Handheld GPS

[Tideline]

I have been looking at various sensibly priced handheld GPS units - some down to about £60 - are these cheaper ones any good for returning to same point when used on a small boat?

 

[SAWDOC]

I haave a garmin 72 which i am very happy with and find it very useful

 

[Spuddy]

I found Garmin easier to use than Magellan. The basic models do what you require.

 

[MoodySabre]

I also have a Garmin 72 which is very good. If Centaurpipedream can get to the Azores and back with an Extrek then I guess the smaller ones work just fine.

 

[aquaplane]

I have used my Garmain GPS 12 for geocaching (sad I know), the thing is, when walking round a bunch of brambles, the bearing changes to point at the spot you are looking for. It's acurate to about a foot, can you find your mooring from a foot away?

 

[ianc1200]

I have a Garmin 60Csx with East Coast chart on it, small screen but works well.

IanC

 

[planteater]

I have a Garmin 60 which is a nicely made cheap unit. I also bought a Lowrance H2O hand held plotter with a European chart (£70 for the H2O and another £70 for the chart).

It's not particularly robust and the screen is a bit small but the functionality is fantastic for the price. Especially good for a small boat where paper charts are a pain and there is no room/power for a big screen chartplotter.

 

[beneteau_305_553]

Garmin etrek will do everything you need. waterproof and robust. easy to use and lots of features

 

[mgraveling]

Have just purchased a Garmin 72 after reading many positive reviews. Refurbished model - looks like new - for £54.
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing...1728&sr=8-1
Excellent pedigree at reasonable price.
Good hunting,
Mike

 

[Spars]

All handhelds give you the information for good navigation and position, and I keep my Magellan in my pocket for instant back up wherever I might be, not a chartplotter but the information is there.

 

[dt4134]

I agree with that. I've got a cheap eTrex I boought a few years ago. It works pretty well. It goes through batteries quite quickly (like all handhelds) but I bought a few dozen very cheaply.

In terms of answering the original post it is possible to marK a current position and form a waypoint out of that.

I tend to use it as a back-up and for identifying marks I expact to pass along the way, so the boat's GPS is set up with waypoints for the course I want to travel but the handheld is used to direct me towards spotting marks a mile or two to port or starboard so I can feel confident the entire GPS set up isn't fooling me.

 

[elton]

You have to have decent eyesight to read the Etrex digits. The GPS 72 is much clearer.

I was trying to give my position to the coastguard after I'd had my specs smashed off my face by a wave and I just couldn't tell the difference between a 0 and an 8 on the Etrex.

 

[William_H]

Yes visibility is the biggest drawback to the Etrex. Other wise it is as good as GPS can be for accuracy. I would say that accuracy is repeatable to about 20 metres.
The Etrex also does not work so well among dense trees or high buildings. (poor antenna) but is fine on the water. Rechargeable NiMH 2300MAh batteries seem ok. But you can just turn it on for a fix and then turn off. Or get a connector and run it on ships power. needs a regualtor to reduce to 3volts. I stuck a patch of velcroe on the back of the Etrx and another on the boat bulkhead.

I have certainly found the Etrex very adequate for my kind of boat navigation. I am sure the other pocket GPS are just as good. The advantage of the pocket GPS is you can use them in various situations so get proficient in their use. Practice is important. olewill

 

[cmedsailor]

I also have a Garmin Etrex as a back up. It's very basic and can do the job especially if you are in the middle of nowhere. It will tell the degrees to follow until next waypoint. However, it has a HUGE disadvantage. It does not have the XTE (Cross Track Error) function. If you are in the middle of the night, with no lights, no radar, fog and sailing near the coast XTE is essential.

 

[GeorgeLlewellin]

You might want to link your GPS to a DSC radio in the future, so make sure the model GPS you purchase can do this. The Garmin 72 does it well, so do many other makes and models, but not all of them.

 

[Refueler]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been looking at various sensibly priced handheld GPS units - some down to about £60 - are these cheaper ones any good for returning to same point when used on a small boat?

[/ QUOTE ]

They will all do it basically ... I have a Garmin eTrex as my back-up and despite it's small pocket size and lack of mapping - it's an excellent machine and above all else - small, light, lasts ages on batterys ( I use high capacity rechargeables), simple to use and cheap.

 

[Refueler]

[ QUOTE ]
You might want to link your GPS to a DSC radio in the future, so make sure the model GPS you purchase can do this. The Garmin 72 does it well, so do many other makes and models, but not all of them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please quote a GPS that does not output NMEA ? I can't think of any offhand. Even my old early Magellan Meridien, Garmin 50's from early 90's do.
About the only GPS I can think of that doesn't output NMEA is my Mio Digiwalker PDA GPS - but that's not a handheld GPS in the sense of this thread - it's a pocket pc.

 

[hurley]

Lowrance I Finder go2 £70 make sure you get the uk base map. 16 Channel and has WAAS. I use mine in the boat and car and for walking. You can translate postcodes into lats and longs via the net (Just google Lat and long converter) The base map is a brilliant extra that the garmins dont have for the same money and does set it apart.

Also check out the battery life ! Its lots longer than its rivals.

The only drawback is that it looks like a 90s Nokia ! and its not rubber armour cased.

 

[Lakesailor]

I bought an etrex for use on my powerboat when I had one on Windermere. Mainly for an accurate speedo facility.
I have, like some other sad bast<span style="color:black">ards on here /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif, used it for geocaching which it is great for and used it to plot and calculate the length and gradient of the SoapBox Derby course.
Not being a salty dog I don't know how useful it would be offshore, but would agree about the aerials not being fantastic. It needs to see the sky to work properly.

 

[Amulet]

I like Garmin 72s so much I have 2 of them. One talks to compass and AIS via NMEA. Other talks to laptop via the Garmin protocol which allows transfer of routes and waypoints. Gives interchangeability in case of failure.

Had a G12 before - does the same stuff but not so intuitively and eats batteries.

I power both of mine from the boat's main batteries normally.