garmin feedback

neil · Post by **neil** » Apr 4th, '07, 10:09

Faithful a good freind of mine has been promoted at garmin,i told him i would try to get him some feedback on there products. So whether its positive or negative please feel free to express your opions on any of there products that you have used thanks neil

ScottD · Post by **ScottD** » Apr 4th, '07, 10:26

I have the Garmin 2010C, it's the best piece of electronic equipment I have. I also have Raymarine stuff, but Garmin is easier to use and is better quality as far as I'm concerned. To bad there Radar is not up to snuff, they don't even offer an open array.

ScottD

Rickysa · Post by **Rickysa** » Apr 4th, '07, 10:35

I've got the 3010 and dislike the fact that unless you always have it "north up" the screen jumps all over the place (I prefer course up)...there is no way to adjust the refresh rate.

When navigating, you have to scroll all the way up or down to see what's off screen rather than "page up" or "page down", (unless you change the scale....I'd rather keep the scale the same)

There may be a way to correct these things, but I've not found it in the manual or gotten an answer from their tech folks

Love the XM weather/radio tho :-D

Rick

dougl33 · Post by **dougl33** » Apr 4th, '07, 10:44

I too have both Garmin (182c) and Raymarine (C120 with Raystar and Radar). I got the Garmin when I purchased the boat back in 2002. That was the year the 182c came out. Other than a problem with the screen coating the unit has been superb. It is very easy/intuituve to use. Much easier than say a Standard Horizon or even the C120. You wouldn't even have to open the owners manual if you didn't want to.

I had to send the unit back to Garmin twice to have the screen re-coated, both done at no cost to me (except to ship it to them). Since then I have been very careful when cleaning the screen. When it gets particularly dirty I will remove the unit, take it home, run it under the kitchen faucet, and place it screen down on a towel to dry.

With the pc/120volt adapter, it is easy to take it home and plot routes/update the software. This is not an option on the C120.

My only other complaint with Garmin is that I bought 100 shares of it back in early 2004 and dumped it 9-10 months later for a small loss at about $41 per share. Within the next year it went up to about $96 per share and split (Aug 2006). Its currently at $54 per share (my 100 shares would've been worth alomst $11K!

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Apr 4th, '07, 10:47

I've got the 2010C with the sounder box. I shopped hard a couple of years ago at the FLL show for one thing - visability. The 2010C is far and away the best, even in direct sunlight. Easy to use, accurate, and I don't notice any jumping around using the course up nav. My favorite feature is the giant red arrow that points to your next waypoint.

The sounder box is also nifty using a shoot thru the hull 'ducer. Mine will track bottom up to about 250' at 25 kts.

It's the best product I've ever had.

UV

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Apr 4th, '07, 11:13

I have a 2010 as well, and I like the intuitive menu screens. You don't need a mannual to use it. Great product.

RussP · Post by **RussP** » Apr 4th, '07, 13:21

Garmin has great customer service. We have 2 color chartplotters and are satisfied with both. If anyone is having a problem call them and a teck will help troble shoot the problem over the phone. Three thumbs up!

RussP

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Apr 4th, '07, 13:34

I have used most of the Garmin units mentioned here. I think they are the most user friendly between all the brands have used. Not sure why Ricksya is having that motion problem. The last Garmin that I used that had that problem was the 215, but that was a late 90's unit, black and white, slow proccess. I thought all the newer ones were smooth. Someone must know how to fix that.

ScottD · Post by **ScottD** » Apr 4th, '07, 13:45

The only time you will have the screen jumping problem is when your turning around a tight spot, as in bottom structure. When I am locating a spot I change it to North up not only to stop the fast screen updates, but it also helps me reference the compass better. You really can't have it both ways, if you want it to read course up, it doesn't seem right to complain when that's what is giving you.

ScottD

STeveZ · Post by **STeveZ** » Apr 4th, '07, 13:55

I have a 172C color GPS. Its OK for a basic unit. I bought it based on price and name recognition.

I've been looking around for a combo sounder/GPS with a larger screen and it seems like a lot of people in the industry recommend Lowrance.

Two complaints: I was forced to sell and upgrade my old GPS because Garmin no longer supported it. When I moved it up the bay I could not buy a new chart chip, so the unit was nearly useless. Thats BS.

