There are numerous brands to choose from these days and one's head can spin to try to figure it out to get what unit to get. For a budget consciencous mind, it is important, that a unit is easy to use, reliable and provides all the info you need..
Most chartplotters these days come as fishfinder combos, but which are the ones you'd recommend or neot recommend under the $1000 mark?
I have an old Raymarine unit (an A50 series) that still works after some 10 years, but installed next to the companionway, from the distance of the helm is unusable for navigation. Clearly, it wasn't a best place to have it installed.
After some search, I veered towards a different brand and ended up purchasing a LOWRANCE 5 unit for the helm. But after some use, I can tell, that perhaps for navigation purposes the unit is not the best and was a bit mad at myself to listen to misguided advice.
The good:
Te unit is easily fitted and easy to navigate the menus.
The bad:
the lack of wifi and bloetooth is noticable this day and age. Preloaded map is usually a C-Map, bsic, that compared to Navionics lacks in some respect. However perfectly suitable for those hard core sailors who want to use the unit as a back up only. Upgrade to NAvionics will come at a hefty price.
The ugly.
The unit froze a few times on me and became unresponsive. The C-map and navigation fetures are basic. Not certain if auto routing feature is included (or smart enough), since after selecting and setting up a route, it would want to navaigate even over land vs navionics, where after putting in a "where to" location, it would craft the best route based on your ship's size. Does not seem to happen on the Lowrance.
How is your unit working for you?
Hi Seabreasy,
My current plotter is a Raymarine C80 MFD at the helm which is very reliable - no wifi but has the NMEA bus which I use with my other gear.
If it failed though, I think I would replace it with a large iPad (iPad Pro 12.5 in for me).
I think the days of dedicated chartplotters, or any marine instrumentation for that matter, are numbered.
regards,
allan
I've stuck with Raymarine, currently a 75sv and an 85sc as battery powered backup - but using iPad and Navionics much of the time.
The downside (or benefit) of Raymarine/Navionics is that more info appears as you zoom in, meaning that those who don't monitor this feature can get into trouble.
I think it also depends on what type of Depth sounder you have/want. Newer GPSMaps have newer sounders with clear view, sidescan etc. I don't look for fish, but it's nice to know what's underneath and where it is...
And for anyone concerned about electricity use, the gpsmsp screen uses most of its energy demand, so bigger screen = bigger battery backup.
One of these, https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hawkeye-In-Dash-Digital-Depth-Gauge-with-TM-In-Hull-Ducer-DT1B-TM/264098185901?hash=item3d7d7a82ad:g:3~cAAOSwoAFcHSKF, an iPad with Navionics and paper charts will get you anywhere...
I've got the Raymarine C series plotter, works well for me as my depth and ais are integrated and it's easy to add things like radar for extra overlays if needed. Never had a problem and pretty easy to use and update as required. Connects to my iPad via wifi so easy to keep an eye on it if needing to move around or get out of the rain under the dodger.
The issue with things not appearing until zoomed in is worth keeping an eye on, I have a split screen set up so you can have a zoomed in view and a larger scale view next to each other which gives you a pretty good overview.
I have a Raymarine a67 , but found the screen to small for old eyes. I tended to use my iPad with Navionics . The iPad died last trip and I was forced back to the plotter. Will probably get another iPad for navigation and put ais receiver on the plotter . I like to have the versatility of the iPad especially on windy nights at anchor when it lives on the bedside shelf happily showing me that I haven't moved. I could use the iPad as a larger screen for the plotter but if I do that I may as well run Navionics on the iPad and use stand alone as backup , so really the plotter is an expensive depth sounder on my boat lol .
Being an Android man I used my Galaxy Notepad and my Android phone both with MemoryMap and an i40 depth-sog-temp unit.
I had a plotter a Northstar 565 until the lightning took care of it with C-Map charts which l found excellent!
The C-Map gives a lot of useful info about marinas etc without the danger of hiding relevant info behind zoom levels! 
