Portable GPS Units

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C Dory Year
2006
C Dory Model
255 Tomcat
Hi Again:
I'd like to have a portable GPS on my 16.
I have a fixed Horizon on the Trophy which works
well and in color.
I'd like your opinions on a good portable GPS unit, does not have to be color.
JUst would like to have speed and direction info.
Thanks - you have been a wealth of information and help,
Bill
 
Cheapies include the GPS map 76 by Garmin and the I finder H20 by Lowrance. Both are basic and can be found for $160 to $180.

Every once and a while you see Cobra or Bushnell for $100--I find these units a bit slow and not as good a screen.

I personally like something in the 176 to 476 (how 378/478) series. The screens are bigger and brighter, plus they take the chips for navigation.
 
I have the Lowrance iFinder H2O and would recommend it.

Warren
 
My handheld GPS is the Garmin GPSMap76CSX and it is certainly adequate as a backup to my regular Raymarine C-80. It has a standard basic chip that is fine for emergencies but also allows more localized and sophisticated map chips to be installed if you want enough detail for true navigation. Any of these will have a small screen so you will not be able to see out very far with any level of detail.
 
We have a Magellan Meridian Marine and it has saved our bacon when all the electronics failed on our first launch of the CatyMae in the fog out of Warrenton....well worth the price!
 
I have the I Finder H2O color and it has saved my bacon on several occasions when the main Raymarine system crashed.

The info available with the Maps option where you download an area about the size of 1/4 USA, is amazing. You can find gas, fuel, groceries, and the major marine nav items are marked also.

John
 
I have a Garmin GPS V and a very old GPS45 both with NMEA 183 output and 12VDC input. I have the standard Garmin connector for these and have connected to 12 VDC and the NMEA bus I built out of a terminal strip. If my primary GPS fails on my Lowrance but the display is good I can feed NMEA data to it and still have full chart plotting. If the Lowrance is toast, I can still feed coordinates and speed to my Furuno radar, Navman, and DSC radio.

If I was looking for a backup GPS, I would be sure it had NMEA out so it could be integrated into the remaining electronics.
 
tpbrady said: "If I was looking for a backup GPS, I would be sure it had NMEA out so it could be integrated into the remaining electronics."
Tom, I really like the NMEA out feature and the way you have yours set up. I use a Garmin GPS V+ and it may be old but it is fast and uses both 12VDC power or duracells for about 12 - 18 hours. BTW (By the Way) it has the outer marker for the home bay and the entrance to the marina marked, or where I launch from marked before we leave the dock.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
My back up GPS Currently is an old Garmin Etrex but it also attaches to Laptop and works with Navigator Lite from Maptech.

I like the idea of the water resistant i H2O -color for a Ditch bag.

However here is another idea.
Treo or Centro Phone + Bluetooth GPS + Www.activecaptain.com Mobile version.

If you have a Treo - Palm Phone - Centro model is nearly free it has many uses including free worldwide tide tables, etc addresses, MS word and excel files, can be connected to your laptop for internet service - currently available on Sprint, ATT and probably Verizon soon. It does not come with GPS that you could purchase for $100 or so.

The Treo and Centro models -work well with the software from www.activecaptain.com that allows you to pick up local information that will continue to grow with this product. Active captain has NOAA maps with continuous updates from local captains - [not Noaa] there will eventually be maps for Canada.

I helped beta test the software - its quite amazing - the software developer knows CDorys -he is open to suggestions.

If you have more questions about the Centro, Treo, Palm or active captain you may PM me.


Jim
 
jstates":1nyi63ux said:
I helped beta test the software - its quite amazing - the software developer knows CDorys -he is open to suggestions.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim!

There's also a Windows Mobile version of it coming out soon and I'm looking into an iPhone version.

I've been using the Centro myself for the last 2 months and love it. It's tiny, easy to use, has the best screen I've ever seen on any electronics, and has excellent voice phone qualities. The Centro also has a jack for an external antenna/amp which is a nice combination on a boat.
 
I do know my wholesaler sells a lot of iFinder H20's. I have been using a Garmin GPS48 since 2000. I believe this model was replaced by the GPS76 (the 48 was discontinued). Mine has been bullet proof. My internal battery died after about 4 years but I sent it to Garmin and they replaced it (for a fee) and added the latest version of software they had at the time. I will continue to use my GPS48 until it dies as a backup device.
 
I have the iFinder H20 color also; a good back-up, but I often need to pull my magnifying glass out to read it, especially on rough seas. Great detail in the map (west coast ocean)
 
C-Pelican":3a0wg4bs said:
I have the iFinder H20 color also; a good back-up, but I often need to pull my magnifying glass out to read it, especially on rough seas. Great detail in the map (west coast ocean)
Click to expand...

I did a hard reset on my Lowrance H20, trying to get it to lock onto satellites, and I forgot to remove the Navionics SD card. Now I get no details of the lake at all. I may have wiped out the pricey SD card!

Anyone else have this experience?
 
I have a Garmin 76CS Plus and a Garmin Colorado 400c. The 400 has a larger screen, and I like the rotary control better. I also have the Navionics app on my iphone. That is probably the best and at $9.99 certainly the cheapest.
 
mdoug":yvh252c2 said:
C-Pelican":yvh252c2 said:
I have the iFinder H20 color also; a good back-up, but I often need to pull my magnifying glass out to read it, especially on rough seas. Great detail in the map (west coast ocean)
Click to expand...

I did a hard reset on my Lowrance H20, trying to get it to lock onto satellites, and I forgot to remove the Navionics SD card. Now I get no details of the lake at all. I may have wiped out the pricey SD card!

Anyone else have this experience?
Click to expand...

Have not done that (yet) but I bet if you call Lowrance and explain what happened, they'd replace the card. After all, you paid for it once. Try it and let us know...

Charlie
 
Thanks!

I will call Lowrance this Monday and ask.
 
Called Lowrance tech and was told where to look to get map data on what I thought was an SD card I had wiped during a hard reset. Success!!!
Thanks, Lowrance.
BTW, the tech did say it's not a good idea to do a hard reset with SD card loaded in the unit.
 
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