Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

[MyFirstProLine]

Last week I purchased my first boat - a 1990 20' Proline center console. The GPS and depth finder that came with the boat are 7-8 years old, neither work anymore. I need to replace both but have very little knowledge.

My priority is the depth finder, low tide at my marina is less than 2 feet deep. But I do need to find a GPS as well. Here are my questions:

- Will a GPS unit allow me to track where I was (ex. I want to use a saved plot to get back to Block Island)

- Will a GPS unit have a depth finder as well, or is it a separate unit itself?

- Are there any combo units?

- If the units I end up buying don't fit in the previously drilled holes on the center console, how do I cover them up? (can you tell this is a 30 year old woman posting this?)

I appreciate any response, I really thought I'd be in the water the night I bought the boat, I'm finding out now that I needed to pay more attention during the 15 years I rode alongside my father in his boat. Thanks again.

 

[Paul DuLaney]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Check with the manufacture of the units (model ect) as they can repair some units.I did for about $40.00 and was happy with it from hummingbird a few years ago.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Last week I purchased my first boat - a 1990 20' Proline center console. The GPS and depth finder that came with the boat are 7-8 years old, neither work anymore. I need to replace both but have very little knowledge.

My priority is the depth finder, low tide at my marina is less than 2 feet deep. But I do need to find a GPS as well. Here are my questions:

- Will a GPS unit allow me to track where I was (ex. I want to use a saved plot to get back to Block Island)

- Will a GPS unit have a depth finder as well, or is it a separate unit itself?

- Are there any combo units?

- If the units I end up buying don't fit in the previously drilled holes on the center console, how do I cover them up? (can you tell this is a 30 year old woman posting this?)

I appreciate any response, I really thought I'd be in the water the night I bought the boat, I'm finding out now that I needed to pay more attention during the 15 years I rode alongside my father in his boat. Thanks again.

There are a ton of them with a ton of options and combos also.

I went to different stores and asked alot of questions then got the one i liked.

as to the holes, 3M 5200

 

[MyFirstProLine]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Thanks for the advice. I just googled 3M 5200 and it seems that will definitely do the job. As far as sending the units back to the manufacturer... they units were the first ever made. Completely old school. The GPS only shows me tracks from where I've been and when I'm going. It doesn't show water, cans, or land marks. It's useless. The depth finder only works at speeds under 5 miles per hour. Once I open it up, the screen goes blank until I throttle down again....

 

[18Starcraft]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

as far a screen going blank at speed. check to see that transducer mount is secure. I had same problem & found the transducer was folding back when picking up speed, when I slowed down screen came back because the transducer dropped again. My older Hummingbird has a saftey mount that folded back if you hit something.

 

[high'n'dry]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Last week I purchased my first boat - a 1990 20' Proline center console. The GPS and depth finder that came with the boat are 7-8 years old, neither work anymore. I need to replace both but have very little knowledge.

My priority is the depth finder, low tide at my marina is less than 2 feet deep. But I do need to find a GPS as well. Here are my questions:

- Will a GPS unit allow me to track where I was (ex. I want to use a saved plot to get back to Block Island)

- Will a GPS unit have a depth finder as well, or is it a separate unit itself?

- Are there any combo units?

- If the units I end up buying don't fit in the previously drilled holes on the center console, how do I cover them up? (can you tell this is a 30 year old woman posting this?)

I appreciate any response, I really thought I'd be in the water the night I bought the boat, I'm finding out now that I needed to pay more attention during the 15 years I rode alongside my father in his boat. Thanks again.

Yes, gps/chart plotter/depth finder combos will track back or leave a bread crumb trail unless you turn it off in the menu which I usually do.

You do not cover the old holes up, they must be filled with epoxy resin or fiberglass resin.

Seal the new screws into new holes with the 5200.

It is normal for many depth units to blank out at higher speeds or show a lot of "noise" during high speed operation.

Perhaps get your father to help you or find a dealership to install the new units.

 

[xxturbowesxx]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Whatever you do If you plan on depending on a gps(should have charts as well) I would not get a combo unit. If for some reason your depthfinder fails then you will have neither.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

My boat had a similiar issue. The depth finder was damaged. I could have replaced it, but for less than 1/3 the price I could put on a basic fishfinder which has a shallow water alarm built in as well as many other functions. Many depth finders use the same transducer as fish finders, so in my case I could use the same one that was already on the boat. The 2" hole which held the depth finder was easily covered by the mounting plate of the new unit.
As far as GPS is concerned, there are combo units available, but my preference was to have separate units. This was more versatile and less expensive. I use a hand held Garmin Vista and loaded in the topo maps of all the lakes in my boating area. It tracks and does everything I need and then some.

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

I agree that getting seperate sounder and GPS chart plotters is the way to go. It is usually cheaper, you don't lose half the screen to display both, and you likely won't lose both sounder and GPS if something malfunctions.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Thanks for the advice. I just googled 3M 5200 and it seems that will definitely do the job. As far as sending the units back to the manufacturer... they units were the first ever made. Completely old school. The GPS only shows me tracks from where I've been and when I'm going. It doesn't show water, cans, or land marks. It's useless. The depth finder only works at speeds under 5 miles per hour. Once I open it up, the screen goes blank until I throttle down again....

Sounds to me like you're missing a "card" that goes into the unit and contains all the data for your local waters.

What brand is it? Have you gone to the mfr's website and dl'd a user's manual? Your problems may be easily addressed, and for a lot cheaper than a new unit. Yours is not that old. My '99 has an original Garmin 182 combo unit and it works fine. I may upgrade someday, but it has nearly all the features of the new ones.

Your "problems" could be as simple as a loose transdeucer mount and missing Navionics card or similar.

 

[skargo]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Whatever you do If you plan on depending on a gps(should have charts as well) I would not get a combo unit. If for some reason your depthfinder fails then you will have neither.

Or do as I did.
I got a creaming deal on a Raymarine A65 chartplotter/fishfinder GPS unit, AND I installed a Humminbird 610, which is a gauge sized digital depth finder, and it was cheap. SO I have redundancy if my A65 fails, and we always carry charts for backup.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

Kinda a tangentbut my sister just bought a Suzuki SX4 and these things come with a custom mounted hand held Garmin GPS standard (or at least standard on her model). I think this is the best idea I've seen in a long time. A $200 hand held unid with a custom mount that works the same as the built in nav system which is like a $1200 option on most new cars.

I want to custom mount one of these in my boat and car (shared duty). Not the suction cup thin as thieves now know to look for the cup marks on the windshield because most people leave there units in the car, like at the mall or something.

 

[skargo]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

How do you know thieves look for suction cup marks?

 

[scipper77]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

How do you know thieves look for suction cup marks?

LOL!!!

Because I spend too much time reading on the interwebby.

 

[skargo]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

LOL!!!

Because I spend too much time reading on the interwebby.

Gotcha, I was wondering how one comes about that info

I'll be scrubbing my suction cup mark today thanks to you.

 

[baitsauce]

Re: Advice about GPS/Depth Finder: New Boat Owner

I've done a lot of reseach on this and decided on the Raymarine A70D. I love mine. In my reseach I discovered marine electronics, particularly fishfinders have come a long way in the last 3 to 5 years.

This unit can come with maps preloaded and provides tides and moon phases too. It more or less comes down to how much you want to spend. My opinion is get as much as you can afford.

Good luck on your quest.