Mini GPS

[Slow_boat]

These little handhled GPS sold in garages give lat and long and course/distance to waypoint, which is all I need. At less than £20 they should be good value. Anyone tried one on a boat?

 

[AngusMcDoon]

These little handhled GPS sold in garages give lat and long and course/distance to waypoint, which is all I need. At less than £20 they should be good value. Anyone tried one on a boat?

Do you have a link to an example of one to look at?

 

[Arida]

These things maybe?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-GPS-...8?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item2326818a58

 

[Arida]

See also this, assuming the OP is thinking of this unit:

http://www.heacent.com/download/HC101 Mini GPS User Manual.pdf

USB is for charging only, not data. Units are Miles(MPH)/KM(KPH) only, no Nautical miles/Knots. But Lat/Long display seems ok.

Odd line in spec which says "Assistance: Message Based Via NMEA serial port". There is no external serial port, but I guess it probably implies that the GPS module used internally has a proper NMEA serial interface. Might make a cheap basis for a YAPP Angus...

 

[Sandy]

That should be fine, but I use a GPS for far more than that.

Can you record your track to another system - that for me is the great advantage of GPS I can analysis what I did and did not do.

 

[prv]

I have something very similar to Arida's link in my liferaft grab bag.

It gives you a lat and long readout, but the other functions are more or less useless. Of course, in a raft all I'd need it for is to read out my position into the VHF, so that's ok.

Mine also displays longitude as "north" and "south" instead of east and west, and I think it's giving me positions in degrees, minutes and seconds instead of the more conventional degrees, minutes and decimal minutes. I'm sure the GPS chip is a standard module, then there's a custom chip to handle the interface for this particular device, and the implementation of the latter is a bit half-arsed.

Pete

 

[FullCircle]

I have something very similar to Arida's link in my liferaft grab bag.

It gives you a lat and long readout, but the other functions are more or less useless. Of course, in a raft all I'd need it for is to read out my position into the VHF, so that's ok.

Mine also displays longitude as "north" and "south" instead of east and west, and I think it's giving me positions in degrees, minutes and seconds instead of the more conventional degrees, minutes and decimal minutes. I'm sure the GPS chip is a standard module, then there's a custom chip to handle the interface for this particular device, and the implementation of the latter is a bit half-arsed.

Pete

Surely it would be nice, while you are reporting your position, to be able to give a COG and SOG to help them find you?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Surely it would be nice, while you are reporting your position, to be able to give a COG and SOG to help them find you?

A liferaft isn't likely to have a significant COG or SOG unless it's in the Gray Dogs or Corryvreckan

 

[prv]

Surely it would be nice, while you are reporting your position, to be able to give a COG and SOG to help them find you?

It's not a priority, since they will be more or less the same as the tidal set and drift. And I can continue to transmit my changing position (the radio is powered by AA batteries, I have an AA->USB charging box for the GPS, and I have a sealed pack of two dozen new AA batteries in the bag ). And I only need them to get close enough to spot a rocket or smoke flare. And the whole GPS / VHF combination is only a back up to the 406MHz beacon anyway. And I don't have any serious expectation of needing any of this in the first place

Pete

 

[onesea]

And I don't have any serious expectation of needing any of this in the first place

Are you sure it sounds good enough for a reserve grab bag.
I think the main grab bag should contain a spare GPS, Epirb 2, Sarts, A lifeboat Radio (obsolete but some one might be listening), a spare life raft, a DGPS with additional corrections to make it accurate to within 0.5m, A small life boat, with generator heating and air conditioning. A suit of sails spare rudder and keel (if you own a Bavaria Lifeboat).

Actually you probably have better equipment than a ships lifeboat would be:

1) except for free-fall lifeboats, sufficient buoyant oars to make headway in calm seas.
2) two boat-hooks;
3) a buoyant bailer and two buckets;
4) a survival manual
5) an operational compass which is luminous or provided with suitable means of illumination. In a totally enclosed lifeboat, the
compass shall be permanently fitted at the steering position; in any other lifeboat, it shall be provided with a binnacle if
necessary to protect it from the weather, and suitable mounting arrangements;
6) a sea-anchor of adequate size fitted with a shock-resistant hawser which provides a firm hand grip when wet. The strength of
the sea-anchor, hawser and tripping line if fitted shall be adequate for all sea conditions;
7) two efficient painters of a length equal to not less than twice the distance from the stowage position of the lifeboat to the
waterline in the lightest seagoing condition or 15 m, whichever is the greater. On lifeboats to be launched by free-fall
launching, both painters shall be stowed near the bow ready for use. On other lifeboats, one painter attached to the release
device required to come together with release mechanism shall be placed at the forward end of the lifeboat and the other shall
be firmly secured at or near the bow of the lifeboat ready for use;
8) two hatchets, one at each end of the lifeboat;
9) watertight receptacles containing a total of 3 liters of fresh water for each person the lifeboat is permitted to accommodate, of
which either 1 liter per person may be replaced by a desalting apparatus capable of producing an equal amount of fresh water
in 2 days, or 2 liters per person may be replaced by a manually powered reverse osmosis desalinator capable of producing an
equal amount of fresh water in 2 days;
10) a rustproof dipper with lanyard;
11) a rustproof graduated drinking vessel;
12) a food ration totalling not less than 10,000 kJ for each person the lifeboat is permitted to accommodate; these rations shall be
kept in airtight packaging and be stowed in a watertight container;
13) four rocket parachute flares;
14) six hand flares;
15) two buoyant smoke signals;
16) one waterproof electric torch suitable for Morse signalling together with one spare set of batteries and one spare bulb in a
waterproof container;
17) one daylight signalling mirror with instructions for its use for signalling to ships and aircraft;
18) one copy of the life-saving signals prescribed by regulation V/16 on a waterproof card or in a waterproof container;
19) one whistle or equivalent sound signal;
20) a first-aid outfit in a waterproof case capable of being closed tightly after use;
21) anti-seasickness medicine sufficient for at least 48 h and one seasickness bag for each person;
22) a jack-knife to be kept attached to the boat by a lanyard;
23) three tin openers;
24) two buoyant rescue quoits, attached to not less than 30 m of buoyant line;
25) if the lifeboat is not automatically self-bailing, a manual pump suitable for effective bailing;
26) one set of fishing tackle;
27) sufficient tools for minor adjustments to the engine and its accessories;
28) portable fire-extinguishing equipment of an approved type suitable for extinguishing oil fires [A.602(15)].
29) a searchlight with a horizontal and vertical sector of at least 6° and a measured luminous intensity of 2500 cd which can work
continuously for not less than 3 h;
30) an efficient radar reflector, unless a survival craft radar transponder is stowed in the lifeboat;
31) thermal protective aids complying with the requirements of section 2.5 sufficient for 10% of the number of persons the lifeboat
is permitted to accommodate or two, whichever is the greater;
32) in the case of ships engaged on voyages of such a nature and duration that, in the opinion of the Administration a food ration
and fishing tackle are unnecessary,