Freedom 325 Electronics Setup

[GSnyder]

We've got a 2023 325 on order for delivery the end of the year. Any thoughts on Garmin Chartplotters? It looks like I could get two Garmin 8616s for the price of one 8622. Would I be better off with the two 16s?
Will be adding radar at a later date.
Also any recommendations on transducers? I had a through hull on my previous boat. We will be fishing Gulf of Mexico up to (at the very most) 200 feet for grouper, snapper, etc.
Thanks!

 

[wspitler]

I have two 1243xsv on my 330. One thru hull 1KW and the GT56 transom mount. I use one MFD for navigating to my waypoints and the second MFD as a bottom machine. I looked at the 86xxs, but decided on 1243xsv. The GT56 has really nice side scan. I too fish GOM. 1243s are more economical and they can each drive a separate transducer. Provides redundancy. Also have Fantom radar which is great for a variety of reasons. 86xx can drive 2 transducers, but aside from a little faster processor and slightly better graphics, no real difference IMHO. Regardless of your choice of MFD, highly recommend two MFDs.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Oh the choices! https://www8.garmin.com/marine/PDF/transducer_selection_guide.pdf
Price being equal, I would go two 16s vs one 22.
The 8616xsv has dual channel CHIRP Traditional(max 1kW) and Clearvu/Sidevu sonar(500w) (it is possible to get a cheaper 8616 without any built-in sonar)

You want to be sure to get transducer(s) that will let you use the traditonal AND Clearvu/Sidevu.

The GT51M has both channels at 600Watts for traditional and 500W for Clearvu/sidevu. That means you can use one transducer for all three functions. It uses the mid range frequencies. I have one. Its great. It comes in Transom Mount (TM) and thruhull (TH) I had a TM and switched to a TH. Reads great at speed. That is my recommendation. The single TH is mounted on the centerline. If you can't get a single there you need TWO, one for each side of the boat for the sidevu to "see".

Another choice is the GT56uhd has both channels at 350 Watts for traditional and 500W for Clearvu/sidevu. That means you can use one transducer for all three functions. It uses higher frequencies for a crisper sidevu image. That comes at the expense of depth. It comes in Transom Mount.


Since you will have TWO 8616xsv you could get a really good single channel 1kw thru hull for traditional CHIRP, like a B175M, to connect to one unit and a cheaper single channel Clearvu/sidevu TM to connect to the other.

 

[B-Shell]

I’m a simrad fan due the more compatibility with charts like Cmor.
X2 on the dual displays. Way more useful than one large.
Nice boat! Congratulations!!

 

[GSnyder]

Thanks for the great advice. I'll definitely get two and research the transducers.