Garmin 298

[Orcbait]

I want to buy a gps/chartplotter. Have not owned one before (just bought the boat). Need to keep total costs down (as the boat is 15 years old & I have about reached my current capacity for spending for this year....).

I have looked at the Garmin 298 (similar to 292) as striking an ok balance between pricing and features. Has anyone used this unit or the 292?

In terms of cost, in Canada (where I live) this unit comes with transducer, external antenna and the sonar for $650 (about US$580). The internal antenna version is another 40 bucks. The unit uses the new G2 charts.

Other than comments on this particular unit, I have some general questions.

Are the G2 charts a significant improvement over the old? Garmin units that only take the old charts are of course cheaper.

In terms of internal vs. external antenna. My boat has dual helm, one inside, one on the flybridge. I will be using this mostly on the flybridge, but I want the flexibility of using it in the cabin. Realistically, this wouldn't be all that often, as I will drive the boat from inside the cabin only in the winter, which means only intermittently for short trips to places I know well, so the chartplotting/GPS isn't going to be all that important for that use I'm thinking.

So I am thinking go with the internal antenna, and even the odd time I'm using it in the cabin, so long as it's mounted right underneath an angled window, shouldn't it still be ok?

Or if people advise going with the external antenna, do I get an extension cable or should I have a separate antenna for each steering station? I don't want to gum up the boat any more, and this leans me toward internal antenna.

Any advice appreciated.

Orcbait

 

[Wingspar]

Boatfix sells it for under $500 US dollars. I bought my Garmin from them a few years ago which was also a 5" screen. It died about a year later and Garmin sent me a complete new unit in a box. Great service. At least on mine I found it had the brightest screen and was easier to view from an angle then other units out there. I'm using the blue charts so can't comment on the G2. So far I've been happy with it. You WILL need an external antenna. The antenna needs to be able to see the whole sky above, not just part of it for best results. The internal antenna are ment for open boats. The antenna cable as I remember is just RG-59 with a BNC connector. You can purchase an extention for this cable and run it up the the bridge and use a coupler to connect to the antenna when not using the plotter on the bridge or install a BNC switch on the bridge to switch form the lower helm or the bridge.

I don't know what type of boat you have but I have found that if you do alot of long distance cruising especially around land masses,islands,etc...."Pacific Northwest" after a year or so you will want a larger display. I know I do.

Dave
Faster now but still steady

 

[Orcbait]

Thanks, Dave.

The boatfix price I see on this unit with sonar/transducer is $573, which is equivalent to the price here in Canada.

I appreciate the advice about going with the external antenna, so will definitely do that.

I'm wondering now about the transducer. I understand the preferred mounting is on the transom, but I'm kind of resistant to drilling into the transom and am wondering if there are any trips or traps on this or if people use some alternative mounting or maybe a transducer that sits inside the boat on the hull and somehow reads 'through' it?

Orcbait

 

[Wingspar]

I'm not a big fan of transom mounted transducers. The best method is to use a thru hull mounted bronze transducer. However I have gotten plastic transducers that have an angled face that are close to the boats deadrise and epoxying it directly to the inside of the hull. You must have a solid fiberglass hull... no coring.. to do this. Worked well for me.

Dave

Faster now but still steady