Garmin 4212

Saltwater Offshore Discussion
1

I have the Garmin 4212 and I have 3 questions / problems.

  1. When I bought this…I didn’t think being able to watch the weather on the screen was important…now I can’t find out from Garmin how to get the attachment? Do I have to buy a whole different set up? Or shouldn’t I be able to just buy the antenna? I will use the same screen that I use for chartplotting.
  2. I bought a blue water chip from Garmin…It actually says “Charleston to Jacksonville”…anyway, when I load it in the head unit…shouldn’t I be able to see all the DNR artificial reefs and such?? Or am I doing this wrong…the manual doesn’t really break this down.
  3. I currently also have the furuno 1622, complete set up…why do I need this? It’s a radar to see bridges and stuff, I barely use this…the antenna looks good on top, that’s it…I would rather have this antenna track weather…is that possible If I bought a different furuno head???
    And before I get yelled at…lol…I didn’t know where to post this article but because people that have these usually go offshore…that is why it is here.
    Thanks,
    Jim
2

I have a Garmin radar on my boat. It picks up rain and everything else very well. Really helped me last Saturday avoiding the storms while running back in. It reads out over 30 miles. First time I’ve had radar so it has been fun seeing what it can do for me.

Olde Man Charters

3

I thought the radar was for seeing other vessels in fog or bridges?? I did some googling and found out that my Garmin does allow the weather with this separate GXM52 hookup. I wish the radar did do the weather thing…I will have to see.

Capt. Jim
26’ Ranger CC (Offshore)
Twin 200 Yamis

4

Hey Jim. I can’t imagine your radar won’t pick up storms. Zoom out next time you see a storm in the distance. Mine reads red/heavy and green/light rain. It was really cool being able to head through the lighter stuff rather than the heavy rain.

Olde Man Charters

5

If you want Sirius weather on the 4212 you will need to get the weather antenna GXM 51 and subscribe to Sirus weather.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/digital/shop-by-accessories/xm-receivers/gxm-51/prod28710.html

http://www.xmwxweather.com/marine/

SeaPro 220CC

Dixie Craft-custom flats boat

6

You’ll have to actually enter waypoints for the artificial reefs etc. DNR has a free book with the coordinants all of the stuff on the bottom at each artificial reef. It’s time consuming but worth it. Also get Maps unique and enter those numbers (all of them) if you want to find live bottom etc.

You’re eventually going to be glad you have radar to see in the fog and at night.

7

I will try…but my screen is background green and all objects, boats, etc…black. I will see if it picks up cloud cover, rain. Maybe it does and I never gave it a chance. Thanks.

Capt. Jim
26’ Ranger CC (Offshore)
Twin 200 Yamis

8

radar will pick up rain (it should, at least), but XM weather is a totally different animal and pretty much shows what you see on the news (Doppler like stuff).

9

Chip from maps unique sells a cd with all the way points loaded that easily transfers to the Garmin. Have done it several times.

10

Also depending what you have hooked up to the MFD, you may also need a port expander.

11

Thanks for the info gentlemen…I am going to try my Furuno radar to see if it detects cloud cover / rain…I know it works, it detects trees and stuff in my yard…lol.

Capt. Jim
26’ Ranger CC (Offshore)
Twin 200 Yamis

12

It won’t detect cloud cover

13

??? Well I don’t know what rain on the screen will look like either. I think I am just gonna have to plug it in and when it rains…see if there is detail or not. Thanks for input. Jim

Capt. Jim
26’ Ranger CC (Offshore)
Twin 200 Yamis

14

Rain, if thick enough, will look like most solid objects (barring newer color radars). If it is just light rain, and depending on your settings, you may not see much or you may see splotches here and there. Just think of your radar like a fish finder, but it sends a signal in a 360 degree pattern around your boat. When it hits an object large enough or dense enough, a signal bounces back to the antenna and interpreted by your machine.