Gps

[albin43]

can anyone recomend a decent GPS? nothing crazy... just maybe something you have had luck with.

-- Edited by albin43 on Friday 2nd of April 2010 07:04:51 AM

 

[Steppen]

Albin43,

Way too many variables to give you any kind of answer.* Chartplotter?* PC connection? Handheld? USB connection?* WAAS capable?* How do you plan to use the GPS?

 

[ARoss]

This is sorta like asking - Can anyone recommend a good boat? Knowing your needs and wallet will make it a little easier for the panel to make a recommendation.

I have two Garmin chartplotters, one at each helm station, an older 4" display and a new 10" unit I picked up for a real bargain price. If you get two, having the same brand can make adapting to the buttons easier -- I was on a friend's sailboat equipped with a nice Raymarine plotter, but I think the menus, etc would have taken a while to get familiar with.

We cruise up & down ICW and I like to plot the day's travels to keep track of ETA, position, etc. (yes I do have a full set of paper charts too) If you only need a hand-held there are all sorts of options as well.

Surfing the net for bargains can be worth the effort.

 

[albin43]

im sorry, chartplotter, color. i plan to use it just for small trips to the 1000 islands and lake ontairo. finding dive spots ect.

 

[troy994719]

Garmin has a few models with $100 rebates right now

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SiteSearchView?dispName=ELECTRONICS&jspStoreDir=wm51&catalogId=10001&view100page=100&Nao=0&Ne=69&Ntt=Global%20Positioning%20Systems&N=377%20710%201420%204294966957&langId=-1&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&omniTag=Brand:GARMIN&PopularCat=No&storeId=10001


Also if you have a laotop you could with charting software?

 

[Phil Fill]

*
Have you thought about*a *portable GPS with charts on a portable computer.* I been using a small portable Garmin connected to our PC for 10+ years.* That way I can take the GPS and PC on other boats.* One of the nice features is I can plot a course,*simulate*the tide/curents to see what is the best time to leave and/or get through shallow passages at the home/office.*

 

[albin43]

Phil Fill wrote:


*

*
Have you thought about*a *portable GPS with charts on a portable computer.* I been using a small portable Garmin connected to our PC for 10+ years.* That way I can take the GPS and PC on other boats.* One of the nice features is I can plot a course,*simulate*the tide/curents to see what is the best time to leave and/or get through shallow passages at the home/office.*

phill that sound exactally what id like to do. what do you use???

*

 

[Phil Fill]

The Garmin is a basic cheap with no maps or anything as I bought also for back packing and mountain biking.* Make sure what ever you buy out puts the NEAMA signal and there is an adapter cord.* Most new computers have UBS ports.*


*
10+ ago I bought Chartview which is now Nobeltec sold at most marine stores, which I have loaded on several new PC over the 10 year period.* Still works great.

 

[koliver]

I have used Garmin for years. Bought my first one in 1987. Still like them. I also have a Humminbird chart plotter. Not intuitive to use. doesn't get your routes up without a lot of hassle. Wouldn't reccommend, except for price. Often the wrong reason to buy something.
I use my PC with a GPS plug in, by far the best.

 

[FF]

Seems the new I pod and other similar units will make the installed GPS mostly for use by the auto pilot.

I sure would wait a while as the GPS costs may drop another 90%.

 

[Baker]

You can get a little plug in "computer GPS" for under 50 bucks and then get some charting software....

BUT

The very short answer to your question with nothing considered.....FURUNO NAVNET 3D!!! I don't think anyone would be disappointed with that!!!

To edit and add to that.....Furuno does make Navnet 3D charting software as well I think(Maxsea).....but it aint cheap at somewhere around a solid boat buck for just software. *They do make cheaper versions that aren't Navnet interfaced.





-- Edited by Baker on Saturday 3rd of April 2010 09:51:19 AM

 

[Steppen]

Here's a simple PC based suggestion. If you already have a laptop running Windows then buy a basic Garmin GPSMap 76 handheld GPS (about $170 on the internet), buy Rose Point Navigation's Coastal Explorer charting software (around $399 retail and that includes ALL the NOAA charts for the US), get a Keyspan USA-19HS serial to USB converter (about $45) and then a Garmin 12VDC/serial port adapter (Garmin p/n 010-10165-00 for about $40) which will enable you to connect the GPS through the Keyspan to your computer. Somewhere around $700 with shipping etc.

This setup took us to Alaska and back in 2005 (except back then I used The Capn software) and still functions as my backup. The GPSMap76 is a basic unit, WAAS capable, grey tone display and has limited internal memory but you can buy and upload Garmin charts for it too. I use this setup with a Dell laptop when delivering boats that haven't had electronics installed yet.

One caveat...you might need an external antenna for the GPS. You will get much better reception and less interference when navigating from a lower (covered) steering station.

-- Edited by Steppen on Saturday 3rd of April 2010 04:45:16 PM

 

[Bendit]

If you have an iPhone or a late model iPod Touch, these have a built-in GPS receiver and you can download a complete set of Navionics Gold equivalent charts from iTunes for about $16. The unit will then function as a chartplotter and has to be the cheapest option around.

