Garmin showcased its flagship GPSMAP® 9000 chartplotter series designed for commercial fishing captains, released last month. Available with 19”, 22”, 24”, or 27” touchscreen displays, these all-in-one chartplotters offer 4K resolution with edge-to-edge clarity, powered by a processor that’s seven-times faster than previous generations. Thanks to the new Garmin BlueNet^™ gigabit network, these premium multi-function displays (MFDs) provide comprehensive connectivity throughout the vessel with faster networking speeds than ever before.   

For the first time, captains can see fish and sonar targets in 4K high definition, too, by adding a Garmin GSD™ sonar module, Panoptix^™ transducer or LiveScope^™ sonar.

Utilizing Garmin’s new BlueNet gigabit network, mariners can link the GPSMAP 9000 series with multiple chartplotters, cameras, radars, sonars, and more at ten times faster networking speeds. Powered by BlueNet, the GPSMAP 9000 series offers enhanced multimedia streaming and video integration. Users can even play and hear the same video throughout multiple screens and speakers on the network thanks to HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) distribution. 

A Garmin representative spoke to an undersold aspect of the new GPSMAP 9000, an adapter that can also connect to compatible existing Garmin marine systems, including other GPSMAP chartplotters², radars, autopilots, sensors, and more via NMEA® 2000 and NMEA^® 0183 networks.

“This is the new switch, but this box underneath is a gateway that allows you to use old Garmin network devices with a new 9000. So, if you have a 5-year-old radar and some old 5-year-old plotter, all you need is this box (the gateway), and then you can put a new 9000 screen on it, and you’re good to go. This is a big deal,” the representative said.

The Garmin representative explained this further, speaking to the mentality that fishermen need to discard of their entire electronic suite when a company designs a new product, “That isn’t always the case,” he said. “This gateway adapter is exponentially cheaper than buying a new radar.”