Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Electrical and electronic topics for small boats
pred02
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Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:17 am

Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby pred02 » Sun May 13, 2018 5:34 pm

Hi. I plan to replace my venerable Garmin 498 fish finder on our Ventura 210. Like the boat, the Garmin is 2006 vintage and it [is] starting to show signs of age. At first the transducer stopped showing correct depth, and the last few years it had trouble acquiring satellites. I can try to update it, but Garmin discontinued the card updates and the upgrade chip is [more than] $100 on eBay--just not worth it.

My requirements: I like to have a sounder for depth water temperature, but do not fish. I prefer a Garmin unit as the boat is in Croatia and I can get data cards. Would also like to link it up easily to the Mercury Starcraft, which I suppose I can do easily with NMEA.

I am looking at various Garmin to replace my current unit, the one that strikes me is Garmin 721xs (reason why not 741 is that the boat is in Europe so I do not need US maps). This is touchscreen which seems to be going trend. But the unit is a few years old and seems out of stock at a lot of sites.

The concern is that my current GPS is mounted inside the console and the new unit does not fit - meaning I need to get a new starboard console and then recut with all electronics (another $170 for the board plus the additional work).

The other option is to the Echomap series, but these do not have touchscreen. They are a bit cheaper and with a larger (8 inch screen) I can probably completely flush mount over the hole.

What do people recommend for GPS upgrade? What is the a decent site that offers discounts on units?

Thanks

jimh
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Re: Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby jimh » Thu May 17, 2018 2:03 pm

For on-line purchase of marine electronics there are many sites competing with price. I doubt there is one site that will always have the best price for any randomly chosen device. Sales, discounts, and rebates affect prices. Soon to become obsolete products are often discounted with significant reductions.

Buying in USA for use in Europe will be taking a chance: many products associated with navigation have Geo-Fencing.

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Phil T
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Re: Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby Phil T » Thu May 17, 2018 3:16 pm

In addition to the general features, usability, look at screen size vs. price. Some units are expensive for the size.

Bigger is better in my book.
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pred02
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Re: Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby pred02 » Fri May 18, 2018 11:21 am

I am looking at Echomap 92sv and GPSMAP 722. Would like 722 as it [has] a nicer screen. However not sure [722] will cover the existing flush mount.

Garmin 498 cutout dimensions - 141 x 110mm
GPSMap 722 cutout dimensions - 132.5 x 214mm

I can get the whole KING StarBoard panel re-made, but that’s additional $200.

[Give] recommendations without having to replace the panel.

Thanks

jimh
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Re: Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby jimh » Sat May 19, 2018 10:40 pm

If the FIRST PRIORITY is to not have to replace the panel on which the new device will mount, then buy a new device that fits the existing cutouts in the panel or perhaps slightly larger.

jimh
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Re: Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby jimh » Sun May 20, 2018 8:56 am

Would also like to link it up easily to the Mercury Starcraft, which I suppose I can do easily with NMEA.


You probably mean Mercury Smartcraft. If so, I have bad news for you. Mercury Smartcraft and NMEA-2000 are not compatible. They are different standards. In order to get engine data from a Mercury engine that has Smartcraft, you have to:

  1. construct a Smartcraft network
  2. install Smartcraft instrumentation
  3. construct a NMEA-2000 network
  4. install NMEA-2000 instrumentation
  5. purchase a protocol convertor than can convert the data and electrical signals between Smartcraft and NMEA-2000
  6. connect the protocol convertor to both networks
  7. configure the protocol convertor

The only protocol convertors that are available are from Mercury. There are several models, and they are sometimes sold in price tiers according to the features they provide. You will need to work with a Mercury dealer who is expert in these devices. Their connection and configuration into the Smartcraft network is not particularly well documented in literature available to the public, as far as I can tell.

Self-installation would required considerable research on the Smartcraft side; the NMEA-2000 side will be simple and easily accomplished. If you plan to perform all of this work in Croatia, you should be very thoroughly prepared and well informed before you get there. I would suspect that support for Smartcraft protocol conversion devices might be somewhat limited in Croatia, based on the also limited support available here in the USA from the typical Mercury dealer.

pred02
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Re: Upgrade path for Garmin 498

Postby pred02 » Mon May 21, 2018 11:04 pm

Thanks for the head up on NMEA and Smartcraft. I am in touch with Andy from Veradoclub parts; I need a NMEA-2000 gateway, then another part to form the NMEA network - all of this will cost $500 just to get data into the Garmin.

I recently disocvered Vesselview mobile - which can push engine data onto my Smartphone for about $250, so trying to assess the merit of going down that route.

I settled down on Garmin 722/722xs, horizontally it is just. tad shy of the Garmin 498 ita replacing. I hope the face covera the hole and I can in some way fix it without replacing the entire electronics box.

Does anyone have experience with Vesselview or getting Smartcraft data into NMEA -2000 Garmin gps?

thanks