Which GPS chart plotter do you like?

[rtbates]

I've just started looking at GPS chart plotters and don't have a clue to their relative merits. Any information would be appreciated/

thanks

[Bill Michne]

Your question is really wide open, so you could get a lot of answers, and maybe even some useful information. The first question for you is why do you need a chartplotter? Folks who sail on small deep lakes certainly don't need one. On the other hand, I sail on the Pamlico Sound, where it is easy to go aground completely out of sight of land. A plotter would help prevent that, as would a proper DR track. I actually do both, 'cuz some gadgets stop working now and then. Other questions are hand held vs. console? Size of screen? Color or gray? Interface with radar? Cost? The latter is tricky, as some units come with the charts preloaded (not cheap), and others require you to buy the charts (not cheap). The latter is fine for a small cruising range. How accurate do you need to be? I'm afraid I'm not much help, except to get you thinking about what factors are important to you. That narrows your choices, and hopefully makes the decision easier.

[Neil Gordon]

Bill raises a good point, which is that gizmos are in addition to and not instead of.

[Parfait's Provider]

I vote for both. The chartplotter is bound to fail one of these days and I hope that is a day that I haven't become so complacent that the right page of the chartbook isn't on top and I haven't failed to keep track of where I am on the chart and where I thought the next waypoint was.

On the other hand, a chartplotter that is at the helm and readily operable by the helm person is a fantastic tool that makes it much easier to transit even somewhat familar grounds. I only went aground three times in 24 hours using such a device. I also got off each time partially because I could look and see where I was and where I needed to be. The fact that the charts didn't exactly represent the facts was another issue for both media.

Using the chartplotter and compass together I have gained a lot of faith in the accuracy of the compass and would not hesitate to believe it should it become my only means of navigation.

One feature I find useful in tight quarters is the projected course over ground. Our Raymarine will project for at least 3 or 10 minutes ahead. If there is a setting current or leeway, it is quickly detected and easily corrected.

We also have RADAR and are still getting used to it in more or less clear conditions. I continue to be surprised by the boats it doesn't see very well. Luvit drops in and out at less than a mile when headed away from us. On the other hand, the RADAR picked up the state ferry and let us know it was headed our way minutes before we were able to ascertain its course. It was reassuring to see that it would pass behind if we both held course and speed.

All that said, I have the tools and capability of DR, two other GPSs, LORAN, and I boat in an area in which you can usually see from one mark to the next unless you are crossing the sound or out on the ocean. I can still go aground 3 times in 24 hours. Sometimes just paying attention to the markers and crab pots will get you a lot further than having your head in the charts or chartplotter. Depthsounders also contribute to the mix.

Does anyone know how to change the loudness of a B&G Quad alarm? I even read the instructions!

[king11]

I have an older Garmin model listed with the for sale items. It's complete with a brand new external antenna. No reasonable offer refused.

[Dick Barthel]

Randy,

I just spent the last two days sailing on a 36 Sabre that had a chartplotter (Garmin) at the helm. What impressed me was the ability to see exactly where you are on the chart relative to buoys, etc and to project where you are going. With the MAP feature you can also project your course. The range in and out feature lets you see where you are overall or blows up for detail for close work like entering a harbor. I was using it in broad daylight and the accuracy to what was actually happening was amazing.

We did use it to make a run in the dark on a cloudy, moonless night and it was a snap.

On our size boat I see it serving a purpose should you suddenly get caught in a fog bank in a coastal area. It is obviously not a substitute for radar but personally, I'd be a lot more comfortable than I am with just my handheld in such a circumstance.

The person I sailed with is a electronic wiz and he knows my boat. He suggested a socket ball hookup on the underside of the dodger probably on the starboard side to be away from the compass (vs. a swing out on a bracket.) Beside the attachment socket, you just need a weather proof connector thru the bulkhead. He ordered the same type of connector that Raymarine uses for their autopilots and fitted it on Garmin power cord. He found out which company provides those connectors for Raymarine and ordered it from them. The unit would be out of the weather yet easily reachable from our tiller/helm position. He also suggested that its not a big deal to set up a station inside for planning purposes - that might be overkill on a 25D. As long as you have a socket connector and an electrical hookup, you can move the unit in a snap. And of course it is easily removed when not in use.

I'm sold and will do the upgrade in the spring. For long runs in fairly open water, I would still just use my handheld that I have on a bracket on a substitute lower companionway slab. Either way you now have backup systems.

Dick

[Parfait's Provider]

My Raymarine RADAR/Chartploter has zero effect on the compass. They both are on the pedestal and read the same magnetic heading on all points. I really like having the chartplotter at the helm and would be lost if it were out of reach. On the other hand, maybe someone else would learn to use it if I had to bark orders across the cockpit. Maybe, eventually, it would improve my communications skills.

[Maine Sail]

I have owned just about every brand of plotter , Northstar, Standard Horizon, Garmin & Raymarine and by far the best has been Garmin. I currently have a Raymarine C-80 system and still do not like the user interface! The Raymarine stuff is not user friendly at all! I think the Blue Charts are also better. I run both a Garmin 176 at my helm along side my C-80 sometimes and the Blue Chart is always dead nuts on and the Raymarine is not. If you need radar than your kind of stuck with Raymarine, Furuno or JRC but for plotter only Garmin has it hands down this from a Raymarine owner!!!!

[mahalocd36]

If you need radar than your kind of stuck with Raymarine, Furuno or JRC but for plotter only Garmin has it hands down this from a Raymarine owner!!!!

