Looking for GPS/Fishfinder for 208

[sturgstev]

Thanks for all of that information. I have a Lorance HDS 8 Gen 1 that came with the boat. I works just fine except after a while the transduces gets too much on it to cause weak readings when underway. While trolling or drifting its fine.
I was once told that salmon don't show up on the older depth finders as they do not have a bladder -that may be different now.

As for setup I was planning to put the unit in the same place you have yours so It sounds that the touchscreen buttons are in the bottom area and are hard to deal with. is that what you noted?

again thanks so much

steve

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Thanks for all of that information. I have a Lorance HDS 8 Gen 1 that came with the boat. I works just fine except after a while the transduces gets too much on it to cause weak readings when underway. While trolling or drifting its fine.
I was once told that salmon don't show up on the older depth finders as they do not have a bladder -that may be different now.

As for setup I was planning to put the unit in the same place you have yours so It sounds that the touchscreen buttons are in the bottom area and are hard to deal with. is that what you noted?

again thanks so much

steve

I probably should've explained a bit better... the power button on the touchscreen for my device is at the bottom right but it's not the buttons that I have an issue with... the biggest issue that I have is that I like keeping the cover for the electronics compartment closed when I'm cruising at 25 mph or so, that way I don't get water or spray on the new MFD. It's tinted though, so it makes it somewhat difficult to see, which I should probably just accept the fact that it's going to eventually get water on it and possibly even scratched or whatnot. That, and the cover for the electronics compartment I don't believe has a fastener on it to keep it open, which tends to make me want to go with a flush mount. Although the flush mount has its drawbacks like being more exposed to the elements and isn't locked away behind anything. So there are definitely a few trade-off's. I'm probably just overthinking things though and the unit itself, if mounted in a good location inside the electronics compartment doesn't have any issues with accessibility. Just me wanting to keep it nice and pretty looking for as long as possible, but like I said that'll change here probably pretty soon. I will say this, my neighbor has a brand new 12" Garmin touchscreen MFD, I believe it's either the 7612 or 8612 series, with radar and so forth on his GW 270 Islander and I noticed that the transducer couldn't keep up with depths and so forth at much above 20-25 mph. Which my transducer was keeping up with everything at even over 40 mph when I went to see what my WOT was the other day.

 

[SkunkBoat]

.... or possibly some other option like mounting it above in the overhead area where I've got a radio and stereo currently, .....

don't do that. You can't drive and use an MFD above your head for your main navigation or radar screen. You will hate it. Put your backup sonar up there

 

[sturgstev]

I solved the problem with keeping the electronics cover open while under way. I use a short bungee cord and tie it around the pole for the roof and the electronics cover. It works fine.

Whats really funny is that when I take someone out fishing they rarely look at the depth finder or the GPS unit.

thanks

steve

 

[Mustang65fbk]

don't do that. You can't drive and use an MFD above your head for your main navigation or radar screen. You will hate it. Put your backup sonar up there

Yeah I definitely wondered about having the electronics in the overhead compartment and how that would work, if I'd have to tilt my head all the way back just to view them and so forth. I do most of the driving/cruising of the boat while standing and it isn't really until I'm trolling where I'm actually sitting down. I'm not sure if I'll keep them where they're at, flush mount it or change something else up... dang it these 1st world problems that we have.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I solved the problem with keeping the electronics cover open while under way. I use a short bungee cord and tie it around the pole for the roof and the electronics cover. It works fine.

Whats really funny is that when I take someone out fishing they rarely look at the depth finder or the GPS unit.

thanks

steve

Kind of interesting how GW has the clear plastic strips with the fasteners to secure the lids for the overhead electronics storage compartments but doesn't have anything like that for the one behind the steering wheel. It feels like there's some resistance when closing the lid on the bottom one, not sure if they have small shocks in the hinges or whatnot but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel relying on those when going 40 mph or more.

 

[wspitler]

With regard to sonar, keeping the bottom at higher speeds has very little to do with the MFD but much more to do with the placement of the transducer. Poor transducer placement will always cause loss of signal at higher speeds. Refer to Sternmate website for specifics on best transducer placement. Transducer technology continues to improve and even older models will work at speed if properly placed.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

With regard to sonar, keeping the bottom at higher speeds has very little to do with the MFD but much more to do with the placement of the transducer. Poor transducer placement will always cause loss of signal at higher speeds. Refer to Sternmate website for specifics on best transducer placement. Transducer technology continues to improve and even older models will work at speed if properly placed.

I figured it was more the power or the capabilities of the transducer itself as the last boat that I had, which was a 21' Arima, was kind of 50/50 in that regard if it could keep up. Sometimes it would keep up but sometimes it seemed as if you were going too fast for everything to read correctly, and that was a thru-hull transducer.

 

[Timcan]

Here is the electronic box I designed I wanted everything at eye level 2 Simrad 9 inch Evo 3, vhf, music radio, and kicker control.