Best GPS / FishFinder / Chartplotter

[joeybrown105]

New owner here, excited to be a part of the bennington family. I'm looking to add a GPS/Fishfinder/Chartplotter to my bennington (22SL), and figured best to turn here for recommendations. Thanks, in advance.

 

[KC24]

I have the Lowrance HDS5 I primarily use it as a chartplotter and it has worked good for 8 years now. Looking into adding Radar from sirrusXM this year to see storms coming.

 

[Potomacbassin’]

What is your need and budget? Some can get by with just an iPad with Navionics loaded on it for general positioning data while guys like me are stupid and want 10-12 inch chart/sonar combos for fishing that run $3k.

I would guess 90%+ of the freshwater market is going to be Hummingbird, Lowrance and Garmin. Furuno, Raymarine and Simrad MFD’s tend to be on the saltwater side due in part to radar functionality.

 

[joeybrown105]

Yea @Potomacbassin’ we're thinking the 300-600 range.. something that I can drop breadcrumbs to locations, know the depth of the water around me, and get a sense for where the fish are... We've been considering humminbird, garmin, lowrance, and simrad.

 

[Potomacbassin’]

I would first go to a West Marine or other brick and mortar store to get a sense of what size you want. Personally I don’t want to go any less than 9 inches but that’s because I’ll be tracking contours and waypoints often (and my eyesight sucks). But a 5 or 7 inch unit might be tolerable for you.

At that price point touch screen probably isn’t an option, but not a big deal. Then you should determine if you want side scanning or just sonar and down imaging. Each of those little options adds up. Hummingbird Helix, Lowrance Hook or Elite Ti series, or Garmin Echomap UHD all seem to be decent units in the upper part of your price range. If you want to be on the mid to lower end, I don’t have any first-hand experience with them so cannot offer much advice. Something like a Raymarine Dragonfly seems to get a lot of press. The best source of info will be with the bass guys, so you can do a search on BBC Boards or Bass Resource.

Good luck!

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

Don’t get SIMRADGO5 for fishfinder. Too small. Great for other stuff.

 

[lakeliving]

I was thinking about stepping up my game and getting something as well. Would be nice to have one that is compatible with NMEA2000 and get engine data displayed as well.

 

[Potomacbassin’]

I was thinking about stepping up my game and getting something as well. Would be nice to have one that is compatible with NMEA2000 and get engine data displayed as well.

I’m going with a Garmin to do just that. I believe there is a spare output on the motor that can be bridged to a N2K and the Garmin plugs right into that and picks it up seamlessly. I’m trying to research this and seems convoluted - some setups already use the spare output for the motor’s digital display so to interface with the chartplotter requires some extra wiring harnesses. Hoping it can be as easy as installing a basic network and plug and play.

 

[lakeliving]

From what I was seeing Garmin makes it plug and play with Yamaha. More research needed

 

[BigKahuna]

We have a Simrad. So many features we probably won't use. I set my main screen up to have depth, water temp, trim level, a clock, mph, and rpms.

 

[Vikingstaff]

We have the Simrad. It is the GO5, and if I had it to do over, I would go larger with the screen. That said, we like it fine. We use it for navigation - lots of shallow areas on our lake, and it is a good reminder at a glance. I hear it is not ideal as a fish finder, but we don’t use it for that so that hindrance doesn’t impact us. I really like its chart/navigation features and data features.

IF you have a Mercury, with an add on connection, you can interconnect your entire motor data system into the Simrad. We went with the Mercury VesselView and linked to our phones instead because it is cheaper.

 

[dannyleininger]

Don’t get SIMRADGO5 for fishfinder. Too small. Great for other stuff.

Absolutely correct! However I just replaced the G05 with the Simrad G07 and I am very pleased with it. It fit easily in place of the 05 and gives many other features the 05 lacked. Found a new one on EBay for $400 and sold the old one for $200. But paid the Dealer to install the new one so all in all I probably have $500 in the exchange. Well worth it!

 

[Vikingstaff]

However I just replaced the G05 with the Simrad G07 and I am very pleased with it. It fit easily in place of the 05 and gives many other features the 05 lacked...Well worth it!

Dan, why oh why did you have to plant this seed in my brain. If I do anything foolish in this direction, I am absolutely pointing my finger at you when my wife gives me that look: “not more money, items and pictures of the boat again”.

On a serious note, does the GO7 really fit in the same dash cut out as the GO5? OR does it fit “into” the cut out, but set outward slightly instead of flush? Can you post a picture of what your GO7 looks like and how it fits in your dash? Since it was just another Simrad, did you also have to change out the transducer or were you able to still use the old one? This really is potentially dangerous motivational information for me.

I would love to switch to a larger Simrad, but really do not have the nerve to cut into my dash at all. I’d also have to go take a look at my layout, and see if there is space. And most importantly, and most challenging, I’d have to explain why I am spending so much money on a very similar item because for the most part I simply want a 1-2 inch bigger screen.

 

[dannyleininger]

Let me start by saying I have done a lot to the helm on my Bennington! First of all I flip-flopped the radio and the Simrad G05. Having the plotter on the left side of the steering wheel made it far more visible. I did that about a year ago. Then I ran aground a couple of times running in unfamiliar waters because I could NOT hear the internal alarm on the G05. The G07 has an output for an external alarm. I spent $10 on a 100db Piezo alarm. Trust me, I can hear this one!


Now to save you some money...

The Cutout for the G07 is larger than the G05. Like you I had no interest in cutting on my helm. And oh buy the way, the fiberglass is pretty thick. I chose to have my dealer uninstall the G05 and reinstall the G07. They did a great job. They were able to easily remove the entire old transducer and cable and reroute the new cable. I do believe the cables are different. But this left me a complete package to sell. I even had the box from the G07 to pack it in. I used “OfferUp“ to sell the G05. Cost nothing to advertise. In the end I had about 10 potential buyers before I committed to a Buyer that lived near me. No shipping.



There was plenty of room to place the G07. I contemplated the G09 but I just didnt have enough space...and it is much more $$$.

Hopes this helps!

PS Bennington needs to at least offer the G07 as an option. IMHO its a much better unit.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Thanks for the picture as well as the information. Some great food for thought. I am will certainly be considering this possibility. Totally agree with you on offering it as an option. I would have 100% sprung for a larger Simrad at purchase, but got the best I could with my boat at that time as I was not interesting in putting one in myself.