Factors to Consider When Looking for Marine GPS Units

Marine GPS units have taken the world of navigation by storm. The age when atlases and maps were everything is ancient history and even Google Maps and MapQuest are worth forgetting when marine GPS systems are mentioned. As compared to other electronics, the GPS world is very distinct and rapid in terms of growth.

The advances in different facets of user interfaces and technology as a whole have made them the simplest to use. One can enter in the coordinate or address to be navigated and in a matter of seconds get all that is sought. The reactionary seaman will find these as excellent options to record time taken, distance, speed and routes.

Features of Marine GPS Units
Prior to selecting the right GPS units ideal for your boat, understand or have in mind what you require in a specific unit. For those travelling across ports in the United States or ports in other nation’s, the needed system is much different as compared to boaters only doing their navigation on local water bodies mostly seeking to find the next campground.
Also, you might have to ask yourself about the one to man the unit’s programming. Most complex marine GPS systems are suitable for mariners with experience. Pleasure boaters will find such units out of their price range and will definitely have additional features that might not be needed. This is why you must, above all, select the kind of unit with features you need and want.
A major feature in marine GPS units is the navigate-to-point feature allowing the path to be followed displayed, included on every unit. It is also possible to make the most of features of navigate-to-point to follow a specific track stored in the unit memory. It is very handy for those cruising in near zero visibility and unable to see markings or familiar landmarks.
Other more helpful feature is known as man overboard or MOB in short, helping to mark the incident position through a touch on a given button. Each of the marine GPS systems must provide accurate speed readings, time and distance of the destination and accurate course that can be read with ease. A lot of modern units have on them amicable digital compasses.

Advanced Marine GPS Units Features
A number of marine GPS complex units come with chart plotter displays that lets you know your current location. High-end commercial and recreational navigation GPS systems for boats include auto guidance for linking up GPS auto pilot, tide information and satellite imagery.
A number of GPS systems have customized alarms easily linked to any radar to advice on a turn in the water or the fact that another boat has come into your route in the sea where you need to contact the other boat via radio. The marine GPS systems are used in customizing charts to get more geospatial type of information mostly not displayed.
Other important marine GPS units include the navigate-to-track feature, a very useful addition if you are constantly making the same kind of trip. It also comes in handy for those always worried about ending up fog bound. The feature makes sure you are always following a specific navigational track already programmed and stored in the memory of the unit.

Boat GPS Display and Size
The GPS unit size selected affects the size of the display and could limit the boat areas it could be installed. Brightness, contrast and display are important if the navigational information will be seen easily. The unit value will not be that good in case the display cannot be read with ease.
Another crucial thing to consider is the ease of marine GPS systems installation and if interfacing with different marine electronics is possible, more so for boats with radars, autopilot functions or single-band radio receivers. The equipment you select must be capable of being linked up to the marine GPS unit to turn the boating exercise into an enjoyable experience.
As you go shopping for marine GPS units, remember they are designed for use in sea vessels such as boats. They will help in determining exact coordinates meaning being lost at sea is next to impossible. These units are highly effective in fleet tracking, deep sea fishing, boating and in other distinct applications in marine activities.

Marine GPS / SBAS Navigator "Onwa KP-32" - 4.5 Inch Screen

The Onwa KP-32 is an advanced marine GPS navigator with a SBAS receiver designed for coastal ships, fishing boats and pleasure craft.

This compact and cost-effective unit offers extremely accurate position fixes. The powerful processor is able of high-speed position fixing, accurate to 15 meters, and with SBAS mode activated, it's accurate to within 3 meters. The easy to use track plotter can store up to 2,500 track points, 50 routes and 999 Waypoints. Easily add new waypoints with the one-touch waypoint entry option.

Various display modes are available such as Plotter, Nav Data, Steering, Highway, Speedometer and two customizable modes. The Steering mode provides an intuitive indication of the course to steer and crosstrack-error (XTE). The Highway mode is useful when you are heading for your fishing ground or following a series of waypoints along a planned route. The user-friendly design permits easy and straightforward operation with minimum key strokes. Various alarm functions are built in to warn of arrival to or departure from a predefined area (arrival/anchor watch), XTE exceeding a preset limit, and more.

