Chart Plotters advice

[SteveA]

Hey All,

I'm thinking about getting a chart plotter.. (chartplotter?) .

Looks like the Garmen brand is popular.. but Bizer's site says their C-Maps for Winni can't be loaded.

Anyone know anything about the new Cobra MC600CI... it's reasonably priced.. but I know nothing about these things.

http://www.cobra.com/index.php?page=shop/flypage&product_id=440&id=1

I've seen it online for $544 plus shipping on several sites.

My reason for looking at them is nighttime navigation.

Any help appreciated.

Thx SteveA

[codeman671]

There should be many threads about this. I suggest the Standard Horizon CP-155C or 175C depending on the amount of dash space you have. They use CMAP so you can use the Bizer chip. I swear by mine!

[SteveA]

Codeman,

I did see a post from March of 04... The Cobra is fairly new product so I didn't see any info on it on that post.

I will check out the Horizon.

SteveA

[Dave R]

+1 on the Standard Horizon recommendation. Love mine. Probably the best thing I ever added to the boat.

[SteveA]

DaveR

Found this on e-bay... looks like the only advantage the Cobra may have is the fact it plugs into the lighter... I think it looks like the Standard Horizon is hard wired... making it less portable..

But the price is better on the Standard Horizon..

I'll also go down and measure the space on the dash..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&item=290019583930&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

[DRH]

Found this on e-bay... looks like the only advantage the Cobra may have is the fact it plugs into the lighter... I think it looks like the Standard Horizon is hard wired... making it less portable.. We have a Standard Horizon C155 and like it very much. Soldering a cigarette lighter plug onto the power cable would be very easy, making the unit more portable. Most electronic supply stores (e.g. Radio Shack) stock the plug.

The other issue regarding portability is the Standard Horizon's remote antenna, which is round ... about 3" in diameter and about 1" thick. It doesn't actually have to be mounted on the boat ... as long as it can "see" the satellites it will work fine. It could be mounted on something like a small, inverted plastic bucket that could sit on a seat in the boat or on the floor if you really need portability.

[Lakegeezer]

The Standard Horizon C150 (B&W) is probably the best solution for Lake Winnipesaukee, but it leaves much to be desired. I "graduated" three years ago from a Garmin with lots of waypoints, and no map. Yet, I miss it.

Several problems with the C150 (with Bizer's C-map)
1) The mouse/joystick is too sensitive, especially when underway. Its difficult to pan to other locations on the lake or use the menus.
2) Its difficult to quickly set a waypoint to a marker on the map and plot a course. Just too many steps. See point 1.
3) The Bizer C-map doesn't display any markers once you zoom out to a certain scale - way too soon for my use. You can still see the islands, but don't see any markers to use for navigation. I'd like to see the markers for at least two or three more zoom-out steps. Zoomed-in the whole way, the unit is very good, as long as you are not going too fast.

The best feature for me is the 2-minute line. The map shows your current position, and an arrow that points in the direction you are going. The end of the arrow indicates where you will be in 2 minutes. Great for estimating if you are going to miss a marker or not, or planning for a turn.

So - user interface is complex to use and the map is not quite optimized for the unit.


All that said - nobody has come up with a better solution that I am aware of -other than using a PC with a GPS plug-in. The Bizer map is very accurate.

One thing I haven't tried with the C150 is to add the marker waypoints manually. In a perfect world, there would be an easy button to use the map at strongly zoomed views, and then enable the manual waypoints at a wider zoom. You don't need both Bizer's marks and a duplicate set of your own waypoints showing at the same time.

[Silver Duck]

Steve

Over the last few years, I've tried both Magellan and Garmin chartplotters; I now have a Standard Horizon CP175C with the Bizer C-Map chip.

Bluntly, it's the chart sortware which makes all the diference, and there is nothing out there that is even close to the Bizer/C-Map cartography. I tried very hard to find something comparable that would let me use my other chartplotters, and couldn't!

There are chartplotters from several manufacturers which accept C-Map chips (for instance, NavMan is an alternative to S-H), but I would highly recommend sticking with something that will accept the Bizer / C-Map chip!

Silver Duck

[SAUGUS BOATER]

Steve,

I bought a Furuno gp 1650 wf/nt ($1,350 +/-)at the beginning of the season. It was alittle pricey, but i've been using it all season on Lake Winni (Bizer Chart) and on the ocean, and it's proven itself worth every penny. Nightime navigation is a breeze. The first couple of weeks I used the plotter and had the charts right in front of me all the time to "double check", but now i never look at the paper charts at all. Also, the built in fishfinder gives a nice bottom profile while you're out there muckholing. Good luck with your decision.

Saugus Boater

[Airwaves]

I am headed north next week to burn some gas. Long story, but bottom line is that a friend of mine and I (decades of boating on Winni) are headed out.

We are probably going to be out beyond dark!

