Boat sounder with gps or without.. what do you think?

[Busy-livin]

Hey all!! 

long time inbetween drinks.. Im back up and running in the fishing scene after ditching the ski boat. Ive got my hands on a 4.6 glass runabout with a 2000 70 Jonno. treating it as a project to bring it back to new and just had the floor strengthened which brings me to my question.. 

who has a sounder with gps and really how often do you use the gps side of it (not just up on the screen.. actually using it)? I had a lowrance 7 combo in an old boat. For the new I was looking at the elite 5 combo ..but now I'm tossing up weather to get the gps one or not for the extra cash.  I guess it's good for reefs and to view previous spots/drifts.. 

whats your view?

My fishing is syd harbour, hacking, and south coast with the trip outside the head when Mother Nature is playing ball!  

 

Tight lines

[rickmarlin62]

nowadays I cant imagine fishing without a gps..I have two hds5 units..a sounder and a combo..the combo is on gps 99%of the time..occasionaly I use split screen with sounder on different frequency and zoomed when looking for something specific...see youhave vsea foto with your name..ihave one with red trim also..rick

[Flickn Mad]

Hey Stanton, I recon it's a no brainer. The extra cost is bugger all when your afternoon trip home end in darkness and you start second guessing your location.

Its been a long time but we have also been plunged into blindness by thick sea fog in the past. 

Being able to look down and have your electronics confirm you are where you thought you were is awesome. Also, if you do break down you can radio in your exact co ordinates. 

Thats all before you take into account the fishy business!

[Busy-livin]

On 12 October 2017 at 10:21 PM, Flickn Mad said:

Hey Stanton, I recon it's a no brainer. The extra cost is bugger all when your afternoon trip home end in darkness and you start second guessing your location.

Its been a long time but we have also been plunged into blindness by thick sea fog in the past. 

Being able to look down and have your electronics confirm you are where you thought you were is awesome. Also, if you do break down you can radio in your exact co ordinates. 

Thats all before you take into account the fishy business!

Very true in the extra safety side of it. And if you hit a hot bite can mark it!  I did use it on my old one but I'm interested to see how many use them to their potential. In saying that even if you don't use it much I guess there will be that one time you go " shit if only I had a gps on this"

[Busy-livin]

On 12 October 2017 at 10:17 PM, rickmarlin62 said:

nowadays I cant imagine fishing without a gps..I have two hds5 units..a sounder and a combo..the combo is on gps 99%of the time..occasionaly I use split screen with sounder on different frequency and zoomed when looking for something specific...see youhave vsea foto with your name..ihave one with red trim also..rick

Hey mate, that's my old girl!! I wish I never sold her. 

5.2 seafarer viking with 135 merc. Name was Barney rubble! Cracker boat.. Love to find out where she is now!

when I have the new boat finished I'll update my pic 

[recurve]

In the harbour with so many references it it easy to find your spot. Offshore not so much. GPS is gold offshore.

[rickmarlin62]

hard to pik vsea/Viking in small foto..they are awesome hulls..i luv my old vsea   shes a great boat..what did you buy this time..rick

[sydney south]

7 hours ago, Stanton44 said:

Very true in the extra safety side of it. And if you hit a hot bite can mark it!  I did use it on my old one but I'm interested to see how many use them to their potential. In saying that even if you don't use it much I guess there will be that one time you go " shit if only I had a gps on this"

3rd this.

[Busy-livin]

On 13 October 2017 at 6:30 AM, rickmarlin62 said:

hard to pik vsea/Viking in small foto..they are awesome hulls..i luv my old vsea   shes a great boat..what did you buy this time..rick

Such a great make!

i have a sundance mariner 4.6 with a 2000 Johnson.

floor needed work but I got her for a steal so That's sorted. Just a few cosmetic things like carpet, hard polish and new stainless bits and pieces and it looks like a different boat.

[PaddyT]

I run a two screen system-HDS8 and HDS7 - cant live without it!! Constantly marking with the GPS so i can run back over bait, reef edges, trolling runs in the estuary and offshore etc etc. Once ive marked a reef edge I turn the sounder off and just come back over using the GPS marks- not sure if the "pinging" turns fish off but it works for me!

[rickmarlin62]

pinging does put fish off especially snapper I have found...rick

[Foghorn]

Mate if you haven't got a emergency device linked to your gps you should not be out there, who has got time to put in co ordinates in an emergency, your only putting yourself and others at risk, get a kayak and stay in the river!

[Busy-livin]

1 hour ago, Foghorn said:

Mate if you haven't got a emergency device linked to your gps you should not be out there, who has got time to put in co ordinates in an emergency, your only putting yourself and others at risk, get a kayak and stay in the river!

Mate I do not go outside without logging on and off with marine rescue and I have a epirb onboard at all times when I'm 100m out or 10 km out alone with all safety equipment like flares and the like 

Edited October 13, 2017 by Stanton44

[rickmarlin62]

that's a bit harsh foghorn

[Busy-livin]

Some just assume people overlook safety!  Forums.. people are open to opinion I guess.

