Handheld Gps

J S · 30 October 2006, 17:21

Hi there i would like your advice on what hand held gps you thing would be suitable for navigation on a 3.5m sib. I would like to be able to plot a course and follow it on the gps.

Comments advice appreciated.

James

Nos4r2 · 30 October 2006, 17:27

Check the battery life before you buy-I bought one a couple of years back and it used a set of batteries every 4 hours

codprawn · 30 October 2006, 17:49

Depends what sort of detail you want. The mapping on most hand held GPS units is not up to much. Great for going to waypoints etc or finding your way back to a point though.

You could always buy a PDA with built in GPS - then you can use it in the car with TomTom or buy charts for it or even convert paper charts. Even surf the net.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MIO-P550-WIFI-...QQcmdZViewItem

Very versatile and you can get an otterbox or even a waterproof bag for it.

J S · 30 October 2006, 18:04

I think i would prefer a dedicated one as a pda ( i have one ) might be a bit fiddly to use when going along. Does anybody have an idea of what makes / models are the best.

Thanks

James

Andy Moore · 30 October 2006, 18:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by J S

Hi there i would like your advice on what hand held gps you thing would be suitable for navigation on a 3.5m sib. I would like to be able to plot a course and follow it on the gps.

I would recommend that you stick to something from the Garmin range. Maybe an eTrek. Well made and intuitive to use.

IMO, of course.

Andy Moore · 30 October 2006, 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Moore

Maybe an eTrek.

Scrub that. An eTrek may not be waterproof.

Andy Moore · 30 October 2006, 18:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Moore

Maybe an eTrek.

Scrub that. An eTrek may not be waterproof.

The general advice about Garmin gear applies though.

Look here...

Tomas · 30 October 2006, 19:53

I recommend a Garmin 60Cx with Blue Charts mapping. You can get an adapter for a 12V plug, it is waterproof, does auto routing if you have City Nav and the marine charts are pretty darn good with bathymetric depth lines, marks and all. There is a 60CSx that also has a fluxgate compass and altitude computation but I don't recommend it. The 60 Cx is bulletproof! It is a hand held and you can also get marine mount and auto mounts for it. It's antenna and chip set are a new deal and are very very good at obtaining and holding a fix in adverse conditions such as tree or cloud cover.

Stoo · 30 October 2006, 20:12

http://www.lowrance.com/Outdoor/Products/iFINDERH2O.asp

I use one of these as a backup to my fixed mount Lowrance LCX-25C. A big part of the appeal was that both units accept Navionics charts and that I could pre-load a zillion waypoints on the handheld and then transfer them over to the fixed unit.

The handheld does eat batteries as was pointed out, and you might consider a unit that you can "plug in" to a power supply. The iFinder will do that, so I can plug it in to a cigarette lighter-type outlet, and also use in in my truck...

Both units are waterproof.

Lostboy · 31 October 2006, 09:05

I have the good old Garmin 72 handheld with a permanent feed from the rib so battery life isn't an issue. It has all the solent racing marks and waypoints in so I have a pretty good idea of where I am despite not being a plotter. I use a handheld as I then transfer it to the yacht when racing and it gets used ahead of the plotters as it can be held on the rail and viewed rather than keep disappearing down below or trying to get behind the plotter mounted on the binnacle.

I haven't gone down the handheld plotter route yet but with the 76cs being discontinued and there being a lot of offers on I am considering that. The fact that it's the same size, shape and fittings as the 72 and mean that I wouldn't have to change anything on the rib appeals immensely! The only negative is the very small screen size relative to a 276 or larger.

Nauti Buoy · 31 October 2006, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomas

I recommend a Garmin 60Cx with Blue Charts mapping. You can get an adapter for a 12V plug, it is waterproof, does auto routing if you have City Nav and the marine charts are pretty darn good with bathymetric depth lines, marks and all. There is a 60CSx that also has a fluxgate compass and altitude computation but I don't recommend it. The 60 Cx is bulletproof! It is a hand held and you can also get marine mount and auto mounts for it. It's antenna and chip set are a new deal and are very very good at obtaining and holding a fix in adverse conditions such as tree or cloud cover.

Can highly recommend this one as well, I have one and am very pleased with it. Easy to use and clear screen.

BogMonster · 31 October 2006, 09:33

I've got a GPS72 and though I haven't figured out how it all works yet it seems ok and is supposed to be waterproof.

Regarding battery life I'd add a cautionary note about believing manufacturers claims - I also have an eTrex (basic "yellow peril" model) with a claimed battery life of 22 hours - not a chance! - half that if you are lucky though I've never measured it. The eTrex is supposed to be waterproof except for the battery compartment which isn't, so if you drop it in the oggin all you'd need is a new set of batteries.

Mapping GPS's are not a lot of use here as the base maps are a bit restricted. I was driving a visitor around the Islands a couple of weeks ago with a £500 odd fancy mapping GPS he bought to record where he'd been. The base map of the coastline of East Falkland (island measuring about 50 miles NW/SE x about 100 NE/SW)was made up of about eight straight lines so he gave up after the first day because it kept saying we were in the water

codprawn · 31 October 2006, 13:07

That's my point - just how good are the maps on these small GPS units? With a PDA if you are crafty enough you can use good paper maps and even aerial photos and see exactly where you are!!!

Texel Tom · 31 October 2006, 14:52

Take a look at the Lowrance H2Oc. Nice big high resolution colour screen. IPX7 waterproof, 12v lead, Navionics or Nauticpath cartography.

Plus NMEA output with data cable (for your DSC) which some of the others don't have.

You can buy it currently for under £300 with the chart included.

TT

Tomas · 31 October 2006, 19:33

Most of the plotters come with a very limited basemap. You gotta spring for some extra dinero for the advanced land based or water based charts. I read the Steve's post from the South Atlantic and the follwing conditions apply to the expensive units. They will either route by following a road or simply straight line from point a to point b as one would usually do in the water. I don't know what maps they had in the unit or the quality of either basemaps or enhanced maps for the Falklands but it sounds like it wasn't set up to Follow the Road when navigating. The enhanced maps for most of the world are truly remarkable at this point and the software is the same for either large units or handhelds water side or land side.

Tomas · 31 October 2006, 19:35

About GPS

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?act=idx

Stoo · 01 November 2006, 02:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texel Tom

Take a look at the Lowrance H2Oc. Nice big high resolution colour screen. IPX7 waterproof, 12v lead, Navionics or Nauticpath cartography.

This the unit I use for my backup unit. As well as the Navionic chart, it has a lower resolution chart of the world (the ones here are mid-rez. for the US). When using the Navionic chart, the screen refreshes more slowly than my fixed mount unit. I presume that this is just a processor speed issue. In areas where the chart has a lot of data, (like our "30,000 Islands) this slow refresh might be an issue in a fast boat. Although if there's that much stuff in the water, presumably you aren't going to fast!

Texel Tom · 01 November 2006, 08:06

Lowrance's own NauticPath charts are very good but do have less detail than Navionics which does have the benefit of faster re-draw rates. Mine seems OK. The other really nice feature is that with an extra fairly cheap MMC/card reader you can do all your passage planning on your PC via free emulator software and then save it all to the card and transfer it to the unit.

TT

spynappels · 01 November 2006, 08:47

Where is the best place to get the Lowrance H2Oc from, have heard good things and like the idea of MapCreate Software. Do not want fixed GPS coz boat is not mine, but I do borrow it regularly.

regards, Stefan

Tony · 01 November 2006, 09:28

I found this one on Ebay
looks like a decent price.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LOWRANCE-H2Oc-...QQcmdZViewItem