Do You Require Marine GPS Navigation Systems If You Don’t Go Out On the High Seas?
Just looking around your local boatyard you will see that many boaties do not believe they need marine GPS systems because they don’t go out around the open ocean. Yet they are just the individuals who might get probably the most advantage from such a system.
Where are most of the boating hazards?
…well of course they’re close to land
Knowing exactly where those hazards are could be of great help. Therefore it appears clear that most recreational boaters ought to have marine GPS systems, because they would be put to excellent use and enhance boating security. As with any global positioning system, your marine GPS systems and chart plotters need a compass and charts stored in the memory.
Concerning activities around the water, you’ll find these fundamental choices: handheld GPS navigation systems, a marine GPS systems, combined GPS navigation chart plotters and computers attached to GPS navigation systems.
Advantages of Marine GPS Systems Over Hand Held Devices
Although handheld GPS systems are cheaper, they’re inferior to marine GPS systems and chart plotters were they usually do not display to you the actual GPS navigation info overlaid on nautical charts which can make it much more difficult to follow a course.
Yet another advantage that marine GPS systems have got over their portable alternatives is that the displays are nearly usually bigger and simpler to read. Moreover, they have more control keys as well as a greater quantity of alternatives. Lastly these much more impressive systems are splash proof and waterproof.
While the marine GPS chart plotters ought to not completely replace normal paper chart, they could be the main navigation tools for boaties of all persuasions.
Commonly, marine GPS systems ought to be mounted onto a fixed surface region. They are generally mounted close to a window or outside area because they have external aerials.
You probably know that marine GPS systems costs have dropped over the final couple of years. Nevertheless they still cost a few hundred dollars to buy but there are a good investment.
The Garmin GPSMAP 421 GPS navigation chart plotter is a great instance of this
This system has a extremely great display, quick panning speeds and quick map to drawing. It also has a extremely sensitive internal GPS aerial and satellite enhanced worldwide base map. Many people find the Garmin’s user interface is extremely friendly and designed to assist you to navigate with ease. This GPSMAP system is waterproof and compatible with most from the other products in Garmin’s marine range.
The functions and specifications listed by Garmin are:
* Ultra-bright 4″ diagonal QVGA display, 240 x 320 pixels – more than 800 nits of brightness
* NMEA 2000 certified for seamless integration with the Garmin marine line up
* Preloaded worldwide marine base map
* Compatible with GXM 51 for XM Satellite Radio and XM WX Satellite Weather
* High-speed processor for fast screen redraws and smooth panning
* Streamlined user interface makes it easy to select modes and features
* Single SD memory card slot for BlueChart g2 Vision cards, as nicely as saving waypoints, routes and tracks to a SD card
* Optional BlueChart g2 Vision cards supply marine chart detail and enhanced navigation features like Auto Guidance, satellite imagery, 3-D Mariner’s Eye View and 3-D Fish Eye View
* Backlit keypad for easy operation in low light conditions
* Unit dimensions: five.0″H x five.7″W x 2.7″D (12.7cm H x 14.5cm W x 6.9cm D)
You’ll find the right out of the box you are able to get it going and benefit from the graph plotter, a man overboard marker and track marker. You’ll also find that the chart plotter does fairly a lot with out adding a transducer or aerial in a but if you do want to use one it’s simple to wire up once you get used to what all the wires are!
But just be careful because the description leads you think that the US base map is installed and you would like be prepared to invest an additional $99 to get a detailed map with information like depth markers and creeks and any be prepared to purchase an additional SD card.
But for the cost of close to $350 this Garmin GPS system is probably extremely good value when compared with other marine GPS systems.
Read More
- 7 Software features to consider when choosing Marine GPS Systems
- 6 Hardware features to choose from when consider Marine GPS Systems