Using the chartplotter function does not require you to be connected to a network. Makes a great back-up anyway!

-- Edited by Bendit on Monday 5th of April 2010 08:14:09 PM

 

[albin43]

bendit im going to do this for now

 

[sunchaser]

I just bought a hand held VHF which also has a GPS system built in. You can connect it*to a chartplotter if desired. This is my 4th GPS (AIS and 2 chart plotters) *on the boat*- main intent is for dinghy use.

-- Edited by sunchaser on Tuesday 6th of April 2010 12:36:38 PM

 

[albin43]

i bought this app.. can i use it on my PC??

 

[Bendit]

No, unfortunately it's specific to*iPhone/iPod and won't work on a PC.

 

[Marin]

Something to consider is screen size. Given the kind of detail one is usually interested in when navigating--- rocks, reefs, bars, channels, navaids, etc. I would find it very frustrating to try to navigate a boat using something the size of an iPhone or iTouch screen. I don't know if the navigation apps for these things are available for the iPad, or even if you could feed a GPS signal to an iPad (unless it already has a receiver/antenna built in) but that screen size would be a lot better than an iPhone.

Back in about 1999 we bought a Magellan Nav 6000. This long-since discontinued handheld GPS plotter is terrific. It uses the same C-MapNT cards as our older EchoTech plotter and the operating system is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. We were looking for a portable GPS plotter that we could use both on the flying bridge of the GB and in our 17' Arima fishing boat. At the time, this was the only unit on the market that used C-MapNT cards, which we had a lot of money invested in (back then it took a eight $200 cards to cover the PNW waters up to Cape Caution). The Nav 6000 has a 4" diagonal screen which is usable but I would not recommend this small of a screen today. Our Furuno NavNet VX2 has a 7" screen, and while I think even this is too small it at least is mounted in such a way as to be very close to the helmsman.

I would recommend at least a 10" screen on any nav system. We would have gotten the 10" Furuno NavNet but it was just a tad too wide for the retractable radar display mount at our helm station.

But no matter how one justifies a small-screen nav unit, I will wager they will soon end up wishing they'd bought a unit with a much larger screen.

 

[Peter B]

Trouble is, and I don't dispute the benefit of larger screens - I just luuuuuve my Panasonic HD plasma for sport etc, but, when it comes to these GPS, plotters etc, the price seems linked directly to the screen size and shoots up dramatically just for that, when the functions and guts are hardly any different.

 

[sunchaser]

My Nobeltec system is on a laptop. That screen is too hard to see in the sunlight. I bought 2 $180 monitors. They work just fine, not as good as a sunlight viewable Furuno of course but 1/12th the cost.

 

[Bendit]

I agree, size is always important and we use a very old Gateway laptop, with a broken screen, running Fugawi and Navionics Gold charts, connected to a remote 15" screen.

However, the iPhone makes a great back-up. I first saw this operating on a friends 29' yacht last December. For a small tiller-steered yacht, with nowhere to permanently mount electronics in the cock-pit, an iPhone in the pocket is a great solution.

 

[Marin]

I said in an earlier post the Magellan Nav 6000 was the only unit in the late '90s that used C-MapNT cards. Obviously that's wrong---- it was the only handheld unit back then that used C-MapNT cards.....

 

[Enola B]

There are alot of the older Garmin's on the market, I have an earlier version of their
first portable with "g-chart", a 176C, nice little unit and the chart detail is fantastic,
just be aware that with a small screen you have to zoom in quite close to see all
the detail. Saw one on e-bay, starting bid $1.00 so i believe they can be picked up
pretty cheap. Also the newer 3000 series are about to go out of production so there
should be some pretty good deals on them. No I don't work for Gamin but I do
deal with their Aviation products on a regular basis, in the Avionics biz, and they
build a great product. I'm planning to put a full Garmin suite on the boat
when I finish the restoration project, but thats another story.

Bill

 

[Baker]

Peter B wrote:

Trouble is, and I don't dispute the benefit of larger screens - I just luuuuuve my Panasonic HD plasma for sport etc, but, when it comes to these GPS, plotters etc, the price seems linked directly to the screen size and shoots up dramatically just for that, when the functions and guts are hardly any different.

Yep, the screen is the most expensive piece to the whole puzzle. *Even a la[top computer thatis not sunlight viewable, that is the most expensive part. * And yes, Furuno charges an arm and a leg for their larger displays.

 

[Tidahapah]

From my own point of view, I have all ways found that a fixed computer system running Nobeltec or such with a good screen is the way to go.
Screens are cheap and of good quality.
My existing system is now 5 years old and as I am updating my plotter system I am upgrading the computer.(small footprint) such as available from Cappachino or Pioneer in Aus.
And if you worry about screens carry a lap top as back up or a spare screen , they are cheap enough.

Benn

-- Edited by Tidahapah on Saturday 17th of April 2010 02:55:49 PM

 

[surveyor1]

Has anyone mentioned the plasma vs. LCD issue ?
You can have a cheap laptop, just make sure it has the LCD screen for best daylight visibilty.