My current unit has a chip that, as far as I know, cannot be easily updated. So I would be forced to buy a new $100 "chart" to keep my $600 GPS current. What I'm getting at here is feeling like I'm being "worked" by Garmin. My next unit will be one with more universal coverage that I can update easily and inexpensively on-line.

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Apr 4th, '07, 13:59

Another tirck is if you have the sounder black box you can zero in on a spot on the sounder screen and record it as a waypoint and then have that show on the chart and track back on the chart to that spot. Like an underwater MOB. The unit obviously 'remembers' where each blip on the sounder was located and will go back to it.

UV

Rickysa · Post by **Rickysa** » Apr 4th, '07, 14:15

I don't know what it is guys, but when I'm on "course up" heading to a waypoint (independent of range), the screen "resets" each time the bow is knocked a bit by a wave. Scott, it's not that the boat has changed course (other than maybe a fraction of a degree for a fraction of time). I thought it was some kind of "gain" setting and called tech support (which is great by the way) and was told it couldn't be adjusted and to run north up.

Never had that problem with the Furuno and glad to hear it isn't a problem for everybody....maybe a bad unit.

Rick

dougl33 · Post by **dougl33** » Apr 4th, '07, 14:31

What scale do you have it set at? If it was set to the smallest scale (120 feet) I could see that the screen would move.

clay · Post by **clay** » Apr 4th, '07, 14:32

My biggest complaint is that my boat may be back in the water before they get the new 5212 sent to me. Is there a chanch your friend could push me to the top of the list (let him know there is a C note in it for him if he can do me some good.)

Clay

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Apr 4th, '07, 14:32

Rick - the only time mine does that sort of thing is when I'm sitting still or just barely moving - the course line will whip around since the boat has to be moving for the unit to calculate which way its going. Do you have your course line turned on? It's the colored line that shows where your bow is pointing.

UV

Rickysa · Post by **Rickysa** » Apr 4th, '07, 14:52

UV,

Yessir, the course line is on and it's much more pronounced while underway (at cruise), not as bad when trolling....just spoke with tech support again after hearing that nobody else seems to be experiencing the same issue and they were puzzled also. I'll be going to the coast next week and they want me to call from the boat and check/reset some settings that may take care of it.

Other than that, we couldn't be happier with the unit and Garmin in general.

Rick

neil · Post by **neil** » Apr 4th, '07, 15:02

clay if it is possible i will take care of it

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Apr 4th, '07, 15:45

Neil,

It ain't Northstar or Furuno.

neil · Post by **neil** » Apr 4th, '07, 16:18

jp take it easy on garmin,jr wants to take you and timmmmmmmmmmmy out for a booze cruise sat see ya then

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Apr 4th, '07, 16:38

Installed a crap load of them along with every other manufacturer.

Garmin is the king of GPS.

I have had numerous out of the box failures on sounder modules and some plotters also. No more than any other brand though.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Apr 4th, '07, 17:56

Neil,
I'm in. What boat? Gotta know how to dress, if its the whaler I might have to pass.

If its nice grab the spoon rods, heard some hickory shad were around out front.

AndreF · Post by **AndreF** » Apr 4th, '07, 19:25

Neil,
I've had many Garmins, now I have a 3006C and a 178C and even have a still working 45XL. I love them all.
Dey've been berry berry good to me.

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Apr 4th, '07, 19:28

I've got the 3010 and dislike the fact that unless you always have it "north up" the screen jumps all over the place (I prefer course up)...there is no way to adjust the refresh rate.

I have the 3010 too and my screen paints very smoothly. Have you updated your software lately? There were a bunch of software updates last year, like five. When I first got the thing there were some quirks, but the updates made them all go away. There is a place on Garmin's website where you can sign up to be notified by e-mail when they issue an update.

To update, you have to program a blank chip on your unit with the function in the Unit set up for that. It records all the details of your system on it. Then take the chip it to a computer hooked up to a garmin card reader (I bought one for like $100, but a lot of the stores will do this for you) and upload the update on the card. Then take the card back to the boat and upgrade the unit. Is kind of a pain in the ass but I noticed it fixing things each time, and now I can'f find any faults with the system.

The software upgrades also update all Garmin stuff you have hooked up at once too, if you have more than just the GPS. I've also installed the Garmin sounder, the network bus, the XM weather radio, and the radar, so I'm kind of the Garmin poster boy. I didn't like the radar at first, but after (you guessed it) I did a software update it worked really well.

