I really need electronics help

[Floatsum]

I'm wanting to pickup both a decent FF and GPS. However, the more I study into it the more confused I'm getting as to what I really need. Not to mention the new technology baffles me.

Looking to rig out a 18' Parker CC. I doubt I'll be in anything over 100' of water. Mostly I'll be from shore (Point Judith) out to just past Block Island. Possible from Montauk to Cape Cod Canal (some trailering). A lot of night / early AM fishing but plenty of daytime too.

FF-
I'd like to be able to pickup things like squid, stripers, blues, flounder, scup, and blackfish, etc..
Definitely would like to be able to identify the bottom composition (sand, rock, weed, mud, etc)
Speed / Temp is nice but not a high priority.
At travel speed (35 knots) I'd like to see enough indications to tell if there is something down there. Doesn't need dead on accuracy at speed, just a "Hey - looky here" will do.
I love simplicity. (simple things for simple people?)

GPS-
Finding my way back in a fog at night is nice.
Finding a particular rock / hump / drop / weed-line from one trip to the next is what would make having a GPS is all about for me.
Again, simplicity is joyful.

I fully expect to be caught in the rain, have salt water thrown at them, buttons pushed with fingers covered with bluefish juice, etc. So I'm saying I'll be abusive?

I like to catch fish, but don't have the pressure of a commercial guy that must produce perfectly all the time.
I'm a little color blind but not totally (25% maybe?) would a color unit be worth my while?
Being in less than 100' of water,, would deeper water units perform better in shallow than the shallow units?
For 100',, are twin beams worth the investment?
Higher wattage justifiable?
I'm thinking separate FF / GPS,,, but not really sure if it's really a smart thing.
I'd like to invest under $1K. Is that reasonable?
As for brand names, I see some swear by some while others swear at them. Would this be primarily due to usage / expectations?
For a GPS on a small CC any external ant. would be mounted next to the unit on the dash. Any real reason I should consider a built in Ant. versus a external mount?
Sending units on FF interchangeable (I have a OLD Garman mounted now)?

I know that's a lot of asking. But the more I look, the more confused I'm getting. I think a lot of the info I've found is specific to certain uses and not sure how it relates to my expectations.
I don't mind investing in gear,,, but concerned with over-killing with more expensive / complicated / troublesome units than I really need.

Fished for years. Commercially fished daggers out of Point Judith. Was very comfortable with the bigger commercial units like loran and Furnor,, but this new stuff with smaller size has me be-fumbled. Seems the more I learn,, the less I know.

Some one please help this primitive neanderthal from the dark ages? (catch-up sux! )
I am sooo dazed and confused!

Thanks.
Gary

 

[Floatsum]

Re: I really need electronics help

What,, I asked a naughty question?

 

[JB]

Re: I really need electronics help

No, you just used too many words to supply too much information. No worries. Most of the time we get too little info.

Here are my recommendations:

Get seperate units.

Garmin or Furuno GPS with optional firmware for your locale. Biggest color screen you can afford. Garmin 172C is a good basic one.

Lowrance or Furuno SONAR. Biggest color screen you can afford.

 

[rightcoastrob]

Re: I really need electronics help

I just picked up a few different units 3 in total i had some pretty bad luck with the first it was an eagle seacharter 502C fish finder worked great it would read a jig the size of maggot at 25 ft no problem.But the gps on it wouldnt ping up and after 2 weeks of trying to get some help from lowrance horriable service there actually i got no service lol so i sent it back and went with a garmin 430x with the xm antenna for the live nexrad radar.unit always pins up even inside my place outside its locked on with in 30 seconds.Has a awsome screen on it real clear and brite much cleaner then the eagle alot more user freindly also it also has a fishfinder on it just a single freq.But i would deff go with seprate units Im blind as a bat myself and a split screen on a 5 incher insnt big enough for my eyes.and a 10 inch is way way out of my price range i went with two 5'sThe fishfinder is a eagle fishmark 500 has a single freq transducer its not as brite or as crisp as the garmin but also will read a tiny jig at 25 ft.both units have worked well for me on the ice and i expect the same for on soft water to.You shouldnt need major power to fish less then a 100 ft of water and a dual freq i belive just sends a more focused sound beam to the bottom to get more bottom detail.in deeper waters but dont take that lil bit of info to the bank without looking into it first....

