Recent content by mainsail

Just to update every one, today my Lowrance LVR-250 DSC VHF failed in use. The screen went blank and I could neither transmit or receive . The screen's night light still works but nothing else does. What a heap of ****.

There but for the grace.... On Friday Jan 4th 2013 a body was fished out of the 12-foot-deep water at our local marina. It was that of a live-aboard yachtsman whose boat was semi-permanently moored at the marina about 200 yards away from mine. An inquest has been opened and a post mortem is...

Cheapo £39 Chinese GPS Just a quick update before the Navionics test later this week. Sad to say the cigar-lighter plug on the GPS has come apart during proving tests on the Jeep. The GPS itself still seems to be working ok - but I'm going to have to fork out for a new power lead. In fact I...

Memory Map Marine Charts Thanks very much for that info - I had never heard of these charts before. I think anyway we can do to smash the silly prices we're being charged for marine navigation kit has got to be a good thing. Well done to Memory Map for leading the way.

Mediatek with Windows CE Operating System My new cheapo (£39) Chinese GPS (it's called "Mediatek" by the way) has a Windows CE operating system which, ostensibly should allow it to work with Navionics as Navionics works on all kinds of platforms. I originally bought it because I was fed up...

I was steeling myself to stump up £400 (even £500 in some places) for a Lowrance HDS-5m Gen2 Chartplotter but then I thought - that's a helluva lot of money. After all, what's so special about a chartplotter? - it's just a glorified car sat-nav isn't it? And indeed it is. In fact most car sat...

Left Handed Mike Hi L'escargot. Yes it has stopped bleeping at me now thanks. Re the microphone - I suspect the microphone - like all VHF mics - is a left-handed one because (no matter what the make) they all seem to be connected to the left hand side of the sets :-) . ...However your post...

Why no one might hear you... Thanks again Ostell. If I'd relied on the manuals I'd still be struggling to sort out that connection. Meanwhile I thought I'd just include a couple of shots of the Lowrance LVR250 microphone - following the debate earlier on in this thread. My thumb is on the...

Thanks very much! It's working!!! OSTELL - Thanks very much for your advice about connecting green NMEA lead from the VHF to ground (battery negative). I thought I'd tried every permutation under the sun - but evidently not that one. Once I did that, it worked. Thanks so much! I owe you half...

Why your DSC radio is probably as bad as mine. I hadn’t intended to return to this topic – but I’ve just wasted an entire day of the depreciating balance of days left of my life trying to get my Lowrance LVR-250 to talk to my Garmin GPS. (And yes, you’ve guessed it, The two of them are STILL...

Just watched a couple of Motor Boat boat test videos (including one for the Princess V39) ..and wondered what on earth these are for. How much fuel is used at different speeds? Not mentioned Max speed? Not mentioned Endurance? Not mentioned Engines? Not mentioned Drives? Not mentioned Helm...

I made the awful mistake of replacing my trusty old 26 year old Aquamarine 5600 with a state-of-the-art Lowrance LVR 250 DSC VHF. The Lowrance (like all too many Lowrance products) has a totally incomprehensible manual. I defy anyone to set up the "3-Channel Watch" facility as per instructions...

Don't sell it!! And don't buy a Lowrance LVR250 DSC VHF This sounds like a re-badged version of the Aqua-marine 5600. I made the awful mistake of replacing my Aquamarine 5600 with a state-of-the-art Lowrance LVR 250 DSC VHF. The Lowrance (like all too many Lowrance products) has a totally...

The set up This is a single lever Morse control connected to a single BMW 6 cyl petrol engine and a BMW outdrive. The cables are new - well, new last year anyway.

I've had it with my morse single lever control. The damn thing is so stubborn and stiff - despite the ministrations of the local mechanic - I not only find myself clunking into reverse but also - inadvertently - grabbing a handful of extra and unwanted throttle at the same time. Now the control...