Marinette Boat Forum

Ok , following in Fast Jeff's fugal footsteps, My old laptop with cheap mapping gps software no longer works. Don't want to spend $2,000 for electronics i don't need just to look cool. Just want to find the channel after dark. I see all this info on utube about using a i pad and free software that I don't understand. New electronics are out of my wheelhouse at 72 years old and I don't understand the terminology. Can someone just tell me what to get to get where I need to be. I'm not going to travel far on the Tennessee river.
Old man needs help.
Wayne

My old Garmin 76 was hooked into my laptop via a cable (available on E-Bay) and used a software program to make it come up on the laptop. Worked super slick!

Unfortunately, my 75 year old brain is having trouble recalling what it was called. Still trying. WHEN I figure it out, I'll send it to you.

Jeff

Fastjeff wrote:My old Garmin 76 was hooked into my laptop via a cable (available on E-Bay) and used a software program to make it come up on the laptop. Worked super slick!

Jeff

I did that 15 years ago also with a garmin 76...
unfortunately I can't update the thing any more and it hardly works.

Wayne,
I hope you're doing well. Thank you again for your help last spring.
I haven't used a tablet with free or cheap software, but sure have read about a lot of people doing it with success. Hopefully someone here can provide real world details. That is probably the way I would go when my systems die...
John

I have used laptops/tablets etc for years running navionics. They just changed the software names I think it's now called boating HD but they have several options. On my 37DCi am restoring I plan on mounting a tablet/screen running Android and using a compatible wireless sonar from a company called sonar phone. I have not tested the sonar as of yet but have navigated with navionics in many boats on many bodies of water with pretty good success. If your sonar is still operational you should be able to get an adapter to plug into the USB port on a laptop.
Disclaimer I am on a land locked lake with no channels that is very deep and my bow will be on the bank before my props are in the rocks so accuracy of the sonar isn't as critical. I do think the sonar part seems to work pretty well from reviews.

I did a fast Google search for "run boating gps charts on a laptop" (even typo'd a couple of words) and got this - I have not followed the links and don't know whether the info is written in Plainfolk English - but it's a start. You can sort your way thru the info or google yourself:

GPS Chart Plotter | Mapping Software Downloads | Memory Map
https://memory-map.com/GPS_Chart_Plotter.html
Turn your laptop in to a marine GPS Chart plotter for a fraction of the price of a ... Memory-Map is GPS mapping software that can be run on a standard laptop ... Windows Tablet and PC can get the Navionics Boating app!
https://www.navionics.com/.../windows-t ... -boating-a...


Jan 7, 2013 - Uploaded by Matthew McRae
Turn your laptop into a GPS/Chart plotter with SeaClear ll and every NOAA RNC sea chart at http://www.marine ...

((EDIT/UPDATE: I deleted the youtube item because the web site is defunct. it was an amateury, crappy youtube giving one little faith in the product)

There you go! One of those should work swell.

Jeff

I use a Garmin 640 it's small cheap and portable, it can be used on the water or on the road .There really isn't any learning curve to use it and it gets me to the markers or any other spot each and every time. Harry

The software I was thinking of is called N-Route. It works with Garmin Blue Chart software and their older GPSs.

Jeff

Update.
I got a k10 Dragontouch tablet with Navionics mapping software and works great, especially at night in low light conditions. The only problem I have is the map doesn't move as I move. I think it is a setting I haven't discovered yet. A lot of chartplotter for $120.
Wayne