Anyone farmiliar with GPS

[smokin]

I amy leaning towards the Garmin Quest 2, Would I have to buy additional software for use in the southern Caribean?

The other unit that I am considering is the Garmin 478 that comes pre-loaded with the Blue Chart

 

any thoughts?

 

Thank you For Your Help, This is all sort of confusing.

[bcb241]

I have been itching to buy the Garmin 76C, very nice handheld with color.

 

Just bought one last year. Expensive but a really neat unit. I took it on the Liberty in November just to help the Captain steer the ship. Every morning I would walk out on the balcony and check and see if we were going in the right direction! You never know!:)

[mrdood]

Incredible devices.

 

Have boating friends who can come "home" in thick fog from Catalina or the Channel Islands using preset waypoints which guide them first to the entrance to the harbor, down the route to their berth, making the proper turns at the proper times, within the harbor. Only thing left is to pull into their slip, which they have to do visually.

 

...which is very dangerous to do unless they also have radar to detect other ships/boats that may be in their path...;)

 

...and a quick PS, normal GPS units are only accurate to about 15 meters or so unless they are WAAS enabled, then you can get down to 3 meters. WAAS was driven by the FAA, have been flying behind one for about 6 years now, they are becoming the standard navigation tool of choice for us pilots.

[zqvol]

I have one, took it on my last cruise and had a good time with it.

 

Take it a long with enough batteries and play with the thing. Just be aware that you are probably not going to get a signal through your cabin window so you have to go on deck with it but there will be a number of guys there with them.

[futaba951]

I was looking at hand held GPS units and I really liked the PDA's that were GPS enabled and had built in mapping. Then I realized that I could load my Streets and Trips 2007 into my Ramline tablet PC and just plug the GPS receiver into the usb port. Works great and I sure like using the 10 inch touchscreen over the little handhelds. And the Ramline is built like a tank and nearly indestructible but still smaller than a laptop.

[labrador_retriever]

I have a garmin gps map60csx, its a great gps and I use it mainly for geocaching. I to am going on the western carribean cruise on the valor Sunday. I plan on doing some geocaching. If you've ever used google earth, there is a small .kml file that you can download. It will show you where all the geocaches are hidden in what ever part of the world you look at with google earth. Just click on each cache to get the description and the coords.

[smokin]

What kind of GPS unit is everyone using any input would be appreciated. I am considering either a Garmin Quest 2 or Garmin 478.

 

Any thoughts

[flynrph]

What kind of GPS unit is everyone using any input would be appreciated. I am considering either a Garmin Quest 2 or Garmin 478.

 

Any thoughts

Garmin 530. (Avaition unit) Somewhat of an overkill for a C172 but, it's going in style.

For the streets, I have this little old Street Pilot III. Had it for about 7 years. Amazing accuracy, I'd put it at about 15 feet or less (yeah Mr. Dood, this old thing is that good when the GPS signal isn't degraded!).

You don't need real expensive units, I'd go for anything with a moving map.:cool:

[mrdood]

Garmin 530. (Avaition unit) Somewhat of an overkill for a C172 but, it's going in style.

For the streets, I have this little old Street Pilot III. Had it for about 7 years. Amazing accuracy, I'd put it at about 15 feet or less (yeah Mr. Dood, this old thing is that good when the GPS signal isn't degraded!).

You don't need real expensive units, I'd go for anything with a moving map.:cool:

 

Garmin 530 does not work very well as a handheld:rolleyes: which is what these users are asking about, 530 in a C172 - well I guess I won't need to read my joke of the day - Thanks:p Obviously as you stated it is overkill, but if you like your plane and have the money, why not... They are outstanding to fly behind.

 

It is not signal degradation that is the issue, it is signal error due to constant movement of the satellites, earth, and many other atmosperic conditions that don't degrade the signal, but require correction. Some areas of the US are very accurate regardless, others need help to correct the error from ground stations, which is what WAAS does.

 

Smokin -

 

I would personally go for the 478 out of your two choices, it is a larger unit, but has twice the screen area, and also has the marine built in capability, for the US only, but is still useful, has superior XM capability, and quite a bit more flexibility for other uses.

