Raymarine Wi-Fish

[Damien]

Seems like a really cool gizmo. Basically it uses all the technology from the full units, without the screen. Comes with the sending unit and transducer, CHIRP & DownView;

For $200 US, it could be a great solution if you have an old phone or tablet laying around to use as the screen. Or you have a waterproof type of case.

Other passengers can link up to it as well so they can see whats going on from their end of the boat.

Anyone try one of these? Or have any Raymarine unit that has the WIFI capability? Wondering how well it works...

 

[Aridhol]

I have the dragonfly pro 4 model with W-Fish and I found it works well but I almost never use it.
Most people in the boat can see the screen and not many smartphones or tablets out

I think it'd be a neat idea to wire up a little tablet on the back of the boat somewhere with a mount and have a screen back there but that's a project for down the road.

 

[Damien]

How do you like your Pr04 overall? Easy of use, quality of imaging and GPS comments? Was yours pre-loaded with maps?

I am on the fence of spending $300 US for the Pro4, and then using my tablet on the front of the boat via Wifish. Or just spending the $200 on the standalone WiFish and going tablet only for display.

I have a 'bass' style boat and having a second unit on the bow would be handy, so I might spend the extra $100 and just get the full unit. Given that I typically troll or cast from the font deck using the bowmounted minnkota.

 

[Aridhol]

For ease of use and GPS it's great, very happy with that. It came with a navionics card which you need to update via their software but it's very simple. You can also enable sonar logging so your own trips contribute back to the general navionics community.
The imaging is pretty good and I had great images in cowichan lake but I haven't quite got it dialed in for the ocean. It also does water temp if that matters.
My one complaint with it is the screen size, I saved a few bucks by getting the smaller version and I'm kicking myself now for it. I'd have gone to 7" if possible.

 

[Damien]

Yeah, a bigger screen is nice, but there is quite a price jump for the same technical specs/capability. Add ~$250 with for just a larger screen. That is one of my motivations to just buy the $200 WiFish as a standalone unit, or get the 4" to hard mount at the helm and use an older 10 inch tablet that I already have to will give me a large screen size without the cost. I would need to maybe find a waterproof case of some sort though.