New plotter, make ?

Looking for advice...



I just bought a new pre-owned sailing boat and the GPS is not up to my
standard. I would like to have a plotter at the helm. In my old boat I had a
Garmin gpsmap 162 with bluechart maps but even if i liked the link to the
PC software I'm looking for a plotter slightly better. I was very impressed
by the way the 162 communicated with the PC software (mapsource), but I
found the 162 device to slow and difficult to read in direct sun. And I
don't know if I like that garmin lock in users to use only garmin charts.
Even if prices are ok.

My wishes are:

Fixed system at the helm, colour screen 5-7 inches, connection to my PC at
the chart table so that I can plan and transfer waypoints and routes. I
don't want a 'PC only' solution. I would like a system that can run without
the PC.



What card system is the best choice: Navionics, CMAP, Garmin mapsource or
G2.



And how about the plotter. There's a lot of well known makes, but also less
well
known. What to choose?



Is it OK to lock your self into one product suite and to get better
functionality (and higher prices?) or should you mix the products?

There is many different chart systems out there and even more different
hardware to choose between. I'm confused. Any good advise and/or experience
is appreciated.



Expecting to spend approx 2000 USD but I'm flexible. My instruments and
wheel pilot are autohelm/raymarine.


--
Bjarke M. Christensen
http://www.MAXImalt.dk


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Handheld GPS
    ... I'm off to Turkey on Friday to go racing a charter boat, and I always used to pack my own Portland plotter just in case there wasn't one on the boat. ... One thing that I'm a REAL fan of, is having a proper chart plotter at the helm. ... But once you know where you want to go and what you need to avoid, having your position presented graphically right in front of you is, IMHO, a major benefit, particularly in the dark or when sailing the boat is quite hard enough without having to pop downstairs every few moments. ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)
  • Re: Plotter - Interenal or External Antenna?
    ... They're best kept by the chart table anyway, ... watch) and instruments, radar, plotter need to be on view and ... Sailing friend's boats with setups such as instruments on the ... steering pedestal and radar & plotter down below drives me mad. ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)
  • Re: Raymarine product horrors
    ... Raystar 120 GPS Seatalk ... Raymarine Smart Heading Sensor Seatalk ... We have a full line of chart plugs for the RL70, ... I salvaged a Yeoman portable paper chart plotter ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)
  • Re: Portland Plotter Instructions
    ... To get a compass bearing from the chart, lay the plotter on the chart in the required direction and then rotate the central circle until the graticule align with any convenient lat or long grid line on the chart. ... To plot a line on the chart from a compass bearing, set up the plotter with the compass bearing aligned with the appropriate deviation and then align the graticules with the chart, again heeding north. ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)
  • Re: which gadgets?
    ... being able to view a chart plotter as you ... An alternative is a deck indicating GPS presenting ... Sorry, wot's a 'Blue Chart'? ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)