Anybody have any input on Navman Chartplotter?

[Franco]

Was looking around for a solution for my da#% old gas gauge, found this chartplotter by Navman that also has the fuel monitor, any thoughts???

http://www.boatersland.com/nav5500.html

[Veeder]

Franco,

Just purchased the 5500 Navman, as well as the FS35 fuel sensor. Have not, as yet, installed same. I've used Garmin products (GPS,radar ) and Raytheon (GPS, radar, fishfinder) for years. The display on the Navman is, in my opinion, superior,.the re-draw time is incredible, and the display is viewable from all angles. The unit is waterproof,plus, it is guaranteed for TWO years. Will let you know when unit is installed.

[Franco]

Thanks for the reply, would love to see the installtion, cant wait for the follow up

[Franco]

If anyone is interested, found this item @ $489.00 before the $175.00 rebate from navman!!!

[Airslot]

I've had it for about 18 months now and it works great.

Airslot

[Franco]

THANKS FOR THE INFO, I WAS INFORMED BY MY WIFE THATS WHAT I'M GETTING FOR MY BIRTHDAY AND FATHERS DAY. I CANT WAIT, FRANCO

[macojoe]

$450!!!! :o

I just don't understand?? If you run out of gas you will be the first to know, right??

And you will know how much gas you used when you fill up the gas tank, right??

And lets face it we all fish about the same place's all the time, so after a few trips you no what you need , right??

$450 is alot of gas for the season!! to find out what you already going to no any way. Right??

I am a cheap ba$tard

[chumbucket]

Hey Chubby.................read the whole thread. They're talking about a GPS Chartplotter that also has the fuel sensor capability. ::)

[Franco]

Plus I'm new to the area. I don't have the benefit of being on these waters for several years. And there is a whole lot of options for where you can go. 3 rivers, several inlets, offshore trolling, wreck and reef fishing, shallow areas all the way to flats. Trout, flounder, snook, tarpon, kingfish, cobia, grouper, redfish and on and on and on. So when I hear about a spot I gotta chance to find it. Unless "ya cant get there from here" Seems like a good investment to me, And there is the safety issue. Plus I like gadgets, and boats are full of gadgets.
Franco

P.S. * * *" CHUBBY "????? I think it's warming up in cape cod!!!

[macojoe]

It better soon!! I am going nuts!!! And I still don't care how much gas I have!! :P

But Chart plotters are the balls!!

[Franco]

Hell MJ, you'll probably outfish us all. It's warm here and I'm still working on it instead of fishing!!!!!!

[mirage2521]

right now Navman has a 200.00 rebate at west marine

[Franco]

I checked the West Marine site and the want 599.00, about 110.00 more than the other place - keep an eye on west marine - always pricey

[Airslot]

The sweet thing about those navman plotters is that they will save you fuel. If you are running w/ the fuel screen on, it tells you how many gallons are left in the tank, how many have been used, flow rate, speed, and MPG. When you are cruising along at 4500 RPM and see your flow rate and then drop back to 4000 RPM and you notice almost 1 mpg difference it will make you slow down a little. Not only is that feature nice, the chartplotter is much better than the Ray 425 on the other boat.

Airslot

[Franco]

THANKS FOR THE INFO - JUST WAITING FOR MY BIRTHDAY NOW, EVERYBODY ( WIFE, KIDS, DAD, AND SUCH ) ARE CHIPPING IN FOR MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT. CANT WAIT TO GET IT. GONNA REDO THE DASH AGAIN AND SEE IF I CAN FLUSH MOUNT THAT, THE APELCO F/FINDER AND THE GAUGES IN MJ'S FAVORITE MATERIAL - STARBOARD. AND MOVE THE SWITCHES TO A DIFFERENT SPOT ON THE DASH

[Stinky_Hooker]

Man thats nice I was wantin somethin like that, but didnt know you could do it for that kinda $$$ What does the fuel monitor add to the $ tag??

[macojoe]

$200, More gas to the tank!!

[pk]

Does anyone know how the Navman compares with the Garmin 172C in terms of display and performance?
Is the mapping that you purchase in addition to the unit similar to Garmins Bluecharts?
Looks like the Navman is a good deal with the rebate.
Thanks.

[steplift20]

whats wrong with the fuel gauge?

