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Wanted to buy GPS/USB thingy


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After using one on a passage recently, along with the free software OpenCPN, I'm keen to get one myself.

(OpenCPN Link here: http://opencpn.org/ocpn/ )

 

Without knowing a great deal, I think I will buy this: http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=HHAGST0353&name=GlobalSat-BU353-USB-GPS-receiver-BY-G.Sat-SiRF-Sta

 

Keep us in the loop wrt/ what you end up getting.

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If you have a handheld GPS with a usb port, more than likely that you can use that ( and the laptop will provide power to the handheld whilst its on too ).

 

I use a Garmin GPSmap 62csx - which is my emergency gps. Waterproof, blady blady blah..

 

If you don't have a handheld, the cheap dongle types work great, but often its best to put them on the end of a USB cable - get them away from the laptop.

 

Never seen one not work through wood or glass. Not so sure about steel though!

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We have a Garmin 60cx that has taken us around the pacific, we used it down below with the GPS puck held magnetically on a small steel plate just inside the Nav bubble (french alloy boat) worked great. The Garmin unit is far superior to the Lowrance H2oc and H2o that we had as back up.

We also used a note book with its own puck, but had trouble with crazy mouse and one Nav program (NZ charts inc Tonga) grabbing the GPS signal and not allowing the another program (CM93 on open CPN) access to it.

Back to the wonderful Garmin.

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Garmin Map76 something or other handheld, a real oldie now but I notice has only just been withdrawn from the product line up. It's taken me, as naviguesser, across the Tassie 6 maybe 7 times, the Islands and back a few times. Also used 3 times when the 'state of the art fancy schmasy' new integrated low fat low GI Index Nav systems have proven to be serioulsy fragile and stopped working for sweet feck all reason. Go the old simple unit.

 

Last nite the new fancy la-de-da headsail system had a oppsy and cost us a fair bit. Old school hanks wouldn't have.

 

Rambler has fancy AIS tracking and PLB's yet no one saw or realised the boat was in distress for many hours. They would have been seen after 15-20mins odd if they had just one simple old school flare.

 

At times old school and simple is by far the more superior option. Just an observation.

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.....about $40 on ebay !!

My unit startsup way faster than my full marine gps. .....and thats INSIDE a steel boat !

Most of them are made in the same factory but have differant stickers on them.

They are fantastic when used with Open cpn.

PS..check the latest version of CPN and your laptop operating system.....I have been told that some features dont like XP.

I run a slightly older version on XP and its bomb proof.

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The one I used recently was inside an aluminum boat, and worked fine (after some teething issues).

The owner was running XP and I was running win7 on my windows tablet... Once I installed the right drivers, bob was my uncle. We also used a USB extension lead, which made the whole thing a lot more versatile.

I wonder if the free NZ charts & free chart software they are giving away is OpenCPN anyway.

 

Personally, I'd probably pay the few extra dollars and get the unit from PBTech with a warranty etc...

Its only one rum... speaking of which, time to pour me some Zacapa.

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