BajaNomad - Raymarine DS500x

Raymarine DS500x

Al G - 1-8-2006 at 09:37 PM

I have a 276C Garmin GPS/Chartplotter and have been looking for sonar. Yes I went to the candy store(boat show) and I am still drooling. The best I could find IMHO, is DS500x.
They had better, but for $1200 to the sky is the limit.
This stuff can fool you. My 276C base price was $575, and before I could use it I had to spend another $560 for city select maps,(kit) extra 512 memory stick, bluechart, Baja maps by Larry, antenna, extra mounts, and the list still grows!!
If I get this unit/with transducer for $462 is there anything that will be needed(salesperson said thats all I need)?
Garmin said in an email stated that the 276C was all I needed, but I could accessorize!

Well I will not call it a lie, but don't try to get off the highway with it :mad:

Does anyone know anything about this thing (DS500x) ? :?:

Can it be tied to the Garmin? He told me they were incompatible and I should buy a Raymarine GPS! Not!
Help

Lost my house setting gig (daughter wanted to do it this year) so I'm sill in Concord,

but we are now looking at April??? Any fish left in April? The next question will be about radios, but I'm confused enough for now :lol:

Al G

Frank - 1-9-2006 at 12:59 PM

You should be alright, no other costs if the transducer is included. I didnt see anything about the unit accepting NMEA data so it cant be tied into any GPS.
BTW I have a Furuno 582L fishfinder and a Raymarine GPS, they can talk to each other using NMEA data. In hindsight, I would of been just fine with a Furuno 600 instead of the 582L, its more machine then I really need.

Frank - 1-9-2006 at 01:11 PM

Just found this http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/ProductDetail.asp?SITE=1&...

It will recieve NMEA data. Make sure your Garmin puts out the same NMEA string, get the cable from garmin and your in business! Your fishfinder will show your position, and waypoint iniformation on your larger fishfinder screen.

LarryK - 1-9-2006 at 05:57 PM

If you can get the SX500x for less then $500, better grab it. The unit is the only digitial fishfinder out there right now. I just Purchased the unit after checking out the best that Garmin has. For under a $1000 this is the best unit. I would shop at West Marine. There return policy is really good.

Al G - 1-9-2006 at 07:24 PM

Yes, Larry I can get it shipped to me for $462 total.
West Marine is almost $200 More!

it's no wonder they have good service.
As soon as I get Mine ordered I will tell where, because I don't know how many they have.

Sorry, and you have yours anyway :biggrin:

Thanks for you opinion and you and Frank have convinced me.
Al G

OOPS

Al G - 1-9-2006 at 07:38 PM

Frank
I forgot to say, you are right, it can receive GPS data. Thanks for the link.
My next question since My 276C can display sonar can the DS500x send it?? I would like to display 50 khz on it and 200khz on the DS500x. I have tried every way I can think of, but there may not be anything published. Feel free to tell me I'm beening silly. :lol:

I don't have much of a clue about this stuff :biggrin:

Just wait get to how to do a chum slick! :lol:

Al G

Nope

Hook - 1-10-2006 at 03:59 PM

getting sonar data to go from the raymarine to the GPS will not be possible between those two. Why would you want it on a small boat anyway.

Really the only advantage to tieing your GPS to the fish finder is the increased screen display size......and even that's not hugely important on a boat under 15 feet.

Frank - 1-10-2006 at 04:15 PM

Your 276 can display sonar? If it can, then it will have "input wires" in the same bundle as the "send wires". I would check the paperwork it comes with, and try it out. But like Hook said, your kinda going backwards.
BTW most fishfinders that have dual frequencies will have the ability to show a split screen 50/200.
One more thing, do you have a DSC VHF radio? If you do, then dont forget to hook up your radio up the GPS also. I know no CG down in Baja, but all radios made now have this feature. When you push that red button, everyone that can recieve your signal will also get your GPS/Lat/Lon location.

[Edited on 1-10-2006 by Frank]

SoCalAl - 1-10-2006 at 04:25 PM

Hello Frank,
Alex Licea, here.. Don't know much about the high tech electronics but just wanted to say hello. I hope I am saying hello to the right Frank. We met a couple years ago in Bay of LA. You and your wife were there for the week and my friend Juan and I stopped by for a couple of days.

