Well..........I finally bit the bullet... I think it was harder picking out electronics then a boat! I went round 'n round for a long time (months) not making little progress until I finally talked with the right guys (several of them).
I did some serious homework and decided the best FF out there (for my needs) is the Raymarine black-box (the hsb2 unit). By far the clearest 640X480 unit out there and most feature rich in my view. (not cheap though)
I was going to get a separate different make of 10" chartplotter and have a dedicated RayM 7" FF, but in the end decide to go all Raymarine. Got the L1260DRC 10" depth finder/chartplotter. I can add the Radar next season and get chartplotter overlays, ect via the hsb2 networking and then have the complete system I want (one screen chartplotter/w radar overlay) and the other a stand alone FF.
For a radio it was a toss up between the Icom 502 and the Standard Sectrum+. I think the Standard offers a slightly better value has a few added features, (hailer, foghorn ect) but I tended like the rugged looks (and solid reviews) of the Icom and went with that. And I had a standard before and I had problems with it. I also got an high end 8' antenna (instead of the ultra cheap one on there now). I figured if I want to talk to you RI guys from off the vineyard I will need some a little more height and a decent antenna.
There is *so* much stuff out there with different standards it is hard to decide. I spent a lot of time just investigating the charts alone!. Ran all the at-home software mapping and unit demos, spoke to a few of the reps (these chart guys actuually know a lot about the competing CP units.) For the most part they are all pretty decent and each has their unique features but I tended to like C-MAP over the others and sought out CP's that ran those.
Now comes the fun part...installation
. Anyone know of a midget who is also a marine electrician? I hate wiring up a CC! A big inboard is so much easier.
I'll get out there fishing one of these days.....Thank god my surf stuff is rockin'...that is sooooo much simpler (and less costly) to deal with.
Anyway, thanks for all your inputs...they were quite helpful.
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