boat gps?

[happy pilgrim]

anyone suggest a suitable back up gps hand held system for boat use around english channel etc but also suitable for bike trips uk and europe? thanks

 

[shedracer]

Garmin 276c, 60csx or 76csx, all can use blue chart maps but the 276c is the most sophisticated with sonar etc.

 

[happy pilgrim]

all seem very expensive, for only mainly secondary use to other equipment on boat and on 2nd bike?

 

[luke scott]

Try www.rib.net/forum/ I think you will get the "marine" response not the bike

 

[HMR]

all seem very expensive, for only mainly secondary use to other equipment on boat and on 2nd bike?

You ask for "suitable for bike trips uk and europe". Navigators fit for Europe travel are not cheap. A large portion of the cost is the map. The only alternatives to 276C and 60Cx but at substantially lower cost I can think of would be a second hand StreetPliot III or Quest.

 

[BurnieM]

You can load BlueChart on the Quest but on the StreetPilots the colours are poor (several shades of blue).

If you are going to get a Quest then why not get a GPSmap 60Cx with much more memory.

If all you want is a grid based position then an eTrex will do the job.

You get what you pay for and, personally, I do not consider the GPSmap 276C expensive (if you can afford the boat.......).

 

[ebbo]

Marine & Road, It’s the job the 276c was built for, I only use it on the bike and think its good value for money, you would defiantly get the best from it.

 

[HMR]

You get what you pay for and, personally, I do not consider the GPSmap 276C expensive (if you can afford the boat.......).

And the bike. And the car. And the weekend flight to Roma where the 276C will walk you around the town.....

 

[Beef]

I use the 60Cx. Now you can extend memory on a card (currently to 512mb) you could have Several Blue charts and a quarter of Europe with turn by turn guidance. It depends on how much you want to spend vs the quality of features you are prepared to accept on a second / back up unit.

I race yachts most weekends and also use the GPS for navigating on and off the road. The 60Cx is a great all rounder.

Beef

 

[PanEuropean]

anyone suggest a suitable back up gps hand held system for boat use around english channel etc but also suitable for bike trips uk and europe? thanks

The Garmin 276 that others have mentioned above will do the job, but it is a fairly old GPSR - about two models out of date. It was superseded by the 376, which has since been superseded by the 378.

Perhaps have a look at the Garmin Marine product directory. Look for GPSRs that are in the 'Chartplotter / GPS' section. Or, use the Purchase Assistant at the Garmin website - enter the criteria you want (marine, automotive) and see what products are suggested. There are a number of different marine/automotive GPSRs available. You might also consider one of the 'pure automotive' GPSRs that is battery powered - this obviously won't have marine information in it, but it will show you you position (lat/long), which you can then plot on a paper chart.

Michael

 

[BurnieM]

The Garmin 276 that others have mentioned above will do the job, but it is a fairly old GPSR - about two models out of date. It was superseded by the 376, which has since been superseded by the 378.

Not really. The GPSmap 276C has the same processor as the 296, 376C and 396.

In many countries XM and Traffic info is not available so these later models offer no advantages.
Also, the fixed memory preloaded models tend not to be brought in due to our smaller mapping size (130MB for all of Australia).

Note that the latest GPSmap 276C have the 376C/396 case (you can see a blank in the audio socket space) and also the brighter screen.

 

[PanEuropean]

Pilgrim:

I stand corrected after reading Burnie's thoughts. If the English Channel that you plan to sail in is the one in Australia, rather than the one between GB and continental Europe, then it would make sense to get a 276.

Geez, I hope the engineers at Garmin who designed the 276 read this website. If they knew what fierce loyalty 276 users have to their product, they would make sure it is never taken out of production - you would still be able to buy a new one in the year 2025.

Michael

 

[BurnieM]

Marine mapping is actually quite small.

Australia is covered by 3 regions and the east coast (past Cape York, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and past Adelaide) is only 22MB

 

[North]

I have a 276, bought 3 months ago and love it.

Got the 512 chip for it.

It's good for the car, boat, bike and hiking (topo maps).

I looked at the 376, but I don't need XM radio and Weather/Traffic info.

I am a good singer. I can see what the weather is. And traffic? Hell, I am on a GS. I ride over or around the cars.