Garmin 4212 antenna question

[Fishinspot]

I have the 4212 and I need to get an antenna for it. Garmin site shows the 17HVS discontinued and they show the below antenna's available for this unit:

GXM51 - $700.00

17X nmea2000 - $250.00

17X NMEA 0183 - $200.00

I still need to mount the unit in the boat and runs cabling so should I go ahead and run the NMEA 2000 and get that antenna or should I save a little and get the 0183 17x for now? Right now I have a Furuno 600 FF and a Raymarime radar. I will be keeping these units for awhile. I have a volvo Penta I/O with a duoprop outdrive. I hear the cabling/ends/connectors can be expensive for the 200 setup. How much dollar wise NMEA 2000 gear do I need to basically hook it up as it sits now with just the antenna connected to it? Is the GXM 51 really worth all the extra money.

Thanks,

Doug

[bluewaterpirate]

I have the 4212 and I need to get an antenna for it. Garmin site shows the 17HVS discontinued and they show the below antenna's available for this unit:

GXM51 - $700.00

17X nmea2000 - $250.00

17X NMEA 0183 - $200.00

I still need to mount the unit in the boat and runs cabling so should I go ahead and run the NMEA 2000 and get that antenna or should I save a little and get the 0183 17x for now? Right now I have a Furuno 600 FF and a Raymarime radar. I will be keeping these units for awhile. I have a volvo Penta I/O with a duoprop outdrive. I hear the cabling/ends/connectors can be expensive for the 200 setup. How much dollar wise NMEA 2000 gear do I need to basically hook it up as it sits now with just the antenna connected to it? Is the GXM 51 really worth all the extra money.

Thanks,

Doug

Doug .....

I'm assuming that you purchased your unit from another unit and it did not come with a GPS antenna.

Here is ground truth for you.

1. The GXM 51 antenna is does not receive any GPS positional data. It is used for for XM Weather/Music and sends all the necessary data to your 4212 so you can use XM functionalities. It is an exclusive NMEA 2000 device and comes with all the necessary cables and t connectors.

Here's what the GXM 51 Antenna looks like (note the RCA connector cables are used to connect your 4212 to your onboard radio (aux connector) so you can listen to XM music)

2. It would be to your benefit to go with the GPS 17x NMEA 2000 antenna. The reason I say this is that to connect your 4212 to volvo engines you will do so via NMEA 2000.

3. Your NMEA 2000 backbone will have it's own power source which is is not an issue. The backbone will plug into the back of your 4212 so that it can use all the NMEA 2000 devices.

Bottomline .... the only thing you need to get started is the GPS 17x NMEA 2000 antenna.

Tom

[Fishinspot]

Thanks for the good info Tom!

Does the 17x NMEA 2000 antenna come with the backbone that you mentioned?

Doug