Marine GPS systems have become most boaters’ best friend. Depending on the reasons you need GPS Navigation, they can make it easy to find your way back to shore in unknown waters, navigate at night, and find large fish or avoid debris. History of Marine GPS: While it wasn’t that long ago that boaters or mariners consulted star charts and latitude/longitude numbers to figure out their way back to land, Marine GPS navigation changed the need for the inaccurate tracking system that some could not figure out. GPS or global positioning systems came into vogue after the launch of satellites that could send a signal of latitude and longitude locations to figure exactly where anything was back on Earth.
This principal has been used in fishing sonars and marine GPS systems, that use anywhere from 12 to 24 satellites to figure out positioning. Why Using Marine GPS Navigation Systems? The answer is simple, it is more accurate, less hassle than previous methods to find out where you are on the open sea or any body of water for that matter. Also, the most important reason is for safety. Not only can it keep you from getting lost, but you can chart ways around tropical storms at sea, or alternate routes, for whatever reason.
The Future of Marine GPS: These GPS systems continue to get more sophisticated, and come in hand-held models, all the way up to marine GPS navigation lap top computers. Depending on the functions you want, you can find a marine GPS that can do whatever you want it to, when it comes to navigation, topography in foreign water bodies, or take it hiking and camping with you, if it is a hand-held portable marine GPS. Some of the larger cruisers and yachts use it to “auto-pilot” a ship, and navigate back to port in the dark of night. Advice On
Buying a Marine GPS: Be sure and research all of the models and functions for the type of Marine GPS navigation you are going to be doing. In other words, certain factors, like whether it will be for river fishing or ocean adventures can determine the model you need and the number of functions. If you are looking for a fish finder, you may not need an expensive Marine GPS system with all kinds of bells and whistles. Commercial fishermen, for example, would need them to not only get them back to shore, avoid the paths of storms, and find fish, but might need alarms for shallow reefs or other alarms where a normal recreational fisherman might not need these features.
Marine GPS navigation systems have gotten to be almost a requirement for all types of water navigation, and finding a marine GPS unit is easy at retailers, but especially online, where the choices are unlimited. As more manufacturers have gotten into the GPS systems, even cell phones are GPS capable now. It’s all a matter of the number of functions you need for what you are going to be doing, when it comes to marine GPS navigation.
By: Alexis Kenne
Posts Tagged ‘Gps Marine’
How To Find The Best Marine GPS For Your Boat
November 21st, 2009
To find the best marine gps, you have to do a lot of comparison shopping and reading about the different brands before making an informed decision. Do some comparison shopping, read the many reviews, and shop around a little bit before making up your mind which is the best marine gps navigational receiver for your needs. A marine gps navigational unit needs to use at least 12 of the 24 satellites calculating your position. All 24 would be the best, of course. And a larger screen for reading and viewing the water below the boat would be ideal. Some of the smaller, handheld or portable marine gps units are not the best because the size takes away from the clarity of the picture. There are several that are up to 7″ with a crystal clear LCD touchscreen so you are able to distinguish a rock from a fish when looking at the water or bottom of the lake or ocean.
Another item to consider when hunting for the best marine gps would be the amount of alarms it has on it. Some have alarms for the clock, off-course, anchor drag, too shallow, too deep, proximity, low battery, arrival, waypoint, water temperature and temperature rate of change and there are others, but the best marine gps would have all the alarms for safety reasons. Along with the alarms, one must consider the nightwatch and sunlight modes many of the best marine gps units use to help with the glare from the sun off the water or to help you find your way back in the darkness of the night.
You will need to decide if you are going to purchase a small, handheld or portable model or a larger, ’stay put’ type model of marine gps unit. The portable marine gps navigational units are smaller and fit in a pocket or a purse. However some of the bigger units can be taken out and used in a vehicle such as an RV or a car, but the portable ones are made for walking, hiking, biking and moving about the city with easy. Both styles of marine gps receivers come with the same amount of software and options, it just depends on which you prefer to have outside of the boat.
Do you want to be entertained? Some of the marine gps navigational units come with an audio voice player to play books on tape, others, you have to purchase a subscription to something like XM radio or a weather channel, which is not a bad idea since the weather changes rapidly and you want to be on top of things when the weather starts to change.
Above all, make sure the best marine gps unit has enough software to accommodate all you want to do while out in the boat, such as find fish or avoid large chucks of debris. These things can be done and avoided by the type of software available to download or that has already been downloaded into the marine gps unit. Do you have to purchase more antennas? Or extra cords for your computer to be compatible? These are questions you need to ask yourself and the salesperson behind the counter or on the other end of the website.
By: Charlie Lee