[zmk1962]

He Stanton, I would definitely go with a GPS system if heading offshore. Its a no brainer. I use mine on every trip. However, in my opinion whether you choose to go with a combo or dedicated sat nav setup is a separate decision.

There are very cheap ways to get into sat nav these days eg: you could get away with using your iPhone/iPad/Android and an app like Navionics Australia New Zealand.  Its about $20 per year from memory.

As an example, I have an aging Seacharter Eagle combo .... The GPS part still works, tracks location but is aging and can't take the latest charts.  The Sounder on the other hand is a great dual frequency unit (and since I have fitted my transducer as shoot through hull I can sound bottom even at >45knts).  So until my sounder dies I am reluctant to rip it out and now I pretty well dedicate the Seacharter as a sounder and run with Navionics (Australia/NZ) on an iPad mini mounted on the dash in a waterproof case as my GPS system.  Navionics has the latest sonar charts, latest map upgrades, community updates (fishing marks) and works pretty well.

So if price is a consideration you might consider trying Navionics on your iphone/android and see if it meets your requirements before you splash out on the combo.

BTW - back to the safety comment, most combo units have an NMEA out port. If you purchase a DSC enabled VHF radio, you can connect the NMEA out into the VHF radio and at the push of a button send out your Lat Long co-ordinates in a "digital Mayday message".  You can't do that with your iPhone/iPad/Android set up. So there are pro-and cons. 

(In my case my old combo still feeds the lat long to the VHF radio in the background while I have the display showing the sounder/fishfinder and the iPad my location).

Cheers and Best of luck.

Zoran

[Busy-livin]

Yeah right so the new vhfs links up your coordinates? I'm in tas this weekend and a fishing expo is on so I may pop down and check it out what's on offer. For the boat build I want to do it right from the start and have its user friendly. I'll have a look into it

[Foghorn]

Stanton, sorry mate I assumed that you were going outside without normal safety gear, bon voyage.

[zmk1962]

Most VHF radios with DSC (Digital Signal Calling) ... will be able to be hooked up to a GPS. The GPS provides the radio  the Lat Long co-ordinates and the protocol they talk in is NMEA from memory. So when buying a GPS check that it has an NMEA out feature, and that the Radio has an NMEA in feature.  Once connected and talking the VHF radio is constantly updated with your latest location co-ordinates.  My VHF has a red emergency button under a plastic flip cover. Lift that and press... it broadcasts my location and distress signal. No Talk required. No wasted time.

Cheers

Zoran

[Busy-livin]

28 minutes ago, Foghorn said:

Stanton, sorry mate I assumed that you were going outside without normal safety gear, bon voyage.

Na no way mate. She's a big angry ocean out there. I do get what you mean tho. I was in a 5.2 seafarer pumping back to Ulladulla harbour in some average conditions and a 4m and 20 hp was a fair way south battling to get back. Some have more nads than me.

[Busy-livin]

24 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

Most VHF radios with DSC (Digital Signal Calling) ... will be able to be hooked up to a GPS. The GPS provides the radio  the Lat Long co-ordinates and the protocol they talk in is NMEA from memory. So when buying a GPS check that it has an NMEA out feature, and that the Radio has an NMEA in feature.  Once connected and talking the VHF radio is constantly updated with your latest location co-ordinates.  My VHF has a red emergency button under a plastic flip cover. Lift that and press... it broadcasts my location and distress signal. No Talk required. No wasted time.

Cheers

Zoran

That's unreal!! Brilliant info mate. I'll read up tonight about it. As I said I wanna do it right from the start and this sounds perfect 

[rozza_b]

Personally i love my combo unit in the boat, use the gps to get me to my mark straight away and flick over to the sounder when looking for stuff, or split screen it, nice and compact and all in 1 unit. Also as above with the added safety feature or knowing where you area plus the NMEA, no harm in having as many safety features as possible for that 1 time you might need it, i havent hooked my NMEA up yet........ might be a job for the weekend i think

[Scratchie]

You could opt for the cheaper unit and have navionics app on your phone/iPad. Works for me!  

But I only ever use my boat locally and know the area like the back of my hand. 

Some good advice about especially the safety aspects! 

Just giving you an option! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[zmk1962]

Yup... load as many safety measures as you can. 

There is a nice user friendly feature as well... if you have your VHF proficiency certificate you can also get an MMSI (a world wide unique identifier).  You can then enter that into your DSC enabled radio so that it becomes MMSI registered. From there you can DSC transmit/share your location to other folks that have an MMSI and DSC enabled VHF set. Seems like a very efficient way to transmit/share your location with your buddies (using 72-73-77 channels - recreational use - ofcourse).  If you have a current model GPS/Chart plotter (that accepts NMEA in) should be able to see the other vessel - or plot their location as a way point.

I have not registered for MMSI yet... waiting for a few more buddies to get theirs... (and my GPS unit is old as I mentioned earlier)

Cheers

Zoran

[zmk1962]

2 minutes ago, Scratchie said:

You could opt for the cheaper unit and have navionics app on your phone/iPad. Works for me!

Yup again.... I mentioned at the start of this post that's exactly what I am using - but I loaded my Navionics onto an iPad Mini - I like the larger screen size to zoom in on the sonarchart ! 

Cheers

Zoran