Hi all.
Beginning my search for the best suited MFD for offshore fishing and bottom bashing.
Needs to accommodate “CHIRP” in 12 flush mounted footprint.
Recommendations and user experience feedback would be great.
I will also check in with Moose Marine soon.
Below are some of the brands I am considering:
Simrad
Garmin
Furuno
Raymarine
Splash
Everyone has their favourites. Mine nowadays is Raymarine. Going back to a HDS Lowrance is like going to the stone age. I have two, although I noticed you were only looking at a single 12" . That was my other option, but a general hatred of split screen useage, and the extra redundancy of two separate displays, swayed me to a 9 and a 7--the extra footprint of the 9 pro meant I couldn't fit 2 9's. Plus the fact I would be reaching through the wheel to touch the bottom of the screen.
My split screen hatred came about from using a Lowrance Elite setup, non touchscreen. I defended that as a sounder unit, it did really well in the shallows, but the amount of button pushing involved to go from the menu of one side to the other was off the clock. Didn't realise how bad it was until I set up my new boat with the above-mentioned, then went back on a mates' with the Elite. Ready to put a hammer through it within 15 minutes. That said, the split-screen operation on Raymarines' Lighthouse is actually very easy, just touch the side you want, and you have full control of that side. The layout and mode of operation is quite similar to the Simrad. Unless you really want to geek out, stay clear of the Furuno TZT. Lovely unit, very powerful, fabulous screen, but it will be a very steep learning curve indeed. Seemingly simple functions are buried deep, I had to learn one ( two, actually) on the fly once with a new owner who hadn't got his head around it, took us out in a 25 knot southerly then expected me to just know how to use it.
I've done around 875 hours from new, and had one problemn. The 9 Pro died. Raymarine were excellent, did a full replacement even though I was beyond the 2 year warranty. They did strongly suggest I look at my transducer as the culprit. (Airmar B-175M) Lo and behold, it was faulty, causing the MFD transmit unit to burn out. I had to pay for that, only one year warranty on those.
Lighthouse actually also has the advantage of running Android as a base, meaning they can port Android phone apps to the system. This might not seem like a biggie--No , Moose, I don't watch Netflix on the boat--but you have Spotify and some others. The weather apps interested me, but were mostly US-based, until they made Windy available. I only picked up on this fact the other night, and haven't had time to install it yet. I live and die by Windy for forecasting, can't be beat, and with me now having the Cel-Fi booster setup on board, I'll be able to get Windy in many of the remote places I visit.
And I would strongly advise fitting an autopilot. Once you have one, you won 't be without. From accurate course keeping with built-in correction for set and drift when travelling long distances to somewhere over the horizon,to just keeping it straight at low speed when you are feeding the lures out. I have the Ev-150 integrated with my network.
I have a gallery of screenshots here https://ranmar.smugmug.com/Sonar-screenshots/ Shows shallow and deep with the B-175M, and sidescan/downscan wi the RV-100 which comes with the unit as part of the package. Love the latter for shallow water, wouldn't be without it.
HTH
For all the details on my Raymarine setup, go back to this old thread when I built it. http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...ght=reefrunner
Another vote for Raymarine from me. I went with the a128 12" MFD with CP100 and CPT 200 transducers in 2015. Simple, reliable and user friendly for this fisho. I mainly troll / float line / bottom bash in Moreton Bay up to 30M and offshore up to100M depth, so this combination works well for my fishing style. Also second the recommendation for autopilot as I usually am solo and this makes life so much easier. Cheers SS.Originally Posted by ranmar850
Everyone has their favourites. Mine nowadays is Raymarine. Going back to a HDS Lowrance is like going to the stone age. I have two, although I noticed you were only looking at a single 12" . That was my other option, but a general hatred of split screen useage, and the extra redundancy of two separate displays, swayed me to a 9 and a 7--the extra footprint of the 9 pro meant I couldn't fit 2 9's. Plus the fact I would be reaching through the wheel to touch the bottom of the screen.
My split screen hatred came about from using a Lowrance Elite setup, non touchscreen. I defended that as a sounder unit, it did really well in the shallows, but the amount of button pushing involved to go from the menu of one side to the other was off the clock. Didn't realise how bad it was until I set up my new boat with the above-mentioned, then went back on a mates' with the Elite. Ready to put a hammer through it within 15 minutes. That said, the split-screen operation on Raymarines' Lighthouse is actually very easy, just touch the side you want, and you have full control of that side. The layout and mode of operation is quite similar to the Simrad. Unless you really want to geek out, stay clear of the Furuno TZT. Lovely unit, very powerful, fabulous screen, but it will be a very steep learning curve indeed. Seemingly simple functions are buried deep, I had to learn one ( two, actually) on the fly once with a new owner who hadn't got his head around it, took us out in a 25 knot southerly then expected me to just know how to use it.
I've done around 875 hours from new, and had one problemn. The 9 Pro died. Raymarine were excellent, did a full replacement even though I was beyond the 2 year warranty. They did strongly suggest I look at my transducer as the culprit. (Airmar B-175M) Lo and behold, it was faulty, causing the MFD transmit unit to burn out. I had to pay for that, only one year warranty on those.
Lighthouse actually also has the advantage of running Android as a base, meaning they can port Android phone apps to the system. This might not seem like a biggie--No , Moose, I don't watch Netflix on the boat
And I would strongly advise fitting an autopilot. Once you have one, you won 't be without. From accurate course keeping with built-in correction for set and drift when travelling long distances to somewhere over the horizon,to just keeping it straight at low speed when you are feeding the lures out. I have the Ev-150 integrated with my network.
I have a gallery of screenshots here https://ranmar.smugmug.com/Sonar-screenshots/ Shows shallow and deep with the B-175M, and sidescan/downscan wi the RV-100 which comes with the unit as part of the package. Love the latter for shallow water, wouldn't be without it.
HTH
For all the details on my Raymarine setup, go back to this old thread when I built it. http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...ght=reefrunner
Wow!
Great responses and I really thank you.
Any others who strongly feel that 2 x smaller MFDs and better than 1 x larger MFD?
Splash
Just to clarify, I'm not against big single displays at all, a lot of it was based on what I had mentioned re the old style splits, modern OS's make it easy. Although it is easier with two, say, if you are running sidescan/downsan on one, which is a split, plotter on the other. You'll get more real estate than running one side split , on that side, if you follow my meaning.
Just on the subject of the two different breeds of Axiom, something I didn't mention, if you haven't noticed--Axiom pPo (9" and up) has the Hybrid Touch sytem introduced back on the E120's ( ? correct me if I'm wrong.) So you have configurable buttons and a dial. The basic Axiom (and Axiom +) is touch only . The Axiom + has a screen quality equal to the Pro ( basic Axiom didn't) , but I find pure touch a bit of a PITA on a boat, wet fingers, rocking boat, all that. Pro also has a 1KW ttransmit module built in.
Really good response ramar. I appreciate your targeted detail and will greatly influence my thinking now.
All - BC have advised me that there is only for 2 x 9” MFD on the helm panel.
What the best 9” MFD with full chirp compatibility?
Splash
Axiom Pro have baked in 1Kw full chirp. Simrad used to need a module for 1kw, , maybe now they have the module baked in? Unsure, maybe someone with Simrad knowledge can comment? WRT the sizing for 9" panels, they had better clarify just which two 9" units can fit. In my case, I could fit two basic( touch only) 9" Axioms, but only a 9" Axiom Pro, due to the extra width due to the knob and buttons, and one 7" basic. Something to remember.
Indeed. Thanks. I will confirm.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote