Bow gps unit suggestions
 

Im looking to geting a gps unit for the bow of my boat. Something simple to operate.
I have the hds 7 touch on the console.

I want to see where im at When fishing on the bow depth temp etc.
Just poking around to see what you guys have. I'm going to go play with a few tomorrow at west marine.

$5-700 range.

Anyone have the ray marine dragonfly. That's nice

Did we have a thread like this already?

Do you have the option to put the wifi on your unit? I'm thinking about wifi, with an iPad in a lifeproof case, mounted with a ram mount.

When I got my new boat I had a HDi7 installed in the panel, but I had an older garmin "fish finder" with depth water temp and such unit, no GPS. I wanted to know what my depth was when I was fishing the front with trolling, so I mounted the entire assembly on the TM. works like a champ and FREE

I do, but I don't understand how this WiFi works on a boat.

The wireless bridge will broadcast a signal from the unit which will allow a smartphone or tablet to connect to it by wifi if it's near it. Just like a wireless modem at a house.

I have the Lowrance HDS10 on my console, with transducer mounted on transom, and the Garmin 551S on my bow with the transducer mounted on my trolling motor. Works great for me.

I was thinking you had to have some type of service to have wireless network, like at home. So this will just be a signal that the main unit is sending basically

yes

Is there an app that up can get that is compatable with this wireless bridge so that you can mark specific spots?

When i got my Lowrance HDS Gen 2 touch i moved my elite 7 to the bow rather than sell it.

Man what a great tool. You will want a trolling motor mounted depth finder! i have my transducer mounted on a transducer shield and saver mount.

I can see exactly how deep it is below me feet and tell if i move off the drop off or not close enough. You can't do that with the transducer mounted on the transom.

I was drift fishing lake Amadee one day in november, which is 4-5 feet in depth overall, and I noticed that I was catching all of my fish near/in pockets of grass. You can see it quite clearly on the Downscale imaging. Whenever i stopped catching fish I just turned my trolling motor to high and went with the wind till the next patch of grass. Stop the trolling motor, drift some more, and catch more fish. Me and my partner caught our limit in an hour with this technique.

The problem with using an iPad is that your still relying on the transducer on the back of the boat. Depending on how long your boat is thats still not telling you much because your transducer is almost 18 feet away. You can't effectively hover around the outskirts of structure if your bow is over the structure in sparse patches of grass.

Which elite 7 do you have?

just remember with your iPilot you will not be able to mount a transducer on your TM. So you will need one that will network with your 7 unless you have one mounted in the hull up front

Why cant you mount a transducer on an ipilot

I have heard of people doing it.

Y wouldnt you just go with a hds7 or 5 and link to your 7 touch ?

Actually you can. Check out this thread I started. It has avideo showing you how to do it.

Ipilot and transducers install

you can't attach the wire to the shaft since it slides the length of it when going from stowed to deployed and it will twist it to hell and back while in anchor mode since its not thinking about stopping for a wire its just doing what it does to keep you in place

I went to west marine today and played with a few depth finders. I looked the 5 thats what I might do. But!! The simrad nss7 is SUPER NICE and I like the maps on it. But if I can update my touch maps like nss7 maps ill get the hds 5

You have a point. Also you would have to remember to always turn it back a certian way because of the transducer wire

its not impossible, just not ideal

Ill try to take a pic tomorrow and show you my simple set up, again it doesn't have GPS, just depth, water temp, and bottom structure, but hey it works and it was free!

A few years ago added an hds5 up front with a trolling motor transducer with an hds10 on the console connecting the two via Ethernet cable. Can't imagine not fishing with that sort of setup ever again. Waypoints are shared. Trails are saved up front for drifts which works for reefs and drop offs. Added bonus when you can share data between the two whatever brand you go with.