The Garmin Report: What’s New
As many of our customers know, Ocean House Marina is an official Garmin dealer and our electronics department technicians are experts in upgrading and installing Garmin charting, plotting and sonar units. So we’re asked a lot: “What’s new?”
With an industry leading company like Garmin, the answer is often: “A lot.”
Here are a few products you should know about.
Garmin Fantom 18/24x Dome Radar
One of Garmin’s newest products, these Fantom solid state dome radars, offering 50 watts of output power, will provide long range and better target detection on the water, even at high speeds.
Equipped with Garmin’s signature MotionScope technology, these new radar domes can detect and highlight moving targets, presenting them in different colors, so mariners have better and more valuable vessel position information. These units are also excellent at tracking weather and much more.
With 50 watts of output power, these domes offer a range of 20 to 48 nautical miles and improved target definition, even in fog and rain. With a 60 RPM rotation speed, they have a refresh rate that delivers better motion detection, even for boats approaching at high speeds. And with a new power saver mode, captains can choose when to use them at full power, or when to pull back. In addition, the timed transmit mode allows captains to schedule active and inactive times down to the second, providing even more power savings flexibility.
In addition to the increased power output, the new Fantom 18x and 24x domes offer:
- MotionScope technology, using the Doppler effect to detect moving targets and highlight them in different colors for easier navigating.
- True echo trails showing a historical “train” on the screen
- Dual range: choose between close and long range views, or see them simultaneously, with overlay on the chart
- Dual radar support which pulls data from one of two different radar sources for better redundancy
- Dynamic auto gain which automatically adjusts to the user’s surroundings for optimal performance
- Choice of color: black or white
Garmin 1243xsv Chartplotter
This is a high resolution 12-inch dashboard-mounted touchscreen that provides unsurpassed positional GPS charting along with ClearVu, SideVu and CHIRP sonar for fish finding and underwater images.
The vivid touchscreen display now has improved sunlight readability and IPS (In-Plane Switching) wide-angle visibility along with an updated internal core processor. With the pre-loaded detailed coastal mapping, this unit will deliver precise and detailed navigating, along with the system’s auto-guidance route plotting.
The built-in Ultra High Definition SideVu and ClearVu scanning sonar offers vivid new high-contrast color palettes to help anglers distinguish fish holding structures and see fish clearer than ever. The 1243xsv model supports traditional sonar frequencies at 50, 77, 83 and 200 kHz, the 1kW CHIRP at low, medium and high, and the ClearVu/SideVu frequencies, all depending on the transducer you have on board.
This unit also features sonar recording and history rewind so you can go back to fish holding areas and record the fish as they move.
Because Garmin is the industry leader, this unit will seamlessly connect to other Garmin units in a simple plug-and-play network. So you will be able to access detailed information on this screen from other units, including maps, IP camera video and more. The Garmin 1243xsv is compatible with NMEA devices, including auto pilots, VHF and AIS data, Fusion audio systems, and a J1939 engine connection to allow you to see, and control, various engine functions.
And the built-in WiFi capability of this unit allows captains to download a variety of apps to help manage and operate your boat, including the range of apps in the Garmin Mobile family, Active Captain, One Helm and many more. You will be able to see and manage your boat’s functions from anywhere.
Garmin GPSMAP 8616xsv
Want more? This unit has all the functions of the 1243xsv Chartplotter, but in a larger, easier to read 16-inch touchscreen unit.
Like its smaller brother, this unit is preloaded with both BlueChart U.S. coastal and LakeVu g3 maps and features Navionics data and auto guidance. It’s fully network capable with NMEA 2000 and the Garmin Marine network.
Adding additional modules–panpotics, radar, autopilot, instruments, cameras and multi-media is simple and straightforward. There’s built-in support for ANT wireless technology, Bluetooth and WiFi networking. You can hook into Garmin’s quatix smartwatch, VIRB action cameras or gWind wireless wind sensors.
The SmartMode station controls all the Garmin sonar options and supports OneHelm. The all-in-one design of this unit’s substructure eliminates the need for black boxes, monitors and external WiFi antennas.
The ultrafast processor will quickly draw maps, run sonar and handle up to six different features simultaneously. The free and included ActiveCaptain app will provide access to OneChart, smart notifications, trip planning, chart upgrades and software updates.