Recommendations on a GPS/Chartplotter

[Bob O'Brien]

I am considering buying a GPS/Chartplotter for my Hunter 37.5 this season. I would appreciate any thoughts or recommendations people may have on things to keep in mind when selecting and installing one. I am currently leaning towards a Raytheon 425.

 

[Pat]

GARMIN 176C

We recently (within the last month) bought the Garmin 176C, and the blue chip for the east coast and Bahamas. It is very easy to use, covers all the places we intend to go, was reasonably priced with the features we wanted, and interfaces with our autopilot. It is a smaller, portable unit, but that was what we wanted, as we remove it from when we leave the boat.

 

[Les Murray]

Sailnet is having a special

Sailnet is having a sale on Garmin 230 GPS/Chartplotters. They seem very good and take the Garmin G-charts.Check it out.Les Murrays/v Ceilidh86 C-36 #560

 

[Carl]

Another Garmin 176C

Hi, Bob. We agree with Pat; we just purchased a Garmin 176C. We saw enough at the Newport Boat Show to convince us that Garmin was the state-of-the-art in GPS/chartplotters. If you are willing to spend $2K,take a look at the G-2006C or the G-2010C. Wow!!We were particulary attracted to the G176C. The screen is on the small side, but it is quite readable and clear. The relatively small size is an advantage when it comes to mounting, and it has an integral antenna; you don't need to install and wire a remote antenna. And for the price, it's hard to beat the value. Finally, if you ever have an electrical problem, the 176C will run on 4 AA batteries.Carl and Jules/v 'Syzygy'

 

[Paul Akers]

Garmin GPSMAP 182

I'm geting ready to buy the GPSMap 182. It also takes the BlueChart chips. I'm heading to Maine this summer and figure that it will do the job.

 

[Chris Hyland]

GPS/Chartplotter

Bob, I have the Raytheon 520 chartplotter with the 120 waas antenna. I have this installed at the nav station and use an RL70 as the second station on the helm. Both have the 7 inch displays. They work great. Chartcards end up locked in the cabin so they can't be stolen.I did have a few issues with the Cmap wide card for narragansett bay missing some data on 3/4,and 1.5 mile ranges.Cmap fixed me up and was all set.The RL70 is a radar unit but I haven't installed the array yet. Maybe this year, who knows.On a boat of your size I wouldn't use a protable unit for anything other than a backup. I'm not saying the other posts are wrong, it's just I feel in a boat your size it's worth the investment in larger screens.Regards,Chris