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best GPS solution?

5K views 26 replies 20 participants last post by  LinekinBayCD 
#1 ·
We recently bought an older Catalina 25 and are cleaning it up and getting ready for the summer! I am trying to decide what our best option will be as far as chartplotters go. I would like a basic color unit that I can use in the cockpit and below and has a good anchor alarm... Other features would be nice but are not required. Does anyone have any advice on a basic chartplotter?

What about using a netbook with a GPS antenna and nav software? MapTech Chart Navigator Pro? Coastal Explorer? Seaclear II? That way I would have a laptop onboard for other uses?

I'd love to hear what units other people use and what they like and don't like about them.

Thanks for your time!
 
#3 ·
What about using a netbook with a GPS antenna and nav software? MapTech Chart Navigator Pro? Coastal Explorer? Seaclear II? That way I would have a laptop onboard for other uses?
This is fine for down below at the navdesk and very helpful for planning, but not very particle as a principal plotter. You're most likely to be using the plotter in the cockpit where all the info is as at your fingertips while you are at the helm and approaching a strange marina. You're not likely and probably will never want to bring a notebook into the elements. They are just too clumsy (my lap top is anyway), hard to use at the helm and will never stand up to the elements they will be subjected to. <O:p</O:p
For planning and redundancy, we have a laptop running Maptech Carts with a USB GPS at the nav desk. It works great, but I would never consider it as the principal plotter. Also works great to keep an eye on the helmsman when off watch. <O:p</O:p<O:p</O:p
 
#5 ·
You need to be mindful of your potential chartplotter/ GPS power consumption. Your boat most likely has a group 24 battery with a rating of 40 - 80 amp hours, giving a "usable" 20 - 40 Ah. Your laptop most likely consumes a couple of amps per hour and your anchor light at least one. So using the laptop as an anchor alarm will completely discharge your battery overnight. I think that a GPS with an alarm capability would suit your needs better than a notebook. I used a Garmin Map 12 for years and was quite happy with it. I had charting software on my home computer where I could download routes and upload tracks. One more thing, color screens are big energy hogs. Try to find one that "sleeps". Black and white screens are much more efficient.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Lowrance

Lowrance has several offerings and if you go to their web page you can download a "product emulator" that lets you try it out as if you had one. See all that it can do before you buy. I bought a GlobalMap 5300C a couple of years ago and am very satisfied with it. Try Product Emulators.
And for the "cops" I'm not connected to Lowrance in any way other than a user of their products.
 
#8 ·
We've been extremely happy with a Garmin Oregon hand-held. Totally touchscreen so splash-resistant. Because its handheld, we've been able to move it to the dink, the car, another boat ...

Also, Garmin had the best charts for the Bahamas. Our Oregon came with both US & Bahamas charts installed. New, they were about $500, but I understand the cost has come down now that they're a couple of years old, Dan said he saw one in Miami for about $300. Minimal power use, and bright enough to use in the cockpit.
 
#10 ·
Options are a plenty but my vote would be for the handheld. I have the Garmin 60cx and like it fine, and as mentioned before I can use it in the boats (fishing and sailing), car and cycling. Also took it on my charters to the BVI since the boats at Footloose have plotters - just no map cards for some reason. We also have a Catalina 25 and cockpit space is a premium. We use the cabin bulkheads for back rests while anchored so didn't want to mount anything there. I have a RAM mount on the aft rail - out of the way so it is secure enough. You can plug it into the cigarete lighter but the larger (2700MAH) batteries last plenty long for me.
 
#11 ·
Prairie Rose, I've been looking at the Standard Horizon CP180i. I presently have a Garmin 162 chartplotter that needs to be replaced because I can no longer get updated charts for it (Garmin discontinued the blue charts). The Standard Horizon CP180i looks like a good product. Do you connect it to a computer at home to do route planning? If so, what charting program do you use and do your charts that you bought for the gps work in that program? How much did that cost? Was it possible to download your routes from your computer onto your gps?

Thanks for the info;

Tod
 
#12 ·
Paper charts, hockey puck compass and binoculars with compass. I also have a Garmin 76 handheld.
Does anybody really need a chartplotter for inshore and near coastal sailing?
I like chartplotters and have used them on charter boats even when I can clearly see bouys and headlands, but this is not a need.
 
#13 ·
Ulladh, I agree, a CP is a toy. I always have my paper charts ready to go. There is no replacement for the real deal. Having said that it is nice to have all that information in one place, at the helm.

