Garmin GPS

[c130king]

Hey Overtime,

If you really want to let your son "geek" out you need to install the S1 Wheel Pilot and tie your Garmin to it and then your son can plot a course on the garmin and let the autopilot steer the boat through the course. Great fun.

Have fun with your .

Cheers,
Jim

[c130king]

Continuing my GPS research. Never really paid attention to resolution before.

The Garmin 541 is 240 x 320 and goes for $679 with the dual-freq transducer. The 546 is 480 x 640 but is $899 with the transducer. My old 478 was 480 x 320.

GPSonsale.com seems to have the best prices I have seen so far. And there is a $100 rebate

Anyone have anything to say about the difference in resolution? What about the Garmin dual-freq transducer...anyone using one of these?

Thanks,
Jim

[MadMacX]

Jim,

I just installed my new Garmin and I can tell you that, if you can afford it, go for the higher resolution, it's like night and day difference. I also have the dual frequency x-ducer, but I really haven't used it enough to form an opinion. This is also my first experience with a 5" screen and with my eyes, it's a welcomed relief.

My advice, buy the highest resolution and biggest screen you can afford.

Pat

[c130king]

I think the 545 might be a little cheaper than the 546...its a lower number...but I can't find one. The only difference between 545 and 546 is "high sensitivity receiver" and "NMEA 2000 compatible".

I can only find "refurbished" or "remanufactured" 545's. Anyone ever bought one of these? Thoughts?

Thanks,
Jim

[mastreb]

You definitely want NMEA 2000 compatibility with any of these Garmins. With them you can hook up an anemometer, fuel level sensors, EMM monitor cable for the post 2008 ETEC motors, and the RayMarine Wheel Pilots. Giving up that feature for a few bucks is not worth it.

I've got the Garmin 421s (with Sounder). It's the cheapest chartplotter there is, and it's more than good enough IMHO. At <$500 you get all the functionality and gauges on the chart plotter for various instruments.

[hart]

I believe the 545 has been phased out. Since I work at a West Marine (consider that my disclaimer), here goes my sales pitch:

The 441/441s is a 4 inch screen, the 541/541s is a 5 inch screen and they both have the same resolution. Other than that they are identical. The 546/546s has a better resolution (480 x 640 pixels VGA) and is much easier to view in bright sunlight, it is also a 5 inch screen and the best in the Garmin small format lineup IMO. The "S" designates a sounder (bottom machine) so a 546 is just a chartplotter while the 546s is a combo bottom machine/chartplotter. All run on the same Garmin software and function the exact same. All come preloaded with Garmin's Bluechart G2 coastal charts that cover all of the coastal US and the Bahamas. They are pretty good.

For you inland sailors look for the 431, 531, 536 series. Identical units but they come preloaded with the inland lakes charts instead of the coastal charts. There's also a line - 421, 521, 526 - that come with a worldwide basemap for you overseas guys. Not as detailed though.

All "S" units will work with a Garmin in hull, through hull, or transom mount transducer - so pick your flavor there. Personally I like the in hull puck for about $100.

Now me, I lust after the 740s and will be putting on one my X soon. 7 inch wide format touch screen, NMEA 0183 and 2000 compatible, radar ready if you're interested in adding it now or in the future. It's a great unit for the price - less than the 4200/5200 series of multifunction displays but a lot more capable than the small format combo units. While it's not networkable it is compatible with NMEA accessories such as an autopilot, wind instruments, AIS, fuel sensors etc. Put it on a Ram Mount and it's easily removable and will swivel to be viewable from the side of the cockpit. I'm a little worried about the room it takes up in relation to the main sheet but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

I'll also be upgrading to the Bluechart g2 vision charts. I don't care about the fish eye view or satellite photography but the upgraded charts add auto routing and that's worth the extra cost imo.

