aidancoughlan
Well-Known Member
Hi folks,
It seems there has been a lot of posts on the Lowrance plotters over the past year or so. I'm planning on heading away for a cruise in August, and was considering fitting one before then.
I've a few questions:
- Does anybody know if the 3600i will take a standard GPS aerial in the event that the internal one fails or cant get reception ? I'd prefer the handiness of the integrated aerial, but it would be usefull to be able to plug in the aerial from the standard GPS on board if reception on the integrated aerial is not good. (Users on the forum generally seem to report that the integrated aerial works just fine) The online manual doesnt say whether or not this is possible, and I havnt seen it discussed on the forum - Can anybody that owns one see if there is a jack on the back ?
- I noted some issues reported on the forum with the Unit freezing - something to do with the LGC 2000 GPS module. The integrated aerial version apparently doesnt have the LGC 2000 module (According to specs available online) - does anyone know if there are issues with the GPS freezing in the 3600i ? Have the 3500 issues been sorted out ?
- Has anybody seen or used the battery pack ? apparently there is a stand-alone power supply which takes batteries. This would make it easily installed (no cables, no drilling holes in deck), and easily moveable - does anyone have any experience of these ?
- Can anybody recommend an alternative plotter, having had experience of both the Lowrance and another "more expensive/better" brand ? I'm led to the Lowrance because of the price/value particularly when bundled with the integrated NauticPath charts - but I'd prefer to shell out the extra if there are compelling reasons to do so - any such reasons, and which brand/model should I go for instead ?
ps. the Boat is 27ft Sailboat, cruising is east & south coasts of Ireland, West coast UK, I dont want to buy more than one chart module if I can avoid it.
It seems there has been a lot of posts on the Lowrance plotters over the past year or so. I'm planning on heading away for a cruise in August, and was considering fitting one before then.
I've a few questions:
- Does anybody know if the 3600i will take a standard GPS aerial in the event that the internal one fails or cant get reception ? I'd prefer the handiness of the integrated aerial, but it would be usefull to be able to plug in the aerial from the standard GPS on board if reception on the integrated aerial is not good. (Users on the forum generally seem to report that the integrated aerial works just fine) The online manual doesnt say whether or not this is possible, and I havnt seen it discussed on the forum - Can anybody that owns one see if there is a jack on the back ?
- I noted some issues reported on the forum with the Unit freezing - something to do with the LGC 2000 GPS module. The integrated aerial version apparently doesnt have the LGC 2000 module (According to specs available online) - does anyone know if there are issues with the GPS freezing in the 3600i ? Have the 3500 issues been sorted out ?
- Has anybody seen or used the battery pack ? apparently there is a stand-alone power supply which takes batteries. This would make it easily installed (no cables, no drilling holes in deck), and easily moveable - does anyone have any experience of these ?
- Can anybody recommend an alternative plotter, having had experience of both the Lowrance and another "more expensive/better" brand ? I'm led to the Lowrance because of the price/value particularly when bundled with the integrated NauticPath charts - but I'd prefer to shell out the extra if there are compelling reasons to do so - any such reasons, and which brand/model should I go for instead ?
ps. the Boat is 27ft Sailboat, cruising is east & south coasts of Ireland, West coast UK, I dont want to buy more than one chart module if I can avoid it.