Gladrags. I am about to purchase the card reader kit from Jeppesens, the same company that makes C-Map. It is a card reader for a computer. And software. It allows you to view all the charts you have on your computer and do all your routing. The downside here is that you need two chips. (the kit comes with the second) You put the map chip in and do all your work. Then you put your blank card in and save routs and waypoints ect. Then you return to the unit and install chip 2 upload user data and then install your chart kit and you are good to go. It is not the perfect system but for the 150 bucks give or take. I used to use candadian gov't charts but if you search my other posts you will discover that that went poorly.

I will be picking up and using this system in the next week or two, Ill let you know how it goes.
 
#15 ·
Plotters

Hello,

I started with a Garmen Etrex Legend, a small black and white handheld chartplotter. On my next boat I moved to a Lowrance M68 C Smap, a small (3.5") color plotter / sounder. On my next boat I moved up to a Lowrance 337 C DF, a 5" high res color screen with dual frequency sounder.

What I have learned is that color is better than black and white, bigger screen is better than smaller screen, and connections with other devices is good too.

You didn't mention a budget or if you need other electronics as well. For example, do you have a VHF and a depth finder? Is your budget $200, $500, or higher?

Lastly, be sure to pay attention to 'extras' like the GPS receiver (some are built in, others are external) and charts. Some makes come with detailed charts built in, others require chips for $100.

Right now I like Lowrance. IMHO, they offer the best bang for the buck. Garmin is good of course, as is Raymarine and Standard Horizon.

Good luck,
Barry
 
#16 ·
Thanks for all of the advice. My budget was around $300... I already have a VHF and a depth sounder so I'm really just looking for something to validate where I think we are versus where the chart says we are versus what the chartplotter says. I see how the netbook would be tough, near impossible, to use in the cockpit. Is a color screen really that much better than a monochrome?
 
#17 ·
Yes, the color screens are usually a good deal more readable, especially in sunlight. Also, they make distinguishing different types of data from each other easier...since the things can be color coded.
 
#18 ·
JJ,
If you have paper charts (which you should have for contingency anyways) you don't need a CP - buy a good GPS and use the rest on sails/rigging/rum/beer?

Just my 2 cents, many will disagree, but just remember that most leisure marine Chartplotters come with a warning that they're not suitable for navigation (not the actual wording) :)
 
#19 ·
In your situation, (25 foot overnight boat) I would get one of the Garmin PORTABLE units that can go on the boat, or in the car. They come with the street maps, and charts for your type of sailing.

I have the GPSmap 478 (and like it a lot!), which is designed for US Coastal Navigation. If you were a lake sailor, the GPSmap 378 is the same unit with US Lake and inland waterway charts. The 478 currently LISTS for $800, but you can find it for 1/2 of that.
 
#20 ·
I have had a variety of Garmin handhelds and chartplotters over the last 15-18 years. When it comes to choice and variety of models there is no one else comes close (IMO). The best bargains are the handelds and semi-portable like the GPS MAP 478 that come preloaded with every coastal chart for the US. Right now I have a Garmin fixed mount 3006c, the mentioned 478 and a GPS Map 76 (monochrome) used as a backup. The color makes an exponential difference in viewability, I would not comsider a greyscale with so many color choices available now. The new Oregon looks interesting. If it has te same amount of preloaded charts as my 478 its a bargan.

Someone questioned the need for a chartplotter for costal crusing. I actually think it is more helpful for coastal crusing than off-shore with a greater level of prcisision needed for coastal work. Maybe it varies with your area but up in Maine with gazillions of similar looking islands and tons of submerged garnite all around I like every bit of info I can get, especially when the fog rolls in.
 
#21 ·
Good Luck finding a GPSMAP 478 new. They are discontinued. The few places that have them want an arm and a leg for them. It appears they have become somewhat of a cult item as a lot of folks do not want to go to the 640 touchscreen. Downside of the 478 is that the reason it was discontinued was the supplier of the screen quit building that screen, so when the screen poops out not likely to get it repaired.

michael
 
#22 ·
#27 ·
The closest Garmin in features to the 478 is the 640, a touchscreen model also preloaded with all coastal and street maps. I have found the ability to swap between marine and street mode on the 478 very handy. Unfortunately the 640 being a newer model isn't discounted as much as the 478 was at the end of its run.
 
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