Post 1 by Lola:
Hi I have a 440s and its Garmin, and my boat is set up w Raymarine...so transducer not compatible ..so don't use the s, but use the depth finder on the boat
Would I want to use my laptop on deck? Scares me
Also still learning..hardly sail
Lola,
Post 2 by h:
Lola,
When you hardly sail, it may not be worth interconnecting the instruments.
If you want to though, the right hardware to convert the Raymarine Instrument to the 440S chart plotter will be the Miniplex Multiplexer.
http://www.shipmodul.com/en/miniplex-s.html
Not cheap.
Post 3 question by Lola:
Hi h,
I saw your reply...yes expensive...How about installing a Garmin transducer?
Post 4 answer by h:
Why do you need the Garmin 440S to have a transducer?
Are you thinking about a depth only, or depth and speed through water as well as depth?
The 440S would have NMEA 0183 signal in wires. Please read the manual and confirm.
To this 2 wires, you can connect a "smart" transducer. The Smart transducer, convert the depth signal into NMEA depth inside the transducer. These smart tranducers need 4 wire connections. + & - 12V, + & - NMEA 0183 out. The NMEA out from the transducer connects to the NMEA in on your 440S.
Airmar makes the smart tranducers. Most instrument makers use Airmar transducers.
I have one which is a tripple sensor. Depth, Speed through water, as well as water temperature.
However if you hardly sail, you can just read the depth from the Raymarine depth gauge (same with speed through water "STW"), and use the Garmin 440S just as a pure chart plotter.
In my case, when I can not be bothered to insert the transducer through the hole in the bottom of the hull, I use SOG, Speed Over Ground signal from my Garmin, to show boat speed. Where we sail, I know more or less that Depth will not be an issue.
