Handheld GPS?

Little Rascal

Little Rascal

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Hi all,

I'm looking for a reasonably priced handheld GPS for coastal cruising as a aid to traditional nav. I just want a fix now and then, plus a few waypoints... Long battery life and waterproofing would also help.

It would be good to be able to plug it into the laptop afterwards 'to see where we actually went'!

I also want to mount it on my washboards somehow...


Was thinking of a Garmin E-trex - any good? or any other reccomendations?

What other functions do you find neccessary/useful?

Ta!
Jon
 
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Thanks Dave. Been reading that thread but didn't wish to hijack... I'm starting from a position of almost total ignorance re GPS... (other than shorebased theory stuff)

I was reading your blog - which PC program do you use for the post sail track?
 
I just used Garmin MapSource which is included with the unit. I'm not familiar with the eTrex but the gpsmap62s is great. As for features used, I personally only use the chart view for a quick check and do all chartwork on the paper ones. I regularly use the heading and speed functions as well as waypoints and routes. I put the waypoints in through mapsource which is easy to do so I have them all ready to go when needed.
I'm also planning to buy the NMEA cable which will allow it to connect to a DSS radio and power from the boat, but this is pretty low priority. They also sell a holder for it to be mounted on the boat but I find the caribiner to be very useful and flexable so won't be getting one of those.
Cheers
Dave
 
GPS72 - waterproof, floats, good battery life (runs on AA), very clear display, easy to use & can save points for downloading to PC later.

GPS76 - waterproof, floats, OK battery life (needs high capacity AA, IMHO), obscure access to some functions, smaller display than the 72 and less clear (IMHO) but can display charts (Garmin Bluecharts only AFAIK) expensive, but handy.

I have used OziExplorer to plot the saved tracks on a scanned image of a chart which works well, but unless you pay to register, there are limitations on how big the scanned charts can be, etc. The PC part of the Garmin bluecharts can display tracks, etc.

Either program can be used to plan routes and plot waypoints on the PC for later transfer to the device.

I have owned both of these. Unless you're going to buy the charts, my suggestion would be to get a GPS72 - it will do exactly what you describe.

Andy
 
I ought to point out there is very little difference between the marine and non marine products apart from the floating aspect. I went for the gps62 because it looked cooler than the marine ones. Not the best reason but you have to choose one or the other.

The gpsmap62 doesn't include a compass by the way, the gpsmap62s does, the gpsmap62st is identical to the s but includes UK mapping. Be careful which model you go for, the cheap ones are cheap for a reason usually. I suspect there are parallels to these points in the marine range.

Cheers
Dave
 
I have to agree having just looked at the pricing that the 72 will definitely do what you need it to. It doesn't have the compass or the charts but you really shouldn't need them anyway :)
Cheers
Dave
 
I think the Garmin GPSXX range is great, simple rugged and fnctional. You can pick up a second hand Garmin GPS60 for about £50 on eBay. They're quite old, but very sturdy and feel much more 'marinised' than the eTrex. You can get a mount for them, but it's a bit bulky for my liking. They last forever on their batteries and can be plugged in easily to 12V supply if you have one.

You can customise the display to show what data you want, position, speed, time to destination etc, and you can also plug into a laptop to see your actual track afterwards. Honestly I think it's the best bit of kit on my boat, and although it's a bit redundant now, I still have it on all the time.

One problem I have had is that you cant load a routes from other software as Garmin try to keep things proprietary.

There are more advanced handhelds these days with colour screens and maps, but the Garmin GPSxx range sounds like it would fit you bill perfectly.
 
I've had three Garmins fail due to moisture, seems to be through the battery cover so I now put the 72 I have in a plastic zip lock and in a roll up water proof.

They were all a few years old but hardly ever used as they were back up units.

The first two the screen lost a few lines at a time and the latest one just shuts down, so I'm looking for something more water proof now...
 
