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West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
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> Does anyone have a Garmin 48 GPS? It has a port to
> connect to the computer, and I was wondering what
> information you can download on it - does it come from
> included software or the internet? Is it worth it?
> Thanks for your help.
I have a garmin GPS II with a port. There's a variety of things you can do
with the data port
* download/save your waypoints, track info, etc
* upload the same
* feed realtime data into other device like autopilots
* feed data into things like moving-map software on a laptop.
I use my port mainly for backing up and saving my waypoints. I've also
traded some waypoint data with other garmin owners this way. I built my
interfact myself and used some shareware programs out there.
I suspect others on the list will feel different, but realtime use of moving
map software is a big pet peeve of mine. The technology is REALLY cool, no
doubt. But I've got at least 3 friends who have themselves set up this way
in boats and in their 4x4s, and in every case, they spend their whole
outdoor experience fighting with the computer, etc. I was a navigator on an
off-road race team last year and one of the guys on our team insisted on
doing his navigation with such a setup, and it drove us all crazy, since the
rest of us were able to navigate much faster without it, while he was
complaining we were going to break his expensive laptop :) So while the
realtime aspect of such a setup is definitely >cool<, its not terribly
practical, especially on a potter, where space is at a premium and you cant
view a laptop screen in the sun anyway. For planning purposes though, such
software is handy since you can upload your maps, point-and-click your
route, and download the resulting waypoint. After your journey, you can
download your track data and see where you went. In a much larger boat,
moving map software would be great, especially the integrated systems that
can combine mapping with navigation and overlay radar data.
I love having a GPS though. I could live without it, but it sure makes some
forms of navigation easier and faster.
The recent discussions are making me think an autopilot might be in my
future. I'm not sure how important it is to have an autopilot that can
interface with the GPS.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jan 31 2000 - 03:27:07 PST