Dual Screens Vs Single 3 in 1 Screen

[Midastouch73]

I am admittingly new to the boating scene since the purchase of my Bertram 31. Although my Bert has electronics I'd like to outfit it with some upgraded equipment. I currently have a furuno g1650 and a furuno fish finder. I was curious to know if there is any reason why people run dual screens as oppose to a single 3 in 1 setup? Is it just preference or is it to have the ability to run both in full screen mode as opposed to a single split screen?

[Carl]

Preference, space and cost.

Me, I like separate so I am not messing with wrong function as I selected the wrong screen panel.
I like sperate so if one screen goes down I do not lose the 2 or 3 units attached to it.

Ask a bunch of people and I'd expect a bunch of answers, each correct for them.

[ktm_2000]

I like the dedicated screen real estate of 2 screens to have Radar/GPS on one and Fish finder on the other. In the past I've had a Raymarine C series and a dedicated Fishfinder. Going forward I am going to go with a pair of Simrad GO9XSE. They are almost 50% of the cost of the same sized screen EVO units.

On the downside, they aren't networkable and don't share peripherals but my research shows me that if I connect them with NMEA 2000 they will share waypoints.

My thoughts are to power them on separate circuits and if one fails, I hopefully will still have the 2nd and can connect either the transducer or radar to the good unit. Going this way I can get more screen size, some redundancy if a unit fails all for about the same amount of $$.

[bob lico]

i am a Captain and would find it damm near impossible to operate with one screen. i have a dedicated 12" Furuno for sonar on starboard side of pod and radar over GPS on 12" furuno display on port side. i am looking for bottom structure and baitfish so i need detail. the furuno radar paints a target on your course you are heading in green the rest of the targets are light color because they pose no threat and the GPN raster chart stays clean .all wiring is done by ethernet to server so you can change displays if you had to. the sidebar on sonar display tell me sand, gravel,rock,mud so i would not want that type of information on navigation display.i would not want COG. GPS coordinates ,tide etc. on sonar. i hope i cover the reason for dual display.

[Tony Meola]

I was originally looking at 2 9 inch screens, but the real estate on the bridge area does not allow it to happen too easily. If I ever redo the bridge, i would design it for two units.

[PeterPalmieri]

Tony,

I’m happy with 2 7” screens. Like you I’ve been in my home waters for many years I do not use my GPS for normal navigation. I can do everything by sight and compass heading I have in my head. Ocassionally i will head somewhere less travel and spot a buoy or in fog or dark.

The 7” screen on starboard side is viewable from the cockpit and I use that one for the sonar. Once I’m in the ocean it’s generally a matter of setting a heading.

Two garmin screens allows me a couple of custom set ups. Regularly use GPS on one side Sonar on the other. I have another preset of two different maps one zoomed out the other in with depth readings. and I have a last one with two different sonar settings when I’m really searching for fish.

One large screen or one large and another small or two large can all perform these functions. It’s really a matter of real estate and how you want to lay things out.



https://i.imgur.com/yfQJD9W.jpg

[Tony Meola]

Peter

I looked at the 7 inch units, but with age I find I can see the 9 and larger better. I tried real hard to make two 9s work, but it just wasn't going to happen.

[PeterPalmieri]

Thus far I’ve been able to live without my reading glasses on the bridge but I can see that becoming a problem. The best part is they fit without modifications.

I’ve considered a large display in place of the analog gauges under the wheel and running a NMEA connection to view on the port side display.

Of course they pulled the buoys in the Babylon cut and for the remainder of the season I have to rely on my electronics a bit more to get into the state channel. In about an hour I may be wishing I had 12” screens.

[bob lico]

God bless you brothers looking at a 7" screen at 28 knot cruise traveling thru Bellport,mastic,moriches with 2' of water 5' on either side of boat at dawn i envy you!!!

[pschauss]

Well stated,Bob. When I was shopping for my first chart plotter I did a simulation of the screen on my laptop. It was easy to see that the 9” diagonal was worth the extra $.

[PeterPalmieri]

The money is in modifying the bridge not the screens.

With a helm pod and single lever controls mounting big screens is no doubt the way to go. The 7” fits on a stock bridge nicely.

Someday maybe I’ll buy a new 31 that did a bridge modification.

[Stephan]

More and more I find I have an additional screen - an iPad running iNavx or Navionics Boating app. A cellular connection provides weather info, a wifi connection allows access to NMEA 2000 data with a back-up source of GPS information, and Bluetooth connects to the stereo. An Otterbox or Lifeproof case has worked well though the touch screen can get confused when it is wet.
I understand that this is not a solution for everybody but for several seasons it has worked very well for me. I did add a USB port to the bridge so the iPad could run at full bright screen continuously without fear of depleting the battery.
Best,
Stephan

[JohnV8r]

Two are better than one. I wish I had purchased a second Navnet.

[Midastouch73]

I see I'll need to dig a bit deeper into my pockets for that second display. I was looking at 12" but i'm sur ei cant get them to fit without a modification. I prefer a larger size than a 7".

[JohnV8r]

I'm putting a 9" Garmin on the left side of my helm because it gives me fuel flow data and CHIRP sonar at a different frequency than my Furuno transducers. Don't know how much I'll use the Garmin plotter function because I am fine splitting the Furuno Navnet screen with plotter overlayed with radar and then a zoomed radar that gives me a .5 to 1 mile range. However, having a dedicated CHIRP sonar screen up AND fuel flow numbers displayed on the border IS a big deal in my opinion.

[bob lico]

now i realize the problem with the OEM. dashboard set up. when you have a pod the single lever controls are on the sides of the pod and the compass at the very front of the pod, together you would easily free up the space on both sides of pod for 12" displays sitting on the flat area on both sides of the dashboard the vhf is mounted vertical and takes very little space on far port side of dash adjacent to the port 12" display. you might say if the boat is never used for fishing then there would be no use for a dedicated 12" display for sonar however if fishing offshore in 700' of water for tuna, marlin you would be interested in the entire water column or tracking the bottom on full screen looking for a sunken barge in 120' of water. whatever the case serious fishing needs good sonar and a 12" display is helpful especially if you have pod and sit down helm which puts you sitting back at least 3'away from displays.

[Carl]

It wasn't all that far back when the best depth sounders made black marks on a 3" piece of paper going past the stylus. The Huge upgrade was a 5" Color CRT Furuno. Chart plotter was a Chart, compass and watch. Radar was binoculars and in the fog a set of good ears.

How NEEDS have changed.

[PeterPalmieri]

A good compromise could be switching over to dual function controls freeing up one side for a 12” display and flush mounting a 7” on the other side.

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Mount the gauges on a panel you can see under by your feet/legs and use that space for a MFD with engine display when needed. you can then change between engines, chart, and fish finder. If that fails you can open the gauge panel for engine information.