GPS cartography?

[Nasher]

Hi all

I have been looking around recently for a GPS and Fishfinder for my RIB and discovered how cheap they are from the states at the moment.

I settled on a Garmin 240 fishfinder which in the UK I struggled to find for under £290. I brought one in from the states for £114 delivered and paid £25 duty on delivery, I'm taking the risk on it going wrong for that price. Its working fine at the moment.

However buying in a GPS is a different matter. I think I want a Garmin GPSMAP 176C that I can swap from Boat to Car and download cartography to. In the UK I can buy from The big chandlers at Port Solent for £449 or online for £395, but can pick one up in the states for half that.

My question is about the cartography, in theory the basemap is the same but a dealer has warned me that it is in fact different, but he did want to sell me the same system for nearly £500.

Does anyone know the truth?

Thanks

Nasher.

[codprawn]

I have been wondering exactly the same - any advice anyone? Also which of the various types is the best - I know it's like asking "how long is a piece of string"!

[swginn]

I also bought a Chartplotter/Sonar unit from the States from www.onlinemarine.com for about half the price as well.

I bought the Lowrance LMS-320 so don't know much about your unit but the basemap is identical to my friend's basemap from a unit he purchased in the UK for double the price.

The Lowrance uses Navionics charts available easily from Navionics UK. Pretty much bullet-proof, no problems with water ingress, etc. Great unit! now moving it to my new boat.

[Steve Care]

A friend of mine bought his in the states when on his holiday and you have to ask them for the european foot print as the first one he got from the shop was usa but they had both in stock when he took it back. I believe thats what happened from memory

[nik]

I can see no reason why you cannot use uk cartography on us sourced units, unless they have done something to prevent you from doing so like has been attampted with regionalisation with dvd`s. And now thinking about there should be no restrictions for safety reasons. As I understand it, us cartography should be pretty much the same as uk cartography apart from the port / starboard marks for entering ports.
Nick.

[Garygee]

Hi folks

Quite sure that my Garmin 2010C has a world map, which covers everywhere.

Based on this how can it be different for the UK ?.

Sore point this we are always getting ripped on on this country and I often buy now from the states.

Regards Gary

[Slipstream]

Hi,

I purchased a GPS 176C from the States 12 months ago, as they are much cheaper than UK/Ireland. The basemap is a worldmap. I suspect that this is the same for all units whether purchased in the States or the UK. I use a BlueChart data cartridge which is based on UK/Irish paper charts, if you visit the Cartography section of the Garmin website, and find a chart appropriate for you, it will list the paper charts from which data is sourced.

A good unit, if a little difficult sometimes to view in strong bright sunlight, the colours washout. There is a new unit, GPS 276C, available Q2 2004 which has a TFT colour screen, which should be better under direct sunlight.

M.

[Nasher]

Thanks very much for everones views, I think I'll go ahead and buy from the states.

Nasher

[simmons0]

I tried to buy one from the States but couldnt get one with a European base map. There are different base maps but at that price you could get the America's base map and and buy a bluechart chip for whereever you are likely to cruise.

[JCW]

You are correct. I have a Garmin 176C purchased from the states and the basemap is detailed in the US but very basic for the rest of the world. However, even the detailed basemap is not much use and I actually disable the basemap as I use it with Bluecharts.

I was informed by Garmin that the basemap is not transferable to the european version, only the firmware can be updated.

[simmons0]

Ditto JCW, even the normal base map isn't particularly useful.

[Andre]

JCW

I did exactly the same and got the Garmin 176C from the US from www.thegpsstore.com and later bought the Bluechart in the UK of the English Channel and this works without any problems.
Have used it in the car on the continent but using only the base map of the unit . Must say for a very basic map it did show quite a few cities

Andre

[timboli]

I have a UK sourced 176c,I am after the blue chart meu001r cartridge of the english channel which I have seen for 125 dollars(about 70.00),does anyone know of any reason why this wont work or if the symbols etc will be different?

[Andre]

Originally posted by timboli
I have a UK sourced 176c,I am after the blue chart meu001r cartridge of the english channel which I have seen for 125 dollars(about 70.00),does anyone know of any reason why this wont work or if the symbols etc will be different?

I have just checked my bluechart and have the same meu001r code and works very well with my Garmin 176C which came from the US. I bought the bluechart in the UK
can't remember how much but for sure over £100.00

You should not have any problems

Andre

[Headhunter]

The GPSMAP 276C is is a new Garmin model due April 04. See below.


I have a 176c and it is not much use on land in the car.
It will show you where you are on the chartmap, but it does not navigate road routes or give you directions as say the tom-tom software on a handheld PDA does.


John



GPSMAP 276C

Details here:-

http://www.globalpositioningsystems....6&category_id=

The GPSMAP 276C is an all-in-one, versatile, colour chartplotter and automobile navigator - perfect for land or water. This portable GPS navigator features a 256-colour TFT display that's easy to read in bright sun along with a built-in basemap and auto routing to provide you with turn-by-turn directions to the marina for a day of boating.

On water, the GPSMAP 276C is a dependable, colour chartplotter with a built-in Autoroute basemap enhanced by Garmin's marine cartography. It accepts pre-programmed or user programmed data cards with MapSource BlueChart for offshore detail or Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots for detail of inland lakes.

In addition, the GPSMAP 276C supports external NMEA sources for water depth, water temperature, and water speed through two serial interfaces. The unit also features a new Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) - an advanced navigation tool commonly found on aircraft, but equally practical in the marine environment. The CDI quickly indicates if a boat has veered off course.

On land, the GPSMAP 276C’s European Autoroute basemap features major roads and motorways. With an optional automotive kit that includes MapSource City Select software, data card, friction mount, and 12-volt power adapter with speaker, drivers can receive voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions to addresses and points of interest throughout Europe.

For map transfer or software updates, the GPSMAP 276C features a fast USB-PC interface. The unit is also powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, or a standard 110-volt AC plug