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Originally Posted by panga707  One question you might be able to help me with, is there any reason to connect the radar and GPS if displaying them on separate screens? It looks like the NEMA cable could do it. Does the radar then show current cordinates? Or.... what is the advantage to this?
Thanks |
Having radar on the chartplotter allows you to run it on overlay mode (radar image on top of chart), which is a big + if you are fogbound in unfamiliar areas (you will see that dot is a bouy not another boat). In today's day and age, stand alone radars are great for backup units (only commercial guys really have back-up radar), but for a primary unit it is far more versatile to have two screens with the ability to show your charts, radar and fishfinder (weather or cameras if you have those too) on either screen in any combination you like.
Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. $3k is a very small budget for anything half way decent - an ideal low/mid range system would be 2 displays (8 to 12" depending upon room), 1kw sounder with 1 kw transducer and a 24" radar - which is $7-10k for parts depending upon brand and options.
2-8" displays is not any bigger in area than a single 12", so if $3k is all you have, you will get the most bang for your buck with Garmin ($3k would just get you a Furuno NavNet3 12" GPS display).
For a tight budget, I would start with a single 12" (4212) with the GSD22 fishfinder and a 600w transducer (about $2,500), and then save some money to add the 18" radome ($800). If you could swing $5,000, a Garmin 4212 bundle with GSD-22 souder, 1 kw transducer, XM weather (which is pretty much free with the bundle) and a 24" radome would hold you over for quite a while until you had the $2,100 to add a second screen.
