claus wrote:
Yes, Captain John, you did :-)

I "should have" added that I have a second Garmin handheld GPS receiver and
in case the Boat's GPS fails or the entire electrical system fails I will
simply use the laptop with the Garmin to carry on...

And of course, I carry a complete set of paper charts.

So my approach is basically "belts and suspenders"...

Now if Homeland Security switches off the entire GPS system I am f*****, but
I guess so is everyone else (especially commercial aviation) ...


Claus


"Capt John" wrote in message
oups.com...

Did I miss something? I thought this was supposed to be a back-up
navigation system, it sounds like it's all GPS based. What happens when
their's a problem with GPS? In that case, you have nothing, and it
does, and has, happened. A better way is to go with a completely
seperate, completely differant, technology as a back up. I have two
seperate GPS receavers, but I also have a LORAN system as well. If one
GPS unit fails, I have the other, if their's a problem with GPS, I have
LORAN to fall back on. It's nice having all kinds of fancy technology
at your hands, but it's also good to keep charts on hand as well, and
know how to use them. Most people I know that have navigation systems
with all kinds of charts have gotten careless about keeping charts,
having them as back up is also a good idea. The LORAN's not much as a
back up unit without a chart, most do not have built in charts.

John


First off, commercial jets do have back up, they have transponders,
RDF's, and most still have LORAN, if the GPS system fails, they still
have a way to tell where they are. And their have been problems with
GPS before, local problems, but it does happen. In such a case, someone
like you, who's systems are all based on the same system, GPS, has no
back up system.

A Radar system (so you can tell where land is, not to mention other
boats), a depth sounder (to tell how much water is under you) can act
as good "back up" since you should always know approximately where you
are (when you have an equipment failure). With them and a compass, plus
charts, you shouldn't have a problem, add a LORAN (check eBay, not too
expensive) and you have no problem knowing exactly where you are, where
everyone else is and if your in any danger of running aground.