Marine Electronics

[peterbo3]

Evening all,This is my first post & I would like some feedback. I am fitting out a Lightning 5.5M C/C & am thinking of the following:
1.Furuno 600L Colour Sounder
2.Navman 5500I Colour Plotter
3 Icom M45A VHF Radio
Any comments by current or past users of this gear would be greatly appreciated.I plan to fish off the front of Moreton, the Barwons & trips north to 1770,etc.
Regards,
Peter
New direction for sounder & GPS. Glascraft have Raymarine L760 combo colour sounder/plotter on special at $4000. Anyone got any info on this gear?
Thanking you,
Peter

[jaybee]

Sounds good peter, however, as for the plotter i would probably go garmin or another brand that you can hook up to your pc, unless the navman has changed.
hope this helps
cheers.

[peterbo3]

Jaybee,thank you for the advice . Could you please expand on the need for plotter/PC interface.
Regards,
Peter

[jaybee]

Hi Peter
I have a navman and use flog, (fishing log) by ken fox, this is now adaptable to a gps, however navman isnt, i survive, but when you think of it instead of bringing up the software printing or writing out your spots, then punching them into the gps, you can hook your gps up to the pc and down load them, if you are out fishing find a top spot just a matter of hooking up the gps and uploading to the pc saves time. I have to write dont the co ords then manually enter into the software. OBTW johnny appleseed at annerly has good deals on gps, with free upgrades, check his web address before contacting them as they always have some form of deal going. http://www.ja-gps.com.au/
hope this helps
cheers
joe.

[Lucky_Phill]

Appears you have a good couple of units there.

You can't go wrong with Furuno gear. As for Navman, haven't heard anything bad in that respect.

It is very important, to understand completely, what you see on your sounder. As far as the Plotter/ GPS is concerned, they are pretty straight forward. Interfasing with PC software etc is something I don't do, but a lot of folks are and seems to be the way to go.

Are you setting the units up your self or pro's doing it ?

One thing I will say is to replace the online fuse in the Navman with a fairdinkum waterproof job from a electricial store. One other is to install a " Spike Protector ". You don't want to have that expensive gear there and blow it out the water for the sake of $30.

[peterbo3]

Lucky Phill & Jaybee
Thank you again. I have given work the heave-ho - I prefer to spend what I have now & not waste it on a flash box from K.M.Smith so I have plenty of time to manually upload my PC especially when it is blowing 25K SE. I am wiring the boat myself with the help of a sparky who did his time at Evans Deakin working on the last ship built at Kangaroo Pt. Dedicated busbar & fusing for nav lts etc & another busbar, spike protector & fusing for GPS etc. I plan to use 4mm tinned wire throughout, connections silver soldered & heatshrunk. Twin battery setup through a Perko switch with electrical power coming from a deep cycle battery for the busbars via 38 amp two core feeder. Any comments greatly appreciated.
Regards
Peter

[jaybee]

Hey phil what is the story with the waterproof inline fuse, have you heard of some things going wrong, mine is well protected from the moisture but seems like a safe bet, my bro had problems with his navman when he first bought it, so did i. his was electrical, mine just kept shutting down and it was from the way it was packed in the box apparently, broke a wire in the cable. anyway no hassles with replacements, both units were bought from liesure marine and they bent over backwards for us. Oh by the way peter you will find there is not much difference in price with a gps that will interface with your pc, around 10 - 20 dollars.
cheers.
cheers.

[Lucky_Phill]

Well JB, the only water electrics equip I have found to date with the GOOD inline WATERPROOF fuses is Furuno. I'm not saying that the fuse the Navman has isn't any good, but, I'll bet it's not waterproof ( splashproof, Maybe ) ??? ::)

Anyway Peter, sounds like you got the boat wired ( pun intended ;D )

You might even post a pic of the rig when she's finished. ;) ;D 8) 8)

[Ron_Collins]

Hi Peterbro3

Have a look at the specifications of a JRC FF50 colour sounder before you make a final decision on sounders.

I don't own one, but have been lucky enough to have had many trips on Bill Corten's boat and seen the JRC quality and features first hand.

Bill's also done a shallow water "part one" report on sounders and the FF50 in the January edition of BNB Fishing, which may contain info that will assist you with your decision.

By the way, I should mention that TMQ Electronics (national distributors of JRC on 3890 7788 or freecall 1800 777 835 and tmq.com.au) are an advertiser in BNB Fishing. But I'd be giving you this tip regardless.

- Ron Collins, Ed.

[reel_screamer]

Hey veryone is good at give advise, your GPS will not make that much diff, all have about the same functions (apart from PC ready)
As for your Sounder you have not said what depht of water you are going to fish in. Don't think a 350 watt sounder will do what a 1KW will do. Buy the most powerful you can afford.
I suspect your not setting up a rig like this to fish in creeks!
Cheers reel screamer