I have a 10 year old Garmin GPSmap76 which has been grand.
It has a built in basechart which makes it a bit of a plotter (if you employ a little imagination) and can save up to ten, pretty detailed and long, tracks. You can then download and meddle with your tracks and waypoints via EasyGPS (free).
I see the new version is said to have an even better basechart, memory etc. It would be rather dear but I bet a lot of secondhand or refurbished stuff is available, tis good.
Don't mount the plotter on a washboard, you will hate it and kick it every time you go below. Figure out a method of putting it above the sliding hatch where it is out of the way
 
lustyd said:
You may find a search feature useful, this is from today/yesterday!

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276055
Click to expand...
As I said on the thread quoted, I'm doing well with a Garmin GPS72 (GPS72H is the new, USB enabled version),
I have, over the years, made this work with about six or seven different software packages on the laptop.

The GPS 72 is less battery hungry than most (though it is dead easy to run it off the boat battery with cables provided by Garmin), it is configurable to display almost anything your want, and the size of the writing can be set large for old geezers* to read. It is not a map style GPS.

I have settled with "Offshore Navigator" as the software I use for navigation (I looked at about 10 and actually tested half a dozen or so). I did want things which would do the job for under about £150, so I didn't look at pricey ones**. I draw routes on the computer and send them to the GPS, which means that realtime navigation is not absolutely dependent on the survival of the computer, though I do use it down below as a plotter.



* I don't know the politically correct feminine equivalent of "geezer", hence the gender specific language.

** Do look carefully when comparing prices. E.g., Imray Digital Charts look about the same price as Offshore Navigator, however from Imray you get a region of the UK whereas from Offshore Navigator you get the whole UK. There are whole UK solutions for £50 or so, like Memory Map's AtSea.
 
I use an Etrex, mainly as a log (no current on the lake anyway).
I have a mount bracket on the bulkhead. It is a genuine bulkhead bracket, not a converted handlebar one.

It's still available on this Italian site, but not from their British site??

cockpit.jpg
 
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Cheers Phil.

I'm now trying to decide between the E-trex H and the 72H...

There's about £30 quid in it roughly - but I'm not sure what the 72 has extra? The specs seem pretty much the same.

How easy are the side-mounted buttons on the etrex to use?
 
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Little Rascal said:
Cheers Phil. That link takes me to a sign in page?

I'm now trying to decide between the E-trex H and the 72H...

There's about £30 quid in it roughly - but I'm not sure what the 72 has extra? The specs seem pretty much the same.

How easy are the side-mounted buttons on the etrex to use?
Click to expand...
I use the 72. I just browsed the manual of the eTrex. My impressions may not be completely accurate.

As far as I can see the main differences are in the configurability of the display.

e.g., on the 72 you can have a pointer page which includes four data fields of your choice.
It seems you can have only one on the eTrex (or two, but one changeable??). The range of things you can include is broader on the 72, for example the cross-track error (off-course in their jargon) cannot be displayed on that page in the eTrex - I use this a lot on tricky channels.
(You can display it on other pages.)

I usually have the pointer page with speed, distance and bearing of next waypoint, cross-track error, ETA at next waypoint all on the screen.

The 72 allows you to have less than four fields if you choose bigger print - which is useful.

I also didn't see any mention of the "rolling road" display for the eTrex - it's not something I use however.

[Quick impression, and obviously biased to my own choice]
 
I've been using a Garmin 12 for many years with no problems. Supposed to be waterproof but I keep in a splashproof cover to be sure. Runs on on 4 x AA batteries (rechargables are OK) or from 12 v via a power/data cable. Mine's linked via data cable (NMEA 183) to nav instruments and a laptop running chart plotting software. Waypoints and routes can be uploaded/downloaded to a PC with free software so no need to go through the laborious chore of inputting via the scrolling butttons.

Why not check on ebay for bargain older model like this if (like me) you are boating on a tight budget.
 
I've been using a Garmin 12 for many years with no problems. Supposed to be waterproof but I keep in a splashproof cover to be sure. Runs on on 4 x AA batteries (rechargables are OK) or from 12 v via a power/data cable. Mine's linked via data cable (NMEA 183) to nav instruments and a laptop running chart plotting software. Waypoints and routes can be uploaded/downloaded to a PC with free software so no need to go through the laborious chore of inputting via the scrolling butttons.

Why not check on ebay for bargain older model like this if (like me) you are boating on a tight budget.
 
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