how to know when you’re approaching land without GPS
Jun 21, 2011 gps navigation, marine gps
There’s a very neat article about signs you’re approaching land on Tahina Expedition blog – a site where a couple on a five year journey are traveling across the oceans. Here are a few excerpts but you really should read the whole thing:
As you get closer, you may find the blue-water game fishermen. And, by the time the islands are in sight, you will usually find the local fisherman in their smaller boats.
Another sign is often a change in the weather patterns. It may be clear or partly cloudy around you at sea, but suddenly you see some clouds holding still near the horizon.
Most often your first sign is an increase in bird sightings. Some are birds that are not normally found far away from land.
It’s always exciting to be the first to spot the sight of land. Often a silhouette of mountain land appears in the distant haze, or, if the islands are flat, a string of trees along the horizon. Suddenly, you, or someone else, shouts “Land Ho!” and there are smiles all around as everyone rushes to the top of the boat to look.
Tags: gps navigation, marine gps
Garmin and Volvo team up
Feb 22, 2011 gps navigation, marine gps
Garmin and Volvo Penta just formed an alliance to create marine instrumentation including GPS navigation and communication equipment. Announced at the Miami International Boat Show the partnership will leverage Volvo’s propulsion and Garmin’s navigation expertise. They think they can start pushing out products by 2012 based on previous experience such as the GHP 10V autopilot system designed for Volvo IPS drive.
The alliance is a smart one since Volvo Penta link engines and transmissions with instruments, controls and accessories in the electronic vessel control platform, known as the EVC, and now they can now make us of Garmin’s instrumentation, navigation and communication solutions.
Tags: gps navigation, marine gps
Tron 60S/GPS EPIRB from Jotron
Dec 28, 2010 gps navigation, marine gps
What you’re looking at here (tilt head to the right) is the new Tron 60S/GPS which was just launched by Jotron AS. It is a new 406 Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon (EPIRB) from the Norwegian company. Tron 60S/GPS is small and compact handheld which makes this EPIRB perfect for Float-Free and and Manual uses.
It uses a battery with 5 years service life, weighs 680 grams, and uses Fastrax IT500 22 channel GPS receiver.
Tags: gps navigation, marine gps
Garmin’s new Echo Fishfinders
Nov 30, 2010 garmin, gps navigation, marine gps
Garmin recently announced the new Echo series. These are standalone fishfinders for freshwater with sonars. First let’s look at the suggested prices:
- echo 550c – $449.00
- echo 500c – $349.99
- echo 300c – $219.99
- echo 200 – $159.99
- echo 150 – $99.99
- echo 100 – $79.99
As you can see the new Echo series go from a super-bright color models to an inexpensive 8-level grayscale. High resolution echo 550C offers ultra-sharp video with 640×480 pixel resolution on a 5-inch VGA screen, powerful 500-watt sonar transmitter, and fish arch display and bottom tracking as deep as 1,900 feet. It is dual beam (200/77 kHz)and gives optimum deep or shallow water performance with up to 120 degrees of effective fish scanning area. Echo 500C offers the same features but comes with 256-color QVGA display with 320×234-pixel resolution. Echo 300c is a good color sonar option and uses Garmin’s HD-ID target tracking technology with a 3.5-inch TFT screen.
Echo 200 has a 5″ screen, 300-watt RMS sounder, high resolution grayscale display, and is dual-beam capable. It lets you scan deep water to a maximum depth of 1,500 feet. Echo 150 dual-beam fishfinder comes with 4″, 8-level grayscale display with 200 watts RMS of sonar power output; scans depths down to 1,300 feet. And finally Echo 100 is a single-beam (200 kHz) sonar that features fast screen updates on a 4″ gThese new systems come with everything you need – including a trolling motor transducer mount – to make getting on the water even faster and easier. All six new models also come standard with a quick-release mount with tilt and swivel included, and the 5-inch units also include a quick-disconnect cable management system. An optional flush-mount kit is also available for each model.
Tags: garmin, gps navigation, marine gps
ACR AquaLink View PLB with 406link
Aug 29, 2010 gps navigation, marine gps
Interested in a marine personal locator beacon? This one is ACR AquaLink View PLB and Panbo has a good review about it.
Because I’m also testing the Pro version of ACR’s 406Link service, the same “All’s well” short message and location link could have been emailed and/or texted to four other recipients. Frankly, though, I consider that Spot-like messaging feature quite secondary to the reassurance felt when you can test a critical safety device like this PLB all the way through the system (short of the rescue center). I also like how the 406Link user site keeps track of beacon tests, battery life, etc.