I'm a huge Garmin fan. Their customer support is top notch, the best in the industry as far as I'm concerned. Their units are very user friendly, have an easy learning curve, and if you've ever used a Garmin unit before you can probably work a new one with little trouble since they are very good with how they transition from older software to newer.

As you are shopping also check out the new offerings from Lowrance. I don't like them as much as Garmin but they've rolled out some new units this year that look very cool, especially if you like to fish. Of course there's always Raymarine too and their small format combos units are very capable.

Okay, pitch over. Hope that helps out some. That's all from memory so forgive me if I got a designation or something wrong.

One final note: If you can, I urge you to support your local brick and mortar locations. Whether it's West or not - I just like to see folks keep their money local. Shop online and take your best price to the store. West price matches and so do the local competitors in my area. I'm not sure about Bass Pro Shops. Anyway, you can get a good price and still support your local economy. Sounds like a good deal to me.

EDIT: Forgot to address dual freq transducers. The standard is 55/200hz I believe. Not as big of a concern for freshwater but saltwater really kills a transducer's ability to see the bottom in deep water. Hence dual, or in some cases even triple frequency transducers. The higher freq gives better definition but in deeper water you need the lower freq to penetrate all the way down to the bottom.

[vizwhiz]

One final note: If you can, I urge you to support your local brick and mortar locations. Whether it's West or not - I just like to see folks keep their money local. Shop online and take your best price to the store. West price matches and so do the local competitors in my area. I'm not sure about Bass Pro Shops. Anyway, you can get a good price and still support your local economy. Sounds like a good deal to me.

My local store doesn't carry a lot of sailboat stuff (mostly bass fishing and PWC in the area), but I do the local support thing... I look everything up and figure out what I want to buy, then either fax or call them and ask them to order it in...then go pick it up when I'm ready. That way the local store gets the credit.

[c130king]

The 441/441s is a 4 inch screen, the 541/541s is a 5 inch screen and they both have the same resolution. Other than that they are identical. The 546/546s has a better resolution (480 x 640 pixels VGA) and is much easier to view in bright sunlight, it is also a 5 inch screen and the best in the Garmin small format lineup IMO. The "S" designates a sounder (bottom machine) so a 546 is just a chartplotter while the 546s is a combo bottom machine/chartplotter. All run on the same Garmin software and function the exact same. All come preloaded with Garmin's Bluechart G2 coastal charts that cover all of the coastal US and the Bahamas. They are pretty good.

...

All "S" units will work with a Garmin in hull, through hull, or transom mount transducer - so pick your flavor there. Personally I like the in hull puck for about $100.

...

I'll also be upgrading to the Bluechart g2 vision charts. I don't care about the fish eye view or satellite photography but the upgraded charts add auto routing and that's worth the extra cost imo.

I'm a huge Garmin fan. Their customer support is top notch, the best in the industry as far as I'm concerned. Their units are very user friendly, have an easy learning curve, and if you've ever used a Garmin unit before you can probably work a new one with little trouble since they are very good with how they transition from older software to newer.

...

I concur with Hart. I ended up getting the 546S as it was on sale and came with a $100 rebate about a year ago. The higher-resolution 5" screen is very nice. I have the transom mounted transducer which does give nice bottom profile and fish finder kind of info...and you can do the split screen (chart/bottom profile). And of course having it directly wired to my Wheel Pilot is also nice...but have to admit I don't really use that function.

It has the NMEA 2000 but I don't use any of that capability either. I have a 2-stroke non-computerized 40 HP (non-ETEC) engine. And I have a seperate fuel guage on my pedastal that tells me how much go-juice I have left.

Big fan of Garmin.

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König

[mastreb]

I'll also be upgrading to the Bluechart g2 vision charts. I don't care about the fish eye view or satellite photography but the upgraded charts add auto routing and that's worth the extra cost imo.

