Hi,

Thinking of buying a RayMarine Dragonfly, can anybody confirm that I can use it with Reefmaster without any problems?
Found an old topic but it wasnt really clear (to me), maybe there have been updates.

I would also like to know if its possible to display contour maps created with Reefmaster on the Dragonfly.

First I was going for the HDS5 but Structurescan costs extra, while in the DragonFly a similar feature is already included.

Any reply is much appreciated!

kind regards,
Raymon

You can log for Reefmaster with DF, but you can not produce maps for it. If the HDS 5 is a bit steep, look at Elite 5 HDI instead. Compearing HDS and DF is a bit unfair, HDS is a full blown MFD (multi function display), DF is a stand alone unit. With the pricedrop on Elite HDI these days, you should be able to get a good deal.

Elite HDI has downscan, just as DF. HDS has StructureScan, both SideScan and DownScan. Raymarine has their version of StructureScan as well, but then we are back in a totally different pricerange.

Thanks a lot the reply.
Since the Dragonfly is not suitable for creating a map it will not be suitable for my needs.

You have done 2 great proposals actually, since at first I was thinking of buying an HDS 5 (gen 2)

What I want to use the combo for is:

-accurate depth + gps measurements
-create maps with Reefmaster
-upload and display user-created contour maps on the combo so that you can use them whilst fishing
- nice to have but no deal-breaker: the photo-like images so you can distinguish fish signs from weed etc. (Downscan)
The price for HDS 5 and and Elite HDI are almost the same here, 519 euro for the HDS (ex structure scan ofcourse) and 469 for the Elite HDI.
I see the Elite 5 HDI has DownScan imaging so it looks perfect but I have also read the it is not really detailed.

Seeing my needs, what would you recommend? Is there a lot of quality difference between HDS and Elite?

Kind regards,
Raymon

For mapping I certainly would recommend an HDS unit instead of an Elite HDI. More possiblities, more CPU power.

Like Danny, I would highly recommend HDS for anyone wanting to do mapping.

I have a HDS 7 and if I could do over I would have bought the HDS 8 and got that extra screen space and the quick access buttons. In my opinion unless you are using two HDS 5, one dedicated to the GPS and the other to the sounder without structure scan then I think the screen would be too small. On my HDS 7 the screen is too small to really utilise structure scan unless it is on a dedicated page. Even then the extra size of the HDS 8 or 10 would allow me to discern much more detail.

If your serious about using structure scan I wouldn't recommend going smaller than a HDS 8.

Dan

One of the great things with HDS, that Elite does not support, is ethernet. With ethernet you can connect two (or more) HDS-units and let them share maps, sonar and waypoints. This means that if you start out with a 5, and end up feeling that you should have gone bigger, the second screen you buy will share with the first one. I used to run 2 HDS 5 and one 8, but now have one 5, one 8 and one 9 on my dash. Probably more screen-space then most find necessary, but very nice.

The 4:3 screens like 5,8 and 10 are very good for regular sonar, maps and downscan. The 15:9/16:9 are nice for splittscreen and sidescan.

I started out with HDS 5, and then it sort of took off from there. :D

Thanks a lot for all the help guys, will definitely go for the HDS 5 (for starters :) )