Garmin Radar

TyBoo · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:32 am Post subject:

Byrdman · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:46 am Post subject:

Tybo Mike.... Now...just be sure the print on the lables is LARGE enough to see too... Mr. Green

I like ... you could have almost done away with the need for an aft canvas if you could have mounted her closer to the cockpit area.

Watch out for those trees..... I hate it when you are on the water and get a screen like that... Ya gotta zoom in real close, and pivit the boat in a circle to find your way out of that wonderful cove in the fog that rolls in just about dark. Good training too.

Thanks for the photo updates too.

Byrdman

Byrdman · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:50 am Post subject:

Interesting on your battery line up too. When trolling along at night in the dark, wallas running, radio and amp running as to allow me to hear real good, all electronics running, ...when the auto pilot would make a major course correction.... I could see a blink at times on the screen... and at times, the auto pilot would "forget" or drop the information and I'd have to re-set it. Hummmm. And I always figured it just did not like the particular music artist I had chosen for the time.

oldgrowth · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:44 pm Post subject:

-76.6 feet? Wink

TyBoo · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 7:55 pm Post subject:

Sneaks · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 8:21 pm Post subject:

TyBoo · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:09 pm Post subject:

Well, maybe I used too simplistic a term. I think it uses barometric pressure as part of the calculation much as would a barometric altimeter. I readily admit I don't understand all I know about the thing. How do the "decent" GPS units supply altitude? There is a way to calibrate the thing - I just haven't found it yet.

The GPS and radar are networked in the same unit. I don't know who talks to what, but they seem to get along pretty well. It will overlay the radar on the chart, and display waypoints on the radar screen, so I guess they communicate.

Byrdman · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:44 pm Post subject:

And Mike....the color of the trees is not too far off either... Mr. Green

I think you will like that thing once ya diddle with it a bit.

Go have a blast!!! CoolSmile

Byrdman

rogerbum · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:03 pm Post subject:

oldgrowth · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:18 pm Post subject:

Mike – if your altimeter uses barometric pressure for the altitude, there is no way of calibrating it, so it will always show your altitude without resetting it every day. I am an ex-pilot and altimeters on the planes I flew had to be reset all the time as we were flying. The sea level barometric pressure is always entered into the setting and the difference in the pressure, is how your altitude is indicated.

Satellite altimeters do not have this limitation, but also do not have the accuracy of barometric altimeters. If a satellite altimeter maintains an accuracy rate within 50’ you are lucky. A cheep barometric altimeter will be accurate within 2’.

I have an altimeter in my truck and it has a reset button on it, so each morning I hit the reset button and the altimeter is reset for my given altitude. The only time the reset button works, is when I am at a known altitude of 195’ (the altitude of my garage). Otherwise I have to enter the sea level barometric pressure for my location, to get the altitude of my given location.

TyBoo · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:26 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Roger. When checking the sattelite lock, the minimum has been 7 and one time it had 10. The most it will use is 12.

As for the elevation, it seems I have read that hikers/climbers prefer the barometric altimeter to the GPS calculations for accuracy. I could probably find where I read it if it matters, but it wasn't interesting enough to me at the time to study in depth. It was on the internet, though - so it has to be true! The other Garmin on board shows the elevation varying from -3 to +6 where she sits. As you can see in the first pic, the receivers for the two units are side by side (and generously out of the lower 12.5º vertical radar trajectory). To tell you the truth, I have never bothered to display the elevation data because I am always at sea level or <50' above. When a guy can see the beach, he don't much need any more info.

TyBoo · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject:

And thank you, Dave. Now I don't need to keep looking for a way to claibrate it. The cheapo Garmin eTrek I have has a place to enter a known elevation to base its calculations on. That's what I was looking for on the big feller. Is that what you mean by reset?

If all you smart guys really want to help me understand something that bugs me, then tell me why during the earthquake a couple years back that made the floor in the huge building at work undulate like the CR bar and the pillars move like the old rubber pencil gag did not cause the concrete to bust? Too weird. I was talking about that again today with a guy who saw the same thing in another building. All we can figure is that it was an illusion, but I swear there were 3' swells in the foot-thick concrete.

AstoriaDave · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 11:27 pm Post subject:

oldgrowth · Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 12:13 am Post subject:

TyBoo · Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:57 pm Post subject:

Uh oh. There's another gadget that will work with the new Garmin. AIS - Automatic Identification System. All ships over a certain tonnage are required to transmit location and other info, and for about $300 I can get a receiver unit that will display the info on the new line of Garmin chartplotters (and probably others).

A friend of mine just got the system installed on his boat and posted some screen shots here on a local fishing board. There are a lot of cool gizmos out there, but this one is cool and useful. Imagine planning a long trip and being able to see what ships will be coming around the corner long before you get there.

One of these days maybe................