Do any of you guys/gals have your radar and gps connected? Does this give you any benefit?

It depends on the model of GPS and radar you have. Check with both mfg's to see if they are NEMA compatible. If they are, I would think the GPS (if also a chartplotter) could transfer chart and/or location data onto the radar screen. I don't know if radar data could be transferred onto the GPS though.

Scotts right, Look for a NEMA out and/or NEMA in sockets. Most Garmin units I have seen are not really meant to display much of anything from any other non-garmin unit. NEMA data (will most likey be position) and should pass from garmin to something else.

For example you could have you garmin GPS pass current lat/lon to your DSC radio...this way when you push the distress button, your MMSI number that id's you and your boat AND the current position (obtained from your gps automagically) is sent to the world and as a distress, all with a single push of oa button.

If you want to do Radar overlay's on your chartplotter you will probably need a higher end unit then Garmin. The higher end units that do this usually have some special networking protocal that allow the units to pass data between them. The cheaper "stand alone" units usually don't have this feature.

There are some really sweet units on the market today and every year they get better and better. It is just a matter of how much $ you want to drop. But it is still amazing what you can get for the money today, to me anyway.

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. When our units are hooked up
top a third party radar, we can send the position data to the radar so that
your position is displayed on the radar. We receive no data from the radar.
You can use the same antenna on a newer unit if you decided to purchase a
newer unit.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to respond to this email
or call Garmin.




.[/FONT] I also asked them if I could use my old antena with a new unit. [SIZE=3]