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Apr 4th, '07, 19:35

the only time mine does that sort of thing is when I'm sitting still or just barely moving - the course line will whip around since the boat has to be moving for the unit to calculate which way its going.

That little annoyance goes away if you install a heading position indicator. I picked an autopilot (Raymarine) that requires the heading position sensor. You might already have one on the boat, or a fluxgate compass, in which case all you'd need to do is wire it into the GPS. The NMEA wiring format allows you to hook these things together now, even from different manufacturers, and they'll all talk to each other. Probably only need to run two low-gauge wires.

ScottD · Post by **ScottD** » Apr 4th, '07, 19:49

JP, I looked @ Northstar stuff and it's nice, but unless you just have money to burn I don't see it worth the cash. Since your a fan, give me a clue of what they have over the rest of the field that green lights a 100% plus premium over the rest of the field. As for Furuno, I think they WERE the best in class, but haven't kept up with technology advances the past 5 years and now are riding on name. These are just my opinions though, and would love to here yours.

ScottD

Ironman · Post by **Ironman** » Apr 4th, '07, 23:48

I have the Garmin 2010 as well ...Its my 4th garmin.. I love them, this one especially.. The sounder box completes the unit... You can use the pointer to locate any spot you run over (rock or fish school) then go back to the exact spot.Give bearing & ft away.
Wayne

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Apr 5th, '07, 06:57

Scott,
Furuno and the Navnet system was among the first to offer a fully integrated system radar sounder plotter. Always a bit more difficult to use (look at the LC90) Furuno has produced the best Sounders and Radars to date. The detached control panel was a first in the industry allowing a flat screen to be placed where it could be best viewed and the control panel to be mounted in an area you could get to. We used several of these on the larger Vikings 61-68ft.

Northstar offers what has always been one of the easiest to operate overall systems around. The newer 6000 series and 8000 series have taken the ease of operation to a new level. You can even interface your old Northstar loran into these units and get TD's on the big screens. With the introduction of the Explorer series the cost of ownership has come way down while still offering great graphics and easy to use menu's. We have 2 of the M121 Northstars, no black box sounder interface, cable plugs into the unit. Only one box for the radar.

Regarding Garmin it is a good little boat product (up to 35ft) Why you ask? The system ability falls off in the higher output product. For example they only make up to a 4kW radar, really Mickey Mouse for larger boats. Furuno and Northstar both offer units up to 25kW honest to goodness big boat systems 600w-2kW sounder systems very robust commercial grade stuff.

Northstar and Furno both have fantastic service systems. Being Furuno and Northstar dealers we have only dealt with producers that support our customers. I've installed a handful of the 2010's in boats but always with big Furuno sounders and radars. Good gps but I'd pass on a full system.

dougl33 · Post by **dougl33** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:11

For us "little" boat guys, I think Raymarine makes a better radar than Furuno. When comparing there 2-4 Kw units and displays back to back, I think the RM's are easier to use and interpret than the Furuno's.

ScottD · Post by **ScottD** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:16

Thanks for the input JP. I agree with the overall system thing, My Garmin 2010 is for the "gps/chart only". I don't have radar yet, and want an open array, which they dont offer, and as I said earlier, Garmin radar ain't up to snuff. I have the Raymarine L1260 bottom machine @ 1K and think it's a good machine when matched with the dsm250. I'm not sure if the Furuno analog is better than the Raymarine digital or not, I have no experence with Furuno bottom machines. And anyone who can afford a 61 Viking SHOULD buy Northstar, cause they got the money.

ScottD

Brewster Minton · Post by **Brewster Minton** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:22

The thing that I do not like is everything is together and if something goes wrong then you have nothing. The systems are great except for that one reason.

Rickysa · Post by **Rickysa** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:23

Sean,

Yep, done the updates hoping to cure it. I'm going to shoot a little video of it to send to Garmin if the tinkering they want me to do doesn't fix it.

Rick

Charlie J · Post by **Charlie J** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:31

have to agree with jp on the furuno and northstar products.it all comes down to what you feel comforable with and for what purpose

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:46

I'd send it back to them if the tinkering doesn't work.

I had a screen cloud issue with mine, seemed like moisture was getting in there and it would take an hour or two to bake away. Before that there was a cloudy blurr in the middle of the screen.

Sent it to them and it was back in my hands within a week with a new screen. Seems like they're pretty good about fixing their stuff.