 

[Chris1956]

Re: I really need electronics help

JB - Why did you recommend seperate units? I would think a combo unit would be a better value since the display is the most expensive part of the unit, and you only need to buy it once on a combo unit.

I agree you need to get the largest screen you can affort. The downside of combo units is that they share the same screen, so if you want to display both FF and Charts at the same time, neither is optimum. I set my combo unit to both on the way out, and then to just FF when I arrive on the fishing spot.

 

[dingbat]

Re: I really need electronics help

If you like commerical equiptment look around and see if you can't find a Furuno GP1650WF. New they're @$1.2K but you can find them used for a lot less.

 

[whofan]

Re: I really need electronics help

This is a great dual beam graph; http://www.iboats.com/Vexilar_Edge2...4908704--**********.148022700--view_id.170150

http://www.vexilar.com/pages/products/products_lc-507c.html

A lot of salt water fishermen use Furuno;http://www.iboats.com/Furuno_FCV_58...4908704--**********.148022700--view_id.359119

I agree with JB use separate units. If you have issues you loose both while being serviced with combo units.

Or buy two combos and mount them side by side.
Garmin is good for GPS.
http://www.iboats.com/Garmin_GPSMAP...4908704--**********.597843842--view_id.358888

The sonars above are good units. I have the Vexilar. Better than anything I have used before.

Check Iboats first they have great customer service.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: I really need electronics help

The need for separate units is often a mute point. the most common problem is power loss and if this happens you will lose both units unless 1 is handheld. I prefer combo or networked systems. The a-60 system pack is in your price rang and will do everything you need to do I have the c-80 and have no complaints with use in saltwater environment. Here is a link to the manufacturers web site (you can find these for far less than msrp).
http://www.raymarine.com/default.aspx?site=1&SECtion=2&page=1227

 

[mthieme]

Re: I really need electronics help

There are way too many choices out there nowadays. It's easy to get confused.
Most are very good units and will do what you want.
The first thing I would recommend is decide whether or not you want separate units. Second decide want you want to spend.

If you like commercial stuff, you might favor Navionics cartography. Go to navionics.com and check out supported units to narrow the field down.

 

[whofan]

Re: I really need electronics help

"The need for separate units is often a mute point. the most common problem is power loss and if this happens you will lose both units unless 1 is handheld."

I had ,(new last spring) a separate 5200 globalmap mounted next to a x510c graph.

The graph spent half the summer in the mail to Lowrance and back.

Sure glad I still had my GPS and it wasn`t caught up in the mess.

 

[Boatist]

Re: I really need electronics help

Lots of questions but it sounds like your off to a good start.
First the advantave of two seperate units.
If you have two unit it eaiser to operate. With a dual unit if want to change anything first must make sure your in the right mode first, do you want to zoom in the fish finder or the GPS map. With seperate units much eaiser to operate. Also not likely to have both units fail.
Even with smaller screen since not operating in split screen the useable display is bigger.
Disadvantage is takes twice as much dash space and it cost more to buy two different displays. I would not buy anything but color.

If you going to mount your GPS antenna on the dash then get a internal antenna. If you get an external antenna then mount it high enough that nothing on the boat will block the signal. The GPS signal for you basic position is easy to receive. You only need 3 satellites for a position and 4 for a 3D position. Most unit will receive 6 or more all the time.
The advantage of the external antenna is you can mount it high enough that nothing on the boat will block it. Things like your body, the gps unit it self or depth finder, window frames can easily block the weak low on the horizon WAAS error correction signal. If your up north then these satellites will be low on the horzion as they are in geostationary orbits over the equator. The farther south you are then the higher in the sky these satelites will be.
With the WAAS error correction then your GPS will be acurite to about 3 meters or 10 feet. With out WAAS signal then it more like 10 meters or 30 feet.

Depth finders with high power do not work as well in sallow water as lower powered units. For 100 feet of water then you want a single frequency unit with a 200 KHZ transducer unless you need to see downriger weights is shallow water. If you need to see the downrigger weights then you need a tranducer with a wider beem the 20 degrees. It this case a dual freq uency unit with a 50 khz transducer will have a wider cone angle of 30 to 45 degree and make it much eaiser to see down rigger weights.

For 100 feet of saltwater then 375 wats RMS or 3000 watts PeP is enough.