Starting from Scratch. Help!

[Tempest245]

Hellosailor, thanks.

The Garmin refurbished units that I'm seeing, all come with a one year manufacturers warranty, and a 30 day return policy to the seller.

The labor hours seemed high and if takes a pro 40 hours it would take me 80..
The one that stuck out for me was 10 hours to install the wind instrument, with the mast down. Although I guess it's possible...mount the vane, run wire down the mast, then to the display, mount the display, power the display.

Good idea on calling the manufacturer...didn't think to do that.

[hellosailor]

"if takes a pro 40 hours it would take me 80.."
I fully agree with that, I only question the difference between a pro working in a workmanlike professional manner, and the "alleged professionals" who plague our society in so many ways. Including, doing work in a poor fashion or taking twice as long as the average handyman--or both.
OK, you've got a radar mount (self-leveling?) I don't know. Still, it is going to bolt or clamp on in some manner, then a cable will run forward. Snaking cables eats time, securing them per ABYC specification with clamps every so many inches and chafe protection, etc., takes time...but there's a limit to how much time, unless the guys are also planning to clean and detail the wire runs, polish the bolts, and give you a hand-drawn rendering of the whole thing before and after.

But for an experienced pro...what can I say, it took the work of many alleged professionals, over many years, to make me a skeptic and cynic about these things. Last time I need a major car repair (too much for me to tackle) the dealer estimated $1300. An independent shop with a top-notch reputation among collectors said no more than half of that. And guess which one had sharper techs? (Wound up only $225 from the shop, I got lucky, knock wood.)