Grrr! GPS battery problem for small yacht...

[matnoo]

I have a small yacht on a budget and have 2 hand held GPSs (Garmin Etrex and a Lowrance Ifinder) which together work very well, suit me fine and as I have two, they act as a backup to each other. The problem is I have to spend £4 a day on very unecologically friendly batteries when I go sailing!

Is there a way of A
Linking my gps up to my boats power?

Or B
Are there any Fixed GPS units that dont have all this extremely expensive plotting software on them? ie. a hand held GPS that doesnt take batteries as there seems to be a ridiculous shift in price between hand helds (£80) and the entry level Navman Tracker 5380 / 5380i (£380!!!)

The bottom line is that I just want a Lat/Long reference powered by my boats battery. Is this possible below £300! If not why not!

Mat

 

[Skyva_2]

Something like this, though not handheld:

http://search.ebay.co.uk/garmin-gps-128_W0QQfcclZ1QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1

We used one for 10 years it did everything your handheld does. Nice piece of kit.
Alternatively I have seen handhelds with a 12v cable.

 

[gjgm]

cant you use rechargeable batteries< a fast charger will recharge them in 20 mins or so. Try Overlander, or specialist hobby shops such as Maplin or hobbystores.

 

[yoda]

Maplins do one, just put it into google.

Yoda

 

[AlanPound]

Furuno GP32 is the kit.... Otherwise, anything suitable by Garmin (ebay?)

 

[barnaclephill]

Where you bought your Etrex from they'll probably sell 12V cables. Mine was about Aus$200 for the Etrex and about $70 for the cable/transformer. Problem solved, especially for night-time when the backlight is continually on.
Rechargeables is the way to go for the batteries. That's one of the reasons why I didn't go for the iFinder - they use AAA batteries which only last 12 hours. The AA batteries for the Etrex are supposed to last up to 22 hours.

 

[MoodySabre]

I've got a Garmin 72 for which there is a cigar socket lead (£16.99) or you may be able to get a proper power lead. Look at Maplin's website. I have had to install a socket near the hatch so I can run it on deck. When I run it on batteries it uses 2 AA duracell a day which cost £3.99 for 8 on offer (I got some last week for £3 for 12) so not too expensive but power is better.

I run the routes on the handheld up top and leave a fixed GPS by the navtable for plotting. The handheld doesn't work well below decks. Plenty of cheapish fixed sets around I should think but usually need an external ariel.

 

[CPD]

You can definately get a 12v power cable for an etrex thats plugs staright into your 12v sockets.

 

[petersto]

I found an excellent little company in scotland from this forum who supplied me with a 12v lead for my garmin. If you are interested I will dig out the info.

 

[Gin]

I use a Garmin 12 and batteries are very short lived.

I have a Garmin 12v power cable( garmin manufactured item) with a cigarette lighter plug. I have a cigarette lighter socket wired to the boat battery and mounted near the chart table- no battery probs now and I still have the GPS alkaline cells to fall back on if the boat battery is depleted.

 

[Guest]

a) Ignore the rubbish you read about NOT using Rechargeables ... So get on down to local emporium and buy a set of NiMH batterys and a multi charger. You can get chargers that run from 12 and 240V. Price wise ... Maplins ... somewhere like that.

b) Yes there is a 12v lead for these ... and you can either buy the expensive Garmin job for the etrex - or buy a 3rd party item from such as GPS Warehouse that is data and power lead together for less .........

Do yourself a favour - wean yourself of Dry-Cells !!

 

[MonniotC]

Get an old car or motorcycle battery and wire it to a cigar lighter socket. You can get a 12volt cable & cigar lighter plug for an etrex - it is a standard item. Take the battery home and charge it up every now and again. Maplins are doing a small solar panel for £9.99 at the moment. I used this setup on my old Alacrity 18 for about 5 years, no probs. The alternative is to buy a rake of rechargeable AA cells, and always have a bag of charged ones with you. You can even get a solar powered AA cell charger for a few quid these days.

 

[Inselaffe]

I use a GPS Warehouse combined data & Power cable for my Etrex, the data goes to the DSC Radio. Never had any problems & much easier than batteries (although I have some just in case)

 

[Talbot]

GPS 76 - Garmin - you can get a 12v cable for it (and other accessories)

 

[Guest]

"Rechargeables is the way to go for the batteries. That's one of the reasons why I didn't go for the iFinder - they use AAA batteries which only last 12 hours. The AA batteries for the Etrex are supposed to last up to 22 hours. "

There are rechargeable AAA as well as near all other common sizes ...

You can buy specialist charge packs from Model Shops for charging field packs od radio equipment ... means you have one pack on charge ... one pack in use ...

 

[Guest]

"and always have a bag of charged ones with you."

Be very careful about this .... NiCD's can discharge at such high rates if shorted - they can explode or at least burn a smart hole in any bag or pocket they are in ... NiMH and LiIon are not so high rates - but still enough to cause damage. Best is to put the batts same way round in a bunch and a wind of tape round to ensure no shorts !

 

[Vara]

Or like so;

Sorry Cuchillo I don't have the time to offer lessons in precision carpentry.

 

[Blue5]

Agree, rechargeable Nimh is the way to go, 2 sets and stored in plastic battery cases from 7dayshop.com

 

[Niander]

Sorry Cuchillo I don't have the time to offer lessons in precision carpentry.


I would agree if you debured the corners!...

 

[Inselaffe]

If you only want power then its only 13 quid.
http://www.gpsw.co.uk/details/prod396.html

I got a cycle handlebar mount too and with a little modification (ie sawed it in half!) My etrex now clips onto the bulkhead in the cockpit.