Zed Nivel
Well-Known Member
Re: Why not try the cheapo version?
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I don't have a chartplotter and don't feel a strong urge to have one, but we do carry a cheapo out-of-date UKHO/RYA CD ROM (courtesy of a forumite) and a laptop. We have only ever used it once in "real life" which was in very thick fog (not far from your bit, as it happens).
i like the simple like you ...but how do you connect an old GPS like the Garmin 12 to an USB port? I have one myself but cant remember (boat is far away from me in the writing moment) any such modern facilities. I also have an old very well working Garmin 127 that i rather keep but want to connect it to the laptop and a fine software??
Any ideas you or anyone?
By linking the old Garmin 12 handheld GPS into the USB socket, it does seem uncannily accurate. I'd read some article in YM magazine where some charter skipper was able to "prove" that GPS should not be trusted going in or out of Tinker's Hole on Erraid. Personally, my response is "Baleaux"; as a test I ran the UKHO/RYA CD ROM in that entrance recently and the screen reading was almost identical to the eyeball reading. Maybe about two yards out, but who'd ever want to rely on GPS in such close quarters anyway? Perhaps the UKHO/RYA stuff is better than the proprietary software sold for dedicated chartplotters. You have the laptop, and probably a GPS. Why pay more?
The laptop battery drain will be sufficient to ensure that you don't become over-reliant on it and lose your skills.
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I don't have a chartplotter and don't feel a strong urge to have one, but we do carry a cheapo out-of-date UKHO/RYA CD ROM (courtesy of a forumite) and a laptop. We have only ever used it once in "real life" which was in very thick fog (not far from your bit, as it happens).
i like the simple like you ...but how do you connect an old GPS like the Garmin 12 to an USB port? I have one myself but cant remember (boat is far away from me in the writing moment) any such modern facilities. I also have an old very well working Garmin 127 that i rather keep but want to connect it to the laptop and a fine software??
Any ideas you or anyone?
By linking the old Garmin 12 handheld GPS into the USB socket, it does seem uncannily accurate. I'd read some article in YM magazine where some charter skipper was able to "prove" that GPS should not be trusted going in or out of Tinker's Hole on Erraid. Personally, my response is "Baleaux"; as a test I ran the UKHO/RYA CD ROM in that entrance recently and the screen reading was almost identical to the eyeball reading. Maybe about two yards out, but who'd ever want to rely on GPS in such close quarters anyway? Perhaps the UKHO/RYA stuff is better than the proprietary software sold for dedicated chartplotters. You have the laptop, and probably a GPS. Why pay more?
The laptop battery drain will be sufficient to ensure that you don't become over-reliant on it and lose your skills.
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