BTW they have the 4KW closed and 4KW open arrays too. I've got the 4 KW closed and I like it fine, but wish I had waited for this to come out: http://www.garmin.com/products/gmr406/

The thing that I do not like is everything is together and if something goes wrong then you have nothing. The systems are great except for that one reason.

Hard-wired backup units! I left my old GPS and depth-finder installed, and added the Garmin all-in-one system. Back-up radar would be kind of silly though, especialy considering it is rarely needed here in sunny FL. I also carry a handheld GPS, so unless the satellites go out (has actually happened once) I'll always know where I am.

Funny I just posted this story on the 33 site: when the satellites went out on me, presumably from solar flares, I was far offshore in the gulf stream. Both Florida and the Bahamas were out of range of my 36-mile radar. First thing I did was turn the GPS on and off, no go. I tried the other two GPS's, and they were of course useless too. So then I whipped out a chart, but realized I didn't know exactly where I was, because when I re-booted the GPS it lost my last known position. I had a good idea of where I was and could certainly have found Florida okay, if not a particular inlet, but didn't like the situation one bit. After 10 minutes or so the GPS started working again anyway.

Moral of the story: if you loose you GPS, write down your position FIRST before you start fiddling with things

Rickysa · Post by **Rickysa** » Apr 5th, '07, 08:50

I'd send it back to them if the tinkering doesn't work.

Funny I just posted this story on the 33 site: when the satellites went out on me, presumably from solar flares,

That's the plan, and regarding solar flares (borrowed from the Hatt site)

Forecasters from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administrationâ€™s (NOAA`s) Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, observed two powerful solar flares on December 5 and 6, 2006. These violent eruptions originated from a large sunspot cluster identified by NOAA. On December 6, 2006, a solar flare created an unprecedented intense solar radio burst causing large numbers of receivers to stop tracking the GPS signal.

Paul Kintner, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, said that in â€œDecember, the effect on GPS receivers were found to be more profound and wide spread than expectedâ€.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Apr 5th, '07, 10:11

I have a 2010, 2 Furuno sounders, a Furuno GPS and Interphase chartplotter. Redundant setups upstairs and down. I just bought JP's Raymarine radar/chartplotter which I will put upstairs and move the Garmin downstairs. I also have an electronic compass upstairs, a large Danforth Constellation downstairs and a chartbook in case of sunspots! I have two Icom VHF's, one upstairs and one downstairs with a remote mic upstairs. I like to keep the bases covered.

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Apr 5th, '07, 12:58

I like to keep the bases covered.

Umm... I think you do. Got me whipped

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Apr 5th, '07, 13:39

Sounds like a contest of who can trinket up their B31 the most - I'll enter AJ:

Garmin 2010C with sounder;
Raytheon 600 plotter that overlays the radar driven by a stand alone little Garmin;
Raytheon 41X 48 mile radar, 4' open array;
Raytheon combo GPS/loran that drives a B&G large digit dash display;
Dytek sea water temp;
SiTex SP 70 autopilot with digital compass, coupled to the plotters;
6" Const. compass;
2 Icom VHF, 21' 9db antennas;
Icom 802 SSB coupled to the 2010
c for emergency locator, with 23' antenna;
SiTex color bottom machine with thru hull 'ducer;
stereo radio with antenna;
Remote spotlight;
Musty, moldy maps somewhere.
406 Mhz locator beacon.
Hand held GPS and VHF.

The top of the half tower on AJ looks like a porkypine...

Don't get lost like in the old days tho.

UV

dougl33 · Post by **dougl33** » Apr 5th, '07, 13:42

When I'm running a course/route from the GPS for a long trip, I usually write the compass courses down for each leg, along with the distances in a notebook. I also always have my chart book on the boat. 2 actually. One for down below and one for the bridge.

Capt. DQ · Post by **Capt. DQ** » Apr 5th, '07, 13:55

I have Furuno Radar 24m & Color Sounder down to 1500' and Garmin GPS/Plotter which I like because of user friendly & Loran for back-up in the Gulf of Mexico because of knowing TD # by heart and Icom 402VHF and West Marine hand held VHF.

But I want a new Garmin GPS chart/plotter with XM weather, already have radio. Haven't decided which yet?

