m1taylor
Well-Known Member
Hi, Just wondering whether anyone had any views on the NauticPath charts that some dealers are including with Lowrance mapping GPS units? There seem to be some particularly good deals on Lowrance units around
Lowrance and Nauticpath
- Thread starter m1taylor
- Start date
Sans Bateau
Well-Known Member
Bought one of these deals at the LIBS. The chartware is very much like Navonics, the main difference is that some detail is missing, like pontoons in marinas. However we assessed the chartware against an area we knew very well and could see no degradation in navigational detail.
I have used the chartware out on a short sail and as the plotter said we were passing a buoy, sure enough there was the buoy next to us.
For the money I think its a real bargain, there are others on here who also have the product.
I have used the chartware out on a short sail and as the plotter said we were passing a buoy, sure enough there was the buoy next to us.
For the money I think its a real bargain, there are others on here who also have the product.
G
Guest
Guest
Paid 445 quid delivered with the chart card incl.
Will be playing with it next week .......... having "paged" the forums a month ago when I bought it - impression is I bought wisely.
Costing up alternatives >>>>>> Cheap - B&W Raytech 425 199.99 + charts ..... probably about 350 quid all in - but chart coverage limited ... so for 100 quid more for full colour Lowrance + chart card ... I can circumnavigate UK on the chart card no problem and down to Gib ... over to Greenland ..... etc.
(I actually would have preferred losing Greenland and gaining eastern North Sea ... but still can't grumble !!)
Don't forget it also accepts Navionics cards as well.
Will be playing with it next week .......... having "paged" the forums a month ago when I bought it - impression is I bought wisely.
Costing up alternatives >>>>>> Cheap - B&W Raytech 425 199.99 + charts ..... probably about 350 quid all in - but chart coverage limited ... so for 100 quid more for full colour Lowrance + chart card ... I can circumnavigate UK on the chart card no problem and down to Gib ... over to Greenland ..... etc.
(I actually would have preferred losing Greenland and gaining eastern North Sea ... but still can't grumble !!)
Don't forget it also accepts Navionics cards as well.
Sans Bateau
Well-Known Member
Out of interest, when we bought our 3500C the purchase was not completely price driven. I looked at the Raymarine 435, which is a colour device that takes Navonics. It was slow, very slow, the 3500C redraw was much faster but lots cheaper!
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
the 3500C redraw was much faster but lots cheaper
[/ QUOTE ]
Agree - it's a great piece of kit. The only problem is the cable connection. Fine if you want it permanently fixed but the connectors don't stand up well to frequent undoing and reconnecting.
the 3500C redraw was much faster but lots cheaper
[/ QUOTE ]
Agree - it's a great piece of kit. The only problem is the cable connection. Fine if you want it permanently fixed but the connectors don't stand up well to frequent undoing and reconnecting.
Sans Bateau
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
but the connectors don't stand up well to frequent undoing and reconnecting.
[/ QUOTE ]
What happens then?
but the connectors don't stand up well to frequent undoing and reconnecting.
[/ QUOTE ]
What happens then?
G
Guest
Guest
Connect - re-connect .......... I\'m all ears ????
More details please .... as I intend to have mine de-riggable and on / off quite a lot ...
More details please .... as I intend to have mine de-riggable and on / off quite a lot ...
G
Guest
Guest
Funny .... more and more items nowadays are bad ....
In the old days you had connectors you could run a tank over .... nowadays what I call normal use ends up with dodgy connectors ...
Mobile phones - UGH ! ..... PDA's - UGH ! ..... Computers - UGH ! .... seems that style has taken over from good old fashioned sturdiness and fit for job ...
Now I'm just waiting to see what PS has to elaborate on the Lowrance connections ....
In the old days you had connectors you could run a tank over .... nowadays what I call normal use ends up with dodgy connectors ...
Mobile phones - UGH ! ..... PDA's - UGH ! ..... Computers - UGH ! .... seems that style has taken over from good old fashioned sturdiness and fit for job ...
Now I'm just waiting to see what PS has to elaborate on the Lowrance connections ....
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
The problem is with the NMEA cable they supply. The connectors are made up of copper pins extending through blue twist on/off fittings. There are 2 problems:
The inner section of blue plastic is supposed to be fixed to the black NMEA wire, but because of the force required to fasten and undo the connector it comes off and so the whole blue end pulls away from the copper pins. Has happened twice until I started to grip the part that was supposed to stay attached to the black cable.
The cable is not very flexible and the blue connectors too long; this means that if the unit is fixed at say a 90 degree angle (facing you with the cable coming up from below) then there is a great deal of pressure pulling down on the connectors when they are fastened to the unit.
In my opinion, the NMEA cable supplied is only suitable for permanent fixing of the unit. The flush mount kit costs £56 from Seamark Nunn - ouch! And then the unit is susceptible to theft.
The inner section of blue plastic is supposed to be fixed to the black NMEA wire, but because of the force required to fasten and undo the connector it comes off and so the whole blue end pulls away from the copper pins. Has happened twice until I started to grip the part that was supposed to stay attached to the black cable.
The cable is not very flexible and the blue connectors too long; this means that if the unit is fixed at say a 90 degree angle (facing you with the cable coming up from below) then there is a great deal of pressure pulling down on the connectors when they are fastened to the unit.
