Hand held gps or chart plotter as back up ????

On the grounds, that you cannot navigate conventionally less you know where you are, I'd have a spare GPS, I've sort of inherited one. Dont know how it works, but can get a position out of it. So no worries. Then carry on on charts.
 
If something going to fail then it will fail at the worst time with lots of obstacles etc about. GPS is great but for a litle over £400 you can buy Garmin chart plotter and with something like that you can very easly steer back on course or enter waypoints very quickly. I used to fly using basic navigation but GPS took the hard work away and now the chartplotters are so cheap I would have one even as a back up.

Let your heart decide Mark and just have a more expensive birthday present. Next time your in Penarth knock on our boat for a coffee and show us your choice.
Steve
 
Surely not a Garmin?

Although I can see the sense in having a cheapish plotter as a back-up, surely a Garmin plotter would be a totally wrong choice as back-up for a Simrad plotter, because the Garmin uses proprietary cartography. The logical choice would be a plotter which uses the same cartography as the Simrad; then, if Simrad fails, pop the chart cartridge into the back-up and you're back in business.

Assuming the Simrad uses C-Map cartridges, a Navman with an integral antenna would be a good back-up choice. As it's not likely to get much use, I'd probably forsake colour for a bigger mono screen and a lower price. The Navman 5110i at £240 would be good value and takes C-Map NT+ cartridges. Or the 5430i at £300 will take NT+ or NT-MAX cartridges.
 
Definitely Garmin stuff, Etrex perhaps for GPS with power and serial cable..nice and simple either as a standalone gps or to feed another plotter or PC in emergency or even to use with Charts...!!!!
One of the Garmin monochrome plotters perhaps as a backup, it'll do a job in an emergency and not too expensive.
Or even better use a laptop with charting software, little cost and much better plotting.

Steve.
 
A plotter is only an electronic chart, so if you don't know where you are it will be no more use than a chart. Better have self contained GPS to tell you where you are.
Of course if you can navigate there are various ways of finding your position without GPS although even with the plotter down you should have some vague idea where you are. Solent, East Coast, Bristol Channel for Example.
 
I keep paper charts along with a cheap hand held GPS for position (£60 on ebay) as a backup to my chartplotter. Remember to check the batteries and if all fails use your compass and know how to use your paper charts - Its fun
 
Not so...

[ QUOTE ]
A plotter is only an electronic chart, so if you don't know where you are it will be no more use than a chart.

[/ QUOTE ]
The vast majority of plotters incorporate a GPS. The whole point of plotters is not just to tell you where you are, but also to show you.
 
Re: Surely not a Garmin?

Or even better, a garmin etrex or similar and secondhand laptop running C-map ECS.
Whole job done for a couple of hundred quid and better than any stand alone plotter with a 6" screen.

Steve.
 
Maybe, but...

Maybe, but the question was about back-up to a Simrad plotter. Surely the whole idea of a back-up unit is that it lives quietly in the back of a locker for years without ever being used. When you do need it, you need it quickly and easily, which is why a unit with integrated antenna and using exactly the same cartridges would get my vote every time.
 
I have both and I have to say I would choose the GPS everytime! the hand held plotters for me are just not large enough whereas hand held GPS machines even with a small screen are very clear and useful!

Barry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

N
Integral Battery Electric Outboards… with MORE POWER!
Replies
11
Views
731
ontheplane
O
zoidberg
Rigging Checklist
Replies
0
Views
117
zoidberg
zoidberg

Share this page

Top