On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 07:04:36 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

Parallax wrote:

Being a psuedo-Luddite who still has a slide rule (and knows how to
use it),....

Ahhhh! Such memories.

For the last 13 yrs, I have had a Loran snip
I am planning to go to he Bahamas where Loran supposedly dont work so
am considering GPS but will still use my beloved paper charts so dont
need a chart plotter. All I really want is position and speed.
snip Considering that my wants are few, which GPS
would be best? Do I get one that works off of the boat 12V? Do the
hand helds have that option as well as batteries?


I have and love the Garmin 48. (may no longer be made.) Main reason was
that it was the easiest to work one-handed. I primarily use it similarly
to you, but the included light list turned out to be much more useful
than I expected. VERY handy in strange places.

I have a 12v & data connection to hook up to the autopilot. Except for
that, I'd go with NiMH.

Be careful of the cheapest ones as they can take forever to lock and
lose signal more easily.

My favorite was my old GPS-45XL. It was a single channel and also took
"forever" to lock, which is about a minute or two. For what he wants to
use it though, even 3 minutes to lock (which is forever these days of 12
channel receivers) is more than good enough. Also, while the cheap
units lose signal more easily under adverse conditions, they have no
problem keeping the signal under the easiest conditions possible, on a
boat away from any obstructions.

Even my old Magellan GPS-2000 that I bought back in 1995 has no problems
whatsoever fulfilling his wants and needs. Yes, it takes a lot longer
to lock than my 12 channel eTrex Legend. But it gives good position and
velocity information. The Legend, BTW, is horrible at keeping the
signal under any sort of tree cover. Even driving down a tree-lined
road it looses lock sometimes. However, I haven't lost it once on the
boat ... where tree cover usually isn't a problem.

Steve