In my opinion, the NMEA cable supplied is only suitable for permanent fixing of the unit. The flush mount kit costs £56 from Seamark Nunn - ouch! And then the unit is susceptible to theft.
duncan
Well-Known Member
just had a look at the unit and see what you mean.
I always fit units with plenty of 'loop' allowing the fitting to be both put on and off and sit connected without any loading on the fitting but will be extra carefull on this one..
re the charting I have now run both (Navionics and Nautipath) on th eunit in trial and have to say I prefer the Nautipaths on screen presentation of land/shallows etc over Navionics but the buoyage can be cluttered at some levels of zoom. Extra - and lovely - function is a recomended routing in difficult areas. It's exactly like an on screen pilote chartlet!!! Absolutely fantastic. Take a look at areas like Sark, Treguier etc and you will see blue 'safe routes' through the 'crap' including bearings marked etc - absolutely brilliant.
Yes the pontoons at Notrthney are missing.....;o( but the contour lines and other features are as detailed in all areas I compared with the Navionics. I will be running the Navionics in a 15MT from now on and the Nautipath in the 3500c. The cluttered buoyage wouldn't be a problem on a larger screen and would display better I think than the Navionics. I belive it's a function of the pixelation - 480 x 480 gives a lot of scope for detail but 5" isn't enough room to display it all!
For those new to Lowrance don't forget to add you custom on screen data displays - many find the voltage really usefull as well as obvious navigation items like distance run etc
I always fit units with plenty of 'loop' allowing the fitting to be both put on and off and sit connected without any loading on the fitting but will be extra carefull on this one..
re the charting I have now run both (Navionics and Nautipath) on th eunit in trial and have to say I prefer the Nautipaths on screen presentation of land/shallows etc over Navionics but the buoyage can be cluttered at some levels of zoom. Extra - and lovely - function is a recomended routing in difficult areas. It's exactly like an on screen pilote chartlet!!! Absolutely fantastic. Take a look at areas like Sark, Treguier etc and you will see blue 'safe routes' through the 'crap' including bearings marked etc - absolutely brilliant.
Yes the pontoons at Notrthney are missing.....;o( but the contour lines and other features are as detailed in all areas I compared with the Navionics. I will be running the Navionics in a 15MT from now on and the Nautipath in the 3500c. The cluttered buoyage wouldn't be a problem on a larger screen and would display better I think than the Navionics. I belive it's a function of the pixelation - 480 x 480 gives a lot of scope for detail but 5" isn't enough room to display it all!
For those new to Lowrance don't forget to add you custom on screen data displays - many find the voltage really usefull as well as obvious navigation items like distance run etc
bluedragon
Well-Known Member
See my earlier posts on this. I prefer the Navionics screen presentation and detail...but I'll use the NautiPath chart when outside the Navioinics chart area. It's very much a personal thing. If you get a chance to compare the two charting systems, then do so. Great plotter for the money anyway...I must have a look at this connector issue though. Mine have been used dozens of times (the whole system is demountable...no fixed wiring) and apart from being a bit looser than they were, no problems to date.
daveprice
New Member
Dear All,
I've just bought a Lowrance 3500C with the UK nauticpath. We think we have noticed an "oddity". The waypoints defined as nautical chart -> names all seem to be some distance away from where similar text would appear on paper UK charts and we also see some things repeated, or almost so. I'm in Aberystwyth and the chart has data for both "castle rk" which is a little out of place, but them also "castle rock" which is a long way west of actual place. There are also two "The Weg" labels, again both wrong.. Also, we seem to be spotting these names sometimes appear on the chart, then we zoom out and back and then names have gone.
Are we missing something here or are there oddities or what?
Thanks,
Dave Price
I've just bought a Lowrance 3500C with the UK nauticpath. We think we have noticed an "oddity". The waypoints defined as nautical chart -> names all seem to be some distance away from where similar text would appear on paper UK charts and we also see some things repeated, or almost so. I'm in Aberystwyth and the chart has data for both "castle rk" which is a little out of place, but them also "castle rock" which is a long way west of actual place. There are also two "The Weg" labels, again both wrong.. Also, we seem to be spotting these names sometimes appear on the chart, then we zoom out and back and then names have gone.
Are we missing something here or are there oddities or what?
Thanks,
Dave Price
duncan
Well-Known Member
labelling is an interesting aspect
basically theissue is with the cahrted object not the label so, in the case of Castle Rock is the object itself consistent with your independent charted data?
different data does show at different levels of zoom - it's a standard issue with small screen units ! bigger screens can handle less differentiation through zoom levels.
Over the last couple of months I haven'tfound anything around Pole/Solent or Alderney/Guernsey actually out of place on the nautipath - just the odd pontoon missing.
basically theissue is with the cahrted object not the label so, in the case of Castle Rock is the object itself consistent with your independent charted data?
different data does show at different levels of zoom - it's a standard issue with small screen units ! bigger screens can handle less differentiation through zoom levels.
Over the last couple of months I haven'tfound anything around Pole/Solent or Alderney/Guernsey actually out of place on the nautipath - just the odd pontoon missing.
