Hand Held GPS Options

[rpoint16]

I currently have a Oregon handheld GPS. It was my 1st GPS & I had a huge learning curve. Garmin support in my opinion was outstanding. I have the North America Atlas I use for the road as well as a eastern caribbean & costal U.S. maps I use for coatal crusing. I am not thrilled with some of the propriotary limitations, but that's how it goes.

The Oregon has the 3" diagnol screen & the new Montana series has a 4" diagnol screen. Garmin says they do not have any plans for any larger hand helds. Of course they will not acknowledge if they did as to not impare current sales. I'm not sure of life span of thier new products.

My question is are ther any 6"(ish) marine hand held GPS out there? Not Ipad type's that need internet connection.

I guess anything much bigger would not be considered a hand held.

[noelex 77]

Big screens are much better for navigation, but they do eat into the battery power and often are not as daylight visible.

BTW the iPad model with both wiFi and 3g will work fine out of Internet range with suitable maps. The marine maps are a bargain.

[rpoint16]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

Big screens are much better for navigation, but they do eat into the battery power and often are not as daylight visible.

BTW the iPad model with both wiFi and 3g will work fine out of Internet range with suitable maps. The marine maps are a bargain.

I did not think of the battery usage. Good point.

So do you have a built in GPS in your IPad?

[webejammin]

We have a Garmin Oregon and use the 12V plug mostly, it is great as a backup with our Garmn 5208 chartplotter and I use it in our auto. I suggest getting a small chartplotter.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by rpoint16

I did not think of the battery usage. Good point.

So do you have a built in GPS in your IPad?

Yes. The more expensive version (wifi and 3G) has a bult in gps that works fine outside phone range.
The marine maps need Internet to download them but once this is done work fine outside internet or phone range. I have all of Europe on mine.

I have not downloaded street maps this way, but I believe it's possible.

[rpoint16]

Originally Posted by webejammin

We have a Garmin Oregon and use the 12V plug mostly, it is great as a backup with our Garmn 5208 chartplotter and I use it in our auto. I suggest getting a small chartplotter.

What 12v connection do you use for your Oregon?

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by rpoint16

What 12v connection do you use for your Oregon?

I bought the 12V cord for the Oregon GPS from West Marine in San Diago when I was there buying sv We Be Jammin 2 years ago, I'm sure you could find it online hopefuly.

[feelsgood]

Originally Posted by rpoint16

I currently have a Oregon handheld GPS. It was my 1st GPS & I had a huge learning curve. Garmin support in my opinion was outstanding. I have the North America Atlas I use for the road as well as a eastern caribbean & costal U.S. maps I use for coatal crusing. I am not thrilled with some of the propriotary limitations, but that's how it goes.

The Oregon has the 3" diagnol screen & the new Montana series has a 4" diagnol screen. Garmin says they do not have any plans for any larger hand helds. Of course they will not acknowledge if they did as to not impare current sales. I'm not sure of life span of thier new products.

My question is are ther any 6"(ish) marine hand held GPS out there? Not Ipad type's that need internet connection.

I guess anything much bigger would not be considered a hand held.

I thought this might be interesting to you.
Simple Navigation - YouTube

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by feelsgood

I thought this might be interesting to you.
Simple Navigation - YouTube

Nice link, thanks .

[jongleur]

Originally Posted by feelsgood

I thought this might be interesting to you.
Simple Navigation - YouTube

Am I missing something? Doesn't the GPS just give you the fix?

[RolfP]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

Yes. The more expensive version (wifi and 3G) has a bult in gps that works fine outside phone range.
The marine maps need Internet to download them but once this is done work fine outside internet or phone range. I have all of Europe on mine.

I have not downloaded street maps this way, but I believe it's possible.

I use an iPad all the time with the cell network turned off. You definitely need the version with the cell capability because that component has the satellite gps in it. You just have to have the maps and chart plotting software. iSailor is free, you buy the maps, or iNavX is a purchase with US NOAA maps free. I use them both, as there are things on the nOAA maps that are not on the others. You can check out the free samples of iSailor maps before you buy.

I can get a full day's sailing out of my iPad, but I use a Raymarine S70 located down below for overnights. My goal is to switch them, the Raymarine at the wheel Nd the iPad below (plugged into my ac charger. . . ).

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by RolfP

I use an iPad all the time with the cell network turned off. You definitely need the version with the cell capability because that component has the satellite gps in it. You just have to have the maps and chart plotting software. iSailor is free, you buy the maps, or iNavX is a purchase with US NOAA maps free. I use them both, as there are things on the nOAA maps that are not on the others. You can check out the free samples of iSailor maps before you buy.

I can get a full day's sailing out of my iPad, but I use a Raymarine S70 located down below for overnights. My goal is to switch them, the Raymarine at the wheel Nd the iPad below (plugged into my ac charger. . . ).

Maps for the iPad are the best sailing bargains out there.
The 12v chargers for the iPad are cheap ( don't get the iPhone version it won't work) and are more efficient than the AC charger and inverter.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by jongleur

Am I missing something? Doesn't the GPS just give you the fix?

I don't get it either. Why not just plot your lat and long on the paper chart?

I do use something almost the reverse of this. A lot of people write down there lat and long every hour or so. Lat and long is difficult to remember unless written down, but as an alternative if you have a known waypoint remembering distance and bearing is easy say 92nm at 321T. This number can be rembered if the GPS goes down. Because it can be rembered you can usually plot a position only a few mins ago rather than the older written down lat and long. The bearing is reasonably constant so the numbers are not difficult to remember.

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by jongleur

Am I missing something? Doesn't the GPS just give you the fix?

Yes, but how do you transfer that fix to a paper chart? Many people use a parallel ruler. You find a latittude with a line, place the ruler on it, then walk the ruler to the latitude, draw a line, then do the same with longitude. Takes longer with more steps and more chance of error than the technique shown in the video.

A Weems and Plath parallel plotter is a better tool to plot GPS fixes,

Weems Plotter | Weems & Plath

and gets you almost down to about the same number of steps as what's shown in the video.

John

[Badsanta]

Originally Posted by jongleur

Am I missing something? Doesn't the GPS just give you the fix?

The Garmin Oregon is a pocket chart plotter. I went the entire length of the Chesapeake bay and down the ICW to Hollywood Fl with one and it worked great.