What kind of detail do GPS devices give at sea? i want one for local harbour/beach sailing?

Question

I suppose it depends on the quality of the device but what kind of information would one give contained on a mobile phone like the NOKIA N95? thanks alot.

Answer 1

The sort of gps you can buy in the high street will show large blank areas when off road/at sea. You should be able to see the Lat/Long position, and possibly a leader line showing direction to the nearest road. There are specialist units that will allow you to import marine charts, but think big bucks

Answer 2

As a former marine electronics tech, and a boater, I always cringe a bit when people ask about cell phones and boats. They are just not reliable enough once you leave shore to be dependable, and they really aren't built to withstand the harsh environment of sea air.

I suppose that as long as that model phone will function without a cell signal, the GPS portion will only be able to give you your latitude and longitude - not much good without charts. It doesn't appear to be programmed with any marine use involved, so on the map portion you'll probably just get a dot on a blank background.

As far as what detail a GPS unit will give you at sea, it depends on what model you get. There are both hand-held and fixed mount units, and you have options with both. You can just get a unit that gives lat/long, units that will give you a map plot on b/w charts, full color units that have preloaded nautical charts and memory cards, and units that can also be expanded into a radar unit as well.

If you are looking for a unit, I would recommend a fixed mount unit from either Lowrance or Raymarine. You can get a Lowrance chartplotter for around $400-500. Raymarine units will set you back at least double, if not triple, but are great units and are easily integrated with other instruments, and expandable, if you decide you ever want to add on to the system.

Answer 3

A basic GPS will give you speed and heading, time of day, and your position in longitude and latitude. Most can be programmed to store "waypoints," which are fixed points, and "courses," which are a series of waypoints. Used in this way, the GPS can help you steer a pre-programmed trip. More advanced GPS have built in charts, and can link up to autopilots and other electronics. One caution: Never rely exclusively on electronics. Always have paper charts of the areas you are boating and the knowledge of how to use them. Also a good functioning magnetic compass.

Answer 4

If your only sailing locally you would be better off using Paper charts and really familiarizing yourself with the local coastline.

The cost of a good GPS plotter rather than just a hand held would be about £400+

Answer 5

if your not concernd about under water obstuctions use a hand held GPS cost less than a £100 make sure its for marine

Answer 6

The gps will only tell north south east west and the bits in between.

Answer 7

You need this http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/c-handheld-apl.html