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ashtonspoutine
Guest
Hey guys, Im going on a trip to Telegraph Cove on Sept 6th to 13th. Id like to get a GSP but have not the slightest idea of what to get.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?
I have a older Standard Horizon and I love it. Works like a charm and was relatively inexpensive. I would stay away from Garmin. The only reason being is there is some licensing issues with nautical charts. A friend bought one and still cannot get a marine chart card for it. Lowrance is top shelf, cant go wrong with one of those. You can save money with going Monochrome if colour is not important. Hope that helps.
scott craven
Well-Known Member
I'm very happy with my Garmin 172C chartplotter
Invest the money in a chartplotter instead of a regular GPS unit.
Well worth the $$$
Invest the money in a chartplotter instead of a regular GPS unit.
Well worth the $$$
teamchachi
Member
Oh boy. You've opened up one of those "ford versus chevy" can-o-worms debates.
There are lots of good units out there. It comes down to whose cartography you want to buy.
My problem with Garmin is that they require you to purchase their own "in-house" brand of cartography which seems to be a bit more expensive. Every once in a while they discontinue their cartography and effectively force you to upgrade you hardware. Not a bad business plan if you're Garmin, but could leave you with a useless chartplotter in a few years...
I'd much rather buy my cartography from a 3rd party company like C-Map or Navionics. Almost all GPS manufacturers rely on these suppliers for their nautical charts (except Garmin). They'll keep selling and updating the cartography as long as there is a market. They don't really care if you upgrade your hardware or not because they really don't have a vested interest.
I've had great luck with Standard Horizon. You probably can't go too far wrong with Lowrance either. I just put an LCX-27C 7" chartplotter in a new North River Seahawk 21.
I'd look for a unit that uses C-Map NT-MAX as they have a map chip that covers all of Vancouver Island and should be well priced.
There are lots of good units out there. It comes down to whose cartography you want to buy.
My problem with Garmin is that they require you to purchase their own "in-house" brand of cartography which seems to be a bit more expensive. Every once in a while they discontinue their cartography and effectively force you to upgrade you hardware. Not a bad business plan if you're Garmin, but could leave you with a useless chartplotter in a few years...
I'd much rather buy my cartography from a 3rd party company like C-Map or Navionics. Almost all GPS manufacturers rely on these suppliers for their nautical charts (except Garmin). They'll keep selling and updating the cartography as long as there is a market. They don't really care if you upgrade your hardware or not because they really don't have a vested interest.
I've had great luck with Standard Horizon. You probably can't go too far wrong with Lowrance either. I just put an LCX-27C 7" chartplotter in a new North River Seahawk 21.
I'd look for a unit that uses C-Map NT-MAX as they have a map chip that covers all of Vancouver Island and should be well priced.
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demersonbc
Guest
Garmin is the only one that has a license agreement with the Canadian Hydrographic Service. They have the digital data in their blue chart series. The others only have scanned charts. I used to have a Garmin Map76 and it was great, a little slow to redraw and hard to read in bright sun. I now have a Furuno that seems ok, but it is pretty new. Because of the agreement with CHS, I think I would prefer Garmin. Maybe they update periodically, but they can because they have the digital data.
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gimp
Guest
Garmin 178C Color GPS Map Sounder was the last GPS I owned. I loved it and when I buy a new boat I will most likely go for the Garmin GPSMAP 420/420s.
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ashtonspoutine
Guest
Lets say I end up with Garmin, Can I use it in the states? I may be in San Diego for a while and Ill be fishing there FOR SURE!! Can I just buy maps and put in on my Garmin?
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demersonbc
Guest
You can use it anywhere like most units, just have to buy the charts.
You can either buy a new chip for the area that you want to go to about 160.00. Or you can send your chip to the factory for a 50% credit towards another area. You can also buy a larger area chip that will cover a larger area like the whole west coast fron cali to alaska --about 450.00
I have the 172c and love it. would not use another type.But thats just my 2bits
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I have the 172c and love it. would not use another type.But thats just my 2bits
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Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
I have a Garmin GPS MAP 76C and really like it. Bluecharts is loaded on my home computer and I can create and save my routes and then download to the 76C. I have maps for the east and west coast of Vancouver Island. I was out in Nootka sound 2 weeks ago and could not believe how acurate it was. Garmin's just seem easier to use astheir menu's make sense. Would highly recomend it. I'll upgrade to a larger unit someday and then have this as a backup.
Sir Reel
Sir Reel
As Sir Reel stated that he uses the bluechart on his garmin, mine uses the chip style on the garmin. I have never used the bluechart, but from what i understand you require a few more peices of equipment to transfer the data (cables). My chip comes loaded with all the charts on it and i fish from Vancouver to Quadra island and this thing works great. I have all my fishing trips "tracked" so that i know were all the best hot spots are ( a mark or point). Ieven know that i have traveled 594 miles since july 1.and the list goes on
If you want any more info. email me and i will give you a few back door hints on were to buy
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If you want any more info. email me and i will give you a few back door hints on were to buy
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Tanglefoot
Guest
Ford/GM - I have the Lowrance 525C-DF and I love it. GPS/Plotter/F-Finder. Ain't cheap tho. I have a 18.5 foot Malibu boat and I run the kicker from the stern. The finder is mounted on the 'dash' under the 'roof' and I have no problem reading the screen. A bit of a user learning curve but I'm onto it now[8D].
Tom
Tom
M.T. WALLET
Member
lowrance x27c great all round gps plotter and sonar
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ashtonspoutine
Guest
Correct me if Im wrong...
Whatever I buy, there's a good chance Ill learn to use it and not regret it? From what Im reading, it seems like most people are just satisfied with what they've got. Whether it the lowrance, Garmin or standard Horizon...No one's complaining and thats good for a rookie like me to hear. Seems almost hard to make a mistake.
Whatever I buy, there's a good chance Ill learn to use it and not regret it? From what Im reading, it seems like most people are just satisfied with what they've got. Whether it the lowrance, Garmin or standard Horizon...No one's complaining and thats good for a rookie like me to hear. Seems almost hard to make a mistake.
victoriaboater
Active Member
I use a Garmin e-trex legend hand held, plug it into an old laptop that i traded for a case of beer, and run nobeltec 3.0 (uses bsb charts). Much less expensive than a chart plotter and I can take the hand held anywhere as a stand alone.
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dog
Guest
I use an inexpensive gps with sonar unit that a friend gave me. It came free with his $18000 outboard engine. Unfortunately, it does not have an upgradeable chip and does not include ocean floor mapping in the chip it came with, so I can not see bottom/ocean floor charting. I would not buy one that did not have ocean floor mapping.
Get some good advice on mounting the transducer if you get a gps/sonar unit. It is easy to screw it up mounting the transducer so that you dont get good sonar at high speed.
Screen size is kind of like boat size. You will probably get foot-itis and wish it was bigger. 24 inch monitor for the dash and 17 inch for the stern would be nice. Mine is about 3x5.
Get some good advice on mounting the transducer if you get a gps/sonar unit. It is easy to screw it up mounting the transducer so that you dont get good sonar at high speed.
Screen size is kind of like boat size. You will probably get foot-itis and wish it was bigger. 24 inch monitor for the dash and 17 inch for the stern would be nice. Mine is about 3x5.
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demersonbc
Guest
I have a Furuno and would prefer a Garmin. Garmin has periodic updates of their chart data or software in the unit that you can download into your gps. If the Canadian Hydrographic Service updates one of their charts, Garmin offers a download (I think it is free?). All the others would release new chips when there is enough updates that you will have to buy for sure.
My Furuno is only a few months old so I am reluctant to be too harsh, but I know my Garmin was easily updated.
My Furuno is only a few months old so I am reluctant to be too harsh, but I know my Garmin was easily updated.
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