Handheld GPSs

[Brian]

The distillation of opinion last time this matter was discussed here, was that the Garmin 12 at £100ish, was definately the one to go for.
Now that my Magellan 3000 has decided to pop it's clogs, I'll go for the Garmin unless technology has already changed things in the last few weeks.
How about a poll on who uses what Keith?

[Charles]

Good choice Brian..... I have one as a back-up and the batteries seem to last forever. I have dropped it on pontoons and in the water countless times and still works perfectly, as you said, simple like you!

[Keith Hart]

Hello,

Yes the debate on hand held gps came to the conclusion that the Garmin12 was great value for money. They now cost about rrp £124.00 (about 1/4 tank of fuel for Brian and Cyanide) so you may get them a little cheaper on the web.

I am VERY pleased with mine, it certainly suits my requirements.

I understand that they are often used as back-ups for larger on board gps's.

Keith (poll by make?) Hart

[jools]

I've got a GPS MAPIII handheld - very usefull - the map is great when navigating on land - Its got base roads for the whole of Europe.

I have added Waypoints for various bouys down the Bristol channel and plotted a route going between them - works well on the Pride of Bristol and would be suitable as a backup - but its a bit small to read bouncing along on a RIB.

For our new Ribcraft, therefore, I am looking to get a GPS Chartplotter - just a small one, but one I can download charts too.

Any comments on C-Map vrs Garmins BlueChart welcome - I can't work out how big a "region" is when you buy the CD - is that the whole of the UK charts - or one section like the English Channel?

As an aside - last time I flew back from Spain I had my GPSIII propped up in the window showing our speed, hight and location on the Map when the stewardess came and asked what it was - and then told me that it might interfer with the planes navigation!! - she went to ask the pilot if it was OK to use - and came back to ask what our Lat and Long was!!!!!
I assumed the pilot wondered why someone was reading Lat and Long on a flight so she took it up to show him the "Map" feature - 20 mins later it came back and all she said was "He wants one!!"

I did point out that on BA you can select the GPS channel on your monitor - on JMC its Bring your own!


Ayway.... Tips on Chartplotters please

[seajay]

I have used a Garmin 12xl for approx. 3 yrs, and more recently been trying several Magellan 315's at work. About the same price.

My personal experience is:

Garmin 12xl:
Quicker acquisition of sats than the Magellan.
Facility for an external aerial which the Magellan doesn't.
Uses batteries like they are going out of fashion - (I can get through 4x AA in under 12 hours - but that may be because its an older version).
I prefer the key pad on the Garmin which is 'above' the screen rather than below it.
It has never let me down, and seems robust.

Magellan 315:
Much lighter than the Garmin (probably because it only has 2xAA batteries).
Dispite only 2xAA, it lasts as long as the Garmin.
Magellan has a better resolution screen.
Although the Magellan takes longer to acquire sats, the built in aerial seems to keep the signal better.
In my opinion the Magellan menu system is more intuitive, although in truth they are both pretty easy.
I particularly like the screen in the Magellan with the large text display (must be an age thing on my part!) - ideal for RIBS

All in all I'm not sure there is a great deal to choose between them. If I was buying again I would probably opt for the Magellan simply because of its simplicity, but it still has to prove its robustness over a long period.

[Alan]

I've been looking at Chartplotters again too. As far as I can tell on the Garmins (leastways the 182/232) they take cartridges as opposed to downloading from disc. The G-chart cartridges are based on Navionics data. If you go onto www.garmin.com and follow the links to "bluecharts" you can get an online catalogue that shows coverage for the UK etc. I could get away with one chip for all the East Coast cruising I do including going across to Belgium if I were so minded!

The other plotter I've looked at is the Navman 5500 which is a cheap colour plotter & takes CMAP chips.

Cheers,
Alan

[JCW]

Jools
I have recently brought a Garmin 176 portable chartplotter which takes the Blue chart cards. This is a small plotter but good enough for my small Rib. The colour version I steered clear of as even Garmin themselves did not recommend using it on an open boat due to the 'wash out' of the screen
I have three pre-programmed Bluechart which I am very impressed with. It certainly covers all the areas I use my Rib at.
I believe you can buy a CD with all the Altlantic coverage on and you then buy a blank memory card and connection cable to download from your PC. You then buy unlock codes to enable you to use the areas of your choice. To me this looked more expensive but gives you better opportunity to keep the charts updated.

[jools]

So how much were your 3 "Charts" and how har do they cover.

I would possibly be looking for to start with

Bristol Channel - because thats where I live! - and there's plenty of bouys to look for

I-O-W area - because thats, I guess a popular spot for ribbing

+ Where else are we planning trips to!

The cost of the charts soon add to the cost of the GPS

[JCW]

Jools,
Plotter was £355 + VAT and £175 +VAT per card.
CLICK BELOW to see content of cards.
http://www.garmin.com/cartography/bl...sp?RegionPK=60[/URL]

I purchased MEU001R, MEU002R, MEU004R.
All came from
MARINE ELECTRONIC INSTALLATIONS LTD

[Alan]

I look forward to seeing your plotter next weekend - I have looked at that one myself but I reckon the screen might be a bit small for blind gits like me!

Cheers,
Alan