Planning on doing it again this year and hoping nothing goes amiss as it has in the last couple of years. I know one of these years I am going to hit the lotto and then we will see if they can keep out good old BAJA.

Hope everything is well with you and yours,
Alex Licea

Frank - 1-10-2006 at 04:30 PM

Hi Alex,
Im sorry but thats not me. I havent been to BOLA, I just keep driving past that turn off. Hope you have a great trip, Im heading to the East Cape in June! Frank {the other guy} :biggrin:

Al G - 1-11-2006 at 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hook
getting sonar data to go from the raymarine to the GPS will not be possible between those two. Why would you want it on a small boat anyway.

Really the only advantage to tieing your GPS to the fish finder is the increased screen display size......and even that's not hugely important on a boat under 15 feet.

Hook,
First you have to understand I don't know what the hell I am talking about. This is my first Baja boat and chose 14' because I don't know what I really want and have looked at every aluminum from $8000 to $92000. I do wish I had started with a 16', but this equipment will transfer over I hope and I may jump to a 20' ?
I thought There may be an advantage to having two screens, one
with 50 kHz and one with 200 kHz and switch to GPS when I needed it.
This may be even a dumber question, but what does the size of your boat have to do with it?? You still see the same fish don't you? Maybe it's the GPS and 14' tins should not go out of sight of land? I would think when you are not familiar with a new area the GPS is Most important. Hopefully it will help keep me from being the silly rookie gringo I am. I am hopeful someone like you will go out with me and show me the ropes?

I owe Pompano so many pacificos now, owing you or Frank a few won't matter. Frank on my list anyway for all the questions he has answered.
DSC VHF radio is what I am after next. What would work well on a 14' as well as 16'-20' and be compatible with Garmin/RayMarine? Both will send out MOB. Something in the $150/$ 200ish range.
Al G

[Edited on 1-12-2006 by Al G]

Al G - 1-11-2006 at 11:15 PM

Hey Frank, Can you show me how to wear that kinda Hat too? :lol:

Al G

Frank - 1-12-2006 at 07:47 AM

Al, I know you dont know what you're talking about....

Hook - 1-12-2006 at 03:38 PM

....but I still like you and am willing to talk this out with you. I was ignorant once too and, besides, it's difficult to keep up with the changes .

You are incorrect in thinking that ANY potential display screen on the GPS or the fishfinder can be displayed on either one. That type of capability is still reserved for top-of-the-line electronics by the major manufacturers and involve buying relatively large LCD screens, separate "brains" that act as fishfinders (or radars or GPS units) and a network hub to interconnect them. At this point, you can make ANY of these pricey LCD screens show info from any of the brains. You can even have them overlay your electronic charts onto your radar display. We're talking thousands of dollars, not hundreds of dollars here.

What the units in the price range of the 276c and the DS500x WILL do is pass basic information from the GPS TO the 500x. This is usually only lat/long, your waypoint name (if you have chosen one), the speed of the boat being computed by the GPS. Most will either overlay the lat/long numbers on the fishfinder screen or will give you a separate display where all of this GPS related info can be displayed on one page, BUT USUALLY NOT SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE FISHFINDER SCREEN.

What I have NEVER seen is a GPS that will accept the fishfinder screen from an external unit UNLESS IT IS ONE OF THE EXPENSIVE NETWORKED UNITS MENTIONED ABOVE. The only other exception is a unit that has both an internal GPS and a fishfinder in the same box. In this case you can display GPS info, fishfinder info or a smaller version of both at the same time.

My distinction about boat size is really about the fact that if both units are mounted in the same basic localtion on a small 14 foot boat, you can see both of them at the same time from virtually anywhere in the boat.

My recommendaton: dont even bother with interfacing the GPS and the 500x. You will get better GPS display options on the 276c and the need for GPS info on the fishfinder is just about nil. Just run them separate and have the 500x display both 50hz and 200hz at the same time, if you really feel the need. I almost never display both frequencies. I will use 200hz in depths up to about 300 feet and 50 hz if I'm fishing deeper (almost never). 50 hz display is VERY SUBJECT to interference when the boat begins to go much over 5-10mph.

Inteface your GPS with your marine radio if you have DSC capability. This will broadcast your position to anyone in an emergency. You can also use it to selectively let those whom you have exchanged DSC numbers know where you are.

