GPS Help

[TONY MCCARTHY]

Looking at adding a gps to my to my 22i cockpit. Suggestions on make and model.

[Dave S]

not sure on make or model but a bigger screen is better, easier to see.

[whitlock87]

Garman has a lot of nice units have very detail lake maps. (These maps have water depth and show sore line as well as under water dangers)
They have some that are just for boating, and other that work both for your car and boat.
You can even store location that you like with special icons. Tom Tom work to, but do not have detailed lake maps

[TONY MCCARTHY]

GPS Help

Thank you for the responses. How accurate is the speed shown on the GPS?

[hoopykat]

The speed on the GPS units are usually within 1-3 mph of the speedometer of my car and my ambulance at work. They tend to err on the slow side, based on my experiences.

-Mike

[worsty]

Yes, the Garmin GPS is a good unit. There are several sizes and resolutions to look for. Go to a local West Marine to actually see one and push the buttons. A 500 series is a 5" screen and the 400 Series is a 4" screen. Also, those units come pre-loaded with the entire US coastal and inland waterways. You can buy for additional $$$ the Garmin Blue chip (G2) to get additional information (mostly satellite overlay), but is not needed.
The GPS is the most accurate source for speed, but there is a slight lag in the displayed or indicated SOG (Speed Over Ground). The delay can be from 1 second to several seconds.
Just a suggestion... use your GPS to verify steady speeds with your analog (gauge) speed. There might be difference between the two (This is typical), but go with the GPS over the analog and adjust accordingly. The difference will usually be a % of the current speed. (Example: GPS=25 Knots and Analog gauge=22 Knots, but at GPS=10 the analog will indicate about 9 Knots).
Sorry, I probably made this more complicated than your original question...
Garmin is not the only one out there either. Look at which manufacture is on sale or on clearance. Look at Hummingbird, Eagle, Lowrance, Raymarine, NavComm, or any others.
You need to look at how you want to mount this new device, bracket or flush. Is there enough room to flush mount? If bracket mounting, is it in your field of view? Blocking any other gauges? Blocking the throttle lever travel? Carefully plan out your location and what you want. If you just want a reliable speed source, they have units (GPS) that come in several gauge type packages.
Hope this some what gets you in the right direction. Good luck!

[zad0030]

Perfect Pass makes a GPS Speedometer now.
http://perfectpass.com/images/precis...cisionStar.pdf

[jwanck11]

Is this strictly for boating or are you considering one that you can take from the car to the boat?

Make sure that you live/boat in an area that is mapped. When I was in the Chesapeake Bay, it was mapped and it did give me an idea of generally where I could go and where I had to stay away from (the flats). Honesty though I just watched my depth gauge.

Where we boat now the river is not mapped so my gps is useless.

[Nobody]

Looking at adding a gps to my to my 22i cockpit. Suggestions on make and model.

I don't know what your dash looks like, but here's where we put ours. (5" would not fit, so stayed with 4" screen)

It's only funtion is to keep us in the channel, and find our way back when where in a foreign area.

Does the job well for a small price.

Garmin 440S with G2 Vison Chart.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8055
NMEA 0183 In/Out

Newer version (441S) is NEMA 2000 and works great with fuel flow meters.

Can find it on-sale for $400.

Hook up a sounder for fish finder and accurate depth.

[chpthril]

Thank you for the responses. How accurate is the speed shown on the GPS?

GPS speed is actually dead-nuts on, especially on a lake. I run 3 GPS units in my work van. One is a Garmin for nav'ing, the other 2 are the GPS tracking units that the company I work for sell/installs. One is a Trimble and the other is a Jupiter. All 3 are consistently close to each other, as well as the speedo in the van, in both MPH and mileage driven. Now, in a river with moving current, there can be a margin of error.

[TeamAllen]

I just use a Garmin hand held unit called Oregon. Works fine for my needs.