 

You will really like the larger size screen and the higher resolution!

[smokin]

Thank You For the information.

 

mrdood I am Leaning towards the 478 for the reasons that you listed, but would I need additional software or Chips (New to the Lingo) to use the unit in the carribean.

 

Thank s For The Info

[mrdood]

No, you would not need anything additional unless you were literally going to use it to navigate your own ship. As a passenger, you will find it extremely adequate. Make sure you buy it in advance of your trip and spend some time with it. Learn to create user waypoints and to build a trip with waypoints so that you can plot your path. Most ships will have the course they normally follow to the ports plotted on a map in a glass case on the wall somewhere for passengers to view, you can use that to get a rough idea of your course and plot a trip. Then you can follow along with your gps.

 

Just be aware that in order to work, you will need to be able to access the satellites, the unit will not work indoors. On mine, I used an external antenna on my balcony, I have also been able to get a good signal through the window of an Oceanview cabin as well.

[big_duck]

Thank You For the information.

 

mrdood I am Leaning towards the 478 for the reasons that you listed, but would I need additional software or Chips (New to the Lingo) to use the unit in the carribean.

 

Thank s For The Info

 

You just need the appropriate map set. I have City Select N.A. which includes detailed street maps of P.R. and the World Map which includes basic detail for everywhere.

[WJB]

Any problems taking them as carry on during our flight? Going to Alaska for Land/Cruise tour and would be neat to have it. Don't want to pack it as it is a car unit and I do need it-has the best feature-when in any city simply bring up the shopping screen and wow......

[smokin]

As Always these boards are a great way to get information.

mrdood I don't think I will be navigating the ship, because i am sure i will be unable to pass a breathalizer. We are cruising on the Crown princess in March .

 

Thanks Again

[phinfan63]

OK, I have a Garmin C330 and it works wonderful while traveling (on the road) but it couldn't even get a signal when we were on the Conquest last year. I am very challenged when it comes to technical stuff so I'm sure there is a reason for it. Does anyone know?

 

Thanks!

[L2J]

...which is very dangerous to do unless they also have radar to detect other ships/boats that may be in their path...;)

 

 

Well aren't you the party pooper. :p

 

DW was going to get me one for Christmas but told her no...I needed to pick it out. Brother has one or two and I believe they are Garmin and that's what he told me to get. Personally I think it would be a blast to have one on the ship and in ports :D

[mrdood]

Well aren't you the party pooper. :p

 

...my middle name is Danger...

[NoPiratesPlease]

I'm now on my fourth Garmin--this one is a GPS10 that is BlueTooth and designed to work with a BlueTooth equipped PDA. You need to install Garmin Que on the PDA and download the maps you'll need.

 

Synching can be quite easy to a big pain depending on the hand-held. I have a T-Mobile MDA and I had to upgrade the firmware, find a hack into the registry to open up the GPS icon, then figure out the connections. It took a lot of work but once I figured it all out, it works cleanly.

 

But on my older HP IPAQ 6315 it synched very nicely. Still, I prefer the MDA because it doesn't crash as much. The BIG advantage of a BlueTooth is the GPS unit can be placed optimally, and so can the handset. It's water-resistant and magnetic--but watch out! The magnet can kill a ship's card!

 

The simplest unit I used was my first one, a Garmin 40 from about 10 years ago. It gave you a readout of Long/Lat and a tracking map, but didn't have an actual map for you to overlay. Simple and it worked, but you needed a map as a reference.

 

I also have a StreetPilot III. I don't recommend this for a ship because it's so darn big. It's fine in a car, and even mounts on a motorcycle or personal boat, but you don't want something the size and weight of a brick in your suitcase!

 

I also have a Rino--supposed to be an FRS AND a GPS in one. But I have sent it back several times and they sent me new ones and all failed. Still, when it worked, like the StreetPilot, it has maps and routes built in. You have to download maps of areas you are going to if you want them. But it is a single handheld unit and for most people something like that is probably best. Still, islands in the Carib are NOT on the North America CD, so you'll have to buy a specialized one.

