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03-16-2004, 08:47 PM

I think jrc has given a good summary. You might want to search the forum + archives for threads related to GPS. Garmin makes a removable (?street pilot?) plotter but with it's small screen and "poor" Winni chart, it's not the best for the lake navigation. I'd add the same for most plotting handhelds. I get by with a non-plotting handheld, which served its purpose the few times I've used it. Would it be nice to have a graphical depiction of my position wrt the islands and shore, even if it wasn't a good as Bizer's ... yup. Is it worth the extra $$$ to me ... nope (barely). YMMV.

There's one other option though, one I'm looking into mostly because it has high "gadget" quality. Maybe this is useful to you, maybe not. Bizer will sell you an electronic map on a CD which can then be used by a plotting program (OZi Explorer, Fugawi) running on a notebook. Combined with any basic GPS, you get Bizer's great chart + large screen + options not available on a dedicated chart plotter. Given I have the notebook this is just a little extra $$ for me. I think something similar can be done with IPaq's and their ilk.

I would say that navigating around Winni at night is not all that difficult, provided you're adept at doing the same trip during the day. I would not undertake a night trip, using GPS, that I was not familiar with (from daylight trips).

03-16-2004, 08:47 PM	#6
Mee'n'Mac Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Plotters / GPS I think jrc has given a good summary. You might want to search the forum + archives for threads related to GPS. Garmin makes a removable (?street pilot?) plotter but with it's small screen and "poor" Winni chart, it's not the best for the lake navigation. I'd add the same for most plotting handhelds. I get by with a non-plotting handheld, which served its purpose the few times I've used it. Would it be nice to have a graphical depiction of my position wrt the islands and shore, even if it wasn't a good as Bizer's ... yup. Is it worth the extra $$$ to me ... nope (barely). YMMV. There's one other option though, one I'm looking into mostly because it has high "gadget" quality. Maybe this is useful to you, maybe not. Bizer will sell you an electronic map on a CD which can then be used by a plotting program (OZi Explorer, Fugawi) running on a notebook. Combined with any basic GPS, you get Bizer's great chart + large screen + options not available on a dedicated chart plotter. Given I have the notebook this is just a little extra $$ for me. I think something similar can be done with IPaq's and their ilk. I would say that navigating around Winni at night is not all that difficult, provided you're adept at doing the same trip during the day. I would not undertake a night trip, using GPS, that I was not familiar with (from daylight trips).