CortezExplorers
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-17-2006
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Looking for a good GPS/Depth Sounder...
Hi guys,
I figure this would be the forum to ask what you would recommend for a GPS and Depth Finder.
I have seen integrated ones, are these worth the money, or is it a case of too many eggs..?
It would be nice if the GPS had charting options, but it is not 'required' for the job. This would be for our dive boat the Palomita, so heavy, daily
use is also a consideration.
Thoughts?
-Matthew
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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I like separate units. for the gps I really like the new Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx the X chip is worth the 100 dollars extra.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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Mood: Sling time!
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Matthew, i just brought one back for a friend's boat, lives on the river close to the granada casa.
just pick the one you want on line and i'll fly it in for you, have it delivered to me, PM for details.
gonna cost you a 2 tank dive to santa ynez tho!!
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4459
Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
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Like Bruce, I have the Gamin 76CSx - and like it.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9009
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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Sorry, guys......
...but a Garmin 76 series on a boat engaged in commercial activities is not up to snuff. The "WOW" factor, alone, for the clientele is way
lacking.
I personally have no problem with combining the two units into one. I have owned mostly Furunos and none of the units I have owned has EVER failed.
Certainly among commercial boaters worldwide, Furuno is as close to a "gold standard" as you will find. I always carry a handheld as a backup just in
case but it just sits in it's case.
I wish I could give you more advice but I havent bought anything recently as my Furuno 1650F/NT unit has been going strong for about 5 years now. I
have gotten a couple chart upgrades but they really did little for Baja. BTW, ALL charts in the Sea of Cortez have significant error but the 1650 has
an offset function that will correct for this. This unit is a little slow compared to others on the market now but you might find one used on the
internet as people upgrade. It is an LCD which has decent sunlight viewing but I suspect you are in a pilot house or under a bimini anyway?
Other than that, I hear Garmin also makes some good combo units. But I'm not sure I will buy anything other than another Furuno with how reliable they
have been. Others say the same thing.
I recommend you post you question on a more boating/fishing website like allcoastsportfishing.com or thehulltruth.com. Both are free and just require
basic registration. Both are very good sites. Look for their Tech Boards or their Electronics Boards.
The majority of Nomads use GPS for land travel it seems.
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CortezExplorers
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-17-2006
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thanks for all the replies,
One question, what data chart do I buy that has the Mulege area? And is it only for the ocean, or does it also encompass the surrounding land area? I
would love to take our atv's back country...
thanks!
Matthew
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CortezExplorers
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-17-2006
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Thanks hook - will keep that in mind - yeah, we are under a bimini. although with baja sun, the bimini seems rather lacking sometimes! Once I
purchase, I will let you all know in a year or two, how 'it' performs?
Also by 'significant error' are you referring to magnetic error?
regards
matthew
| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
...but a Garmin 76 series on a boat engaged in commercial activities is not up to snuff. The "WOW" factor, alone, for the clientele is way
lacking.
I personally have no problem with combining the two units into one. I have owned mostly Furunos and none of the units I have owned has EVER failed.
Certainly among commercial boaters worldwide, Furuno is as close to a "gold standard" as you will find. I always carry a handheld as a backup just in
case but it just sits in it's case.
I wish I could give you more advice but I havent bought anything recently as my Furuno 1650F/NT unit has been going strong for about 5 years now. I
have gotten a couple chart upgrades but they really did little for Baja. BTW, ALL charts in the Sea of Cortez have significant error but the 1650 has
an offset function that will correct for this. This unit is a little slow compared to others on the market now but you might find one used on the
internet as people upgrade. It is an LCD which has decent sunlight viewing but I suspect you are in a pilot house or under a bimini anyway?
Other than that, I hear Garmin also makes some good combo units. But I'm not sure I will buy anything other than another Furuno with how reliable they
have been. Others say the same thing.
I recommend you post you question on a more boating/fishing website like allcoastsportfishing.com or thehulltruth.com. Both are free and just require
basic registration. Both are very good sites. Look for their Tech Boards or their Electronics Boards.
The majority of Nomads use GPS for land travel it seems. |
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9009
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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No, the error is in the placement of the landmasses (and seamounts) on the charts with respect to GPS coordinates. The maps were drawn long before the
accuracy of GPS came along. You can, at times, be cruising in the middle of an island. I have found myself appearing to be in the middle of the
Chivato peninsula while trolling just offshore. But the track plotting will be accurate so you can follow your track around and be pretty certain
that you will get back in a fog or something.
