Hi All
We currently have a lowrance x 49 (which came with the boat)
The depth transducer & speed wheel (stern mounted) seem ok, but the display is getting very hard to read
Although it's a fish finder I only use it for speed & depth (we are lake sailors)
Our windex also dropped to pieces when we launched a few weeks ago on derwent water.
So my question is, can anyone recommend a setup that could give us the following functionality
Primary Depth, speed, wind direction
Secondary wind direction
We don't need maps or fish finders
I'm assuming I'll have to replace the transducer as part of the upgrade
Thanks in advance (ps I don't want to lie to my wife to much about how much this might cost, so budget isn't huge) ;-)
Stephen and Julia
Francesca
Macgregor 26x (2003)
For a reasonable priced depth gauge try NASA Instruments. Shortly after I got my mac X a crow decided to sit on my windex and bent it. I'm old school and don't see the point of wind instruments apart from serious racing. I cleared the top of the mast and fitted a burgee halyard and fly a flag to get wind direction. As for speed indication a good quality hand held radio will also give speed by gps and simple navigation to waypoints.
Hi David
I looked at the NASA option but it seemed to need a through mounted depth & speed equipment
I was hoping to either reuse my existing Lowrance sensors (stern mounted either side of the outboard)
or install new ones in the same place.
I don't know if macs can have through mounted fittings when we have the balast
Cheers
Stephen and Julia
Francesca
Macgregor 26x (2003)
Have a look at the Raymarine Dragonfly range, I have a 7" version on my 26X and it works a treat.
Regards
David
I've used the Raymaarine i40 bidata unit with transom-mount transducer on two Macs. Easy to fit the transducer (and easy to clean the paddle wheel!).
It's a compact display, and shows both speed and depth. You can select which one is the most prominent.
For my first Mac I also bought Raymarine's matching wind direction indicator, but I was not impressed. I couldn't even get it to calibrate properly. I eventually sent it back, the supplier allowed the price as a credit towards a chart plotter, which was a lot more useful!
I find you can't beat a windex. Worth paying a bit more for a decent quality one rather than a cheap flimsy type. I've never encountered a bird sitting on it, that was pretty bad luck.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight