"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...

"D0N ßailey" wrote:


As long as you're not going long distance, this really isn't a big deal.
If you do stray off course, the little arrow will always point towards
your target. I use one all the time, and find that once I reach a
destination, my "bread crumb" trail will be a bit curved from point A to
B.


Which I assume is fine, unless that curved course is too big. In which
case
you are traveling a longer distance than you need to or, much worse,
getting
into an area of the water that you don't want to be in (say shallow or
such).
Yes?


Yea, I don't usually use the GPS in shallow areas, I've been though
them enough that I just use landmarks (because Im usually close
to land). I only use it once I get out into the open ocean to find
fishing reefs. Also, I notice that sometimes the bouy is not
exactly where my GPS waypoint is, but that is of no consequence
because you can usually see the bouy once you get within a
mile or two. I don't know that I would want to use the GPS
to nav through shallow areas because the thing (at least mine)
just isn't *that* accurate. Mine doesn't have WAAS. Its a few
years old.

I have the Garmin e-map. I think we paid about $150.00 a few years
back. Nothing to write home about but it gets the job done.
Its fun to take up in the plane on business travel too. It gives
you altitude and such. A couple years ago I was flying back
from Dallas to NC on an older 757 and noticed we had
passed 700mph. I thought it was way off but just
then, the captain came on the intercom and announced
our speed as 700mph+. We must have had a helluva
tail wind that night.

But generally we'll just be going short distances so you're right,
it probably isn't a big deal. Just like to think it all through anyway.

Have fun.

db

Gene Kearns wrote:
On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 06:00:40 GMT, "Mark Browne"
wrote:


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:00:01 -0500, Gene Kearns
wrote:

Hmmm..... I have some PFC pipe, a can of Life Guard, and a
potato...... EUREKA.....

============================

I think I hear cannon fire in the distance...

Kinda of hollow "phooomp" sound?

Mark Browne


Oh, much grander scale than that.....

http://www.spudtech.com/detail.asp?id=26



Finally, a Weapon of Messy Destruction...


--
Email sent to is never read.

Wayne.B wrote:
On 20 Jan 2004 06:35:14 -0800, (basskisser) wrote:


If you use "lots and lots" of waypoints, you may run out, and that is
bad, especially in open water.


==========================================

Yes, and there's really no reason for "lots and lots" of waypoints in
open water. A glance at your Cross Track Error (XTE) once in awhile
will tell you if you're being set to one side. As long as Course Made
Good is matching up with Bearing to Waypoint, that shouldn't happen
anyway.


That's why I suggested you use them strategically, so you only load the
areas of risk, not "open" water legs.

As for "run out of them" that's why nearly all the gps seem to give you
a very high number of available waypoints for each route, even so you
can break the passage into several 'routes" if needs be.

Never cease to be amazed that this common knowledge category basic
stuff is all new to you blokes or worse you try to argue against it!!!

K

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 11:04:35 -0500, "Gary Warner"
wrote:


We bought the handheld Garmin 72 for our little 22 footer. We won't be
doing much if any long distance navigation, but just knowing our position
and just "playing" with the thing should be fun. Goofing around with it
inside (while it's cold and snowy outside) a few questions come to mind.

-- Lets say you are out in open ocean and heading for a waypoint that
it programmed into the unit. If everything was calm, no wind and no
current, all you have to do it point the arrow at the waypoint. But what
if there is a current and/or wind? Just pointing the boat toward the
waypoint might not take you on a straight course to the destination. You
would need to steer a different course to get the desired outcome. So:
Can this GPS (or others) help figure what course you need to steer?

Almost all of the can. It's called "course" mode instead of "bearing"
mode. In bearing mode, the pointer always points to the target. If you
stray off course, the bearing will change and point to the target. But
that's not really what you want since if you have something driving you
off course like wind and current, your path to the target will sort of
spiral in if you follow the moving bearing.

With course mode, the GPS always points from the start of the leg to the
end of the leg and generally shows a CDI, or course deviation indicator,
which shows how far off course you are. If you steer to keep the CDI
small, you will travel in a straight line from your start to end point.
Many also have a "steer" function that tells you how much to turn left
or right to stay on course.

-- I see there is a "Highway" screen that shows a "road" that one
might follow. Seems that may be the correct screen to do what I'm
thinking, but I can't quite figure out it's use.

If the highway screen is anything like the one on my old 45xl, that's a
good one to use. It shows your course and how far off course you are.
Just stay down the middle of the highway and you'll travel the shortest
path, which is the straight line.

Well, probably all this will become clearer when we can actually use
it ON the boat.

Oh, any good books out there telling how to use a GPS (not a manual
for a particual unit, but a general 'how-to' book of ideas and uses?

Everything you ever wanted to know about GPS, from basic "how to" to
detailed info about how GPS works is available at:

http://www.gpsinformation.net/

Steve

K Smith wrote in message ...
Wayne.B wrote:
On 20 Jan 2004 06:35:14 -0800, (basskisser) wrote:


If you use "lots and lots" of waypoints, you may run out, and that is
bad, especially in open water.


==========================================

Yes, and there's really no reason for "lots and lots" of waypoints in
open water. A glance at your Cross Track Error (XTE) once in awhile
will tell you if you're being set to one side. As long as Course Made
Good is matching up with Bearing to Waypoint, that shouldn't happen
anyway.


That's why I suggested you use them strategically, so you only load the
areas of risk, not "open" water legs.

As for "run out of them" that's why nearly all the gps seem to give you
a very high number of available waypoints for each route, even so you
can break the passage into several 'routes" if needs be.

Never cease to be amazed that this common knowledge category basic
stuff is all new to you blokes or worse you try to argue against it!!!

K

New to you blokes? I've used my Garmin GPS for three years now. You
are the one who doesn't know what you are talking about. If, for
instance, you are using the track back feature, PLUS, are loading
waypoints in manually, using the MOB funtion, every time you make any
small steering correction, and on and on, you will soon run out of
waypoints. I've ran out on local lakes, mainly because every time you
turn, etc. the trackback feature is making waypoints, then adding them
manually. When you run out, it simply deletes the oldest ones to use
that space. They may well be the most critical ones.

"D0N ßailey" wrote:

Its fun to take up in the plane on business travel too. It gives
you altitude and such. A couple years ago I was flying back
from Dallas to NC on an older 757 and noticed we had
passed 700mph. I thought it was way off but just


I was wondering if they would work inside a plane. Seems like
it would be fun to track the route the plane flys, know altitude
and speed. Cool.

"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...


"D0N ßailey" wrote:

Its fun to take up in the plane on business travel too. It gives
you altitude and such. A couple years ago I was flying back
from Dallas to NC on an older 757 and noticed we had
passed 700mph. I thought it was way off but just


I was wondering if they would work inside a plane. Seems like
it would be fun to track the route the plane flys, know altitude
and speed. Cool.


Oh hell yea, You have to hold it up to the window. You'd be surprised
how far out of the way you have to fly to "get in line" to land sometimes.

'Tis really fun on those long flights when you are wondering where you are.

I haven't used it since 9-11 for fear it would be confiscated. Maybe it
wouldn't
be a big deal now.

db

The GPS has no way of knowing which way your bow is pointing. The arrow
direction is based on the last few positional readings. The arrow will point
toward the waypoint as long as the GPS is moving in that direction, whether
that means the boat it is riding in is going forward, backward or sideways.
Just keep the arrow pointed toward the waypoint. If you try to use GPS data
to navigate by compass, then current and wind will come into play. I'm a
little new at this also, but I'm guessing it's simpler to just navigate by
GPS and keep the compass for backup.

"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...

We bought the handheld Garmin 72 for our little 22 footer. We won't be
doing much if any long distance navigation, but just knowing our position
and just "playing" with the thing should be fun. Goofing around with it
inside (while it's cold and snowy outside) a few questions come to mind.

-- Lets say you are out in open ocean and heading for a waypoint that
it programmed into the unit. If everything was calm, no wind and no
current, all you have to do it point the arrow at the waypoint. But what
if there is a current and/or wind? Just pointing the boat toward the
waypoint might not take you on a straight course to the destination. You
would need to steer a different course to get the desired outcome. So:
Can this GPS (or others) help figure what course you need to steer?

-- I see there is a "Highway" screen that shows a "road" that one
might follow. Seems that may be the correct screen to do what I'm
thinking, but I can't quite figure out it's use.

Well, probably all this will become clearer when we can actually use
it ON the boat.

Oh, any good books out there telling how to use a GPS (not a manual
for a particual unit, but a general 'how-to' book of ideas and uses?

Thanks,
Gary

"Gary Warner" wrote in message ...
"D0N ßailey" wrote:

Its fun to take up in the plane on business travel too. It gives
you altitude and such. A couple years ago I was flying back
from Dallas to NC on an older 757 and noticed we had
passed 700mph. I thought it was way off but just


I was wondering if they would work inside a plane. Seems like
it would be fun to track the route the plane flys, know altitude
and speed. Cool.

Yep, done it, it IS fun!

I believe you are confusing tracklog points and waypoints. You
should never lose a waypoint unless you manually delete it or reset
your unit. If you are losing tracklog points, then you probably have
your tracklog set to 'wrap when full'. If you are creating a route,
then you are limited to the (arbitrary) number of waypoints per
route that Garmin has set.

-Jim



basskisser wrote:

New to you blokes? I've used my Garmin GPS for three years now. You
are the one who doesn't know what you are talking about. If, for
instance, you are using the track back feature, PLUS, are loading
waypoints in manually, using the MOB funtion, every time you make any
small steering correction, and on and on, you will soon run out of
waypoints. I've ran out on local lakes, mainly because every time you
turn, etc. the trackback feature is making waypoints, then adding them
manually. When you run out, it simply deletes the oldest ones to use
that space. They may well be the most critical ones.