GPS / Sounder Deal

[albion]

Just to give you an idea why I am looking to import to the UK.

Cheapest deal I've found in the UK(on special offer) for the 2000C DF is £594.00.! Thats nearly $1200 USD..

I know electronic gear is more in the UK, so for $1200 you could fly over to USA buy a few GPS and sell them when you go back.I did that with CB radios a few years ago.Almost paid for the trip to England.Or the other way is to wait till the $$ gets stronger against the KNICKER.

[albion]

I got a call from Boaters World this morning telling me they had called their supply wharehouse. I was told they cant get me an EAGLE SEACHAMP 2000cDF. Just thought I would mention it as I know some of you were still wanting a good deal. Now I dont know which GPS system to buy.

UPDATE,I CALLED BOATERSWORLD LAST NIGHT 1/6/07 AT 1-877-690-0004. THEY HAVE THE EAGLE SEACHAMP 2000c DF FOR $499.99 I EXPECT TO GET IT IN 6-10 DAYS. WILL HAVE TO BUY AN ANTENNA THOUGH.

[50/50]

Have a look at these:

http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/lowra ... ms337c.htm

http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/lowra ... ms334c.htm

ttp://www.gpscentral.ca/products/lowrance/low ... ms339c.htm

Anybody have any comments/ thoughts on these reasonably priced models from Lowrance.

[Frank C]

Yep - those are exactly the ones I wrote about earlier (page 5 of this thread). They are widely available at $600 to $650 USD, about $50 less than gpscentral's prices.

I chose LMS 332C - it and the 334C lack the dual-frequency sounder (reading only to 900 ft depth rather than 2500 ft.), not important to me. The other distinguishing feature, you need to choose internal or external GPS antenna. Otherwise, all four of those are the same basic unit, with 256-color 5" display, 480x480 TFT, NauticPath & Navionics chart compatible.

The two units with internal antenna (334C iGPS and 339C-DF iGPS) require a special menu to fully address the NMEA2000 network. Apparently their internal GPS antenna "talks in" the older 0183 spec. That's one reason that I wanted the external antenna (LMS 332 or LMS 337-DF). I think the DF units might also include a speed log (paddle wheel?) that mine lacks. Finally, the FishFinder features, that I didn't bother to learn, differ among the units. Lowrance's website has a great product-compare feature.

[Shane]

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm haviing a hard time getting my head around the benefits of the 20 gig HD in some of the Lowrance (and, I assume, other brands') models?

I haven't been able to find any documents on the Lowrance site that explains it's benefits. Unless it allows you to play your favourite mp3s, or watch that latest quicktime video from the con....

Seriously though, I know you can load all kinds of maps into it, but as a practical use/benefit, how many maps do you need installed? I have yet to buy my GPS -never actually used one- but are some of the chart chips (ie: Navionics Platinum) so big that you can't run them off of chip (meaning, do they have to be 'uncompressed' to use)? How often will I need to access a second chart/chip set if one chip gives me from the Puget Sound up to nearly the Queen Charlotte Islands? Do waypoints and tracking data take up that much space? And wouldn't most find it more useful to transfer (via memory chip or whatever -USB via LowranceNet?) that info to a laptop or home computer for achival reference?

For my application, I doubt it is something that I would find the HD benefits worth it (besides, hard drives fail often enough in a controlled environment), but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to know more about it. Too much knowledge is never a bad thing (and NEVER close to an issue for me )


Regards,
Shane

[Frank C]

Shane,

I believe the logic for a HD is just as you surmised. Even if you're near a chip boundary, it eliminates any need of swapping. They are bundling their entire maps catalog ... NauticPath (coastal & Gt.Lakes), Inland Waters (incl. Navaids & depth contours), USA Topo & Highways and POI database, and maybe their Fishing Hotspots (?) ... claimed $2,000+ worth of software.

• - Comparing the 26-HD to the LCx-25 (with no maps);
  - the 26-HD map option list shows Navionics only (the premium maps);
  - inferring that the 26-HD includes Lowrance's entire mapping catalog.

Bundled maps are clearly a benefit in the car, which can cross map boundaries so much more frequently, but who would want this monster mounted in a car? (maybe a touring bass fisherman). These units with HD are physically larger than I had wanted (9" wide, 7" display) - but it's hard to complain about a display being TOO large, eh? Doing over again, I might consider the LCX-26-HD (SeaChamp's 7" twin). Including NMEA2k, is seems a fair price-to-features ratio @ ~$1,400.

[50/50]

Sorry Frank did'nt realise that they were the same unit you were talking about. Glad to hear you're happy with your choice.

I have a DSC VHF and want to connect the GPS so I would have to choose the external antenna.

Is the recording of depth over 900ft the only advantage of DF?

Gerry

[Frank C]

I have a DSC VHF and want to connect the GPS so I would have to choose the external antenna.

