Older Hand Held GPS ??

[barfwinkle]

Good Morning to all

I have an older Garmin GMSMap 76Cx that is not functional (don't ask why). I think (I looked but have forgotten) the cost of the repair is $120ish.

My question is just how feasible is having the repair done. I have an iPad Air 2 and an iPhone 5s. Both have navigation software and are capable of navigation without a cell signal. So that gives me three GPSs.

Just debating whether or not to repair the Garmin? I haven't even looked at the newer Garmin Hand Helds, but they gotta be upwards of $175-$200?

Fair Winds

[Neil Gordon]

GPSMAP 78SC is about $250.

[Joe Myerson]

Hey Bill,

I'd be careful about using your iPhone or iPad as your exclusive navigational device, because they can suddenly open to Apple Store or iCloud or iTunes when you least expect it. I remember reading speculation on the Net (hardly reliable) that a boat ran on the rocks coming into Maui at night because he was using his iPad as his exclusive navigational device, and he might have been redirected to the Apple Store at the worst possible time.

That said, I've got navigational software on both (actually all three) of my Apple products.

BTW, do you still have that extra "life preserver" for your iPad?

--Joe

[barfwinkle]

Hello to all

Yes Joe I have the lifejacket. It is for the iPad 2 and 3 not the later models or iPad Airs. If you want it let me know.

Fair Winds

[fmueller]

Hi all,

As my main electronic nav device I have a B&G Touch 7 in my boat ... what makes me nervous about that is that the screen and the chassis both get quite warm after about an hour .. so warm in fact that it's hard for me to believe that it only draws the stated 10 watts or .8 amps at 12v. !!! OTOH you can easily see the screen in sunlight.

This is not really the case with either my i-Pad mini or i-Phone 5 which both have i-Navx installed as well as the same Navonics Map package that B&G uses, and also most of the relevant NOAA rater maps (which are marvelous on the i-Pad).

But they are just really hard to see properly in common sailing situations, including bright sun and glare coupled with spray. OK below decks, but I mostly single hand. Something the OP might want to consider.

Both ok as back ups I suppose. OTOH, at night they all revolutionize navigation.

Joe - i-Navx or any other IOS app does not stop working in the background if some other app launches ... you just have to know how to switch back. I'd say that the problem with all electronic devices is that they are so complex that in a crunch, you can be overwhelmed, and that the battery or power can run out at the worst possible moment.

My "back up / back up" are a full set of Maptec charts and my Dad's old but not yet surpassed huge Fijinon binos with the built in bearing compass/range finder, and big waterproof covering. Thanks Dad.

In fact lately I have enjoyed more just having the maps (waterproof) in the cockpit, the B&G unit off, and just using the charts and spotting features / bearings and plotting (as best I can in the cockpit) position and bearing to the next mark. You do have more on the water awareness this way, and begin to actually remember bearings from familiar mark to mark and so forth. I'd say its dramatic how much more you really learn about your local waters this way.

[Maine_Buzzard]

Look at the Bad Elf Bluetooth GPS. It's a receiver that connects to your ipad and provides location data without cell service or a contract. 15-20 hour life on battery, and you can leave it inside the boat. It will have better performance than the GPS chip in the iPad.

$160

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Elf-2200-Blac ... ds=bad+elf

It also does about 2/3 of the GPS76C. The $250 version display lat and long, so you can use it standalone.

[Jim Walsh]

Look at the Bad Elf Bluetooth GPS. It's a receiver that connects to your ipad and provides location data without cell service or a contract. 15-20 hour life on battery, and you can leave it inside the boat. It will have better performance than the GPS chip in the iPad.

$160

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Elf-2200-Blac ... ds=bad+elf

It also does about 2/3 of the GPS76C. The $250 version display lat and long, so you can use it standalone.

I've had one for a couple years as backup to my C80 chartplotter. It works great. As stated you can use it as a stand alone unit or Bluetooth it to an iPad. I downloaded avionics onto my iPad since my C80 uses a navionics chip and I figured I'd have similar functionality. It came in very handy on my Bermuda trip since it wasn't always necessary to go topside for my lat. and long. when updating my log.

[tartansailor]

Hi all,
I'd say that the problem with all electronic devices is that they are so complex that in a crunch, you can be overwhelmed, and that the battery or power can run out at the worst possible moment.

My "back up / back up" are a full set of Maptec charts and my Dad's old but not yet surpassed huge Fijinon binos with the built in bearing compass/range finder, and big waterproof covering. Thanks Dad.

In fact lately I have enjoyed more just having the maps (waterproof) in the cockpit, the B&G unit off, and just using the charts and spotting features / bearings and plotting (as best I can in the cockpit) position and bearing to the next mark. You do have more on the water awareness this way, and begin to actually remember bearings from familiar mark to mark and so forth. I'd say its dramatic how much more you really learn about your local waters this way.

