Garmin 740S Died..Recommendations for Replacement Requested

[PetDrs]

I have a 2014 R-21EC and the factory installed Garmin 740S has stopped working. It corrupted the Charts on the SD card and now no longer reads cards. It also has difficulty in acquiring accurate positioning.

Garmin has been less than helpful as the 740S is no longer supported as a result I am looking at other manufacturers for a replacement unit (although I will consider Garmin if the group here considers them to be a superior choice. I do not have Radar but would like the option to add that on in the future.

We do a lot of fishing so a good Fish Finder/Depth sounder is an important feature. We are located in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and cruise The Georgia Strait area.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions. I am particularly interested in the experiences of anyone who has just upgraded from the 740S on a 21.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

[Catch22]

I am bumping this post for you. Quite surprised no one has updated from the 740s. My 2013 740s is connected to the radio and radar. It has been functioning great.......knock on teak...

The sonar , however, 7using the current thru hull transducer is far less than effective for fishing .

I would be interested in anyone who has updated and found an effective fishing transducer that was Not a transom mount as most of the HD and Chirp units now use.

Hoping to find a response for you....

 

[bob daily]

I believe most Ranger tugs come with a in-hull transducer, if you switch out with a thru-hull transducer, you will be more satisfied with your fish finder / sonar. Remember that your sonar is only as good as your transducer !
The Garmin transducer selection guide is a good place to start. Bob

 

[PetDrs]

I am bumping this post for you. Quite surprised no one has updated from the 740s. My 2013 740s is connected to the radio and radar. It has been functioning great.......knock on teak...

The sonar , however, 7using the current thru hull transducer is far less than effective for fishing .

I would be interested in anyone who has updated and found an effective fishing transducer that was Not a transom mount as most of the HD and Chirp units now use.

Hoping to find a response for you....

Thanks for the bump and response! Much appreciated.

I agree that the sonar wasn't great on the 740S and I hope that I can get a new unit with better performance. I have been looking at both Lowrance and Simrad and hoping to get at least a 9 inch model if I can squeeze it in.

Anyone out there with any recent experience with their 21?

 

[PetDrs]

I believe most Ranger tugs come with a in-hull transducer, if you switch out with a thru-hull transducer, you will be more satisfied with your fish finder / sonar. Remember that your sonar is only as good as your transducer !
The Garmin transducer selection guide is a good place to start. Bob

Excellent point on the transducer. My boat is being worked on right now (200hr engine maintenance etc) and I will ask them about a thru-hull. Thanks

 

[rdwilson]

I bought a 2014 at the beginning of May and replaced the 740 that was in it with a 942xs, and added a Fantom 18 radar. Part of the reason i upgraded the 740 was because it didn't support the new radars with motion sense and i just had a hard time buying a brand new radar without it.

As for sticking with Garmin or going with another brand.... With the problems I have had with ActiveCaptain (which surprisingly seems to be fixed within the last two weeks). I would really look at SImrad. I think i like the ability to buy maps from Navionics or cmap, etc seems nice. I hate being locked into an ecosystem if i can help it. Add on that i can't use the G3 vision i bought for the west coast on my PC in Homeport and only on my phone or a tablet to plan routes or look around is annoying.

I did have to replace the in hull transducer when i upgraded to the 942xs as the p79 didn't work with the new unit even with the 8 pin to breakout box and wiring it in through the terminal connectors (only three wires...) I bought a GT15M-IH as i was to scared to be drilling holes and getting a thru hull level to the water. I was also worried about placement and trailer bunks lining up, something about breaking an expensive transducer leaving holes in the bottom didn't' sound fun.

 

[PetDrs]

I bought a 2014 at the beginning of May and replaced the 740 that was in it with a 942xs, and added a Fantom 18 radar. Part of the reason i upgraded the 740 was because it didn't support the new radars with motion sense and i just had a hard time buying a brand new radar without it.

As for sticking with Garmin or going with another brand.... With the problems I have had with ActiveCaptain (which surprisingly seems to be fixed within the last two weeks). I would really look at SImrad. I think i like the ability to buy maps from Navionics or cmap, etc seems nice. I hate being locked into an ecosystem if i can help it. Add on that i can't use the G3 vision i bought for the west coast on my PC in Homeport and only on my phone or a tablet to plan routes or look around is annoying.

I did have to replace the in hull transducer when i upgraded to the 942xs as the p79 didn't work with the new unit even with the 8 pin to breakout box and wiring it in through the terminal connectors (only three wires...) I bought a GT15M-IH as i was to scared to be drilling holes and getting a thru hull level to the water. I was also worried about placement and trailer bunks lining up, something about breaking an expensive transducer leaving holes in the bottom didn't' sound fun.

I have been considering Simrad and I am currently trying to decide between the NSS9 ev03 and the GO9. I can't decide if the NSS9 is worth the extra $$$ but I like the physical buttons on the NSS9 evo3 instead of the touch screen only on the GO9.

I also think that the Navionics charts will be a better option than those offered by Garmin.

Thanks for your input, much appreciated!

 

[Catch22]

I currently have Garmin HD radar integrated in my Garmin based system so I appreciate the suggested Garmin compatible updates. That said.......if I were creating a system from scratch, I would put Simrad in the top tier.

I have used both the NSS9 Evo3 and the GO9 on friends fishing boats......both are great units, but the buttons in addition to the touch screen are a plus in really rough conditions.......my sea legs and touch point are not always in sync...lol

 

[PetDrs]

I have used both the NSS9 Evo3 and the GO9 on friends fishing boats......both are great units, but the buttons in addition to the touch screen are a plus in really rough conditions.......my sea legs and touch point are not always in sync...lol

:lol: I know exactly what you mean!!

 

[PetDrs]

Thanks to everyone for the input.

Going ahead with the NSS9 EVO3 and just found out that I have to replace the P79 transducer which is currently installed with a new P79 transducer because the Garmin connection will not work with the SIMRAD unit. 🙁

I had hoped that there would be some type of adapter to allow you to change from one plugin to the other but alas that is not the case..........

 

[rdwilson]

I even had to buy a new 8 pin transducer when going to the 942xs, i bought this 8 pin to 6 pin breakout to wire up the old p79 6pin thinking it should have worked, ended up being a waste of money and time.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007F ... UTF8&psc=1

just think of it as being able to upgrade to a little better transducer 🙂

 

[PetDrs]

Wow sorry to hear that. It is such a waste to have to replace transducers just because of the terminal connector. In this day and age you should be able to use an adapter which would not only save time and money but also prevent having to junk perfectly serviceable transducers. :?

Re-use Recycle and keep stuff out of landfills!!