I would NOT USE navionics or any other unofficial vector based navigational toys for the life of me!
Those toy apps appeal to some people who think it is safe to navigate with a "must have" electronic gadget with 'lot's of extras' .
The way the zooming process hides or uncovers vital navigational information is stupid and l think criminal. It is the hotbed of future disasters. (don't chastise me about occasional mistakes on paper charts! yes, I know, one in a zillion compared to vector charts!)
If one with common sense would read up on the production and difference of the raster and vector charts, one would understand my apprehension of unofficial vector charts.
A useful, handy, under difficult circumstances easily operable type of plotter with official charts , recommended for navigation, raster or vector, is a necessity for safe navigation while 'extras', bells and whistles, user added nonsense like available on navionics while interesting to some, is not necessary to safe navigation. Not at all.
There are two types of digital mapping software, RNCs and ENC.
RNCs are Rasper maps. They are digitalised scanned copies of the paper charts. Only the information on the paper chart will be on the chart plotter. If you 'zoom in', it will become pixilated and eventually unreadable.
ENCs are Vector maps. The have layers of display and information. If you 'zoom in' more and more information becomes available to the user. As pointed out by Sirg the more you 'Zoom out' the less information is displayed until it is all but useful.
Memory maps that some uses here use, are RNC or Rasper maps.
Navionics, AND C-MAPS ARE ENC or Vector maps. C-MAPS does indeed have 'layers' of information. But maybe they do have Rasper charts too.
I have C-Maps on a Lawrence plotter on my powerboat and on a Raymarine plotter on my yacht, and Navionics on 2 other Raymarine plotters on the yacht. Both the C-Maps and Navionics have a disclaimer on first powering on the units.
I plot my route on a Rasper chart (Memory Maps with the official map downloads) then transfer the Raymarine plotter at the helm which has Navionics on it. I never use the Auto-routing though. This feature to me sounds like a disaster in waiting.
Select to expand quoteToph said..
RNCs are Rasper maps.
small correction, it's "raster", i.e. raster/bitmap graphics. these are images where the unit of data is a pixel (one tiny dot). probably the most common example of raster graphics are JPEG images.
with vector graphics, the content of the images is described mathematically, that is why vector graphics can be resized without losing resolution. PDF documents often contain vector graphics, which is why the image stays sharp even as you zoom in close. theoretically speaking vector maps do not have to hide critical information on separate layers, that is a really a design choice when digitising the maps.
I use Seaclear on a laptop with raster admiralty charts. Pirated copy of what the water police use. With a good picture programme you can make charts that when zoomed in you can have the depth numbers on the chart cover the full screen with no pix elation. The screen on the unit I'm using is 15.5 inches and that's too small. I would suggest a screen of at least 20 inches. You can't beat real estate with charting.
I have just bought one of these to bolt onto the back of a 22 inch monitor.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-Wyse-Z50d-thin-client-Mini-Computer-Office/332905100348?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
Draws 15 watts, the monitor 35 watts. I'm just going to copy the programme from one machine to the other.
The peccant part is - beside the presentation of the chart, paper or electronic, what is the chart based on.
If it is based on the AHO's, the British Admiralty, NOAA, or any other countries OFFICIAL (Aust. Hydrographic Office), paper (raster format) charts even if it is in electronic form, (ENC) is an official chart, the scanned form of the paper charts, so stated on the chart and as such, safe and recommended for navigation.
Jeppesens, the world's largest chart company supplies the merchant ships world over with ENC's which are based not on a bunch of commercial mappers compilation of charts of doubtful origin but, are the scanned paper charts presented in graphic or vector format
released by a Hydrographic Office of a country, recommended for navigation just presented in vector format.
The experience of the hydrographic offices is the sad truth, that the commercially produced charts or ENC's could be compiled with much less rigour by less responsible map makers who are driven by profitability not safety concerns.
Navionic is one of the large mappers who try to cash in on a recently exponentionally growing worldwide demand for charts.