Amazon has a bunch of ACR Aqualinks
Tags: gps navigation, marine gps
Garmin GPSMAP 78, GPSMAP 78s, GPSMAP 78sc
Apr 26, 2010 garmin, geocaching, gps navigation, gpsmap, marine gps
Garmin just announced three new marine GPS handheld devices. Garmin GPSMAP 78, GPSMAP 78s, and GPSMAP 78sc. Before we go into their differences and unique features let’s go over this newly remodeled series. They all have the same form factor which now has contemporary industrial design with rubber side grips. They can last up to 20 hours on a pair of AA batteries, and all use the HotFix GPS receiver from SiRF. 2.6″ color TFT screen, IPX 7 waterproof, 1.7GB internal memory and microSD card slot are also standard.
- GPSMAP 78: ($350) base model
- GPSMAP 78s: ($450) add barometric altimeter, tilt compensated 3-axis electronic compass, wireless unit-to-unit transfer
- GPSMAP 78sc: ($550) add preloaded maps
You can even also paperless geocaching on all the new GPSMAP 78 models.
Oh and the maps. They all have a built-in worldwide shaded relief basemap and the GPSMAP 78sc adds BlueChart g2 cartography for the coastal U.S.
Tags: garmin, geocaching, gps navigation, gpsmap, marine gps
HDS-5 Baja Off-Road GPS Chartplotter
Jan 16, 2010 gps navigation, marine gps
Lowrance’s HDS-5 Baja GPS Off-Road Chartplotter may at first seem like a boat only marine GPS chartplotter but it actually serves dual purposes. At least we think so – since on their website it is listed under the automotive section.
Probably HDS-5 doesn’t freak out when you get off the main roads and start driving on unpaved territories. It has an enhanced basemap for the whole continent so maybe it has an option for letting you trace back to the main road.
HDS-5 Baja is specially designed for un-friendly environments so it is ruggedized and makes it suitable for off-roading vehicles. It also can be hooked up to a LGC-4000 external GPS antenna for better reception.
Lowrance HDS5 Baja GPS Chartplotter
Tags: gps navigation, marine gps
new Garmin GPSMAP 700 series
Jan 7, 2010 garmin, gps navigation, gpsmap, marine gps
Garmin today announced the GPSMAP 700 series, touchscreen controlled stand-alone marine chartplotters with radar and built-in sonar.
One of the models in the series is GPSMAP 740 which comes preloaded with offshore maps for all U.S. coastal areas, including Alaska and Hawaii and even Explorer Charts for Bahamas. Another model is the GPSMAP 720, same features as 740 – but designed for non-US markets. If you want sonar though you’ll have to look for the ‘s’ in the name such as GPSMAP 740s and GPSMAP 720s. This will get you a 1kW sonar transceiver that can find fish targets and terrain features as far down as 2,000 feet.
The new GPSMAP 700 is much more affordable than previous Garmin GPSMAP chartplotters. GPSMAP 720 has an MSRP of $1400 and the GPSMAP 720s has a MSRP of $1600. GPSMAP 740 is $1500, and the GPSMAP 740s is $1700. You’ll have to wait until April 2010 for availability.
Tags: garmin, gps navigation, gpsmap, marine gps
Garmin GPSMAP 4208
Dec 9, 2009 garmin, gps navigation, gpsmap, marine gps
There’s the Garmin GPSMAP 5012, the portable and dual function GPSMAP 640, and the brand new GPSMAP 6000 and GPSMAP 7000 series. But maybe you need something else – not so expensive – but still more functional than the portable GPSMAP 640. In that case you’ll find the Garmin GPSMAP 4208 quite useful. Garmin GPSMAP 4208
The device is preloaded BlueChart g2 maps of the U.S. coast, and supports connecting to the Garmin Marine Network, where you can add sonar, radar and weather updates. If the onboard maps are not enough you can always bring your own on an SD card, or use the video-in port to get live pictures from other places on your boat.
Costs $1740
Tags: garmin, gps navigation, gpsmap, marine gps
Humminbird 997c SI
Dec 3, 2009 gps navigation, humminbird, marine gps
A while ago we had talked about Humminbird 997c. That was 2007. Today we have a more advanced version of it called Humminbird 997c SI. Humminbird 997c SI
What you do is put this marine GPS chartplotter in your boat (you’ve got one right?) and with its side-imaging sonar it will give you a clear image of your whereabouts and the surrounding fish with 180 degree coverage to 360 feet on either side, and 150 feet down. In addition it has DualBeam PLUS sonar which can reach 1500 feet and even provide wider coverage. Of course Humminbird 997c SI has an external GPS receiver and comes with built-in UniMap of USA lakes, rivers, and shores.
Some hardware specs of 997c SI are the 8″ TFT LCD screen with 800×480 resolution, SD card slot for chart recording, adjustable backlight, dual CPU and a separate graphics co-processor, and more.
Tags: gps navigation, humminbird, marine gps
