Need Handheld GPS with C map compatibility
 

having just purchased a new old boat (century coronado) and not wanting to put holes in the dash I was thinking a handheld gps with the C map compatibility would get me home. Does anyone out there navigate in this manner? I have a Standard Horizon 155 with the Winni chip in the old boat and loved it. Could anyone point me in the right direction with regards to this. incidently...the A 10s from a few weeks ago were visiting our neighbors who were friends with the lead pilot. They were doing an air show at Westover MA and were in Northern NH "in a holding pattern" until it was there turn to put on a show..THE FLY BY WAS AWESOME!

I don't know of any handheld devices that take C-map. I think your best bet would be to engineer a base for a chartplotter mount that clamps in place without drilling any holes. Drill the holes in the removable base, rather than the boat.

I've used HDPE (1/2" thick, white, solid plastic) cutting boards to make things like this. It's a great material to work with; it's readily available at grocery stores, completely weather proof, machines easily with woodworking or metal working tools, is cheap, and looks nice.

If you want some help with the design and fabrication, lemme know.

Lakers...

Look at the Garmin Nuvi 500... I have one and it rocks! It's inexpensive ($250) waterproof, has a suction cup mount, works in your car or your boat and has a great map of Winni you can download for $10 from the Garmin website......

I also have a Standard Horizon CP-160.... I use the GPS side by side. The Garmin Map seems just as accurate as the C-map chip in my CP-160.


Woodsy

Handheld
 

I use a Garmin HCX handheld with the map from Bizer and love it

I'm with Woodsy
 

The Garmin Nuvi 500 works great. For $10 the Winni map is extremly accurate. I've only found one marker missing on the map. All others have been perfect. Its bright enough to use in sunlight and its not too bright in night mode.

I use the Garmin Nuvi 500 but I prefer the Bizer map over the Garmin map. I find the Bizer chart easier to navigate with.

I have the Nuvi, had to send it to Bizer to get the map loaded properly which was fine, but the map does not move with the boat, I have to drag the map to keep the boat in the screen, not sure whats going on, also Bizer charged $110, not $10 as some stated, maybe prices increased? The fees are on their website and cut and pasted below.

This product was developed because of the demand for Lake Winnipesaukee for Garmin chartplotters. Boaters have been requesting this for years.

Version W2 is available in four different formats.

It is available for download to your Garmin. Version W2 is $110. Your Garmin must have memory or a Garmin DataCard, an SD card, or a MicroSD chip to receive the data.
If your Garmin uses a Garmin DataCard and you do not have a blank DataCard, we have version W2 pre-loaded onto a Garmin DataCards for $148.
If your Garmin uses an SD cards or MicroSD card and you do not have a blank SD/MicroSD card, we have version W2 pre-loaded onto a SD/MicroSD card with Version W2 for $124.
If your Garmin uses an SD chip for use with BlueChart_G2 we have a BlueChart_G2 SD/MicroSD chip pre-loaded with version W2 for $124.

You can download the Lake Winni Map from Garmin here.... its only $9.99

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?...=36400&ra=true

Its not the Bizer Map.... but then again its only $10..... and it works flawlessly with the Nuvi 500... you def dont have to scroll the screen!


Woodsy

PS: I have a Bizer chart on the boat at all times!

Thanks Woodsy I will give it a try!

great news on the garmin
 

thanks!!..we have a garmin nuvi 750 in the car!!...and via the garmin web site it is compatible!!..wow..thats awesome...$10 for the chip and missing one marker..no problem..thanks again!!...a $10 chip??..still can't believe it...

The Garmin Lake map chip is awesome and for $10.00 it can't be beat, but please be aware there are a couple markers that are wrong. I found another this weekend at the mouth of fish cove that showed up as black on the GPS but was red.

Always confirm with your nav map when venturing in uncertain or unknown waters.

Dan

Markers?
 

I downloaded the $10 map to my Nuvi 255. There were no markers. Just the map of the lake and depth. Am I doing something wrong?

BH, check to see if there's a setting for how much info is shown on the screen. I can select more or less info on my 500 and I think I can tune the markers out by selecting less.

Make sure your GPS is in "boating" mode not automobile mode.

Dan

I second the Garmin 500. Very simple interface and waterproof to boot. I found one on the web for ~$180 and the Winni map is fine.

