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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Is a Garmin 185 Chartplotter any good?

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Ed Cassidy
Captain

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USA
365 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/15/2007 : 14:17:36

I am in need of a depth sounder and I found a Garmin 185 that has the depth sounder and has a GPS display. I haven't been able to find the data card for North east Florida but I've been told that it a;ready has a map of the US loaded. Has anyone had any experiance with these?

Thanks,
Ed

Ed
HisHorse
1979 SR/SK #1393
Green Cove Springs, FL

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 10/15/2007 : 15:12:56

You can go to the garmin web site to see what is on the unit.

The US basemap is not good for navigation. The US <u>coastal</u> maps, which came on my Garmin 492, are excellent. Data cards are expensive. I recommend getting a unit that has the entire US coastal maps pre-loaded. Check e-bay and gpscity.com for good deals on chartplotters. There are a couple of 498's (plotter and depth) on sale at e-bay for $460 which is a pretty good deal. If you can afford it, color makes the maps easier to use.

The 185, by the way, has been discontinued. So has my 492 and the 498. No matter, I love the 492! Here is how Garmin described the data on the 492:

The GPSMAP 492C or GPSMAP 498C give you the cartography you need to venture offshore. These versatile units come ready to launch with preloaded marine map detail utilizing the new BlueChart® g2 technology. Coverage is for U.S. coastal areas, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Features include integrated mapping, 2D or 3D map perspective, tide and current data, improved IALA symbols, navaids, marinas, boat ramps, roads, and more. Both units accept preprogrammed data cards for loading additional map coverage of inland lakes or BlueChart® detail for other regions. And the GPSMAP 498C’s built-in 500-watt (RMS) sounder features Ultrascroll™ for high-speed screen updates, with the proprietary Garmin CANet™ bus enabling sounder display information to be shared with, and controlled from, another chartplotter on your boat.

Edited by - Nautiduck on 10/15/2007 15:26:25

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 10/15/2007 : 16:42:50

Randy makes a good point about buying your GPS with the data preloaded. My GPSMap 276C only came with a basic map preloaded. It was OK, but if you wanted the kind of data you need with a chart, you have to buy Blue Chart on a chip & or get a blank memory chip and Blue Chart DVD(s) and upload the data you want. The price works out to about the same thing in the long run although I've got a bit more versatility in my setup I think. We use our 276 both for charting & for turn by turn instructions (Rita loves that part of it). So far we've purchased the Seattle area chart, and the road navigator DVD which has all of North America (including Canada). This has cost us another ~$300 or so in mapping software plus our original cost of $365 for the plotter.

Garmin also makes a depth sounder than can be interfaced with their chartplotters so all you need is the transducer & cable, and the chart plotter is the display.