Eagle SeaCharter 500C

Ever more popular are combined Sonar/GPS units giving a space saving aboard smaller boats with limited space, but also offering the practicality of having just the one unit to work with. The Eagle SeaCharter 500C fits this specification perfectly.

This combined Sonar and GPS unit has an ultra bright sunlight viewable 256-colour, active matrix Thin Film Technology LCD 5” vertical screen, and a 320V x 240H pixel count to give maximum definition. The screen is also back lit.

The function keys are arranged in two vertical rows, but individually horizontally ovalised to give a big target area for easy operation, with the main navigation button positioned immediately above. The keys are again back lit for night time or low light conditions.

It has a depth capability down to 1500-feet with a peak to peak power of 4000 watts via the high performance, low profile 50/200KHz Skimmer dual-frequency transducer delivering an extra wide angle of fish detection through high sensitive settings. This also sports a built in temperature sensor which can operate at speeds up to 70mph or 61-knots. Also included is an SP-U transom mount sensor to give exact trolling speed/distance log readings. Surface temperature readings are also available.

On screen you have adjustable ping speed with automatic HyperScroll to display fish targets better when running at high speed. A choice of six colour display modes to match outdoor light conditions and to improve the identification of fish hiding under seabed ground feature. The FastTrack vertical bar flasher displays real time sonar return signals and relative strength of each target, and the Advanced Signal Processing automatically adjusts your settings for the optimum picture.

The COLORLINE feature can separate fish from close by ground feature and the seabed, plus defines the type of seabed and its hardness. Advanced Fish I.D can show targets in different sizes of fish symbols, and FishTrack will display the depth of the fish above the fish symbols. You also have easy zoom in/out control to focus on bottom tracking, plus can select on/off alarms to indicate a shallowing depth, depth, fish and zone.

There is also an overlay facility displaying GPS data on the sonar screen, or sonar data on the GPS screen.

On the GPS side it sports 12-parallel channel GPS reception with fast satellite lock-on to give precise tracking with position updates taken every second via the external EGC-12W receiver. It is said to be capable of a position accuracy of under 10-feet.

It can save up to 1,000 waypoints, 1,000 event markers, and 100 different routes with up to 100 waypoints each. You can select from 42 different graphic icons to identify marks, locations and distinct feature. It even offers a 40 map zoom range from 0.02 miles to 4000 miles. The internal back-up memory system keeps all your stored GPS data and sonar marks permanently safe.

An optional extra is a GPS Mapping Accessory Pack including MapCreate CD Software, a digital media card, an MMC/SD card reader/writer that lets you create and customise your own maps.

It is a tough, reliable unit, fully sealed and waterproof for the worst possible conditions and comes with a full one-year warranty.