GPS

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Sweeney

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I an new to all this so don't mind silly questions. I have just purchased a Lema Gold sports cruiser. Part of the instrumentation is a Garman GPS Map 230. Anyone know what this thing does? Does it act like a car Sat Nav? Does it need maps? If so are there any available for Irish waterways?
Maybe you bright sparks can help this Newbee
 
Thanks gjgm. All you get on their web page is spec. It dosent tell you what it does. Maybe someone else has experience of this unit. Again thanks for your reply. If you should come across someone on your travels that knows something about it post a thread.
 
"The Garmin® GPSMAP 230 offers boaters advanced GPS performance on a 7.1" diagonal, track-up display that's sure to set the standard for big-screen chartplotting. Add in simple, menu-driven operation, G-chartcartography with seamless Navionics charts, and a powerful, 12 parallel channel GPS receiver, and you've got a powerful navigator that's ideal for serious offshore use. The GPSMAP 230 also boasts a set of impressive navigation features like user-selectable data fields, simple, 'point and shoot' waypoint and route creation, fuel and trip planning, and Garmin's exclusive TracBack® automatic track log navigation. It even comes complete with a surface/flush mount bracket that makes installation a snap-in the bulkhead or at the helm. Put it all together, and it's easy to see why the GPSMAP 230 is the biggest thing to hit marine electronics in years."
 
The 230 was a black and white screened GPS system with basic chartplotter functions, so yes a bit like car Sat Nav.

It will allow you to create and store waypoints and show map detail if you had the right cartridge, the chart data used has been discontinued along with all support for the unit so you may struggle.

Even if you get lucky and find the right chart card on eBay or Sailroom then you should bear in mind how old that data will be, I would be inclinded to use it as a GPS with a nice big screen and look at a more up to date 'plotter if you feel the need.

cf-md.jpg


Failing that, flog it on the aforementioned Sailroom and use the money to buy a Standard Horizon CP-180i. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Its a basic chartplotter, you will need a Garmin G-chart data card of your area.
If you want to use it though, I would suggest some sort of navigation course. Unlike a car sat nav which tells you where to go, you have to tell the Chartplotter where to go!
 
Many thanks lads. I think all this is a bit beyond me. I thought that you could tell it where you are going and it would plot your route. I would be using it on Irelands inshore waterways as they are vast and reach the length and bredth of the country. Thanks again.
 
I have one of these units, and although ageing a bit, it is quite a nice piece of kit, and dead easy to use. The G charts it requires are a bit hard to come by these days. I was lucky enough to meet a guy in Cherbourg a few years back that had some he no longer wanted, and bought them off him for not very much.

Even though the data is probably a little out of date, it's never been a problem. However, I always still use up-to-date paper charts when planning a trip into unknown waters.

One problem with this unit, or more of an irritation really, is that I can plan a route using my Garmin handheld GPS and charts at home, but cannot download it to the GPS 230 when I arrive at the boat, so have to manually copy all the data across, which takes time, and is a bit of a pain when you're anxious to get away.

I have my GPS230 linked into the radar screen, and find following courses / routes much easier this way, although the arrow on the GPS/ Plotter screen is quite sufficient, just not as nice.

You don't need the G-Chart for basic navigation, but for route planning it helps somewhat.

Did you unit not come with a chart? It slots into the unit under the flap in the bottom right hand corner, and needs pushing fully home to work.

PM me if you need further help.
 
If you start a point A and tell it you want to go to point B it will show which direction to go but if there is anything in the way, land for instance, it's up to you to miss it. So the idea is that if you wnated to go from southampton to cherbourg you could just put point A at the entrance to southampton water and point B at cherbourg harbour entrance and the GPSmap will draw a straight line between Points A and B and send you off, problem is the isle of wight is in the way. So what you have to do is plot your course around the island using weypoints (A's B's C's D's......).
 
lets just say it was a modern plotter and you were at sea.
Now, there arent any road signs at sea, and you cant see whats underneath you,like rocks or sandbanks etc. The plotter is an electronic chart/map of the seabed, if you like,showing what it would look like at lowest tide (in simplest terms).This helps you plan your route without sticking a big hole in your boat. What it does not do as Kev mentioned is intuitively tell you that you ARE going to drive into rocks if you follow A to B, and the rocks are in the way. You have to plan the route safely yourself using waypoints (stepping stones, if you like), and then it will take you to each step in your journey, and you will usually appear in the middle of the picture as the chart "scrolls" underneath-that way you always get to see whats around you/under you.
Modern ones can do all sorts of sexy stuff like tidal flows,colour pictures, added radar,fishfinders,video cams etc etc.And they go from a£00 to £000 depending on just how sexy you think you need to feel. Have a look at Navionics.com for one type of charting, or even better, buy a chart for your area- you must haveone, and you need to know what all those special symbols on the chart mean. There is an enormous amount of very useful info on a chart.
 
I used to have 1 of these. It was pretty much state of the art when it was new in the late 90's. Great plotter with a very clear display. its easy to use and the plotting function is childs play to operate.

I may still have some charts for it (Poss east coast, South coast and Western med.) send me a PM if they are any good to you.
 
I think the GPSMAP230 can act as a Garmin data transfer master (in place of a PC) and actually suck waypoints etc out of another Garmin handheld, or push data to it, if you connect them together and RTFM hard, select a lot of menu options, then remember to RTFM again and put the thing back to NMEA when you finished and reconnect it to the boat electronics ....
If alcohol is involved some part of this process will fail.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you start a point A and tell it you want to go to point B it will show which direction to go but if there is anything in the way, land for instance, it's up to you to miss it. So the idea is that if you wnated to go from southampton to cherbourg you could just put point A at the entrance to southampton water and point B at cherbourg harbour entrance and the GPSmap will draw a straight line between Points A and B and send you off, problem is the isle of wight is in the way. So what you have to do is plot your course around the island using weypoints (A's B's C's D's......).


[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agree with this but at the Boat Show I had a chance to look at a new Garmin feature called 'auto-routing'

Idea is you enter the waypoints A & B then rather than drawing a straight line between the two you choose the option 'Auto-routing'. The set has entered by you your draft and has tidal information in it and then works out a route from A to B avoiding land and the shallow bits to get to B. An 'interesting' development.

Regards

Paul
 
Hi Nero

Sorry the GpsMap230 won't take current charts it's chart format is long discontinued (ie G-Charts). But you can still use it for navigation using waypoints and routes in conjunction with paper charts.

If you need charts get a gpsmap 276C. You can put Irish coastal water charts on it (Blue Chart Atlantic), and/or the inland shannon and erne charts, but not the corrib. Best of luck with the new boat. The shannon charts are free from www.shannoncharts.com

Sample of Lough Ree on Garmin Marine Plotter
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Sample Coastal Chart on Garmin Marine Plotter - Shannon Estuary
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Sample Coastal Chart on Garmin Marine Plotter - Kilrush-Dingle
CRUISE06_MAP_P1.jpg


Sample of Lough Corrib on Garmin Road Map (eg Nuvi 200, or 276C)
gpsmapcorrib1car.jpg


If you do decide to replace it then the Garmin 276C is the biz. Pal of mine bought one in the USA this week for half the retail price here.
 
Lads!! You are all Stars. Info much appreciated. Thanks OCFR for the charts. Any idea where your mate bought his 276C in the states.
 
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