I agree with Townsde. I use the Bizer map for my Garmin nuvi 500. It gives you recommended naviation routes, taking away the guess work whenever I get to an unfamilar buoy. I haven't seen any other software map that has that feature.

The Garmin lake program has navigation lanes and from what I've seen they're pretty accurate. Navigation lanes are black in night mode and white in day mode. Depth contour lines are in blue which can make for a busy map.

I'm growing very fond of handheld GPS products from Delorme, a company from Maine. They now let you load NOAA maps, satellite, USGS, street, topo, and aerial photography. The accompanying software is pretty sweet too. You can customize the maps and routes. Print your own maps. You get unlimited map imagery downloads for $30/yr extra.

One version of their handheld gps has a SPOT satellite communicator for emergency messages.

They're well worth checking out.
http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi...?section=10460

(I don't work for them but have been using their software for many years.)

Mobile mount
 

Staples sells a "sandbag mount" for their Nuvi line that has a mounting arm attached to the weighted base that goes into the back of the Nuvi. It has a rubber bottom for non-slidding. I have one that I use in my cars...easily portable. They also sell Brackston (sp) who also has a generic sandbag mount which features a smooth round center to which you can attach your GPS mount to, and also has a rubber bottom for non slidding. You may be able to adapt this mount to your SH 155 if your Coronado dash is relative flat. The base is about 5 or 6 inches square. They both retail for about $35-40. Check it out.

Do you know if there is any way to change the color of the Nav line?? The white during the day is very hard to see...

Thanks!

Dan

Ram mounts
 

I have mounts made by Ram for a couple of gps units. They are much more sturdy than the one that comes with the unit. They're modular so you can mix and match the cradle with the mount. They make mounts for all kinds of other devices including fish finders, ipods, and laptops. The cradle for my Nuvi 500 was too sturdy and I had to trim off some of it to fit around the power cord. I couldn't remove the gps from the cradlewith the cord attached.

I agree about white being hard to see. About the only time I think about the lines is at night when I'm trying to to navigate in the dark. The black works ok depending on the intensity setting. I checked the menu settings and I coudn't find a way to change the color. The 500 lacks a lot a features that other dedicated units have and so far that hasn't been a problem for me. It is a compromise unit where you save money by not buying a separate unit for car and boat.

we are new to winni and to power boating here. my husband sails out of long island sound, so he is familiar w/ marine GPS's. we both downloaded navionics to our droids for 9.99. winni is on there, and we can get around.

as for mounting, we have a strip of velcro on the back of the phone case, and the opposite strip anywhere we need to mount the droid. i have one in my minivan on the dash so i can talk hands free, one in the boat, and one in a cabinet in my kitchen so i can read recipes while i'm cooking.

i honestly can't say the map is detailed or has every marker. we are still staying very close to home, so i haven't really noticed yet :-)

Good luck with your new boat
 

Hi,
Good luck with your Century Coronado. How do you like it? There are a bunch of us that get together for a cruise in the summer. We have done it 2 years in a row. This year we had 13 boats. We plan to cruise again next year. It lasts about an hour out of Wolfeboro Bay. What year is your boat? Are you in the Wolfeboro area at all?
Joe
BTW, I downloaded the Winnipesaukee map from the Garmin site and it works well in a Nuvi 660.

Garmin NUVI 255 with Garmin Winni map.
 

After downloading the Winni map and a boat avatar as well as a tow truck avatar, I learn a few things.

1. Turn the city navigator off.
2. Change from 3D setting to 'Track up'.
3. Change the detail mode to the highest setting. (Thanks Rick35)
4. Change auto mode to boat mode. (I don't have boat but changed to Bike).
5. I change the light display to 50%.
6. Change the vehicle to boat (Optional).

It seems to be working well. There is a factory reset button to change everything to the way it was. I wish there was a 'Winni' reset mode. It's a pain switching back and forth.

I 2nd that Broadhopper...I was getting no Winni data till I called Garmin tech support. He had me go into the tools..map data and turn off the city navigator and all was well. JETMAN..i did join the century cruise as it was leaving the Wolfeboro docks and was obviously last in line..my boat is '85 and navy blue..where were u in that parade?..also any thoughts on the best place(web or otherwise) to get information/parts for these boats?