gps units

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

maybe another stupid newbie question but ed said you need a gps unit to calibrate your speedo and perfect pass so my question is how many guys have a fixed unit on your boats and if so what all benefits do they have ?

[moombadaze]

Have a older garmenIII portable unit-works just fine for the boat

[BensonWdby]

I use a handheld Etrex. Works fine.

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

at my local lakes i can't get lost they are way too small but every year we go to cumberland or norris and plan on doing a little more traveling to find nice lakes in states that border me. so that is what i want to prevent is getting lost in an unfamiliar lake. don't wanna spened 4 grand on a top of the line unit but wanna have something that can get me back to where i need to be and show me whats around. i know at lake norris i nearly beached my jet ski on a spot that out of nowhere was only a foot deep... now that i got the boat i'd hate for something like that to happen. so whatever unit i get either hand held or fixed unit i can calibrate my speed as often as i want and feel comfortable of my surroundings when cruising around to check out the scenery between sets.

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

hey ed who is stacy? do u recall a make or model ?

[mmandley]

hey ed who is stacy? do u recall a make or model ?

Stacy is one of the guys here. Moombadaze i think.

[moombadaze]

Gus, I'm Stacy.

this is the one i use on the boat
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Plus-Personal-Navigator-Channel/dp/B00000J40U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267882706&sr=1-1

Had this for years

[yearround]

I have used a garmin vista c & cx that I have used for several years boating hunting hiking driving etc. Great tracking and adequate maps for the lakes I go to, though most don't need a gps. My brother uses a garmin nuvi that he switches between car and boat etc.

[Sled491]

I have a handheld Garmin Legend C, works great with a ram mount. I agree though if you want to keep it permanent in your boat you need a marine version with a topo view. There are some great units out there by Lowrance and such.

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

thats the thing i don't really know where to begin don't know a whole lot about these units. i don't really need it for my vehicle cause with the farm i'm in so many different vehicles i wouldn't use it and with hunting i know my ground like the back of my hand so it'd just be for the boat i guess. i don't know where to begin looking for something with a topo view. what kinda price range you think sled? i don't fish so i could care less about the fish finder just something that i won't get lost on an unfamiliar lake and to calibrate my speedo and pp. if a hand held will do the trick i'm down with one of those.

[Sled491]

Well a handheld like mine and others listed are reasonable, say around 150.00 - 300.00 depending on what you get. A gps unit from lowrance or someone like that might go 500.00 to 900.00 depending again on features. The advantages of these units is that they have the lakes already loaded and will give you depths for safe boating as well as topo, speed and temp.

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

so with the hand held ones you have get software to put the lakes on it or what exactly is the deal with those?

[ausbill32]

There are several apps for this if you have an iPhone.

-GPS Speed - check
-TomTom - ground navigation - check or you could just use the free google maps version
-Navionics Mobile - marine navigation - check

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

There are several apps for this if you have an iPhone.

-GPS Speed - check
-TomTom - ground navigation - check or you could just use the free google maps version
-Navionics Mobile - marine navigation - check

my job doesn't allow me to have a fancy phone... i get the most durable phone on the market cause it gets beat up. but good to know i think my cousin has one and he is always with me on the lake.

[Sled491]

The Iphone does have some sweet apps.

When I got my GPS for fathers day oh about 100 yrs ago :), they gave me all the maps as well, so I have a lakes and water ways one, a cities and streets one, and a topo one. But bottom line is that most smaller hand held GPS's don't have the capacity to store that much informantion, that's why they sell it on the side, then you can just upload the stuff you need or want, and as your application needs change so can your uploads.