For connecting to that VHF, I'd look very closely at the radio's User Guide. It's probably expecting NMEA0183 - download the Lowrance guide to learn how they will interconnect, since it's doubtful your radio will just tap onto the NMEA2000 network. Future versions - I'm guessing yes ... your current one - unlikely.

DF refers to the dual frequency depth transducer, and yes, the cheaper one reads to a max of 900 feet. As long as my depth is greater than 15 ft, I'm paying it only very occasional attention. If I ever wanted to follow a coastal shelf ... 100 fathoms, right? Simply don't care about anything deeper.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

An internal or external GPS antenna has no bearing on connecting the GPS to the VHF for positioning data in the DSC messages. You can make the connection with either.

It is a totally separate NMEA connection from the GPS display to the VHF. It has nothing to do with the external connection from the GPS antenna to the GPS display unit.

The DF sounder has two frequencies in it. The 200mHz sounder looses the bottom at around 200'. In theory the lower 50mHz sounder should follow the bottom up to 1500'.

In practice, I have found that both loose the bottom between 200' and 300' up here in Puget Sound. I haven't had enough time with the DF unit to say that having the 50mHz unit is a waste, but it's looking like that. It's the one disappointing thing about the new unit. We have a lot of deep water up here (some places over 2000' where you are still in protected water, not the open ocean) and I had hoped that using the 50mHz transducer would eliminate loosing the bottom. Obviously there isn't a safety hazzard in this deep water but it is still disconcerting when your sounder starts displaying -12 when it looses the bottom. You can't go anywhere up here without crossing some water over 200' deep. Even the lake just down the hill has water deeper than 200'.

An cool story, a few years back we were cruising up Jervis Inlet, a fiord in the British Columbia coast off the inside passage. As normal our sounder was showing useless numbers. My oldest son asked 'how deep is it here dad?' We zoomed in on the chart display. We were crossing over an area marked 662. But this was a Canadian chart and the soundings are in Meters. The water was 2172' deep in this narrow fiord that was only 1 mile across at that point. The top of the cliff to our left was 997 meters (3271') high. Quite an amazing place.

[Frank C]

Not exactly.

Read Lowrance's website about the distinctions between the LMS-332 versus the LMS-334 iGPS. The former has external antenna (which is pure NMEA2000) versus the latter with internal NMEA0183 antenna. The internal GPS antenna speaks NMEA0183, but perhaps over the 2K network? ... not sure since I didn't want mine to have an internal antenna. However, Lowrance publishes a special PDF to explain interconnection of the 334 iGPS and the 339 iGPS, with their internal antennae, to communicate with external equipment such as a computer or DSC radio. I believe the units with iGPS have special software to configure them for external communications ... not sure about the physical network connections. If I already had an external unit, I'd want to read & make sure.

My point was, "Caveat Emptor." Since the manuals are free to download, it makes lots of sense to download both owner guides (for internal & external antenna), PLUS that special PDF ....
and completely understand their relative interconnection steps, before purchase.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I understand. On all previous generation units the link from the GPS antenna to the display unit was proprietary. Now that that link is on the NMEA 2000 bus you can just connect the VHF to the same NMEA 2000 bus. I assume you must need some kind of rate adapter as most of the DSC VHF's I have seen require 4800 baud NMEA 183. Are there NMEA 2000 VHF's on the market?

[50/50]

Ok Guys,

Getting slightly confused now.

My VHF manual says that 'when connected to a GPS equipment, it can obtain NMEA information of both it's current location and the local GMT.'
So what won't it work with?

[Frank C]

... My VHF manual says that 'when connected to a GPS equipment, it can obtain NMEA information of both it's current location and the local GMT.'
So what won't it work with?

Gerry,
There's no question of the actual data that your radio needs ... location & time, undoubtedly in NMEA0183 format. All of the Lowrance units will export data to your radio in that format. The only questions are the program settings to export that data, and the method of physical connection.
You will "read all about it" ... but which unit do you want & are you reading before or after the purchase.

I wanted an external antenna so there would never be any question of using the GPS display below decks, and no question that reception was independent of its mounting position. The downside, if any ... another wire & connection.

We're discussing only minor differences in the physical & software configuration. I'm suggesting that I'd want to understand those differences, in advance. Sorry to add confusion ... I suppose this is all very mysterious if you haven't yet done it. But all 4 of these Lowrance units are essentially the same, all have the same high-quality display, they'll all do the job for you & your VHF, and the mapping choices are very inexpensive. NauticPath for Northern EU is $199, or you could always choose the Navionics mapping chips - I'm unsure of the Navionics costs.

[50/50]

Frank,

The whole issue here, for me, is that I get a low cost, reasonably spec'd sounder/plotter that will connect with my, already purchased DSC VHF.

The thread started with Duane having found the bargain. I would have purchased the same if I was 'on the ball' but it appears that deal is gone. Now looking for an alternative 'good buy'.

Thanks for all your help with this, as you say, 'it is very mysterious if you haven't yet done it.'

[Frank C]

See UPDATED POST above .... as of 1/06/07 maybe you didn't miss out on that SeaChamp 2000.