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Jere Lull wrote:

Parallax wrote:

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

Ahhhh! Such memories.

I never got comfortable with a slide rule - I had a boyfriend who was
really into math and gave me a circular one which didn't make things
any easier. :-{

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

Please be aware that some of the Bahamas charts are not very accurate.
The Maptech chart we have a Bimini has the island displaced to the SE
about a mile. So get the better paper charts to use, otherwise what
you see won't match up with the chart. We have both the Explorer
charts and the Maptech charts, and we also use the various Bahamas
guide books. We don't have and have never considered a chart plotter.

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?

Yes

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.

We also have two Garmin handhelds - one is the 12 and I think the
other is the 48 - I also like having the light list.

Both of these handhelds have the option of plugging into the boat or
working on their batteries. However, they both have internal
batteries which keep track of your waypoints etc, and if you don't
plug them in occasionally to recharge the internal batteries those
batteries will have to be replaced. In order to replace them, you may
have to send them back to the factory. Therefore I'd really emphasize
that you need to have a unit that plugs in.

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

Bob made a connection so that he can hook up the 48 to the computer
charts and also to the 12V battery source at the same time. That GPS
which is hooked to the computer is also hooked to an external masthead
antenna.

The 12 is clamped onto the binnacle and plugged into the binnacle 12V
plug and uses it's own internal antenna. This GPS is also the one I
use to do an anchor watch so that I can tell if the boat's anchor is
dragging. It is much easier to do this with the GPS than with a paper
chart. And it will need to be plugged in because otherwise the
batteries won't last very long. Although the screen will go off and
need to be lighted up again to see it that still doesn't save enough
battery power. I CAN if I'm not too worried, do this without my
bifocals.

The LCD screens cannot be readily seen with polarized sun glasses, and
you ought to have polarized glasses in the Bahamas - very useful for
seeing coral heads. I think maybe you just tilt your head to see the
LCD screen.

I do not hook the GPS up to the autopilot, but I do put waypoints into
it, and use the autopilot to get to them manually.

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

I'm pretty sure that both of ours are among the cheaper units.
Waterproof and floating would be good things to have I would think.

The 48 has been discontinued, but the 12 is still available.

From the Garmin website:http://www.garmin.com/marine/compare.jsp
comparing the specs of 5 GPSs including the discontinued 48 - it looks
like the 72 is about the cheapest 48 replacement. But I do recommend
the 12.

Product Comparison (look at this in a fixed font)

GPS II Plus GPS 12 GPS 48 GPS 72 GPS 76

MSRP $309.07 $231.80 $182.86 $170.65 $228.56

Receiver 12 channel 12 channel 12 channel 12 channel 12 channel
Number of Waypoints 500 500 500 500 500
Built in Memory N/A N/A N/A 1 MB 1 MB
# of Routes / # of waypoints per route 20/30 20/30 20/30 50/50 50/50
Database or Basemap City Pt N/A GPS 48 Marine Marine Pt Marine Pt
Additional map options N/A N/A N/A Pts of Interest CD Pts InterestCD
Battery Life 24 HR 24 HR 24 HR 16 HR (2 AA) 16 HR (2 AA)
Display Size 2.2 x 1.5 2.2 x 1.5 2.2 x 1.5 2.2 x 1.6 2.2 x 1.6
Display type B&W LCD B&W LCD B&W LCD 4 level Gray LCD 4 level Gray LCD
Area Calculation No Yes No Yes Yes
Pixels (H x W) 100 x 64 100 x 64 100 x 64 160 x 120 240 x 180
Standard GPS Antenna Detachable Built in Detachable Built in quad
helix Built in quad helix
TracBack Mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
# of Tracklog Points 1024 1024 1024 2048 2048
Unit Weight 9 oz. 9.5 oz. 9.5 oz. 7.7 oz. 7.7oz.
Audible Alarms No No
Anchor: No No Yes Yes Yes
Arrival: No No Yes Yes Yes
Clock: No No No No No
Off Course: No No Yes Yes Yes
Waterproof Standard IPX7 IPX7 IPX4 IPX7 IPX7
Unit Size (H x W x D) 5 x 2.32 x 1.62 5.8 x 2.1 x 1.2 6.1 x 2.0 x 1.23
6.2 x 2.7 x 1.4 6.2 x 2.7 x 1.4
Screen Orientation V& H Vertical Vertical N/A N/A
Map Storage N/A N/A N/A Internal Memory (Points of Interest only)
Internal Memory (Points of Interest only)
Backlit Display 3 level 3 level 3 level Single level Single level
Ext. Ant. Hookup Yes No Yes No Yes
Internal Differential N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
WAAS capability N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes
Loran TD position format Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
MGRS position format N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hunting/Fishing calculator N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes
Celestial Information Page N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes
Proximity Waypoints N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tide Prediction N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes
Voltage Range 10-32 5-8 10-32 8-35 10-40
Waypoint Icons Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes


grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id2.html