Hand held GPS - with plotter or not?

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cmedsailor

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Hello,
I have a fixed chart plotter in my sailing boat, at the chart table, unfortunately no screen outside. My plan is to buy a radar sometime in the future (in a year’s time or longer), which I will install it outside and I guess nowadays all radars have also chart plotters.
So, for the time being I consider the purchase of a hand held gps. Will it be better to buy a simple gps or one that also has a plotter too? Money is always an issue but SAFETY IS ABOVE ALL.
I would like to hear some opinions. Thanks.
 
I looked into it a while back the advice i got was stick to a simple handheld. don't go for a chart as the screen is too small to be practical ! I use a C80 down at the chart table and a garmin 60 handheld outside.
 
I use a magellan meridian marine as a back up. And in my old boat used it as front line! They are now cheap as chips as they are no longer manufactured. It has a basic plotter screen function and data base that is suprisingly useful and clear. I think compass have them on sale right now for not much more than basic gps units. The display can also be set for data only and the set is small enough for me to use when hiking etc...

10 times beteer than my old etrex and that was good!
 
A simple handheld is best IMHO (mine is a Garmin 76) without charts, as the screen is too small and what you really need is the ability to get a position fix and plot it on paper, or to input waypoints you have worked out in advance and use the "rolling road" feature in the cockpit. I can plan a route on my laptop, and transfer it to the Garmin, so that the Garmin effectively has an ordered list of waypoints, and will show me the rolling road to each in succession, with cross track error displayed.
Another factor is that for the price of the more complex chartplotter handhelds, you should be looking at a small fixed plotter for the cockpit, e.g. the Standard Horizon 180i costs about the same as some of the handhelds, which have screens less than half the size.
 
I have a mish mash of chart/gps stuff- the fixed plotter is really just a monochrome gps with full features except charting software- so it will give a fix XTE etc but no visual positioning on a chart.

Until I decide what to do I have a Yeoman Sport plotter which is really excellent, and which I use below- it is input by a simple Garmin 12 monochrome handheld gps(the internal batteries on the Garmin will last at least 8 hours- but I use the boat's battery to run it and the internals are just then back up)

Now the Garmin will do what you want in the cockpit but it is the same presentation as the fixed plotter below and for a passage it would probably be OK but you are going to have two lots of waypoints, one below and another on deck, which you might not worry about, I suppose.

In my opinion since my needs are not so different to yours I would rather have a chart display in the cockpit, either a supplementary colour chart plotter as a standalone(temporarily) or as I am intending this season, using a PDA with charting software.

I reckon that I most need what a handheld will deliver when I'm in pilotage situations near shallows/obstacles/course changes in estuaries and the like when I can't leave the helm to check out the chart.

Hope these thoughts help in your decision making
 
I only have a Garmin GPS 76Map, It has a basic straight line map of UK coats with additional data from Mapsource available if I have remembered to load an appropriate map.

For our sailing (Windermere with occasional trips away (Loch Lomond (disaster, rained for 2 weeks), the Clyde (really enjoyed) It has been a good combination. Positive identification of islands, towns, nav aids very useful.

It is monochrome, I use it in conjunction with paper charts. It can be battery powered or from boat and outputs NMEA to the DSC radio.

Simple, probably cheap now with basic useful data.
 
I have a Yeoman at chart table fed by Garmin 128 and excellent Nasa Repeater on the garage and proceed from waypoint to waypoint, checking chart prudently on a regular basis. Works very well. Have, however, just purchased a Lowrance H20C with Nauticapath chart for around £220.00 frm M.E.S.. Intend to have this running and available just when entering harbour or in tricky passages to avoid having to go below to check chart when doubtful of position. A friend has a similar system with a Yeoman Plotter and a Raymarine hand held plotter(no longer made ) and finds it an ideal practical system. We shall see! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
The Garmin Map76 has a similar built in simple plotter function by which I navigate on deck, and is surprisingly usable. As it's "world map" is built in there are no expensive charts to buy, as it is handheld you tend to take it home and become ultra familiar with it, which is good. I do have a B&W plotter below decks which is rarely on unless on a difficult/unfamiliar passage......oh,yes and the old mk 1 eyeball + charts.
 
I guess it depends on your budget and what you want it to do. For basic GPS plotting I would go for something like the Garmin 72 at around £100. Personally I would like to see some chart detail, so if it was my money I would think about the Lowrance H20C which can be bought for less than £250 inc chart if you hunt around.
 
