Depth Sounder and Chartplotter

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thesaintlyone

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I have installed a Garmin GPS Map 450 Chartplotter. Do I therefore need to install a stand alone Depth considering that

Garmin P79 in Hull Transducer £89
Nasa Target 2 Depth Sounder £100

Whilst I'll be launching in Medway we plan to move the boat down to Portchester in a month or so.

Thoughts????
 
I think it is entirely up to you. I have a much older version of that unit with the depth transducer (came with it) and it does a good job of displaying the depth. Also the graphical display can give more information than a simple figure if the bottom is soft.

I also have a dedicated depth as part of the instruments - has the advantage of having a much more visible display and it consumes less power so I could in theory turn the GPS off - however in practice I never do.

The display on the Garmin is a bit small so you may find it inconvenient always to have the depth display when you are navigating close to the shore.
 
You might consider a fish finder, as some give a pictorial view of how the depth is trending eg Garmin Striker 4 Fishfinder with Transducer £129.95
 
Do you have the 450, or the 450s? It looks like only the latter can drive a transducer. In that case it becomes a full fishfinder, not just a depth sounder.

Personally I'd always want to have a dedicated depth display in the cockpit, so I always know where to look and it's always visible in an instant, not obscured by some menu or special mode. But some people are happy with just a window on their plotter.

Pete
 
The size of the display was a concern. With a fish finder option that would mean a transom mount Transducer how do they work on a fin keel sail boat. I will be fishing so worth a consideration.
 
thesaintlyone said:
The size of the display was a concern. With a fish finder option that would mean a transom mount Transducer how do they work on a fin keel sail boat. I will be fishing so worth a consideration.
Click to expand...
You can use a thru-hull transducer instead - or in fact use the transom mount as a thru-hull, but probably with reduced performance.
 
Transom mounted as through hull works fine for us, took bracket off and sat on large blob of silicone
 
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