[Franco]

it's about 80 bucks for the fuel flow sensor, thats all that needs to be added. Fuel gauge is inaccurate at best., Because i'm adding a gps/chartplotter anyway im going tro get the most bang for the buck I can

[Stinky_Hooker]

whats wrong with the fuel gauge?



I will agree with Franco on this one. I am not going to look at a fuel gauge and judge wether I can go somewhere the LEAST bit questionable. IMO a fuel gauge on a boat is just a general idea...not a specific one as to plan a trip at all.

[Veeder]

Fishfinder/ Fuel guage and GPS installed, up and running. FANTASTIC! Re-draw rate on the chartplotter is faster than anything I've seen, and the color is daylight viewable. Fuel flow meter works great. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to install or use it.

[Franco]

Just got my navman 5500 gps/plotter,fuel eter this morning for Fathers day. All I can say is I married a great girl!!! Onec installed and up and running, I'll give you my report

[reelapeelin]

Hey, Franco...CONGRATS on the Father's Day booty...I got a Skil worktable...now if I just had some Starboard... ;D...

[Veeder]

Reel,

If you're lucky, some Starboard may be available in your area. MJ got the last piece of 1/2" in the northeast....

[reelapeelin]

Yeah, I heard the price on the entire East Coast was goin' up cause some guy on the cape was buyin' it all up... ::) ;)...

[Franco]

Whatcha bet he starts making some kind of trolling lures out of the scrap pieces!!!!

[macojoe]

I never bought any 1/2" To skinny to make lures out of!! ;D
I got 3/4" (1 sheet) for the floor covers and front Bulkheads, 3/8 (1 and 1/2 sheet) for the Tackle box, gas tank covers and the rear bulkhead & doors.

Last I heard CB is on his way for a full sheet also!! Crap that means i will havwe to travel the one hour to help him now :'(

[Franco]

I bet the "Original MacoJoe" deep diving striper lure would be a big hit on here MJ. All that other stuff you do with starboard is just a cover up to explain why you use so much of it!!

[Blue_Runner]

I'm just now getting around to this post. Starboard should make a great trolling lure material. All you'd need to do is shape it up a bit add a treble or two, paint on a red head and 2 eyeballs - maybe a lil lead up front. It'd make a great top water skipper!

[Wellcraft_Dave]

I'll just throw in my .02 here.

I prefer dedicated units, I like the idea of 'all in one' deals, but if it craps out, it ALL craps out. For me fuel status is a high priority. I trailer and fish not only off the NC coast, but up in Mass, Fla in both the panhandle and in SW Fla as well and I got a "feel" for the range of the boat depending on conditions and how I run it,,, but it's always good to know what "is" in the tank and what you got left, what your burning and etc.... especially if fishing offshore dependant on weather conditions and sea state.

I do not have first hand knowledge on Navman GPS/plotters, I do like Garmin (last 3 boats and roughly 600+ hours on my old Garmin units) and I know they work. I know Raymarine and Furuno work as well.
Ray does have a fuel flow management system sorta kinda similar to Navman information wise... but I chose to stay Raymarine GPS/Plotter over Garmin this time out and personally decided to go with a dedicated fuel management system (i.e. the Navman 2100). Floscan also makes a good unit as well.

Think I paid $140 for the Navman guage at Consumers Marine (http://www.consumersmarine.com) and paid roughly $800 for the Ray 435C.

If you do any big water lakes, nearshore, offshore stuff to include fishin,,, you'll definately want a fuel management syst over the "standard get it close" fuel guage. (I dont even trust my Yama guage pack, I do trust that Navman 2100)

I guess it's a personal choice whether to have it built in as a "combo" unit, or to have it as a dedicated guage. For reliability, I chose dedicated units. And weather dictates how yer gonna run, how fast, etc... so a accurate fuel gauge or flow meter is extremely handy, especially if you need to calculate around bad weather to run to another inlet or that type of thing.

Not bustin on ya Macojoe, but I had to chuckle on the fuel comment "$450 is alot of gas for the season!!" man, let me know where yer gettin it at then at that price for alot of fuel!!! that's two offshore trips for me!!! (just shy of 100+ gallons per trip!!!!) :o Then again, I guess we dont have to run 40 mph in 3-4 ft. seas either..... My wife would be estatic if she knew only $450 would do it for a season for fuel. So far in the last month the boat has went thru 590 gallons