Need thoughts. Headed in the right / good direction?

[RussGW270]

Hey guys, tell me if I am on the right path, please? No, won;t get offended by corrections heh

So, like I stated, I have a fairly new/nice Garmin fish finder. It has 2 thru-hull transducers, so it handles the fishes.. heh

There is a nice Raymarine 12" touch screen for sale.. thought about this:

1 - I have a nmea 2000 backbone kit. Now, I am not as versed in this as you all are, but it was recommended for connecting everything together, so I got it.. heh..

2 - I do not want to deal with any issues of dual fish finders as I am pretty sure the Garmin will handle anything and everything and...I could be totally wrong, adding a second set of transducers for the raymarine might cause them all to not work well, and I doubt they can share them so.. heh. If the raymarine handled radar and gps...I think thay might be useful, right?

3 - Would the GPS signal from a GPS antenna also get/be able to be shared by the fish finder, or might that need it's own gps signal/antenna since it is a different brand? (not sure how much is shared with that backbone).

Then, the raymarine is bluetooth and wireless.. ties into my iphone.. can handle the music too.. lol

Thoughts?

Am I heading down the right path, or asking too much of these devices? Should I go a different route?

Thank you all!

Russ

 

[RussGW270]

Had a thought... if I move the current vhf to the electronics box.. a 7" gps/radar might be a lot less and fit on the dash....then, can go garmin and keep it "in the family".. i think a 7" radar screen would be totally sufficient.. heh

May even be able to squeeze that fat bugger a little more to the left.. albeit, might make the dash weak.. heh

 

[Parthery]

As long as the GPS antenna is N2K compatible, you can connect it to the backbone and it will transmit information to any other N2K compatible device.

 

[RussGW270]

Thanks Parthery, was figuring it would, just wanted to check with you experts

R

 

[RussGW270]

Okay, I looked around at prices etc.. and.. it seemed to be a good deal.. so.. no taxes or shipping.

Ordered a new 8' antenna for the new VHF. I noticed there was already a 2nd antenna ratchet mount on the radar arch, so.. I did not need a second mount.. I will re-use those two mounts and the old antenna and vhf as well.

I bought a Garmin GMR 18HD+ for 1075... seemed to be a little lower than most other places, not higher than any.

A Garmin Gps 19x Nmea 2000
and a Shakespeare Sra-50 Siriusxm Satellite Radio Antenna

That should give me almost everything I could want/need.

I can tie the radar into the current Garmin for now and since I will have all of that on the nmea 2000 backbone, the new screen will easily plug in as well.

Thank you all for your help and insight

Russ

 

[wspitler]

Just a note, a GPS doesn't use an 8' antenna. A VHF FM radio does. Most newer MFDs have a built in GPS antenna and do not require an external antenna. In addition the GMR 18 HD is not NMEA 2000 compatible, but transmits radar info to Garmin MFDs over the proprietary Garmin Marine network. Some sonars (fish finders) are also proprietary and have separate black boxes that run the transducers, eg, Garmin GSD 22. Some of the MFDs have built in sonar, side scan and down scan. You'll need to check your MFD capability and compatibility.

 

[RussGW270]

Okay, maybe I misstated, the gps is not 8’, i just got a gps antenna as well as another 8’ vhf one because I have a new vhf and plan to keep the old one as a backup since it is already there.

Aaahh i see, typo. Said gps, meant vhf, sorry. Fixed

Yep, just checked and it is all compatible.

I did not plan for both to use the radar, just one of them, but both share the gps heh, but will make sure the Garmin screen is able to use it.

Thanks for the insight!

R

 

[RussGW270]

Well, it is amazing... every time I think I have an answer, I come across another answer that refutes it.

I was holding off on the Garmin Steadycast heading sensor... wanted to make sure I did not waste money... now, I find... my end goal being an auto pilot some day... there is a post on a forum that says it will not work with auto pilot.

The only way to get a heading sensor that does work with auto pilot is to get the $600-$1,000 garmin one...

I am SO going to document every single aspect so maybe some poor sap does not have to ask in the future.. lol

I love the idea of a heading sensor.. I hate the idea of buying one that will be obsolete when I try to add AP.. heh

So.. will call Garmin tomorrow and verify.

This is the last piece of the friggin puzzle..

update: I think they are FOS.. lol.. I have a separate Garmin GPS antenna.. add the nmea 2000 backbone.. and I think the Steadycast would fit in just fine... but will call and ask anyway.

R