navagation equipment

[boatguy123@aol.com]

i just bought a hat lrc & i want to upgrade the electronics. has anybody got any suggestions, or reasons why i should't go with nobeltec vs garmrin or ray marine ???

[GJH]

User interface, reliability and screen brightness to name a few. Care to be a little more specific as to how you will use it and where on the boat? Any particular reason for the specific brands named?

[ThirdHatt]

i just bought a hat lrc & i want to upgrade the electronics. has anybody got any suggestions, or reasons why i should't go with nobeltec vs garmrin or ray marine ???

Nobeltec Admiral is an excellent program, but how would you plan to use it? Some folks just run it on a laptop but the preferred setup is to have a dedicated (preferably Marine-grade) computer system for reliability. Also, there is a big difference in cost for regular monitors vs "Marine" grade monitors. Most of the big boats run a Glass Bridge System, with Nobeltec on a Marine PC and several either sunlight (flybridge) or daylight (lower helm) viewable monitors.

For all-in-one systems, or MFD's (Multi-Function Devices) I strongly prefer Garmin. They are quite user-friendly, great customer support, fair pricing and they are very reliable.

These are two excellent and arguably the best options for navigation, with advantages and disadvantages to both.

[habanero]

I just bought Garmin touchscreen chartplotter for my 55C. I just love it!! Bright screen,easy to use,has all the top features. I got it new on ebay, saved almost $500 dollars. It has full warranty and came sealed in a new box. The install was very easy.

Mike
"Habanero"55C

[Pascal]

I ll second Garmins although the new Raymarime systems are pretty nice and pretty user friendly. On a boat that size I feel that plotters/displays should be your primary system with a laptop as a back up, no need for expensive software though as free/open source stuff works great

you didn't give any info on how you plan to use the boat: short local trips in filiar waters, longer runs in fog and unfamiliar waters, in the us, Bahamas, inland, icw??? How you will use the boat is the most critical element in the decision process. Even the location will have an impact for instance up north you are more likely to need gear at the lower helm

[OBXTucker]

Welcome to te LRC club! Which one did you buy? I'm assuming since you have a '79 58' LRC, you have the sister ship to mine. Maybe one or two ahead of or behind coming out of the mold. Great boats!!

I run Nobeltec PC based and a Northstar plotter and Interphase forward sonar. I'm also getting ready to install a Garmin 3212 as a backup on the flybridge, along with their XM radio / weather modules.

[TopHattandTails]

I just went through this analysis. If you navigate via radar - go with the industry standard - Furuno. If you like GPS navigation - go with Garmin. If you want a deal -wait for a boat show then ask your favorite shop to price match. Went with a Garmin suite with NMEA 2000 interfaces. Haven't run it yet, but looking forward to it.

[stormchaser]

I highly recommend a ruggedized mil-spec laptop like the Panasonic Toughbooks along with a good charting software and a hockey-puck style USB GPS reciever...specifically the Toughbok 30: http://www.panasonic.com/business/To...oducts.asp#/30 or the Toughbook "H1 Field": http://www.panasonic.com/business/To....asp#/H1-Field

If you dont need super high end specs, there are LOTS of other older milspec rugedized laptops you can find used on eBay for under $500. The Toughbook CF 29 would be a great choice. Very rugged. But it is NOT waterPROOF. It's is a ruggedized computer with case that can withstand a marine environment and occasional light spray, but not for use in conditions where it will be soaked. The screen will be plenty bright for outdoors use. They all came with Windows XP. Try to find one of the ones with the optional 80gig hard drive and 512megs of RAM. If it doesn't have the 512megs of RAM, it is everyday DDR2 RAM...commonly available and inexpensive. One really nice thing about it is you can put 2 batteries in at once, giving you 8-12 hours on batteries alone.

[Tim Powell]

I just bought Garmin touchscreen chartplotter for my 55C. I just love it!! Bright screen,easy to use,has all the top features. I got it new on ebay, saved almost $500 dollars. It has full warranty and came sealed in a new box. The install was very easy.

Mike
"Habanero"55C

MIKE GOT TO AGREE I HAVE 3 TOUCH SCREEMS ON 45C GARMAN 2 ON THE BRIDGE AND ONE IN THE COCKPIT. THEY DO SO MUCH 1 UNITS WILL REPLACE 2 TO 4 SO MUCH BUILT IN TIGHT LINES TIM

[REBrueckner]

Are you going to sit at the dock and live aboard...then you don't need any new navigation software...or cruising locally, coastal, worldwide????

One big decision is system set up....combined integrated network functions or mostly standalone,,backup???

Garmin uses all proprietary software..if you like it good, if not, you have little choice.
So many choices these days....computer has a moving mechanical mechanism, the hard drive...do you trust them?? dedicated marine systems avoid that....do you care?? Concern about lightning strikes?? Display space and weather protection?? multiple station appeareances??? Do you want to monitor from your bunk while others navigate???

no one answer fits all....