So, my question is given the chatter re: AToNs not visible during the day, what lighted bouys are no longer visible at night?

I'd rather not find myself on Eagle Island :laugh:

[Silver Duck]

As of last Saturday night, all of the lighted bouys in that area were working fine!

Silver Duck

[Bizer]

Anyone know anything about the new Cobra MC600CI... it's reasonably priced.. but I know nothing about these things.

I've never seen one of these, but ... I received an email from someone last month who insists that this unit can operate on batteries. ... (rest of Bizer's text omitted)


Modified @ 10:09 EDT: That user now admits that he was mistaken and the unit does not take batteries. I'm sorry if I elevated anyone's hopes about a portable GPS with Bizer data.

[Dave R]

The Standard Horizon C150 (B&W) is probably the best solution for Lake Winnipesaukee, but it leaves much to be desired. I "graduated" three years ago from a Garmin with lots of waypoints, and no map. Yet, I miss it.

Several problems with the C150 (with Bizer's C-map)
1) The mouse/joystick is too sensitive, especially when underway. Its difficult to pan to other locations on the lake or use the menus.
2) Its difficult to quickly set a waypoint to a marker on the map and plot a course. Just too many steps. See point 1.
3) The Bizer C-map doesn't display any markers once you zoom out to a certain scale - way too soon for my use. You can still see the islands, but don't see any markers to use for navigation. I'd like to see the markers for at least two or three more zoom-out steps. Zoomed-in the whole way, the unit is very good, as long as you are not going too fast.

The best feature for me is the 2-minute line. The map shows your current position, and an arrow that points in the direction you are going. The end of the arrow indicates where you will be in 2 minutes. Great for estimating if you are going to miss a marker or not, or planning for a turn.

So - user interface is complex to use and the map is not quite optimized for the unit.


All that said - nobody has come up with a better solution that I am aware of -other than using a PC with a GPS plug-in. The Bizer map is very accurate.

One thing I haven't tried with the C150 is to add the marker waypoints manually. In a perfect world, there would be an easy button to use the map at strongly zoomed views, and then enable the manual waypoints at a wider zoom. You don't need both Bizer's marks and a duplicate set of your own waypoints showing at the same time.

I don't have my CP155C in front of me right now but I am 99% sure you can adjust the joystick sensitivity on it.

I can easily plot a route on mine by moving the cursor to a spot on the chart and pressing the "route" button. The next time I move the cursor, it assumes I wish to go from the last place I pressed the route button to whereever the cursor is. Alternatively, I can move the cursor to my final destination and press the goto button to get a bearing to the spot. Maybe they made the 155 easier to use.

[ThePlut]

I have a Navman 5500i (comparable to the Standard 155c) and love it. The GPS antenna is internal, which means that there is no more to intalling it than the mount and the wiring. In fact, for the first month I had it, I just connected the wires to a cigarette lighter plug from Rat Shack, making it completely portable other than the mounting itself. At the time, it was substantially less expensive than the SH thanks to aggressive rebates and online resellers. I'm not sure if that is still the case.

It takes the C-map chip and has made navigating the lake a breeze.

I think 5505i is the current model with the capability to do SuperMegaUltraWide or whatever the latest standard is, and the 5500 is not upgradeable.

I moved it from my previous boat to my new one, only leaving the mounting holes in the dash on the old one.

[Dave R]

I have a Navman 5500i (comparable to the Standard 155c) and love it. The GPS antenna is internal, which means that there is no more to intalling it than the mount and the wiring. In fact, for the first month I had it, I just connected the wires to a cigarette lighter plug from Rat Shack, making it completely portable other than the mounting itself. At the time, it was substantially less expensive than the SH thanks to aggressive rebates and online resellers. I'm not sure if that is still the case.

It takes the C-map chip and has made navigating the lake a breeze.

I think 5505i is the current model with the capability to do SuperMegaUltraWide or whatever the latest standard is, and the 5500 is not upgradeable.

I moved it from my previous boat to my new one, only leaving the mounting holes in the dash on the old one.

Brings up a good point; what's C-Map gonna do when it comes time to upgrade from "MAX mega wide"? What can be bigger than MAX? Maybe "MAX giga wide" or "MAX tera wide" Or "MAX mega wide squared"

[jrc]

Max wicked wide

[SteveA]

Mega super dupper wide... whatever,

Thx ThePlute

I'll check that out.... I'm still looking hard at the Cobra, that comes with the cig plug.... seems to have lot's of other good features

SteveA

[ThePlut]

MAX "Big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts." Wide

[jrc]

MAX "Big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts." Wide

Wow if it's that big they'll only need 42 of them to cover Life, the Universe, and Everything.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Wow if it's that big they'll only need 42 of them to cover Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Oh oh here's comes the (wide) freeway ;)

[Dave R]

Good stuff!