Why bother connecting sounder and GPS?

[whiteman]

Now the new Furuno 620 is sitting next to the Navman 5500 on the dash, it is tempting to connect them via NMEA.

But why would I bother? I've got separate units that do what they do well. Can't see any advantage of the connection.

Can others enlighten me?

[STUIE63]

the reason to do it is that as long as what you want to mark is on your sounder then you can mark it then and there (just take the cursor on the sounder back to the spot and hit the mark button on the sounder ) instead of having to m0tor back over the spot
Stuie

[peterbo3]

Plus the sounder will transmit the depth of the water & temp. Most GPS have a depth box & some also have a temp box in addition to Lat/Long & date in the waypoint list.

[Heath]

Also, you can have your GPS measuring km/h & the sounder Kts... handy when back in the rivers

[Moonlighter]

Whiteman

The other possibility (from thise already mentioned by others) that opens up when you establish an NMEA 2000 network is to link them to your outboard and thereby get access to fuel flow data and a whole heap of other data. Accurate fuel used/fuel remaining and instant fuel economy ie km/litre etc (like the trip meter on your car) is one of the main benefits.

Of course this depends on you having an outboard that is NMEA compliant. Most 2007 and later 4 strokes and DFI 2 strokes such as ETEC's are NMEA compliant - all you need to get their engine data up onto your displays is get a engine interface cable and connect to your NMEA network.

Cheers

ML

[finga]

Yep, Mines used for the same reason as Stuie.

[ozscott]

the reason to do it is that as long as what you want to mark is on your sounder then you can mark it then and there (just take the cursor on the sounder back to the spot and hit the mark button on the sounder ) instead of having to m0tor back over the spot
Stuie

I was wondering about all this myself. Mate can you just explain that again...if I hit the mark on the sounder it will just take the lat, long depth etc (the lat and long from the GPS) and to get to that mark again I have to do a Go To on the GPS and motor back to the spot....so why couldnt I just mark it on the GPS directly (the only difference being that doing it that way does not give depth).

Cheers

[finga]

On some setups you can backtrack or back scroll your sounder until you find what you want to mark and then hit mark.
You don't have to be over the interesting bit to mark it's position.

[whiteman]

Ozscott .... that's the question I pose. My plotter is close to me and that is where I'll be hitting waypoint buttons - my plotter (Navman 5500) doesn't record depth. I have the fuel flow meter attached to the plotter. Heath's suggestion has some merit but my brain converts knots to kph and vicky verka without the need for technology.

I think NMEA would be very useful for the radio to send GPS co-ords if I hit the panic button but last time I looked this wasn't available in Australia?

Stui, see if you can sell to me and OzScott! In the days when Kerry could post (old timers will remember this flawed genius) we would get the answer from the gods.

[whiteman]

On some setups you can backtrack or back scroll your sounder until you find what you want to mark and then hit mark.
You don't have to be over the interesting bit to mark it's position.

Finga, now you've got my attention. Can the Furuno 620 scroll backwards beyond the screen limits?

[finga]

Page 13 of the manual Section 1:18.1
But I'm not sure how far back it would go.

1.18.1 Registering a waypoint
Registering a waypoint on the screen
1. Press the MARK key.
The cursor appears along with waypoint
entry instructions. To enter a waypoint to the
current own ship's position, go to step 3.
Cursor
Note: If there is no position data the message
"No position data!" appears. Check the navigator.
2. Press the TrackPad to set the cursor where
desired.
Picture advancement is stopped until step 3
is completed, and the instruction window is
integrated into the data box.

[finga]

I think NMEA would be very useful for the radio to send GPS co-ords if I hit the panic button but last time I looked this wasn't available in Australia?

It's here and called DSC.
All you need is a MMSI number and away you go.
Kerry is my hero

[snasman]

Not sure about the 620 but with a 585 you can put the data coming out of the plotter onto the larger screen of the 585.I think there the same machine with the 585 running up to a 1kw transducer and screen size is the only difference

[ozscott]

Yep mate with the 625 you can use it for Nav assitance with on course indication etc when connected to the GPS - so yep I suppose map on the GPS and course indicator on the other might be nice but overall Im not too fussed. I might connect the 2, although whilst the Garmin typically has an excellent manual including wiring diagram the Furuno is far from great in the manual and has a bizzare wiring diagram that does not spell out what the wires are for...

Cheers

[finga]

If in any doubt about the wiring of any Furuno gear just drop a line to Taylor Marine.
Excellent guys to deal with.