Beware of Garmin Chart plotter software upgrades

[Keithm]

At the beginning of this season I bought a Garmin 751 chart plotter for the chart table position. This decision was based on what I read in a manual downloaded from the Garmin site. The features included Data bridging from NMEA 0183 to NMEA2000 and "Merging and Cloning Data" on the NMEA 2000 bus to other plotters such as the Garmin 551 that I have on the helm station.

When installed I noticed the manual was different and the bridging 0183 to 2000 was missing. Garmin had removed that feature from the software. However it did have the merge and clone feature which transferred waypoints to the 551 and a Go-to entered on the 751 would go to the 551. Then I downloaded the free operating software upgrade and discovered that the merge and clone had been removed and Go-to would not transfer a waypoint. Garmin support just say that it is not possible now - it has to be done on the Garmin Marine Network and by the way your 551 doe not support that.

So in two steps Garmin have removed key features to force customers to go to higher cost plotters to use the Garmin Marine Network instead of the NMEA2000.

If you are using these features then don't update your operating software. I'm trying to go back to the old version but stupidly I did not make a copy before updating.

 

[pmagowan]

You do have to look at the other side of the story though. Manufacturers will constantly be updating and improving their products and it is not reasonable to expect that they will always be able to work with old or obsolete products. If they had to maintain this ability then there would be a drastic slowdown of improvements and the systems would be endlessly clunky as they tried to run old software alongside new.

 

[mjcoon]

You do have to look at the other side of the story though. Manufacturers will constantly be updating and improving their products and it is not reasonable to expect that they will always be able to work with old or obsolete products. If they had to maintain this ability then there would be a drastic slowdown of improvements and the systems would be endlessly clunky as they tried to run old software alongside new.

What, like Microsoft, for instance?

Mike.

 

[jimi]

have you tried using homeport on a laptop to manage the waypoints and upload to each of the plotters?

 

[Keithm]

I can understand that but this appears to be a deliberate policy to remove functions from the NMEA2000 to move to the Garmin Marine network. I may be wrong but Garmin can offer no other explanation as to why the "Go-to" waypoint has stopped being transferred to the 551 since the 751 software upgrade.

 

[Keithm]

Yes I use that along with transferring by card now. It's the issue of a "Navigate to" waypoint put on the 751 and now not transferring to the 551 by NMEA2000 that's the big issue. I'm hoping that it's not the upgrade but something else. Going to try a restore to factory defaults this weekend.

 

[jfm]

Which version of the software do you want to go back to? I have just installed June 2014 s/ware but I still have August 2013 (approx.) on its own SD card that I can mail to you I think - I need to check its date and version when I get to the boat this weekend but it's certainly 2013 era.

All that said, the firmware might refuse to install software that is a lower version than what is currently installed...!

 

[Keithm]

Thanks for the offer but hopefully Garmin have come good in the end. I had ver 2.8 and the update was to 3.4. They have now sent me 3.1 which they say will retire the clone and merge feature. Will try it tomorrow.

 

[haydude]

You do have to look at the other side of the story though. Manufacturers will constantly be updating and improving their products and it is not reasonable to expect that they will always be able to work with old or obsolete products. If they had to maintain this ability then there would be a drastic slowdown of improvements and the systems would be endlessly clunky as they tried to run old software alongside new.

Rubbish! This is just a dishonest practice to bully customers to buy new devices periodically.
I have always been suspicious of Garmin especially because their chart areas are smaller than those available for other makes thus forcing customers to purchase more charts to cover the same sailing area. This confirms their attitude. I will never buy Garmin.

 

[BruceDanforth]

Strange. My garmin came with the whole of the UK and ireland plus the channel coast Elbe to Brest...

Also I can download pretty much any version of the firmware from the website.

Rubbish! This is just a dishonest practice to bully customers to buy new devices periodically.
I have always been suspicious of Garmin especially because their chart areas are smaller than those available for other makes thus forcing customers to purchase more charts to cover the same sailing area. This confirms their attitude. I will never buy Garmin.

 

[johnphilip]

Rubbish! This is just a dishonest practice to bully customers to buy new devices periodically.
I have always been suspicious of Garmin especially because their chart areas are smaller than those available for other makes thus forcing customers to purchase more charts to cover the same sailing area. This confirms their attitude. I will never buy Garmin.

Another open minded summary of a marine product. I assume from this writing off of the company you have never fitted or used Garmin sufficiently to make a valid comment on their performance? I believe Raymarine with their Seatalk have had the same objective of persuading buyers to keep all their instrumentation and navigation electronics to their shades of grey products.

 

[Colvic Watson]

You do have to look at the other side of the story though. Manufacturers will constantly be updating and improving their products and it is not reasonable to expect that they will always be able to work with old or obsolete products. If they had to maintain this ability then there would be a drastic slowdown of improvements and the systems would be endlessly clunky as they tried to run old software alongside new.

Not true, Garmin gave done this to deliberately reduce the functionality of olde plotters on a network. Remember they have a history of this sort of thing. A whole class of GPSMap plotters were rendered obsolete (including ones sold just two years previously) by refusing to issue chart updates. Much worse than that, they recalled all chart cartridges for them from resellers and incinerated them. That way there were no cartridges available to those wanting to buy new charts and users were forced to upgrade the plotter.

 

[Keithm]

Bruce
Out of interest how do you get to the other versions. I struggle with the web site if I'm signed on to "My Garmin". Whenever I go to look at the downloads it puts me back to My Garmin where their are no downloads.
Keith

 

[BruceDanforth]

I just had a look and the site has changed so I can't find it now. There certainly used to be an archive.

Bruce
Out of interest how do you get to the other versions. I struggle with the web site if I'm signed on to "My Garmin". Whenever I go to look at the downloads it puts me back to My Garmin where their are no downloads.
Keith