Choosing a GPS help.

[Kracker Jack]

from what i ve read so far small devices wont work out of cell service because we depend on cellservice to provide location on the device but other larger devices have built in gps recievers so REEL you might get"REEL" lucky and your ipad tablet may have a reciver built in!!!

[RWilson2526]

As long as we are on the subject of the wonders of smart phones has anyone used the traffic layer on google maps??.....if you are using google maps for navigation you can turn on a traffic layer.....i always thought it was based upon current reports or what have you which i assumed would be terribley inaccurate.....On our last trip to NC during the summer we turned it on and could see every slow down on I-95 as we traveled ....It was UNBIELAVABLY accurate.....I did a search on how it was done and apparently everyone on the highway at the time using google maps is sending their location and speed back to google....they take that information to show graphically where the slow downs are..... it didnt help you go any faster but it was nice to know things were going to speed up around the next bend.

[Kracker Jack]

Originally Posted by RWilson2526

As long as we are on the subject of the wonders of smart phones has anyone used the traffic layer on google maps??.....if you are using google maps for navigation you can turn on a traffic layer.....i always thought it was based upon current reports or what have you which i assumed would be terribley inaccurate.....On our last trip to NC during the summer we turned it on and could see every slow down on I-95 as we traveled ....It was UNBIELAVABLY accurate.....I did a search on how it was done and apparently everyone on the highway at the time using google maps is sending their location and speed back to google....they take that information to show graphically where the slow downs are..... it didnt help you go any faster but it was nice to know things were going to speed up around the next bend.

I sent a pm to Mj for that unit I wanted to research a little more before I commited to buying it Im waiting to hear back from him. That standard horizon seems like a nice unit.


I use my google nav. on my EVO all the time. and yes it is amazing how accurate they are. My footprints app. shows what room im in in a building!!!

[randlemanboater]

My 2 girls got Toshiba Thrive tablets for Christmas, I refuse to get phone service on them. When they are in a wifi area, the GPS will show where you are on a google map, when out of wifi the GPS still works, but it just shows you as a dot on a blank screen.

Maybe you have to buy/download maps to the tablet?

[Jetty Rocker]

I've got the Garmin 540s which has been replaced by the 541s. It's a good basic unit that has easy navigate through the pages and screens. I think they retail for @ $700-$750 with a transom mount transducer. I did just see a demo at the Grand Strand Boat Show on the Lowrance HD models with the structure scan and it was pretty amazing but it was a bit pricey. I think Lowrance, Northstar and another brand are all under one company.

[smokeonthewater]

I don't know about northstar but lowrance and eagle are the same company, LEI.

[macojoe]

February 24, 2012

Dear BoatU.S. Member:

Last summer boaters sent a clear message to the Federal Communications Commission – “Don’t Mess with GPS!" As you may remember, a private company, LightSquared, received preliminary FCC approval to offer a new cellular broadband service. Tests showed this service could significantly interfere with GPS signals.

Thanks to over 18,000 boaters who submitted comments, along with many other GPS users, the FCC required additional testing in the fall. (Thank you all for your help!) Last week, these tests revealed that the LightSquared’s network would interfere with GPS and that there are no practical fixes. As a result, the FCC has proposed to withdraw LightSquared's approval.(http://www.gps.gov/news/2012/02/lightsquared/)

The FCC has a new comment period (open to March 1) asking for the public’s opinion. Even if you wrote last summer, please take a few minutes now and write the FCC asking them to protect the GPS signal by saying “No” to LightSquared’s current proposal. Given this company’s tenacity over the last year, we want to make sure that boaters’ needs are remembered as the FCC makes their final decision.

Important points to make:

How do you use GPS in your life – on the water, on land, or in the air?
What would happen to your business/personal life if GPS became unavailable or unreliable?
Wireless broadband service is important, but it should not come at the expense of GPS.
All the studies show that LightSquared’s proposed network would cause interference and that there are no remedies.
Tell FCC that you rely on them to protect the integrity of the GPS signal and that you support their recommendation to stop LightSquared’s current proposal

You can submit comments directly to the FCC through their online comment form. (We regret we can’t streamline this process for you, but it is important enough we’re still asking for your help.) Here’s how:

Click on this link for the FCC’s Electronic Comments Filing System (ECFS): http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/hotdocket/list
Select “Proceeding Number 11-109.” It should be near the top of the list.
In the designated boxes, enter your name and mailing address.
In the box that says “Type in or paste your brief comments,” do so. Click “Continue”.
A review page will load listing all of the information entered. If correct, click “Confirm.”
If you have any trouble, you may contact the FCC ECFS Helpdesk at 202-418-0193 or email at [email protected]

Thank you for taking action to protect the integrity of the GPS system.

[randlemanboater]

Thanks for posting that MJ.

I made a comment.

[Kracker Jack]

The navionics app. Saved the day today!!!!!!! Went wreck fishing on the Gulf Hustler wreck today she's a 80 ft trawler in 71 ft of water that sit exactly 21 miles out of rudee inlet. My buddies numbers on his gps wasn't working out and I had left my handheld at home. We marked the bottom for about 30 minutes and I then talked him into understanding that his numbers were a joke. So I then broke out my cell phone and turned the app. on. It put us right on the wreck the wreck icon on my navionics chart had been updated in the past 2 months. It saved the trip and put us literally right on top of it. We caught limit sea bass and spade fish!!!

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Kracker Jack

from what i ve read so far small devices wont work out of cell service because we depend on cellservice to provide location on the device but other larger devices have built in gps recievers so REEL you might get"REEL" lucky and your ipad tablet may have a reciver built in!!!

Mine's an IPHONE w/a Navionics download...we were WAY up the Tugaloo River yesterday and that's about as hillbilly country as it sounds!!...lol!!...it was showin' the chart and icon following the river along w/lat/long changes as running just like I was uptown or something...showing SOG matching the boat's GPS exactly the whole time...I'll let ya know if I find out different, but I no think this thing requires cell sig for GPS function...will find out fo sho next time offshore...