other good brands out there besides Garmin.
