Need advice on a GPS solution
 

I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?


--
nfsnfs- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these newsgroups are available online!

Let me send off a PM to our resident Marine Electronics expert from
Boataholic.


--
Yellowchaser- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these newsgroups are available online!

I single hand in the San Juan islands where there a lots of hazards, traffic
and currents. Going below to check my course and location are not practical
so I don't use the laptop for navigation. I won't take the laptop on deck
when sailing and I'm not all that trusting in its reliability anyway. I use
Nobletec to plan my routes in the evening and upload them to my Garmin 176.
I can link my routes in Nobletec to the tide currents and it predicts the
best departure times. This is very useful for me. I have an outlet on
deck that I plug the GPS into for power and nmea output to the autopilot and
VHF. This system works out very well for me though it's not an inexpensive
approach since you need to purchase two sets of charts.


"nfsnfs" wrote in message
...

I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?


--
nfsnfs- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for
fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these
newsgroups are available online!

Go see the Standard Horizon CP175C and C-Map Max before to decide


"Johnhh" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
I single hand in the San Juan islands where there a lots of hazards,
traffic and currents. Going below to check my course and location are not
practical so I don't use the laptop for navigation. I won't take the
laptop on deck when sailing and I'm not all that trusting in its
reliability anyway. I use Nobletec to plan my routes in the evening and
upload them to my Garmin 176. I can link my routes in Nobletec to the tide
currents and it predicts the best departure times. This is very useful for
me. I have an outlet on deck that I plug the GPS into for power and nmea
output to the autopilot and VHF. This system works out very well for me
though it's not an inexpensive approach since you need to purchase two sets
of charts.


"nfsnfs" wrote in message
...

I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?


--
nfsnfs- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for
fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these
newsgroups are available online!

It really depends on how you are using the boat. I race and cruise on a
First 40.7 and have an old (IBM 600E Thinkpad bought off Ebay) running an
older version of Nobeltec. For long races and longer cruises, I wouldn't be
without the laptop. I also have a Garmin rudimentary chartplotter (Model
#162), which I use primarily to derive NMEA for the laptop and as a backup
for the laptop. If I had a choice, I would move the Garmin to the helm to
use on around -the-buoy racing and quick look data at the helm.
Unfortunately, my boat doesn't lend itself to mounting much instrumentation
around the helm, so I compromise. I have seen a number of chartplotters and
have yet to see one which offers the flexibility of a good navigation
program on a laptop. I'm not sure I would say that Nobeltec is the best,
but it is definitely up there with the best. There are continual advances
in the map format area (the new free ENC charts are an example) which you
should consider when you buy a laptop charting program, particularly if you
are cruising over long distances. Digital charts can be expensive.


"nfsnfs" wrote in message
...

I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?


--
nfsnfs- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for
fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these
newsgroups are available online!

Well I have a 25 year old C&C 37 with a Garmin GPSMap 188C mounted at the
helm and I like it very much. I have a second antenna that lets me study
the plotter down below in the evenings and plan routes.

As another poster said, going below to study your laptop when you are in
tricky waters doesn't seem too prudent even if you have crew looking out.

Then again I have a friend who thinks my 188C screen is just too small and
he also does not like the look of the Garmin Bluecharts. He likes something
that looks exactly like a paper chart, ie. NDI echarts.
He is planning on using OziExplorer ($100) on his laptop for his navigation.
He plans to mount it on a swing arm so that he can position it in the
companionway and see it from the helm.
This might work if he can shade it somehow otherwise I don't think its going
to be bright enough in direct sunlight (its a fairly new Sony Vaio).

I recently bought an old PII 400MHz laptop and put Ozi onto it. The big
screen is nice but again I'm not fussy about going below. The 188C also
gives you quite a bit of other info that Ozi does not but I guess more
expensive programs would include things like VMG, ETA, etc.

"nfsnfs" wrote in message
...

I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?


--
nfsnfs- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for
fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these
newsgroups are available online!

nfsnfs Wrote:
I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?

I think that if I were going to use Nobeltec software on a laptop then
I would go ahead and go the extra distance for the wireless display,
you can see it here http://www.nobeltec.com/products/prod_tb_wnd.asp


--
Yellowchaser- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these newsgroups are available online!

"Gordon Wedman" wrote in
news:XLGte.74286$9A2.12976@edtnps89:

He plans to mount it on a swing arm so that he can position it in the
companionway and see it from the helm.


You tell him for me that if that damned "swing arm" has a knob that turns
to lock it in place that will swing free when the knob is loose for him to
save his money. Geoffrey paid a fortune for this fancy aluminum dual arm
thing from Waste Marine and it's USELESS AT SEA! Any roll or pitch that
can loosen that damned screwlock does so and BANG!...there goes whatever is
bolted to it into whatever it can bang it into....

USELESS....
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...splay?storeId=
10001&langId=-
1&catalogId=10001&productId=76614&catalogId=10001& classNum=484&subdeptNum=1
42&storeNum=3
(add up all these lines that wordwrapped to see the exact POS we have.)
$174 and it doesn't even have a lock washer! If anything turns
counterclockwise from a roll...it has NO LOCK AT ALL and swings totally
free! How awful...looks nice, though....USELESS!!

I wrote up an honest, but not nice for sales, review on this webpage's
reviewing form. Here's what I got for a reply when I clicked SUBMIT:

"We're sorry for the inconvenience.
We may be running some routine maintenance
on the page you are trying to access.

Click here to return to the previous page, or let us know
if we can help you find the page/product you are looking for. "

No wonder there are no BAD reviews....they're BLOCKED!


Thank You!

--
Larry

You know you've had a rough night when you wake up and your outlined in
chalk.

If only it were waterproof and a whole lot less expensive.

"Yellowchaser" wrote in
message ...

nfsnfs Wrote:
I just bought a 12 year old C&C 37/40R and, along with the 1287 odd jobs
that come along with used boats, I would like to install a GPS chart
plotter. There are dozens of possible solutions straight out of the
West Marine catalog but a friend highly recommended software on a
laptop instead.

He uses Nobletec and seems committed, but I thought I might ask a wider
audience for recommendations / disrecommendations. Also, his setup
involves parking the laptop on the chart table below, whereas I would
like something visible from the helm. That would mean an extra screen
that will stand up to salt water and running some wiring, but if
charting software is better/cheaper/faster than what gets plugged into
the integrated plotters, I'd like to know before I start.

Any advice for a greenhorn?

I think that if I were going to use Nobeltec software on a laptop then
I would go ahead and go the extra distance for the wireless display,
you can see it here http://www.nobeltec.com/products/prod_tb_wnd.asp


--
Yellowchaser- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice
for fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these
newsgroups are available online!

Johnhh Wrote:
If only it were waterproof and a whole lot less expensive.

It should be relativley easy to build a plexiglass box it could fit
into, with a watertight sealable front panel you could open to get to
the controls if needed. Then mount the whole thing on an arm. This
would both protect the screen from water and something hitting it.


--
Yellowchaser- http://www.hookandsinker.com - The Sportfishermen's choice for fishing news, over 500+ maps, over 7,000+ schematics, and even these newsgroups are available online!