I went with the 421s and bought the Bluechart G2 Vision, and I'm really glad I did. Yes, the chart card cost nearly as much as what the 421 cost, but I put no money into built-in charts that would just get obviated, and now I have everything that Garmin makes for charts. I too don't care about the 3D harbor stuff but the charts are amazing. And when I upgrade to the 740, the chart card goes with it and I'm not throwing as much away.

I'm really happy with the 421s. It gives me depth, speed over ground, GPS location, charts, and instrument gauges for tanks and wind. It's all I really need and it was <$700 complete with full charts. If you're looking to do this on the cheap, I strongly believe its the way to go. I will say that the base map is worthless however--it's just a satellite photo of the earth and the resolution is so low that it can't be safely used for navigation. If you don't intend to drop another $300 for charts, get the 441 or 431.

[tom clayton]

I have to say that im not an expert with other units only ever having the 546s but that being said, i love it. Here in Oahu there is reef lurking everywhere. We were spending the night in the bay when i got a call from a friend warning me about the in coming sunami. I can tell you if it wernt for being able to trust my garmin chances are very good that i would have hit reef on the way back in. I felt like i was getting to close to reef and would have veered away which in fact would have grounded me, instead i trusted my garmin and it led me safely thru the channels showing me where bouys were at even when i couldnt see them i was so glad to have it and recommend it to all as a safety aid. I like that it is slaved to my radio and gives my position in an emergency if i need it to contact cost guard and ais is nice when the bigger boats are about. The only problem ive had with it was the mount froze up that makes it pivot up and down. i was able to get the nut off and replaced it with a brass fitting that allowed the mount to work again, I havent pulled the trigger for the blue2 charts but when i start sailing to the other islands I will, the charts that are loaded have been extremely accurate thus far, Tom.

[jschrade]

All "S" units will work with a Garmin in hull, through hull, or transom mount transducer - so pick your flavor there. Personally I like the in hull puck for about $100.

Curious how many have opted for this solution. In my case, all I would lose is water temp as I do not have a paddlewheel.

If the Garmin would only integrate with my E-TEC 60, that would be magical!!!

Jim

[hart]

At my store it seems like we sell a few more of the pucks than the transom mounts but it's a close call. There are actually two transom mounts. One offers depth and temperature while the other offers speed, depth and temp. I had a guy ask me why you need speed in a transducer when the GPS gives your speed. Easy - current. You may be travelling 4 knots according to the GPS. But maybe you're actually sailing against a 2 knot current so you're actually sailing 6 knots. May or may not be important to you.

For our boats I don't like the transom mount because A) it's likely to get knocked about and or broken as we board from the the transom a lot, B) it's just more clutter back there with the ladder, the rudders, the motor and the ballast gate valve and C) it's telling you how deep the water is where you've been instead of where you're going.

So I like the in hull puck. Yes you lose the temp and/or speed. But on the plus side A) no cutting or screwing is required, just epoxy the sucker to the hull (NOT the ballast tank) B) it's out of the way and not subject to getting broken, and C) you can move it forward in the boat for coverage of where the boat is headed. Seems like under the galley in the X is a good choice for a spot to mount it. Not sure about the M's. Find a good spot as far forward as possible but not so far that it's out of the water when the boat is planing.

While epoxying the sucker to your hull is the standard method you can mount it in a tube filled with mineral oil instead. I believe we've also discussed on this board the idea of using a wax ring (the kind you seat a toilet on) as a temporary mount by smearing the wax around and pushing the puck down into it.

[mastreb]

I have had a Navman 550 prieviously and all i can say is that the unit did not stand up to getting wet.

My Garmin 421s is relatively new, but we've had three solid weeks of rain here in San Diego in February and March (thank heavens) while it sat atop the wheel pedestal with nothing but it's faceplate cover on, and it weathered that without skipping a beat.

[hart]

So I'm pulling the trigger and ordering my 740s today. Hopefully I'll be able to install it this weekend and have it ready to go for the B.E.E.R. cruise. I'll start a new thread and take pics for you other gadget junkies out there.