GPSMAP 60C + Itronix IX260

[mr curious]

i already have the hand held gps, so rather than purchasing a chart plotter, why not buy an ebay rugged itronix waterproof laptop and transfer data to the hand held from the laptop.

anyone doing similar with there navigation setup what was your experience with this type of set up

cheers

[bobg3723]

My setup is similar in application, but using a PDA formfactor instead:

HP IPAQ with Bluetooth.
Bluetooth enabled GPS reciever, velcroe'd to the instrument dashboard.
RAM sealed enclosure for mounting the IPAQ
OziExplorer moving map software.
Cigarette lighter pluggable power adapters for both.

In your preferred setup, you can mount the laptop on one of the RAM product mounting accessories. My only concern for any electronic display (including greyscale units) are how badly sunlight washes out the LCD graphics. You won't really know how badly until you get one outside in the bright direct daylight, and this has been what I've encountered.

I've always been concerned with data connection cables and what effect water may endanger the electrical circuitry of both the GPS reciever and laptop, so I went the wireless route. The rechargable Bluetooth GPS reciever "brick" with charger, including shipping, cost me less than $50. You may be able to get this in your neck of the woods, but if you're laptop lacks Bluetooth, a transmitter/recievers that sits completely contained within the USB port and can't be knock off would work. They're available at Best Buy for under $50. Powering off a cigarette lighter is the best option, otherwise bring extra battery packs. My fully charged GPS brick has lasted me over six hours, but I leave it plugged into the cigarette lighter for uninterrupted use.

I don't know how well the hard drives would take the repeated shock of pounding waves in this particular unit, but if I were determined to use a laptop (its large screen doesn't require me to put on my reading glasses, a handicap on PDA's), I might go with a touchscreen tablet/laptop with solid state hard drives swapped in, when the drives come down further in price.

I have no experience scanning navigation maps. Strictly lake contour maps, and I wouldn't set out on any lake without having scanned and geomaped its contours and hazards. With a scanned map stored on my SD card, I've been on lakes I've never set my boat in before and wasted no time at all getting around with a moving map scrolling on my dashboard.

Best Regards,
Bob

[bobg3723]

I use NASA's WorldWind for geomapping points (lat & long) directly on their aerial photos and combine that with a scan of a lake contour map or one downloaded (for me, typically Dept. of Natural Resources) from the web. The two images are then layered and aligned in a paint program. The lake in the aerial photo erased to reveal the layer beneath containing the contours. The layers are then merged into one jpg imported into OziExplorer to have the geomapped points entered in. This makes a map file that OziExplorer uses for their moving map display.

[mr curious]

v

would work very well with our setups!

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