Me and my friends were wondering about recieving boat gps for caribbean water area..all under the price of 500 bucks...anyone any suggestions?? thanks
Gps???
- Thread starter thesailerdude
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Buy the Cruising Guide book and it will include a lot of the waypoints. Also check www.traveltalkonline.com There you will find links to downloads of waypoints for free-but remember you got it free so there is not guarantee.
You can find all kinds of units for that price if you look around. You may consider looking for refirbished units also.
Are you talking about a chartplotter with Caribbean charts? If you are talking about GPS signal reception it is more reliable than on the Chesapeake with all that military signal jamming exercises. You can use a handheld Garmin and paper charts for around $150.
Has anyone on the Chesapeake Had Issues with Point Lookout Nav Markers on some GPS. My original GPS always put the mark closer to land than it really was....much closer and not in a good place to have an error!
GPS using and abusing
Well to use a GPS you had better learn how to read a map with Latitude and Longitude. It does not do you much good to know you are at 075 45 34W and 30 43 11N if you can't find it on the map.
IMHO you will have more fun with a cheap GPS and an expensive map
As for GPS not reading "right" you can go to the USCG web site and search on GPS and find all kinds of stuff to consider when sailing on the Bay. The last one I read said that the Air Force had put up a new bird with all kinds of new capabilities (for the military) that was causing trouble with the system as they tested it. Apparently "selective availability" works! It degrades the system so the bad guys can't use it. Course we can't use it either. Degraded to the order of 100+ meters.
never use just one source of navigational data and keep a good lookout.
Well to use a GPS you had better learn how to read a map with Latitude and Longitude. It does not do you much good to know you are at 075 45 34W and 30 43 11N if you can't find it on the map.
IMHO you will have more fun with a cheap GPS and an expensive map
As for GPS not reading "right" you can go to the USCG web site and search on GPS and find all kinds of stuff to consider when sailing on the Bay. The last one I read said that the Air Force had put up a new bird with all kinds of new capabilities (for the military) that was causing trouble with the system as they tested it. Apparently "selective availability" works! It degrades the system so the bad guys can't use it. Course we can't use it either. Degraded to the order of 100+ meters.
never use just one source of navigational data and keep a good lookout.
Re: GPS using and abusing
I have a Garmin 72 It can tell me exactly where in the world I am by latitude and longitude but without a chart or a map it doesn't tell me a single useful thing. If my chart or map has an error it won't be very large. One minute of lat or lon is about one mile on the surface of the earth. .016 minutes of lat or lon on a standard 1:80,000 chart is about the width of a pencil mark.
I have a Garmin 72 It can tell me exactly where in the world I am by latitude and longitude but without a chart or a map it doesn't tell me a single useful thing. If my chart or map has an error it won't be very large. One minute of lat or lon is about one mile on the surface of the earth. .016 minutes of lat or lon on a standard 1:80,000 chart is about the width of a pencil mark.
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