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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Anyone familiar with a Garmin 441s plotter/Sounder

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/03/2014 : 07:51:39

I found a Garmin 441s on Craigslist that might be suitable to replace my dying 276c. The owner claims the basemap is just as detailed as paper charts and there it's no need for a Bluechart chip (at $220 or so) . Does anyone know if this is true? He says the chip is only necessary if I want aerial views, which I guess is the 3d effect? Since it also comes with a new in the box transducer I'm pretty interested in it. My depth Sounder died last season and I've been making due with a sort of jury rigged Humminbird fish finder.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Edited by - delliottg on 05/03/2014 13:00:29

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4018 Posts

Response Posted - 05/04/2014 : 06:30:10

I have the 545 that is in the same family as the 441. 5 in. screen verses the 441's 4in. A little more resolution too but other than that they are the same. No need for a chip because the machine is already pre loaded with charts and is easily updated from Garmin's web site for free. I don't have the S model so I can't comment on the sounder/temp side. It has no problem obtaining satellites with its internal antenna and has worked extremely well for me for the past 6 years. You would need a chip for the aerial view that is like a satellite view like a google maps but I never needed it. I mounted it on a Ram swing out mount . If the price is good I think the 441 will serve you well.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/04/2014 : 11:30:42

Thanks Scott,
He wants $300 for it, which seems fair. The transducer is unused, and he says he's kept it inside the cabin when not in use. I won't be able to see it until Tuesday or Wednesday evening as he's down in Portland now.

Have you hooked yours up to your VHF and/or autopilot?

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4018 Posts

Response Posted - 05/04/2014 : 12:36:07

No, I don't have auto pilot and my VHF is a little old. Like me a dinosaur but the 441s is NMEA 2000/NMEA 0183 capable along with AIS/DSC so I think it will hook up to your equipment without any problems.You can get all the specs from Garmin's web site just to make sure.

Edited by - islander on 05/04/2014 12:39:16

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/04/2014 : 13:48:29

Thanks, but as it turns out, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my 276C now. I found what I think is a bug in their firmware and managed to work around it.

It basically comes down to if the track recording is full (it almost always is since I "always" have it set to wrap), and the track setting is set to Off, it simply stops updating the map because it's full. That's my theory anyway. I discovered it by accident, I thought that possibly my data card had gotten corrupted, so I removed it. This causes it to only show a basemap which in my area is empty. So I zoomed into 50' resolution, and tried driving like that. No dice, so I thought I'd reset the track to see if I could see a track form behind the arrow icon that shows where you vehicle is. That's when I discovered that it had somehow gotten set to "Off" and it was "Full", so I deleted any track information, and set it back to "Wrap", & voila, I have a functional GPS again.

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.