They dilute the data of a paper chart and add gadgets, interesting things which is catching the customers with their coruscating appearance and add layers for customer interaction which is popular amongst users and with customer based additions dilute further the paper charts data which is buried deeper and deeper in commercial mediocrity.
All RNC's are based on paper charts while only some ENC's are based on them.
This madness is promoted and swallowed by many except staunch old farts like me, who would NOT under any circumstances navigate with one of those craps (maps)!
I got part of this info from the AHO's website. It is fascinating reading to clear up this subject.
www.hydro.gov.au/
Select to expand quoteSeebreasy73 said..
There are numerous brands to choose from these days and one's head can spin to try to figure it out to get what unit to get. For a budget consciencous mind, it is important, that a unit is easy to use, reliable and provides all the info you need..
Most chartplotters these days come as fishfinder combos, but which are the ones you'd recommend or neot recommend under the $1000 mark?
I have an old Raymarine unit (an A50 series) that still works after some 10 years, but installed next to the companionway, from the distance of the helm is unusable for navigation. Clearly, it wasn't a best place to have it installed.
After some search, I veered towards a different brand and ended up purchasing a LOWRANCE 5 unit for the helm. But after some use, I can tell, that perhaps for navigation purposes the unit is not the best and was a bit mad at myself to listen to misguided advice.
The good:
Te unit is easily fitted and easy to navigate the menus.
The bad:
the lack of wifi and bloetooth is noticable this day and age. Preloaded map is usually a C-Map, bsic, that compared to Navionics lacks in some respect. However perfectly suitable for those hard core sailors who want to use the unit as a back up only. Upgrade to NAvionics will come at a hefty price.
The ugly.
The unit froze a few times on me and became unresponsive. The C-map and navigation fetures are basic. Not certain if auto routing feature is included (or smart enough), since after selecting and setting up a route, it would want to navaigate even over land vs navionics, where after putting in a "where to" location, it would craft the best route based on your ship's size. Does not seem to happen on the Lowrance.
How is your unit working for you?
How did you find the depth sounder on the unit?
[Which from which you say is a Lowrance Hook2-5 fishfinder/gps chartplotter?]
Select to expand quotenswsailor said..Seebreasy73 said..
There are numerous brands to choose from these days and one's head can spin to try to figure it out to get what unit to get. For a budget consciencous mind, it is important, that a unit is easy to use, reliable and provides all the info you need..
Most chartplotters these days come as fishfinder combos, but which are the ones you'd recommend or neot recommend under the $1000 mark?
I have an old Raymarine unit (an A50 series) that still works after some 10 years, but installed next to the companionway, from the distance of the helm is unusable for navigation. Clearly, it wasn't a best place to have it installed.
After some search, I veered towards a different brand and ended up purchasing a LOWRANCE 5 unit for the helm. But after some use, I can tell, that perhaps for navigation purposes the unit is not the best and was a bit mad at myself to listen to misguided advice.
The good:
Te unit is easily fitted and easy to navigate the menus.
The bad:
the lack of wifi and bloetooth is noticable this day and age. Preloaded map is usually a C-Map, bsic, that compared to Navionics lacks in some respect. However perfectly suitable for those hard core sailors who want to use the unit as a back up only. Upgrade to NAvionics will come at a hefty price.
The ugly.
The unit froze a few times on me and became unresponsive. The C-map and navigation fetures are basic. Not certain if auto routing feature is included (or smart enough), since after selecting and setting up a route, it would want to navaigate even over land vs navionics, where after putting in a "where to" location, it would craft the best route based on your ship's size. Does not seem to happen on the Lowrance.
How is your unit working for you?
How did you find the depth sounder on the unit?
[Which from which you say is a Lowrance Hook2-5 fishfinder/gps chartplotter?]
don't exactly know what you mean by the question, I do not use the fishfinder feature too much (actually not at all) but the depth finder seems to be ok, however, I do not know what causing the freez ups, it may be the depth sounder itself, so I do not really know what to say to you.
