New Electronics

[Grady fun 5]

I’m going to upgrade all the electronics on my 2011 305 Express. I now have Raymarine except for a simrad auto pilot. Considering changing to all Garmin except the auto pilot. Anyone have experience with the new Raymarine or Garmin. Most are suggesting Garmin but before I make this kind of investment I’m trying to get all the input possible. Most of my time is spent in the Mid Atlantic Canyons and I want to get it rite.
Thanks For Any Input

 

[wspitler]

I have Garmins with a Raymarine autopilot and like them. I particularly like the sidescan function, but that really is only valuable in shallower <100' water.

 

[luckydude]

I have Garmins with a Raymarine autopilot and like them. I particularly like the sidescan function, but that really is only valuable in shallower <100' water.

I have the Garmin sidevu (I think that's what they call it) and I have yet to find a use for it. But I'm new to the electronics, the sales critter told me it is good for finding bait balls that aren't on the surface. Truth be told, I find bait balls just fine with plain old chirp. The sales pitch was "yeah, you can find bait when you are right on top of it, but sidevu will let you find bait off to the side". I haven't seen that in practice but I haven't tried very hard. Our bait balls tend to be plenty big to see them.

 

[ocdansar]

I just bought a pair of garmin 8612’s one is xsv. For the 33 I’m looking at. Going with the 24 xhd Radar still undecided on transducer.

 

[luckydude]

I just bought a pair of garmin 8612’s one is xsv. For the 33 I’m looking at. Going with the 24 xhd Radar still undecided on transducer.

I've got the 8610xsv, seems good.

I went with Airmar for the transducer, I think mine are 1500. They work.

I can't urge people enough to lean on an honest seller/installer. I like mine enough that I spent $121 on booze to thank them for doing my boat. The sales guy told me that it is next to impossible to figure this stuff out if you don't do every day. That could be self serving but he is right, I tried to figure it out and it is super complicated. The guy who installed my stuff, old dude like me, I asked him how he did all that stuff on his knees, he said "a lot of advil".

I'm a big do it yourself guy, for these boats, I pay and I am super happy I paid.

 

[SkunkBoat]

I have the Garmin sidevu (I think that's what they call it) and I have yet to find a use for it. But I'm new to the electronics, the sales critter told me it is good for finding bait balls that aren't on the surface. Truth be told, I find bait balls just fine with plain old chirp. The sales pitch was "yeah, you can find bait when you are right on top of it, but sidevu will let you find bait off to the side". I haven't seen that in practice but I haven't tried very hard. Our bait balls tend to be plenty big to see them.

Side-vu really shines when looking for wrecks, even in 200'. You can see them to the side and know which way to turn. You circle them and you get a real picture of them...high spot, low spot, masts, rubble field, dig-outs...

Finding bait...not so much...

 

[ocdansar]

I’ve been wrenching on cars and boats my whole life. My brother is a certified Yamaha tech that works at a marina. My wife is pretty awesome with a sewing machine so between all of us we manage to do everything in house .
If I had to pay someone no way I could afford to own a boat.

 

[Fowl Hooked]

I went all Raymarine this past off-season. Axiom Pro 12 and an Axiom 12, 3D RealVision and a dual band CHIRP, Quantum2 doppler radar, autopilot, networking, etc. Very happy with everything and find the displays to be pretty intuitive and easy to use. I don't use the 3D sonar much (looks cool but haven't really gotten used to it) but it includes side vision which I do use in conjunction with the CHIRP and it gives me a pretty good picture. Installation was pretty straight forward and integration, being all Raymarine, is seamless. Buddy has big Garmin units and they're just as nice (well nicer because they're 17s) but the dash space on my 265 limited me and the Axioms would fit whereas the Garmin 12s wouldn't. Personal opinion - don't limit yourself to touch screen only as they're harder to use when bouncing around, even on his 34 Nor-Tech I had to brace one hand to use the zoom and while we were running fast the chop wasn't much. That's one reason I got a Pro model, it has the integrated dial and tactile buttons. You can get a remote keypad for the Axioms that serves the same purpose and could be a better solution for your setup. Happy to discuss the setup and installation more if you're interested in going the Raymarine route.