Final word for now: all this talk is great but there is no substitute for spending hours using this stuff. Absolutely no substitute. With all the display options on newer units, you have to decide for yourself what settings are the most convenient or most valuable to your. Until you put in the hours, you will be hunting thru the manual, trying to decide which button does what and when you should push it. No fun when trying to fish.

If limits to launching the boat are a drawback, read up on how to put your units in DEMO MODE, especially the FF. Then, you can navigate thru all the menus.

[Edited on 1-12-2006 by Hook]

Hook thank you! I like you too!

Al G - 1-12-2006 at 07:24 PM

All the info was clear and I do understand and appreciate your effort to help.
It (info)will make things a lot easier. I alway start in one direction and end up going another. Several times in my life I have jumped in with both feet only to regret it. I now have some more research to do. I may wait for March to see the 340C, but that will be real close to my hopeful trip the end of April.
More later, long day.
Al G

Can someone decipher this

Al G - 1-12-2006 at 07:34 PM

for me?
The Fishfinder 340C is offered in either a dual-frequency configuration or, for inland anglers needing a wider fish-finding cone, a dual-beam model. Water temperature, a round flasher-style display, and an A-scope display also come standard on the Fishfinder 340C.

1) a dual-beam model? Same as dual-frequency?
2) round flasher-style ?
3)A-scope display ?

Link:
http://www.garmin.com/products/ff340c/

Frank - 1-12-2006 at 08:41 PM

Hey Al, I dont even have a fishfinder on my 14' baja tin. Handheld GPS/VHF and safety equipment , yes. 1/2 the fun of fishing off a small boat like this is that its bare bones.
I have a 22' Trophy hardtop that has the Furuno 582 and the Raymarine chartplotter , etc etc. I seems to always miss feeling the temp breaks with my barefeet and smelling the fish when they swim through. I only get that in my Tin boat in Baja.
Sometimes less is more. Be careful not to spend so much time looking at the electronics, instead of reading the water and conditions.
Good luck with your FF hunt. Ive been there before.
BTW Thats my 11 year old sonwatching the jigs on a East Cape cruiser in the pic. Like father like son :biggrin:

The 340C is a pretty good unit

Hook - 1-12-2006 at 10:10 PM

It should do you fine.

A-scope is a means of instantaneouly displaying what below the boat, rather than the normal FF setting which shows a record of what has been under the boat for the last 2-3 minutes. A-scope is not that valuable really.

Round flasher capability means it emulates how early FF would let the fisherman know if there were fish below; it would simply flash a light at a specific depth indication. Almost useless nowadays, as the normal sonar readout give you a visual indication of the size of the fish/school.

Dual beam is saying that the cone of "visibility" from the FF is a little wider than the conventional cone of a 50/200 hz FF. FFs "view" the water below in a cone shape with the wider part of the cone further away from the boat. The wider the cone, the larger the area you are looking at around your boat. This could be a factor if you are fishing in very shallow conditions (<20 feet) where the cone base of visibility hasn't had a chance to expand. More suited to freshwater fishing but, ultimately, not that much more valuable than the standard cones put out by the conventional 50/200 settings. If dual beam is an option, I would NOT get it.

If you're willing to spend money in this price range and you want a color display, look at the Furuno 600L. Furuno's are almost indestructable and have an excellent track record whereas Garmin's are only recently making FF. But stick with Garmin for the GPS.

By the way, when I used the term ignorant, it only means "uneducated", not stupid. Everyone is ignorant about everything at some point in their lives.

Santiago - 1-13-2006 at 07:15 AM

Hook: good info, clearly communicated. Very true about no substitue for time spent on the water with these units. I've searched all over NoCal for somebody who gives a class or trains or teaches these units prior to buying but just not available. Go to boat shows, talk to sales reps (carefully), and other boaters.
My advice is to buy a good FF (I have a Lawrence X135) and a handheld GPS with maping capabilities. Probably cost you about $800 or so for both. Get them mounted on gimbal style (RAM) hardeware so you can move them around until you find what works best. Local colleges will sometimes offer a GPS course.
Finally, Frank's advice is right on: trail your hand/toe in the water and watch what's happening around you. Slowly the fog will lift......