 

The PC Software is not too intuitive, despite Garmin's claims.

 

Still, if you can figure it out, you'll be VERY glad to have it with you. Even if you cannot download specialized maps, the Garmin Base Map should still find islands for you, and it's loads of fun to see where you are at see, how fast you are going, and what direction. Sometimes, you'll play with it say, "there should be an island off the portside right about now and Bam! There it is! And if it's Stromboli, at night, you'll get treated to a natural fireworks show you won't believe!

 

BTW, just because I've always had Garmin doesn't make it any better than Magellan.

[smokin]

Wow! now I am really confused, Lots to think about! Still Leaning towards the Garmin 478

[flynrph]

I also have a StreetPilot III. I don't recommend this for a ship because it's so darn big.

 

:confused: Huh????? Maybe I gave a wrong name. It says GPS III plus. Real small unit. About 2 inches circumference (triangular though) and about 4.5 inches long. Every now and then I get lucky and it works sitting in back on a 737. Does have the caribbean islands on it!

 

MrDood gave great advice about having a bigger screen and higher resolution. It really helps. (Why I went for a 530 over a 430! Oh did I mention mode S and the traffic overlay? TIS)

I also like units that allow me to select what data I want displayed.

Things like speed, distance to waypoint, time to waypoint(ETA), altitude, bearing, course, etc. And you can't beat the ability to download databases to get right down to subdivision street level.:cool:

[PlanoDebbie]

Have been reading up and thinking about getting a GPS. What brands/models would be recommended? Trying to stay between under-buying and then immediately wishing for a new one, and over-buying. Which models have you had experience with?

 

thanks

 

We bought the Garmin 330 two years ago and love it. Touch screen is extremely user friendly. No need to be a techie to enjoy it.

 

Bought our son the Garmin 340 for Christmas. Main difference between the two is text to speech. We borrowed his last week taking our daughter back to college. She used our GPS in her car.

 

If you're going to buy one, I would strongly recommend one that does the text to speech. It's much better for people like my husband. He gets confused when ours says to keep left. He thinks it means TURN left. With text to speech, the prompt will say turn left in 500 ft on Legacy Drive. You barely need to look at the screen. With the one we have, the prompt will simply say, turn left in 500 feet. You have to look at the GPS to see what street to turn on.

 

One of the great features of a GPS is when you're on a road trip and want to find the nearest gas station, McDonalds or hotel, you can go to the menu and search for any of these things. You can look near where you are or at your final destination. For hotels and restaurants, it will also give you the address and phone number. No more expensive 411 calls to get the phone number to make your hotel reservations.

 

We also use the GPS around town. When we have to drop off several of my daughter's band friends, it's much easier to just plug their address into the GPS and go, then to keep asking turn by turn instructions while they're trying to have fun talking to each other.

 

I would have to rank our GPS right up there with the invention of the microwave oven, VCR (now DVD) and cell phone as one of the technologies we can't live without any more.

[Tater1800]

What kind of GPS unit is everyone using any input would be appreciated. I am considering either a Garmin Quest 2 or Garmin 478.

 

Any thoughts

 

I have the original Quest. It is great for car, motorcycle and even a cruise. My concern for the Quest2 is that there is not a map CD. Much of the fun comes after the cruise when you see the track of your travels displayed on a PC.

[smokin]

ok another thing to thing about. Does the 478 have a Map Cd? and wht does it do?

 

Thanks For Your input

[Tater1800]

ok another thing to thing about. Does the 478 have a Map Cd? and wht does it do?

 

Thanks For Your input

 

Sorry, I quoted incorrect information. The Quest2 does have a map CD. The map CD allows you to plan routes and view tracks of where the GPS has been. Here is a sample of a map with track and waypoints.

 

[Mustangshel]

What I thought was neat was using the GPS on the plane to see what our altitude was, our air speed and to let me know what we were passing over at the time.

 

Also one of our cruises took us within sight of Cuba and it was neat to see what cities we were looking at.