DQ

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Apr 5th, '07, 14:04

Scott,

We put the Northstar High Def radar 4kW dome into the M121. We had an option to go with an open array and opted not to. The amount of weight an open array adds to the hardtop was concerning. We worked closely with the folks at Northstar and agreed that a vessel as low as the 31 might not benefit from an open array as much as let's say a 35 Bertram where the height to the array is greater. The majority of the radars on the market today are produced by JRC (Japan Radio Company) and sold to each individual vendor(Sitex etc..). The exception to this rule is Raymarine who just recently began producing their own. I have not liked the older Raytheon equipment however the Raymarine hsb2 unit we recently removed performed well.
The dome's generally shoot a wider beam then the open array (the magnetron, wave guide and power outputs are generally the same) and in a low rider like the B31 we agreed that a wider beam was better for that application. I also use an older 4kW Furuno 1831 on a 24 Silverhawk that my family owns. This is a dome unit and we've marked swans on the water at 1.5 miles (very strange to know your coming up on a target in the fog only to have a bird swim by) I'd trust theat Furuno with my life, and often have.
Unfortunately its becoming harder and harder to buy stand alone units. They all seem to have a plotter or fishfinder built in. The best advice I could offer anyone is to know how your are going to use your boat and rig it accordingly. If you fish where its foggy buy a high end radar and overlay it with your chartplotter. We plan to fish up and down the East Coast with CHIMERA and it is rigged to do that.
No SSB though Uncle Vic. Globalstar makes a handheld SAT phone that'll save our butts.

Garmin plotter yes...... Garmin fishfinder or Radar NO.

Charlie J · Post by **Charlie J** » Apr 5th, '07, 14:13

jp
i have the furuno 1942 open array 6 kw, wouldnt leave home with out it

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Apr 5th, '07, 14:25

CWJ,
I agree the Furuno product is the tits. The Northstar was easier to operate between screens. We only have two screens on the bridge. So we wanted to work back and forth with the greatest of ease..... we chose the Northstar product to do this. We kept it simple but each unit is a stand alone gps plotter and fishfinder. The port is 600kW with speed and temp through the hull and the starboard is an Airmar tank mounted 1000kW diplexer. Both will be able to produce radar images when Navbussed together.

Its a little bit of overkill but we figured we're gettin older and it beat keeping the bifocals on the bridge to read the electronics. Even the compass was left large.

Capt. DQ · Post by **Capt. DQ** » Apr 5th, '07, 14:30

I agree JP on the dome, which is what I have on the 31 if I ever get it back in the water.

DQ

ScottD · Post by **ScottD** » Apr 5th, '07, 14:33

Thanks JP, I list you as an authority on this subject and will call on that knowledge again when I go to buy. I probably don't have to have radar, but on the one or two times fog rolls in each year it will be great. I also want to use it to locate birds and been told a closed array won't do that, but marking a swan on the water @ 1.5 miles ain't bad so I may have to re-investigate the subject. I have a re-power to get thru this fall/winter so radar ain't on the top of the list now anyway, but all good information.

Thanks, ScottD

Charlie J · Post by **Charlie J** » Apr 5th, '07, 14:35

jp
looks sweet, my radar and nortstar are interfaced, makes a nice combo

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Apr 5th, '07, 15:20

Damn JP!! That is the best looking cleanest setup I've seen!! No wonder you sold me the Raymarine!! (which say "Made in England" on the back of the head unit)

neil · Post by **neil** » Apr 5th, '07, 15:32

jp is on top of his **** he has more free time than i do jp you timmy and i are going to lunch sat

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Apr 5th, '07, 15:51

OK where? and when?

neil · Post by **neil** » Apr 5th, '07, 15:57

most likely the sand bar on the newly repowered 25

JK · Post by JK » Apr 5th, '07, 18:14

When I shopped around I looked hard at everything but really never considered Garmin to be a real player, especially in offshore boats. Garmin is very popular in the sub 30' boat category (maybe inshore fisherman) but Furuno, RayMarine and NorthStar were most popular in the offshore boating community, at least around here. Went with RayMarine, 2 E-120's, the dsm 300, 2 gps antennas, a 4kW radome and Icom radios on the bridge with a Simrad AP-11 autopilot. I did want to go with an open array but agree with JP that it is just a bit too much weight up there on the 1/2 tower. Although we didn't put a ton of hours on the boat since the redo so far the electronics are awesome. The E-series are mega bright, the fishfinder is great and the radar is pretty good too. Couldn't be happier with the raymarine stuff so far.

--JK

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