gps signal
 

What's up everyone.I have a nuvi gps that I bought for my boat and I was wondering if I could use this on my boat up to maybe 15 miles offshore,would I get a signal or not cause marine gps has external antenna I do use it for hunting in the offroad and pedestrian mode and it works fine.Can anyone help

In one word....ABSOLUTELY. The signal to your GPS comes from satellites hovering around the earth up in space.

The last couple of gps I have had all have had internal antenna's, and they have always worked.

My Garmin Marine unit has internal antenna and as Cam said since it's based on satellites, it should technically work anywhere on earth that it can see the satellites. I believe it needs 3 to pinpoint your location.

Not familiar with the nuvi, but i would think the main limitation between this and a marine unit is the maps they have. So basically the amount of info you will have about the waters such as markers, channels, depth...

gps signal
 

Now that you say that I wonder if I can download the maps onto this unit

I have one and they show nothing but land and roads, you will see nothing but a big blue area for water.

gps signal
 

yeah but i can put in my lat-lon,and save it it will take me there correct?

If your model allows input of long/lat then you can us it that way but you won't be able to easily mark a fishing area or structure as you pass over it. You would have to stop over it and get the Long/Lat numbers and input them that way.

I think for me doing it the way you described by input would be to aggravating. There are new and used ones out there for little of no $.

That's just my way of thinking for me.

Having gone through the days of LoranC and a paper fishfinder I can say without any reservations....Buy a combo Fishfinder/gps that is made to do what you need it to do. You will wonder how anyone ever fished without one.

I completely agree with everything that's been said about getting a marine unit... however, if the budget doesn't allow that right now, all you have to do is set your Garmin's "home" destination to your launch point.
I have a Garmin C330 that I used in my car for a number of years... but I also used to use it as my "close offshore" GPS until I got my M56 marine unit GPS/Fishfinder. Like MC says, far offshore all it will show is a big blue screen, but once you get close to land it starts to show details again, and most important, when you tell it to go "home" it points you in the generally right direction. Get a Marine uinit and you'll be happy you did. Just don't forget that even the best GPS can fail. ALWAYS have a reliable compass on your boat even if you have a GPS. :head: