I bought this unit and am ready for the install which I will be doing myself. I can't seem to get an answer for anyone as to why install it on a riser or flush mount. My Grady has the rocket launchers on the rear of the hard top and stick up about 4 or 5 inches, if I flush mount will this have an effect on the radar?
Installing Garmin 18 Fantom on my Grady white seafarer
- Thread starter Grady Dan
- Start date
For what it’s worth we just had a Fantom 18 professionally installed last month by Johnson Hicks, who probably installs as much Garmin stuff as anybody on the west coast. They flush mounted it on the highest point of the hardtop. Only had it out once and the rocket launchers did not appear to be an issue. Our old radar was mounted at the same position for 14 years without issue. I’ll look for a pic. I don’t see how a riser would do anything but help though.
Here you go. If you do contact Garmin let us know what they say, as I’m curious to know.
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PNW_Drifter
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Mine Garmin 18" is mounted on the very front of hard top, same boat 228... No riser I don't see the anything "following me". I didn't install though. One thing I probably will do is install a 4 degree wedge so it has a flatter angle when on plane.
Call Garmin, they know why more than anyone else and let us know what they say. Also mine came with detailed instructions on how to mount.
Call Garmin, they know why more than anyone else and let us know what they say. Also mine came with detailed instructions on how to mount.
SkunkBoat
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sorry to side track this thread but... how do you like the Fantom 18? I am torn between Fantom and xHD. Can't find any really comprehensive comparisons online.
PNW_Drifter
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Don't think he has it installed yet. Probably not the best source of info.
A quick Google search produced lots of info: https://www.google.com/search?q=gar...2j0i8i30l2.12393j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Power output on the Fantom is 40 watts, while the xHD radar is 4000 watts with the same 48 mile range. The Fantom also has doppler and "motion scope" to identify threats. Re: Garmin Radar Which one ? The difference between the 18 and 24 is the degrees of resolution.
I just talked to Garmin Marine Tech support and here is what they said.
"Ideally you wouldn't want anything in the beam path as it will cause a return on the radar. From the center of the dome the unit emits a beam 12.5' up and 12.5' down so the rocket launchers could cause a return if the unit is not high enough to shoot over them on the rear of the hard top. The Fantom has a no transmit zone, if your not concerned about whats behind you, you can set up the no transmit zone for the back of the boat."
So looking at your set up, do you see whats behind you? I'm not sure its that important to see whats behind me unless its farther out from the boat.
Anyway I ordered a 4' wedge and a seaview top plate for the install. I went to Garmin support earlier and was told to run the boat at trolling speed then on plane and using a tiltometer ( an app on my Iphone) my hard top was 2.4' at trolling speed and 3.7' on plane. So they said a 4' wedged would get the beam closer to the front of the boat.
It was just installed and I have only had the boat out for a couple hours. So I can’t really say much about my impressions of it yet. The motion scope did seem to work as advertised while we were out. There are probably other people on this board with more experience/opinion of it.
Hookup1
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GRADY DAN - You should be fine with either a surface mount or a stand. I have a GMR18 flush mounted on my hardtop. I have five rod holders across the back and 2 outrigger bases on the hardtop. I have never had issues with "blind spots".
BRO-CAL
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Same boat, same radar, flush mounted, no issues. I've been able to pick up birds from a few miles away with the GMR Fantom 18 and it has saved my a$$ more than a few times in zero/zero visibility fog.
PNW_Drifter
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No one has brought this up but think about all the obstructions normal fishermen have. I put 2-4 rods in my rocket launchers, raise my antenna(s) and my anchor light. No way your going to have your radar above all of those rods.
I do wish I had motion trails, so that could be worth it upgrading. Hard to tell boat from other object sometimes, with out the land overlay but things happen fast at a bumpy 30mph.
Also I'm sure it's been said but AIS would be the best way to identify vessels/speed/course etc. so if it's in your budget and you're out near shipping lanes in fog regularly I'd invest in that. Has collision alarms etc and uses less power. shows targets on same screen or ipad.
I do wish I had motion trails, so that could be worth it upgrading. Hard to tell boat from other object sometimes, with out the land overlay but things happen fast at a bumpy 30mph.
Also I'm sure it's been said but AIS would be the best way to identify vessels/speed/course etc. so if it's in your budget and you're out near shipping lanes in fog regularly I'd invest in that. Has collision alarms etc and uses less power. shows targets on same screen or ipad.
I just ordered a 2021 228 and curious as to what type of electronics you put in there. I want to stay with all Garmin. Any chance you have a picture of the helm showing electronics? Thanks in advance
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My question goes to the OP,,, Grady Dan,,, what was the final mounting solution?? This was back in January when you asked about it. Just curious.
Guys sorry about not getting this out sooner.
I did install the Garmin Fantom 18 radar/ 6" seaview riser with a new chartplotter (GPSmap 1042 XSV) with the 9-axis heading sensor and the GT51-M th transducer.
So it was quite the project, not difficult just time consuming since I did everything myself.
I attached pics of the finished product. I did redo the dash to make room for all the instruments using starboard. The NMEA 2000 starter kit was pretty easy to figure out and everything went together nicely.
I did use one of the old Garmin chartplotters that came with the boat so when I installed the new transducer I put it on the starboard side of the boat. I did some checking on this and made some adjustments in the position of the transducer so I am getting nice returns at speed.
Need to get out and use it more to figure out the different settings.
I did install the Garmin Fantom 18 radar/ 6" seaview riser with a new chartplotter (GPSmap 1042 XSV) with the 9-axis heading sensor and the GT51-M th transducer.
So it was quite the project, not difficult just time consuming since I did everything myself.
I attached pics of the finished product. I did redo the dash to make room for all the instruments using starboard. The NMEA 2000 starter kit was pretty easy to figure out and everything went together nicely.
I did use one of the old Garmin chartplotters that came with the boat so when I installed the new transducer I put it on the starboard side of the boat. I did some checking on this and made some adjustments in the position of the transducer so I am getting nice returns at speed.
Need to get out and use it more to figure out the different settings.
Grady Dan, nice work there, sir. I like your approach to making the upper section of the dash accommodate larger displays by mounting the starboard on top of the opening instead of flush. I will do something similar when I repower in a few years. One question: did you consider taking the same approach on the lower dash?