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Alistairr

Alistairr

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On my shopping list for LBS this Year, are 2 things.....

1.
A 4hp outboard for Dingy and useful as get me home. (preferably 4 stroke)

2.
A Handheld Gps.

Firstly Can you recommend Makes and Models Please.

Secondly,
The reason for the GPS, is i hope to venture into the Clyde for a few weeks next season, It is widely known that as part of your safety gear, a GPS is a must.
But Exactly what do you reguire a Gps For? Is it purely for Positioning, ploting and Tracing.? But what other reasons do i need a GPS?

Cheers for now.

Alistair..



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GPS

oh, just get one. For a starter thing, i'd recommend a 100 quid jobby, a Garmin, like the 12XL or therabouts. battery-powered, praps with a ciglighter adapter.

It tells you exactly where you are as lat and long. It lets you input another place as lat and long and tells ytour how far away that place is , and in what directyion. it tells you what speed you are doing now, and in what direction you are travelling. It does this all much faster and much more accuratley than the very best navigator could ever hope to do without a gps.

A gps chartplotter does all the above plus give s you a little piccie of where you are on an electronic map, like a little telly - and exactly like on the aeroplanes (BA anyway these days). This is useful - mainly because you see if you tiped in the lat and long of the place you want to go wrongly and are aiming for the rocks. Also cos it answers the "where are we" question graphically. Also cos you can sort of a bit get away without a chart, but you shouldn't so this really cos the charts will have "other info". But very modern electronic charts are becoming such that they will have much as on a paper chart, and will surely soon have more than on paper charts, but not yet.

With a GPS, if your navigation isn't good enough to reach your destination, you are a bit of a tosser. Perhaps partly for this reason, it is not well loved by purists, as were cars, telephones, mobiles phones and computers for quite a long time and still are hated by some. But just like all of those things, you should be able to manage without. Lots of people can't manage without mobiles/tv's/cars/gps, and you should not aim to joinem, but neither need you be an anti.

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Re: GPS

Thankyou for that, I think that answers my question/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif.

So i'd be better of starting with a cheapy then.

Cheers..

Alistair..



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Re: GPS

Thankyou for that, I think that answers my question/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif.

So i'd be better of starting with a cheapy then.

Cheers..

Alistair..



<hr width=100% size=1>
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Re: GPS

I agree with everything TCM says and would just add that the 'rolling road' screen on the GPS is to me invaluable and I wouldn't venture anywhere without GPS now (I use both handheld and a fixed one).

<hr width=100% size=1>There's no problems..just opportunities
 
Re: GPS

I'd recommend pushing the boat out and spending £140 on a Magellan Sportrak, which is presently being sold as a package with a dashboard mount (try holding a handheld while you're helming a bouncy powerboat........) and a combination pc and faglighter socket cable.

Slightly less intuitive controls than the Garmin (I'm told) but I am a technological illiterate and have managed fine. It has rolling road and all the other stuff, can store lots of waypoints etc.

Having never previously used any of this new-fangled technology stuff, I thought I would just use it as a comfort blanket, to reassure me and get out of trouble if, for example, fog suddenly closed in. In fact it has made me an extremely lazy git as it is so simple to use, both to confirm position and to show the course over ground. All I would say is that you shouldn't rely on it as a replacement for chart navigation - if you don't understand how to plot a course you will not understand why the GPS is telling you what it is or, indeed, what it means.

But you've done some training already, I think?

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Re: garmin or magellan

I don't disagree about dashboard mounts being good ...and not used magellan - but I wd always always get garmin - becos their after sales support is so fab. Mine busted (my fault really) and i rangem up (2years after buying it) and they sed sendit in, didn't care about receipts or where i had bort it or forms filling in - and they sent me back a new one free. Lots of other stories hereabouts about garmin support too (in the uk at least).

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I would query the choice of a 4hp. Obviously this depends on the size of your tender. However a 3.5 Tohatsu (or of course the more expensive but identical 3.3 mariner/etc) has very nearly the same power, a gearbox and is abt half the weight of the 4hp. If you are pushing a boat larger than 2.6, then you may as well recognise the need for assistance to take the engine off the tender, and go for a 5hp or even larger dependant again on the size of your boat.

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Re: garmin or magellan

Got both Magellan and garmin handhelds.
FWIW the Garmin is easier to program waypoints and use coz its mor intuitive.

<hr width=100% size=1>Been there, done that, got the oily T shirt
 
Customer Service

Yes, I've heard about the fab. Garmin customer support, so am hoping like Hell that the Magellan doesn't break down. Seems OK so far and is robust, though I can't offer any guarantee against the very strong likelihood that I will do something prattish, and knacker it.

Also, I think Thales have their British HQ close to the Winchester - London train line at Wimbledon, so I can threaten to firebomb them on a day when work takes me to Town, if they fail to satisfy...........

:o)

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Fully support all the Garmin accolades.

I've a Garmin Legend, costs about £200, but comes with mapping as well as just basic GPS functions. By default includes all Europe and Africa major routes, towns, rivers, coastline etc. Plus marine poi database.

It also has 8mb capacity for downloading mapsource detailed (post code level) area maps. Just a pity it doesn't take flash cards.

However, if you already own a pda (or indeed laptop), consider adding a GPS sender to that, then you can acheive colour chart plotting and even voice directional road navigation for not much over £200.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.mboat.org>http://www.mboat.org</A></font color=blue>
 
I have the 3.3 mercury, quite powerful for such a light and versatile unit, pushes the 2.6mtr Zodiac tender well and gives me 3.5knts on the back of the 6.2mtr boat. I looked at bigger engines but space and weight of getting it onto the tender was an issue, so went for the 3.3. A bigger engine would be nice but this is OK for the odd emergency, and better than nowt /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Apparently Tohatsu have a 9.9 or 9.8 2 stroke which has the highest power to weight ratio, it comes in long and short shafts.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>
 
Or if he has a laptop why not Transas Navigator, together with the Garmin 12XL in com port, taken me all over the place

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.suncoastmarine.co.uk>Sun Coast Sea School & Charter</A>
 
any one use Max Sea.
I do with a cheapo garmin and USB.
Is good for pre plotting courses on laptop, getting way points and stuff , but not much good underway.
Phil

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Transas..... you plot it all at home, then get a brilliant display, with boat in real time on screen, eta, xte, cog sog the lot. Zoom in instantly without loosing quality set alarms for hazards, course up or course north you name it.

Never had to put waypoints into 12 XL, just use a mouse/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.suncoastmarine.co.uk>Sun Coast Sea School & Charter</A>
 
If you go to the LBS, Transas will have a stand, ask for James Woodward and mention my name. They will be doing a special offer of the software (Navigator about £150 plus vat) plus 5 free charts, (about £22 each) or thats what they normally do anyway. Both me in Jan 2000 and B1 in 2002 I think, took advantage of the offer for free charts.

Ask B1 for second opinion, he came down from Teddington to Chatham on my tub and saw it in action, also Nick & Joanne saw it as I bought it on there boat for the same trip, which included passage in the dark.


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.suncoastmarine.co.uk>Sun Coast Sea School & Charter</A>
 
Ok, Clive, If i get there i will have a look at that. And will look you up as well if Suncoast is there.

Thanks

Alistair..



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Pete, Like you i was hopeing the out board could act as a backup if the main power should fail.
Either fit a mounting for the outboard on the platform of if attached to the dingy, would the dingy pull the main boat?

Cheers.

Alistair..



<hr width=100% size=1>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/album13> My Pictures, Please take a look.</A>
 
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