I use a Garmin GPS 60 and download my waypoints and routes in from my laptop the night before.

You could probably download your route and waypoint to both devices so both are doing the same job. On deck you just need to know which direction to steer next, you should have established there is nothing solid or shallow in the way allready.
 
[ QUOTE ]


For our sailing (Windermere with occasional trips away (Loch Lomond (disaster, rained for 2 weeks), the Clyde (really enjoyed) It has been a good combination. Positive identification of islands, towns, nav aids very useful.....quote

My God, wht's the world coming to? D'you really need a plotter to spot islands on Windemere, Loch Lomond? May I suggest eyeball method of navigation and pilotage. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
My God, wht's the world coming to? D'you really need a plotter to spot islands on Windemere, Loch Lomond? May I suggest eyeball method of navigation and pilotage. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Nooo not on Windermere, I don't think the island names are on the base map appart from maybe Belle Isle.

It was very useful on Loch Lomond when we found ourselves having to move anchorage for shelter one night in the dark to have confirmation as to which black mass was which.

Eyeball navigation and pilotage is fine, but I think there may have a few instances in the past where people have got that wrong!!! GPS and basemap provides us with a secondary confirmation as to position, although I am quite sure there are quite a few GPS assisted land/water interface incidents as well.
 
Have a Magellan Explorist XL which is great and very readable despite the size.

I use it as a back up to the Raymarine c70 on the binnacle and also on other peoples boats when they dont have a plotter.

Have also found that when I have ceded 'command' to someone-else I can keep a crafty eye on what is going on without leaning over the binnacle and getting in the way !

Would certainly recommend it

Have fun
 
After buying "Alchemist" I struggled with the same problem. A perfectly working GPS at the chart table; I connected that to the DSC VHF. Then, I tested (lend) an 8 inch chartplotter and positioned it close to the companionway, under the spray hood. Found out that, with a hand on the tiller, it was too far off to be of any practical use. In the end, I bought a Magellan Sportrak marine, and mounted that one next the companionway. It has a database of major buoys, so it is quite useful at sea (Channel in my case). And the digits are big enough to read from the tiller position. At the same time, I bought a Garmin Etrex handheld colour plotter, and I keep it in my sailing jacket pocket. It runs more than 24 hrs on just two alkaline AA batteries. If I'm in doubt about my position, and the Mark 1 eyeball is a bit confused, I just take it out of my pocket. I can work it with just one hand; the screen is more useful than it's size would make you believe.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I looked into it a while back the advice i got was stick to a simple handheld. don't go for a chart as the screen is too small to be practical ! I use a C80 down at the chart table and a garmin 60 handheld outside.

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends what you use them for - my preference (on a budget that doesn't stretch to a C80 :-) would be the opposite:
(1) A handheld (GPSMap 60 with bluechart) outside 'cos it's handy for pilotage/RoughNav (& on other boats, cars, etc) and cheaper than a bigger fixed-mount. With marine cartography, I find less need for (non arbitrary) waypoints 'cos you can point and click to seamarks.
(2) A basic Lat/Long fixed-mount (or Yeoman) inside to mark up paper charts for ProperNav(tm)

'course if you're fully-crewed, then your setup would work, but maybe a repeater at the helm would be handy?
 
I will now disagree with some of the others - we have a C70 at the chart table and I use a GPSmap 76c handheld colour plotter at the wheel. Despite the criticism of the small screen, with its reasonably fast pan and zoom, it is very useable (and my eyes arent the best at reading distance). Only donside with it is I can't be bothered to learn to use the C70 properly.

I have the Mapsource bluechart on my laptop and download the waypoints and charts I need to the handheld on a regular basis.
 
Couple of choices here really.

We have a lot of customers that buy the CP180 or CP300 and use them both up top and down below.
Works very well and the extra mounts are well priced.
Only plotters with a 3 year waterproof warranty!

We had new firmware on show at LIBS so all our plotter will, in the next month or so, support Radar.
We will not have our own Radar but they will work with the Koden Radar.

The other option is the new G3 from Geonav.
Hand held GPS plotter the size of an average mobile phone, full colour and despite its size very useable.

As we do not have anything like this I am about to get one as a back up.
These will also do road Sat Nav as well!

Well worth a look.

Cheers
 
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