A multipurpose (land/sea) unit will likely mean a Garmin. They are a great company and produce good products. But in trying to do both in land and sea
charting, there are compromises.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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Mood: Sling time!
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Matthew, if you want land and sea consider some of the Lowrance units.
you can move them from boat to land based, data cards avail will come both.
to answer your other Qs - we are there monthly, usually, for the www.flyingsamaritans.com clinics in lopez mateo.
beyond that....all holidays and vacations.
be down next weekend for a bout a week.
what's the water temp at minus 35' around the islands now?
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Pescador
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3587
Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
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I can't believe a pilot like mike would use Lowrance. When you use Lowrance depth finders you need two, so when they fail you can tie a string
between them and the kids can use them for telephones.
Hook is right that the Furono is the only GPS on the market that allows you to recenter, which is an issue if you plan on using any of the
navigational maps. They are all based on an old Mexican Map for the upper Gulf of California and you will find there is up to a 2 mile error. In
other words, the maps are not very good for navigation use. There is a new map service called something like Meximap that is GPS accurate, but so far
none of the major manufacturers are using it as it is too expensive. I personally use the Garmin 172 because I think the features in relation to
cost are very good. Furono has a great unit, but I think the price is a little steep for the features. If you are going to use GPS for exploring the
back country the Explorer program is very accurate and has new maps, but that is not true of any of the maps for water use.
I discovered all of this when I tried to use the Garmin Blue Chip for the Upper sea of Cortez. In Southern California the accuracy is so good it is
amazing, but because the cartographers copied an inaccurate map that is what we are stuck with at this point.
I have spent weeks and hours both on the phone and e-mail with Garmin, Lowrance, and Furono on this issue and found out that they all use the same
chart on development of their mapping charts.
But as Hook stated, the general software is fairly close and by the time you put in your tracks and waypoints, then you have a very accurate system
that works very well.
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9009
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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Pescador or Jorge,
Have you guys heard anything about the accuracy of Google Earth, with respect to the Lat/long accuracy of the pointer itself? Is there any reason to
suspect that it would not be accurate?
I have searched for some coordinates for a few islas and anchorages on my upcoming BOLA trip. I found one old post on the trailersailor message board
that had a lengthy list of points but I found a few of them to be many miles off.
Would love to be able to simply move a cursor over points and pluck off reliable coordinates.
BTW, for some reason, there is a swatch of REALLY resolute images in the vicinity of San Francisquito on Google Earth. Individual buildings at the
resort are really easy to spot.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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Mood: Sling time!
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i like a few Lowrance yoke mounted products because of the relative value over Garmin's line, which is all great equipment but costs an arm and a
weiner.
but i have zero practical experience with Lowrance's marine line. my WAAS equipped moving map model 1000 can be pulled and put into a car or boat, the
marine card slotted in and you have all the map features of a marine unit like staged buoys etc.
i delivered a lowrance marine unit for a friend in mulege a couple of months ago, i think it was a GPS plotter fish spotter kind of thing.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Pescador
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3587
Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
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Hook, I did not get a chance to try any of the google coordinates out when Mike and I were going to head up to San Pedro Martir last year since we
ended up not going. I found I could put the Blue Chart chip in and I knew that I was off by up to 1 1/2 miles, which is pretty close during the day.
Actually, my general map had all the coordinates for San Pedro Martir and I probably would have used that for navigation anyway.
A couple of they guys in San Lucas use the Furono and after recentering they were pretty accurate.
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cbuzzetti
Nomad
Posts: 193
Registered: 5-22-2006
Location: Atascadero, Ca
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Mood: Lookin for a vacation
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I have used the 1650 DF also and was very happy with the quality. Furuno is the benchmark.
My last two boats I have used the Humminbird line of GPS/FF/Chartplotters and have also been very happy with them. My current model is a 937c. It uses
a 16:9 screen format so it is wider than most in it's size range.
I recently went to San Felipe with this boat and my new Navionics Gold chart card in this GPS and had some surprises. Especially as to the location of
the harbor.
The chart card has the harbor located north of the point above SF. It shows the break wall and pier just a mere 3 miles from where it actually is.
The FF in the Hummindird is not as good as the Furuno. The Humminbird is more user friendly and cost alot less.
I have tried Lowrance. Actually bought two, neither worked right out of the box. Thats when I bought the Humminbird.
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