Given a salt atmosphere and the uncertanties cited above, I strongly support traditional piloting and navigation. Electronics? fine but only as a check after you determine your position on a paper chart.
richard

[sharkbait]

A few years ago I was transiting the Industrial canal east of New Orleans using visual navigation. I just happened to glance at the GPS chart display and according to that I was way north of the canal transversing the salt grass flats; not a happy thought if one were in the fog and relying upon the chart plotter.

[Steve Darwin]

This recalls a similar and very informative discussion from 6/14/08 on the Hand Bearing Compass (and other topics). (Neil Gordon: "What a concept! Sailing by looking around.").

Isn't the binnacle-mounted magnetic compass still pretty much standard and universal on yachts with wheel steering? Just my opinion, but a good magnetic compass is the most important and reliable power tool on any boat; it's "powered" by the Earth's magnetic field.

Link to the older thread:
http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... ps#p115428

[Maine_Buzzard]

Impressive how frequently specific hardware upgrade inquires turn into generalized electronics bashing.

Anyone who neglects situational awareness, on the water, mowing the lawn, or walking around a city corner will eventually become an apocryphal internet tale...

How often is your DR location off by a considerable distance? Ever insist that the ledge you see should not be there?
I'll wager many more mistakes are made by misreading charts than ever happened with dithered GPS... Which ended 15 years ago.

[Neil Gordon]

Impressive how frequently specific hardware upgrade inquires turn into generalized electronics bashing.

Anyone who neglects situational awareness, on the water, mowing the lawn, or walking around a city corner will eventually become an apocryphal internet tale...

How often is your DR location off by a considerable distance? Ever insist that the ledge you see should not be there?
I'll wager many more mistakes are made by misreading charts than ever happened with dithered GPS... Which ended 15 years ago.

I'll admit that my handheld GPS is my primary navigation tool. That said, the mention of alternative methods of navigating are not "electronics bashing" so much as they are a (perhaps overstated) reminder that relying on any one method, when more than one is available, is a generally bad idea. It's not a new concept... one of the great risks of being a lightship was that when RDF was introduced, you'd be smashed by someone honing in on your signal, to the exclusion of any other means of navigation.

Agreed as to "situational awareness." I recall sailing northbound in heavy fog and having a southbound, motoring clorox bottle emerge from the mist. I had to bear off to avoid him... sliding past stbd to stbd, I noticed an empty cockpit! A blast of the horn from about 10 yards got his attention, but what was he thinking? (I suspect he went below to check the radar.)

The basics of navigation, in my words are (i) where am I, (ii) where am I going, and (iii) what's in between here and there. Each single method has its own risks; it's by using multiple methods and comparing results that those risks are mitigated. Separately, a lack of skill with any one available method greatly increases your risk if and when that's the only remaining means of navigating. That's why all of the alternatives, electronics included, should be practiced, at least from time to time.

[Jim Walsh]

Impressive how frequently specific hardware upgrade inquires turn into generalized electronics bashing.

Anyone who neglects situational awareness, on the water, mowing the lawn, or walking around a city corner will eventually become an apocryphal internet tale...

How often is your DR location off by a considerable distance? Ever insist that the ledge you see should not be there?
I'll wager many more mistakes are made by misreading charts than ever happened with dithered GPS... Which ended 15 years ago.

I'll admit that my handheld GPS is my primary navigation tool. That said, the mention of alternative methods of navigating are not "electronics bashing" so much as they are a (perhaps overstated) reminder that relying on any one method, when more than one is available, is a generally bad idea. It's not a new concept... one of the great risks of being a lightship was that when RDF was introduced, you'd be smashed by someone honing in on your signal, to the exclusion of any other means of navigation.

Agreed as to "situational awareness." I recall sailing northbound in heavy fog and having a southbound, motoring clorox bottle emerge from the mist. I had to bear off to avoid him... sliding past stbd to stbd, I noticed an empty cockpit! A blast of the horn from about 10 yards got his attention, but what was he thinking? (I suspect he went below to check the radar.)

The basics of navigation, in my words are (i) where am I, (ii) where am I going, and (iii) what's in between here and there. Each single method has its own risks; it's by using multiple methods and comparing results that those risks are mitigated. Separately, a lack of skill with any one available method greatly increases your risk if and when that's the only remaining means of navigating. That's why all of the alternatives, electronics included, should be practiced, at least from time to time.

Well stated Neil. I love my chartplotter and use it all the time, that being said, I ALWAYS have the relevant chart with me in the cockpit along with my binoculars and a hand held VHF. Old habits die hard, thankfully, because some of those old habits are good habits.

[Joe CD MS 300]

As cheap as handheld chartplotterr are its really not prudent to rely solely on paper charts in many situations in particular unfamiliar waters or poor conditions. You still need to confirm what you see on the chartplotterr with what you see with your eyes. Even better than your eyes is to have a radar overlay on the chart. Pretty hard to mess up when the radar is lining up perfectly with the chart. I put my radar on often in perfect conditions just to insure that both are working properly.

[Sea Hunt Video]

What's GPS