Entering the electronic age

[BarryH]

I'm thinking about getting a chart plotter. My little hand held GPS has done seriling service over the years telling me distance to waypoint etc and wether I've neglected my helming. I think its time I went for one of these new fangled plotters. I've been looking at a base model Garmin GSMAP 451. Are they all they're cracked up to be. I'vebeen plotting and working courses on paper and find it easy enough. Is the user interface easy enough to get to grips with. I find a lot of theses companies make things way too complicated with a lot of features you just don't use in the real world. I'd rather be looking where I'm going and checking what bouy is coming up rather than faffing with buttons.

So the Garmin, is it any good? I see that its already got charts pre installed. Are they "proper" charts and useable or just a freebie gimmick. Do I REALLY need one for pottering around the coast and plodding through the solent?

 

[savageseadog]

I have the Garmin 451, if you like user friendly then it might not be the right one for you, there are literally dozens of things to play with. It is however a good unit in many ways, the screen is very small but with good resolution. The built in charts are quite good with reasonable detail.

 

[VicS]

I'm thinking about getting a chart plotter. My little hand held GPS has done seriling service over the years telling me distance to waypoint etc and wether I've neglected my helming. I think its time I went for one of these new fangled plotters. I've been looking at a base model Garmin GSMAP 451. Are they all they're cracked up to be. I'vebeen plotting and working courses on paper and find it easy enough. Is the user interface easy enough to get to grips with. I find a lot of theses companies make things way too complicated with a lot of features you just don't use in the real world. I'd rather be looking where I'm going and checking what bouy is coming up rather than faffing with buttons.

So the Garmin, is it any good? I see that its already got charts pre installed. Are they "proper" charts and useable or just a freebie gimmick. Do I REALLY need one for pottering around the coast and plodding through the solent?

I ceratinly dont feel I need one for the Solent.. but I've been pottering around there for 30+ years.

I'd mostly likely not look at the chart now , at least not in daylight.

Ive sailed over most of the western half of the channel. South coast from Chichester to The Isles of Scilly and the French coast and CIs from Le Havre to Ushant on other peoples boats. The most advanced thing we have ever had was a Decca.

If I was to venture far outside the Solent now I would get a basic hand held GPS .. one of the the most basic .... just so that if needs be I could plot a position on a chart.

 

[LadyInBed]

I'd rather be looking where I'm going and checking what bouy is coming up rather than faffing with buttons.

Or being down below looking at charts

Do I REALLY need one for pottering around the coast and plodding through the solent?

Probably not.

 

[onesea]

Or being down below looking at charts

Probably not.

+1

But having a handheld Garmin Oregon I would say they are helpful, one of there might be good solution...

http://sites.garmin.com/montana/

Take it home use it in car use it walking use it to navigate. No need to ask if you need repeater or if main unit should be above or below... Its where ever you want it...

Or maybe just b the Navionics app for your smarty phone/ Pad works out cheaper has more versatility of use but less battery life...

Thinking about it do you really need a chart plotter or one of the toys listed above?

 

[BrianH]

So the Garmin, is it any good? I see that its already got charts pre installed. Are they "proper" charts and useable or just a freebie gimmick. Do I REALLY need one for pottering around the coast and plodding through the solent?

No, of course you don't "need" a plotter if you keep to familiar waters - but they're a lot of fun. And if the weather turns nasty and visibility closes in, it's nice to have a set of waypoints to steer to.

I've had a basic Garmin GPSMAP 172C - a predecessor to what you are considering - for six years now in the doghouse and wouldn't be without it. Once you've mastered the basics it easy peasy to use. Functionally, the Garmin range is excellent for performance and even with an integrated antenna under a roof the satellite reception is always good.

When my log impeller packed up I didn't even bother to replace, it had always been a problem to keep the paddle wheel clear in my tube-worm infested waters. Instead I rely on the plotter speed - so precise and a clear display. Of course, that's SOG, but that's all I need in my relatively tide-less waters.

I can't comment on the charts - mine uses the now discontinued BlueCharts on a proprietary memory stick, which was not the most convenient - for sure that has been improved on. At the time that was an expensive addition.

 

[PaulGooch]

Garmin make good plotters and give good support. The 451 is small though and for very little more money you can get the 551.

The pre-loaded charts are indeed proper charts, unlike many. They are fully detailed Garmin G2 charts (not Vision).

 

[doug748]

Garmin products are generally excellent and so is their after sales. They dropped a lot of people in the cart a few years ago by failing to suppport older charting software so I would be wary of their plotters.
Having said that, I use my handheld Map 76 all the time in prefernce to two other proper chart plotters on board. I would get something small and keep the charts.

 

[G12]

Also investigate Standard Horizon plotters - Well priced, good after sales and well made bits of kit. I've just bought a CP300e with a CMAP megawide cartridge that covers europe down to the azores for under £750. The CP300i is about £55 less as it has an internal antenna.
If it's a small unit that you're after then maybe a CP180 would suit. They're about £450 with a cartridge - See Marine Superstore. If you buy the plotter from them then the cartridge comes heavily discounted with it. Marine Superstore are good, it's Marine Megastore that have the bad reputation.

 

[PaulGooch]

Garmin products are generally excellent and so is their after sales. They dropped a lot of people in the cart a few years ago by failing to suppport older charting software so I would be wary of their plotters.
Having said that, I use my handheld Map 76 all the time in prefernce to two other proper chart plotters on board. I would get something small and keep the charts.

I've read this before, but it's not exactly true. For one thing, they stopped support for some charting, which was used on some pretty old plotters, you can't expect them to support things for ever.

However, although they no longer sell the really old charts, it's still possible to use them. It is possible to use G2 charts and even G2 vision with Mapsource. Once in Mapsource, i would expect it possible to export the maps to the old Garmin chart cards via a card reader, same way that they were always done.

I have Mapsource here and am using it with the latest G2 Vision charts and even the latest Sat Nav maps. Both also work with Garmin nRoute, which i have on a couple of laptops. 17" widescreen Sat Nav or plotter

 

[PaulGooch]

Also investigate Standard Horizon plotters - Well priced, good after sales and well made bits of kit. I've just bought a CP300e with a CMAP megawide cartridge that covers europe down to the azores for under £750. The CP300i is about £55 less as it has an internal antenna.
If it's a small unit that you're after then maybe a CP180 would suit. They're about £450 with a cartridge - See Marine Superstore. If you buy the plotter from them then the cartridge comes heavily discounted with it. Marine Superstore are good, it's Marine Megastore that have the bad reputation.

I agree that SH also give excellent support. Garmin don't exactly make anything to compete on price with the CP300, but the 551 is a better plotter than the CP180, for less money.