GPS Update ?

[Janet]

My Garmin 152 is about 10 years old, and it is becoming very slow at acquiring satellites. I assume it is the unit, not its antenna. I understand that newer units can pick up satellites that older units can't. I have a chartplotter, so all I need is a GPS receiver -- don't need any bells and whistles, but I do want to make sure the chartplotter has the GPS info it needs to function. Advice welcome!

Janet

[Ziggy]

A receiver like the Garmin GPS 17x HVS that is integrated with the antenna will have good sensitivity and it is pretty inexpensive. You will need to make sure that your chartplotter is capable of sending the necessary NMEA 0183 sentences to the receiver to configure it.

[rebel heart]

These are pretty handy. About the price of a GPS but also a handheld VHF radio that floats.

Amazon.com: HX850s Handheld VHF w/GPS: Electronics

[richardhula]

Garmin offer a setup/firmware upgrade utility SNRCFG_320 for GPS17HVS - connect device to COM port & select GPS16/17 in utility with correct COM port set.

Having said that it will work for most chartplotters "out of the box". Although I have upgraded firmware several times in the five years I've owned one, it was to remove unneeded NMEA sentences & add a degree of position damping that was the main reason for accessing its setup.

[phiggins]

I use the BU-353 and find it very good:

GlobalSat Waterproof GPS Receiver BU-353 GPS CENTRAL Canada

It works perfectly from inside the cabin.

and they are so cheap ($45) I have two, one for a backup.

These only work with a computer.

[Janet]

Thanks, all, for the inputs on the Garmin! I now have a new problem: brand-new Raymarine C-80 worked fine with card. I lost the screen and performed a factory reset, which worked to restore the screen. In the process I took the card out and put it back in, and now it won't read the card anymore. It's true I didn't follow the instructions for removing the card -- I couldn't while the screen was lost. Should that have totally destroyed the card, or damaged the reader?

[richardhula]

Originally Posted by Janet

Thanks, all, for the inputs on the Garmin! I now have a new problem: brand-new Raymarine C-80 worked fine with card. I lost the screen and performed a factory reset, which worked to restore the screen. In the process I took the card out and put it back in, and now it won't read the card anymore. It's true I didn't follow the instructions for removing the card -- I couldn't while the screen was lost. Should that have totally destroyed the card, or damaged the reader?

Suggestions:
Try another factory reset with card removed, then try card again
Try card in CF reader hooked up to your laptop/PC & see if it shows up with files within
Try card in another C or E series MFD or any other chartplotter that uses this format cartography
Try another Navionics CF card in your machine.

If last suggestions works but all others fail then bin the card & put it down to experience.

You could try contacting Navionics to see if they can offer another but their after sales is notoriously bad.

[hellosailor]

I'd call both Raymarine (to ask "Did my RayM wipe my card?") and Navionics because there's always a chance that one of them will say "Send us the card, we'll replace it" or "We'll sell you a new one at half price" or something similar.

Sometimes a vendor will gladly step up to earn customer loyalty, because some of them know we're talking about them. And keeping lists. <G>

[richardhula]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

I'd call both Raymarine (to ask "Did my RayM wipe my card?") and Navionics because there's always a chance that one of them will say "Send us the card, we'll replace it" or "We'll sell you a new one at half price" or something similar.

Sometimes a vendor will gladly step up to earn customer loyalty, because some of them know we're talking about them. And keeping lists. <G>

Hmm... I just saw a pig fly past

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Janet

My Garmin 152 is about 10 years old, and it is becoming very slow at acquiring satellites. I assume it is the unit, not its antenna. I understand that newer units can pick up satellites that older units can't. I have a chartplotter, so all I need is a GPS receiver -- don't need any bells and whistles, but I do want to make sure the chartplotter has the GPS info it needs to function. Advice welcome!

Janet

If all you need is a solid GPS revceiver to send position data via NEMA to your plotter (computer?) this little gadget may fit your bill. It's simple, robust, and fairly commercial.

furuno gp37

[richardhula]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

If all you need is a solid GPS revceiver to send position data via NEMA to your plotter (computer?) this little gadget may fit your bill. It's simple, robust, and fairly commercial.

furuno gp37

Simple - probably
Robust - certainly
Commercial - very
Pricey - absolutely - lowest price $636.84! - that's a lot of beer even in Antigua.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by richardhula

Simple - probably
Robust - certainly
Commercial - very
Pricey - absolutely - lowest price $636.84! - that's a lot of beer even in Antigua.

No one ever said the good stuff was going to be cheap

[Sailmonkey]

Ok, I found one better it's only $400 si-tex gps-90

[SailFastTri]

Janet you can get a new GPS for around $100-200 (maybe less) with WAAS accuracy that outputs GPS data over NMEA. It can be a handheld with a 12v cord or a puck type without any display.

What tye of chart plotter do you have? Does it use a bus (e.g. seatalk or Navnet)? Does it have a serial NMEA input?

[svcambria]

Originally Posted by richardhula

Simple - probably
Robust - certainly
Commercial - very
Pricey - absolutely - lowest price $636.84! - that's a lot of beer even in Antigua.

Holy Cr@p Batman, they have really gone up in price. Mine was about $300 - showing my (and its) age... It is robust...

Michael