I will agree that Raymarine does have a unfriendly user interface.
We have their radar and have to open the manual to figure out how to do anything.
Garmin, however has an excellent user interface, very intuitive, and their various models are all similar. Opened the manual on only a few occassions to do fairly complicated things.
They also have Excellent customer service.

[rtbates]

Bill:

Why not? It's NOT for Lake Travis. I charter all over and sometimes in skinny waters. That's why I'm looking for a unit with a built in antenna. I'll be retiring soon and one of the places you'll find me, literally in your case, is Pamlico sound. My wife and I did a land trip this past April and visited Beaufort, Outer Banks and wonderful Oriental to gather information on places I may want to bring Seraph. Oriental is on my very short list, as is all of the Pamlico Sound area. I got 'sail venue envy' while visiting your stomping grounds.

Acoustic:

No experience with the Lowrance? That's the one, 3600CI, that I am currently looking into. Chart source availibility is one of my unknowns. Thanks for your input.

Dick:
I plan to place the unit on a swivel arm that allows access from both the helm and below, ala my handheld unit.

For All:

Not to worry, I do appreciate the concern, but I always have and will continue to keep charts(paper) on board, keep a constant dr plot, watch my depth sounder, and continue to "NOT RELY ON ANY ONE SINGLE SOURCE FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES". I try to be the prudent mariner.

thanks for the responses

[Maine Sail]

It's inexpensive for a reason and that reason is because it's cheap! Lowrance is fine for freshwater lake boating but not for serious salt water environment use. My friend Kai owns a Mako center console and he bought a brand new, based on "price", Lowrance. The unit lasted three weeks on his center console before he shipped it back for warranty repair. Four months later & well after the boating season was over he got it back. The next spring when he re-installed it the thing worked for 5 minutes and crapped out again except this time it was out of warranty! Save your pennies and buy a Garmin at least if it breaks you'll have it back in about two weeks.... Lowrance is for lake boaters only!!!!

The photo below shows my Garmin 176 displaying tide data while I use the C-80 as a plotter.. Really the Garmin stuff is bullet proof I've had that 176 since it first came out 5 or 6 years ago. We use it in the dinghy when it's foggy gunkholing or at night plus I use it to display data like: Volts, SOG, Time to Dest, Distance to Dest etc.. I also use it to keep the Raymarine plotter & e-charts honest and the Garmin Blue Charts are far more precise. I'm often actually passing a red nun to starboard and this is where the Garmin puts it but the C-80 puts the can on the Port side of the boat 80 feet away from where the Garmin puts it and where it actually is. Now I know 80 feet is splitting hairs and is less than the width of a pencil plot on a paper chart but I paid 4 times more for the Raymarine. It should at least be as accurate as my inexpensive Garmin! In defense of Raymarine it's not the GPS/plotter that is not accurate it is the charts the Raymarine unit uses that are crap. Both units put me in the same Lat Long numeric position the Blue Charts just do a better job or aligning the lat longs to the cans & nuns......

[Parfait's Provider]

Maybe you have the wrong datum set up on the Raymarine? Parfait's does just fine day after day, month after month. Buoys are always on the right side even if I am within 20 ft of them. Now my Garmin StreetPilot is another story altogether, but it is usually pretty close on clear days with the attached antenna properly connected.

[Joe CD MS 300]

Randy,

Over the last 8-10 years I've had 3 Garmin hand helds (GPS 12, GPS 12Map and a GPSmap 76) and over the past winter had a Garmin 3006 chartplotter and GMR 20 radar installed. I have been very happy with units and Garmin's support, and the ease with which the software on their units is updated from their WEBsite. The new 3006 is outstanding. The ability to overlay radar over a chart is a tremendous help in identifying targets.

Since I was familiar with their products, already had their blue chart software for Maine and the Chesapeake I really didn't consider any other system. One advantage Garmin has over Raymarine is the variety of different units, fixed mounts, handhelds, car units, PDAs's etc. It makes them very flexible in terms of transferring waypoints from one unit to another. I use the GPSMap 76 a lot on the road. Its very easy to download charts and maps to the units.

[rtbates]

Acostic:

Thanks for the report. I'm a bit surprised by the entire screen you described, but it does explain the price. It wasn't price,per se, that got me looking at Lowrance. Rather it was the profusion of Lowrance used by salt water guides on the gulf coast. Every charter captain I visited had one. Maybe they can just right off a new unit as a business expense. Certainly not myself.

I have taken the suggestion and started looking into the chart data available. So far I've come up with Bluechart(Garmin), CMap(??), & Navionics(Lowrance). Any other ones?

thanks for all your responses.

[Maine Sail]

Navionics, C-Map & Blue Chart. However the formatting of C-Map & Navionics is proprietary to the unit you have. So you can't use a Navionics card for Raymarine in a Lowrance and vice versa. The available data may differ from brand to brand as well. Garmin does their own charts so they of course only work in a Garmin. The Blue Charts look exactly like a NOAA chart and I like that a lot better than the charts in my Raymarine.

As for guides using Lowrance it makes sense as they cater to the fishermen and advertise like crazy in the fishing mags. Very few use Lowrance around here. It's all Garmin, Raymarine, Furuno and a little Navman & Standard Horizon thrown in. I hated my Standard Horizon and my Northstar even though the Northstar was supposed to be the Mercedes of electronics. It broke three times on me and you could not see the color screen in the day time. Oh and the Northstar parts are way over priced. How about $74.00 for a 5 foot 3 wire power cord that the connections wear out on in half a season???