What Nav Equipment?

Fjord John

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Hi all

My Westwood is out of the water at the moment. It has VHF, depth, speed and compass. I also have a handheld GPS and VHF. I’ve navigated before with the above but if I wanted to spend £1000 to £2000 to raise my game, what should I buy? And if it’s fitted, who should use? (Penton Hook).

I’ve seen other threads recommending a decent cellular iPad. But would something built in be better? Like a chart plotter.

Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.

John

Nb cruising will be short coastal hops in the summer.
 

Bran

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I updated a few years ago, went for Navionics as it also had the best Thames charts that I could see. That limited the hardware to Raymarine. Whilst the plotter is on when going upstream to utilise the fish finder/depth sounder it does provide a detailed river map if you want it.
 

Chris_d

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I would have a built in plotter, iPad's/tablets are fine but only as a back up. Built in plotter is waterproof and ruggedized, daylight viewable, hardwired to power, also the split screen with sonar or AIS receiver and radar if you want to spend more.
 

Fjord John

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I updated a few years ago, went for Navionics as it also had the best Thames charts that I could see. That limited the hardware to Raymarine. Whilst the plotter is on when going upstream to utilise the fish finder/depth sounder it does provide a detailed river map if you want it.
I updated a few years ago, went for Navionics as it also had the best Thames charts that I could see. That limited the hardware to Raymarine. Whilst the plotter is on when going upstream to utilise the fish finder/depth sounder it does provide a detailed river map if you want it.
Thanks Bran (and Chris D). Any ideas on Thames suppliers and starting prices for Raymarine plotters? Equally ball park figures for taking jump up to AIS or Radar?
John
 

Parabordi

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I would have a built in plotter, iPad's/tablets are fine but only as a back up. Built in plotter is waterproof and ruggedized, daylight viewable, hardwired to power, also the split screen with sonar or AIS receiver and radar if you want to spend more.
I agree, I have both, and Ipad great for planning at home and backup but it does not have daylight viewable screen. I have Raymarine C120 and its what I use when enroute
 

Parabordi

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Thanks Bran (and Chris D). Any ideas on Thames suppliers and starting prices for Raymarine plotters? Equally ball park figures for taking jump up to AIS or Radar?
John
ARe you a bit techie? If so, I picked all the kit up online from EBAY and assembled it. eg The display, radar dome, autopilot pump, steering feedback etc etc
That was more fun than using it!
 

Whitlock

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Hi all

My Westwood is out of the water at the moment. It has VHF, depth, speed and compass. I also have a handheld GPS and VHF. I’ve navigated before with the above but if I wanted to spend £1000 to £2000 to raise my game, what should I buy? And if it’s fitted, who should use? (Penton Hook).

I’ve seen other threads recommending a decent cellular iPad. But would something built in be better? Like a chart plotter.

Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.

John

Nb cruising will be short coastal hops in the summer.
Where are you planning to navigate to? Hard to answer sensibly without knowing that.
 

Outinthedinghy

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The only time my boats have seen salty water is when the potatoes boil over so not sure if it's any good "in anger" but a boat I bought had a Standard Horizon chartplotter on it. Seemed like quite a good unit and looking at the price of other gear like the matching AIS capable VHF radio it might be worth considering if looking for a system.

The VHF will talk to the plotter in respect of the AIS system and the VHF has a separate GPS and ais display of its own so while it does share data it will also work alone in the event of failure of other components.
 

Daverw

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Thanks Bran (and Chris D). Any ideas on Thames suppliers and starting prices for Raymarine plotters? Equally ball park figures for taking jump up to AIS or Radar?
John
You don’t need to only look at Raymarine plotters, many use Navionics cards anyway, Lowrence is a good choice re cost and models to suit all options
 

Bran

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My thinking was that when upstream on the river I would want the sonar on so I may as well have a detailed chart of the river at the same time and use a split screen display. Navionics seemed to have a feature where they would get updates from users depth scans, so could get a more accurate chart. Looking at the Navionics website it shows compatability with Raymarine, Garmin, Lowrance, B&G, Simrad if you want to use the sonarchart feature, I don’t know what other hardware is compatible if you just want the basic charts. I did not see any other chart software that had that much river detail, not sure if things have changed since. Certainly not essential to have this detail when upstream, but it is another toy to play with.
I have the software on an iPad but always use the plotter when on the boat as it gives depth, speed over the ground etc. That was my logic behind going for Navionics, there are many other suppliers, shame the boat show is not on as that is a good way to get a hand on look.
I cannot advise on any Thames installers, I just bought the hardware online and installed it myself.
 

Whitlock

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My thinking was that when upstream on the river I would want the sonar on so I may as well have a detailed chart of the river at the same time and use a split screen display. Navionics seemed to have a feature where they would get updates from users depth scans, so could get a more accurate chart. Looking at the Navionics website it shows compatability with Raymarine, Garmin, Lowrance, B&G, Simrad if you want to use the sonarchart feature, I don’t know what other hardware is compatible if you just want the basic charts. I did not see any other chart software that had that much river detail, not sure if things have changed since. Certainly not essential to have this detail when upstream, but it is another toy to play with.
I have the software on an iPad but always use the plotter when on the boat as it gives depth, speed over the ground etc. That was my logic behind going for Navionics, there are many other suppliers, shame the boat show is not on as that is a good way to get a hand on look.
I cannot advise on any Thames installers, I just bought the hardware online and installed it myself.
Unless you are HMS Amethyst escaping the Chinese you don't need sonar to navigate a river like the Thames. On the non tidal there will always be enough water. On the tidal section you move when the tide is in your favour so you don't need it there either.
 

Momac

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I used to have sonar/fish-finder on my previous boat and did use it . My present boat doesn't have it and I manage perfectly well with the standard depth gauge.
So I wouldn't bother with the transducer , but its your choice. I don't use a chart on the river as there is nothing useful on it but its the R Trent in my case . However the display is handy to repeat speed and depth and time which requires cables to connect to existing instruments which all adds to cost.
I am not a particular lover of touch screen having experienced difficulty with coordinating finger and screen in a very lumpy sea .
I find AIS useful for sea trips .
Raymarine Element 7 HV With Navionics PLUS Small Chart (No Transducer) (E70532-00-NSD)
Raymarine Axiom 7 - 7 Inch Multi Function Display With Navionics Plus Small Download Chart (E70363-00-NSD)

Raymarine AIS650 Class B AIS Transponder (E32158)

.
 

CJL

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We have Garmin and Icom equipment on our boats and we've used Marine Superstore and Cactus Navigation to supply it over the years.

You can get good deals on the Garmin equipment and the Echomap plotter range, with built in maps and a pretty basic fishfinder is more than enough for most things.

CJL
 
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