Installed Garmin 4210 - Solved many problems.

After a lot of research and head scratching I sprung for the Garmin 4210 chart plotter, sounder sat. radio bundle. Thought it might be helpful to some of you to see how and why I did. The Garmin system comes with all the charts for the US. I already had a G2 Vision card so I have the satellite images and the automatic "best course" functions. It is fast with no real delays in writing the images to the screen. The sonar tracks at all speeds and in very shallow water. We felt this a necessary addition to scout anchorages after almost getting hung up on a coral head last summer when the tide went out 4' more that it was supposed to. Good for offshore fishing as well. The transducer is on a mount on the transom that can be lifted out of the water when not being used. I used the old ladder mount as the ladder was removed to make room for the dingy motor.
The sat. radio module gives us access to many stations while cruising and gives us real time weather overlay on the charts. We only pay for this when we are on extensive cruises in the summer months. We bought a HD television converter box with the gov. coupon and hooked it to the first video feed. That gives us real time weather radar 24/7 when in coastal areas (not in the Keys, no stations S. of Miami). It also makes a very good weather proof cockpit television for watching the games while cruising down the ditch. In central Florida we get about 30 stations with quality better than cable at home.
Our jib is a deck sweeper 150 and is very hard to see around without being a contortionist. We sail a lot in the channel, in close quarters, and it makes it difficult to see the markers. We added an inexpensive bullet cam to the bow, placed under the port side seat. Added the feed to the second Garmin video input and so now have a clear view from the helm station. It has an infared function and so can see in the dark out to about 60'. Mounted the lid of a nice white Tupperware under the camera mount. When not in use I snap on the tupper to cover and protect the camera.