Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Doug
 
Posts: n/a
Default GPS Plotters - discussion

Lowrance and Eagle are the same company.
Doug K7ABX
"Bob" wrote in message
news:2IOtc.2554$3x.1026@attbi_s54...

"Daniel" wrote in message
...
I am sure that this has already been done but new models are constantly
being produced so... why not?
Your experience is very appreciated regarding:


My experience consists of inland waters fishing use only, so with that out
of the way:

1) screen dimension
2) Color or B/W


I'll answer both of these at the same time. I am currently using a 5" B/W
unit that I have had for several years, Lowrance 4800m, and find this to

be
a very tractable unit that more than meets any of my needs. My best

fishing
bud recieved a Lowrance 3300c, 5" screen, for Christmas. This is

essentially
the color version of the 4800m, with the only real difference being screen
resolution. The 4800m has a 480Vx480H display for a total pixel count of
over 230,000, while his 3300c has a 320Vx240H display for a total of over
76,000 pixels.
When we put the units side by side, we both can see that my B/W unit has

the
much sharper display, but his appears to be just as good because of the
inclusion of color. After all, we see in color, so we interpret images
better when seen in color, even when the resolution is a bit lower.
Answer - I now want a color unit, but the budget and the wife have nixed
that idea. So I will be keeping my ancient B/W for at least a couple of
years, and I know that it will continue to preform perfectly during that
time.

3) speed of screen refreshing


Owning or using, with friends, units by Lowrance, RayMarine, Garmin, Eagle
and Humminbird, they mostly seem to use an approx. 1 second screen

refresh.
This has proven to be more than needed, even on a high speed run across

any
lake that we have been on, including Lake Michigan.

4) different cartographic systems/media


Have only used Navionics HotMaps for inland waters, with MapCreate

software
as a backup for lakes that are not in the HotMaps digital media memory
cards. There are others out there, but I have no experience with them. My
two tier system has worked out very well for my purposes.

5) reliability


Stay away from Eagle, period. Even though Eagle is a division of Lowrance,
they seem to have major problems with reliability in all areas from
waterproofness through screen problems, and even their electronics, that
Lowrance does not have. Everyone I know, no matter what brand they own,
except the Eagle owners, are happy with them, with the possible exception

of
the Humminbird owners. They cannot tell me what real problems they have,

but
none of them seem real happy with their units. The two RayMarine owners
(both have the RC435 with a 6" screen) that I know are extremely pleased
with their units, even happier than I am with my Lowrance.
Just taking into account how people talk about their units, I would rate
them as follows;
1 - RayMarine
2 - Lowrance
3 - Garmin
4 - Humminbird
5 - Eagle
(Note: I know of no one with a Furuno, but I would expect this brand to be
somewhere above the Garmin brand on this list)
There are other brands than these, but no matter what your usage I would
recommend a brand with as far reaching sales/service system, just in case
:-)

...
all points vs price, of course.


As a comparison, current street price for;
Lowrance 4800m = $400.00
Lowrance 3300c = $500.00
RayMarine RC435 = $900.00


Thanks
Daniel


Bob
A day without being on the water is just like being at work!




  #2   Report Post  
Bob
 
Posts: n/a
Default GPS Plotters - discussion

I think that I already knew that.

"Doug" wrote in message
ink.net...
Lowrance and Eagle are the same company.
Doug K7ABX



5) reliability


Stay away from Eagle, period. Even though Eagle is a division of

Lowrance,
they seem to have major problems with reliability in all areas from



Bob


Bob
(again)


  #3   Report Post  
Daniel
 
Posts: n/a
Default GPS Plotters - discussion

Well, thank you, you gave me some new ideas.
In particular the possibility to use a laptop. I have an old HP with
W95 which would actually be available for sailing with me!
Does anyone ave suggestions on how to read NEMEA through the serial port
and which kind of cartography would be better?

Daniel
  #4   Report Post  
Daniel
 
Posts: n/a
Default GPS Plotters - discussion

Well, thank you, you gave me some new ideas.
In particular the possibility to use a laptop. I have an old HP with
W95 which would actually be available for sailing with me!
Does anyone ave suggestions on how to read NEMEA through the serial port
and which kind of cartography would be better?

Daniel


  #5   Report Post  
Peter Bennett
 
Posts: n/a
Default GPS Plotters - discussion

On Sat, 29 May 2004 20:07:41 GMT, Daniel
wrote:

Well, thank you, you gave me some new ideas.
In particular the possibility to use a laptop. I have an old HP with
W95 which would actually be available for sailing with me!
Does anyone ave suggestions on how to read NEMEA through the serial port
and which kind of cartography would be better?

Daniel


I use Ozi Explorer - it will use the common BSB-format nautical
charts, or you can scan your paper charts and calibrate them in Ozi
(it handles most graphic formats).

There is a free mapping program called "SeaClear" - there are links to
both programs, and info on the NMEA-0183 data format, on my GPS/NMEA
web site listed below.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
OT Hijacking a discussion, was Bought cool new digital charger....$89? Harry Krause General 3 January 31st 04 10:08 PM
OT Hijacking a discussion, was Bought cool new digital charger....$89? Den73740 Electronics 8 January 31st 04 10:08 PM
Point me to a discussion on Autopilots? Bill Boat Building 3 December 18th 03 08:47 PM
Ocean Temp Discussion from NWS Harry Krause General 2 November 8th 03 02:36 PM
Glen-L discussion group Brian & Brenda Mahaney Boat Building 0 July 1st 03 01:42 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:11 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2025 BoatBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Boats"

 

Copyright © 2017