• Improved accuracy with built-in SBAS receiver
• 4.5″ Silver Bright LCD display
• Multiple display modes to suit a variety of navigational requirements
• Up to 999 waypoints, 50 routes and 2,500 track points
• One-touch waypoint entry
• Customizable NavData screens
• Track back feature stores waypoints at users defined intervals for early trace-back cruise
• Waypoint & Route upload/download through RS-232C port

Manufacturer Specifications
General

• Waterproof: Display Unit IPX5 / Antenna unit IPX6
• Output (NMEA0183 ver 2.0): AAM, APB, BOD, BWC, GGA, GLL, RMB, RMC, VTG, XTE, ZDA
• Display Modes: Plotter, Highway, Steering, Speedometer, Nav Date and 2 pages Customizable Display
• Alarms: Arrival, Anchor watch, XTE, Speed, Time, Trip, Odometer
• Working Temperature: Display unit: -15 to +55 / Antenna unit: -25 to + 70
• Power Source: 1224 VDC, 240-120 mA
• Languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese

GPS

• Receiver Type: C/A Code, All-In-View, SBAS Receiver
• 12 Channels
• Receiver Frequency: L1(1575.42 MHz)
• Time to First Fix: 15 second average (Hot start)
• Tracking Velocity: 999 Knots
• Geodetic System: WGS-84
• Accuracy GPS: 15m (95%) / SBAS: 3m (95%)

Display

• Display Size: 4.5 Inch
• Display Resolution: 240x160
• Non Touchscreen Display
• Data Display Only

Memory

• Internal: 2,500 Ships Track Points, 999 Waypoints with Comments, 50 Routes, 30 Waypoints/Routes

Motorcycle GPS Navigator "Peaklife" - 3.5 Inch Screen, All Terrain Edition

3.5 Inch Motorcycle GPS Navigator provides high-speed and high-accuracy 42 channel GPS navigation, 400MHz processor with a windows operating system will handle whatever you throw it.

Meet this strong, durable portable GPS navigation for motorcycles that can be taken anywhere and handle anything. Designed by bikers for bikers, the all-terrain and all-weather “Peaklife” GPS navigation system has a sturdy Samsung S3C2416 computer processing unit. Connect to the battery to be the power source and bring this GPS to life. The FM Transmitter can get frequencies between 87.5 and 101.1MHz, therefore you can listen to the radio when being an easy rider. This “Peaklife” portable motorcycle GPS navigator comes with tools to fit safely and securely on your motorcycle, but that doesn't mean it can't handle a few accidental drops and bumps. This GPS navigator is even weatherproof, meaning it can handle rain, snow, sleet, and anything else Mother Nature can conjure up. The Windows operating system is a perfect platform for running the GPS, as it is well known, very compatible and renowned for its user friendly GUI.

Experience amazing real-time GPS guidance that will notify you of every street and intersection and lead you to your desired destination. The “Peaklife” Portable SatNav's high-tech 400MHz Samsung processor, 128MB of RAM, and powerful GPS chip will keep up with your speed to let you know exactly where you are. The GPS has Bluetooth as well and can run several media formats for your entertainment enjoyment. Use the GPS to watch AVI and ASF video formats or listen to Audio formats such as WMA and WAV files. Viewing pictures can be done via the GPS navigation system by observing any JPG, PNG or TIF image file. Ebooks can be read as you are parked up, by accessing any ebook that comes in TXT format. With an impressive 2GB memory that can be boosted by a micro SD card up to 8GB this GPS navigation system for your motorcycle has more than enough memory needed to provide you leisure and direction.

Popular motorcycle GPS devices all come with a high markup price due to their brand name, but we bring you the “Peaklife” Portable GPS Navigator for Motorcycles at an amazingly low, factory-direct price and with high quality hardware. This motorcycle GPS “Peaklife” navigator is the ideal passenger for them long journeys. In stock and at an incredible wholesale price. Brought to you by the leaders in GPS gadgets and wholesale electronics, Chinavasion.

• 3.5 Inch Motorcycle GPS Navigator
• Samsung 400MHz processor, 128MB RAM
• Weatherproof
• Battery Cable for connecting GPS to your bikes battery for constant power
• RAM Mounting kit to fit nearly all bikes
• 2GB Internal Memory and free 2GB micro SD card

Garmin Aera 795 GPS

As Garmin’s new flagship portable aviation product, the European aera 795 incorporates the popular features of the GPSMAP® 695, while also adding new capabilities such as a touchscreen user interface, pilot-selectable screen orientation and 3D Vision. The aera 795 also takes the pilot one step closer to a paperless cockpit with a digital document viewer and scratch pad.
The aera 795 has a high-resolution and sunlight readable 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display that can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode. The physical design has been optimized to fit on the yoke and is sized perfectly as a knee-mounted device. There are four touch keys on the bezel of the unit representing “Back”, “Menu”, “Direct-To” and “Nearest” for quick navigation to frequently used functions, and because the aera 795 is customizable, the user can also pick favorite features or pages to anchor as icons along the bottom of the screen for even faster access. The display has large, finger-touchable icons with intuitive pictures and labels to indicate their function such as: map, terrain, 3D Vision, WPT info, FPL list, active FPL, numbers, doc viewer, charts and tools. Pilots can choose any of these functions by simply touching the appropriate icon. The touchscreen interface also allows the pilot to quickly pan across the map and pinch/pull zoom.

Enhanced situational awareness with 3D Vision
The aera 795 features 3D Vision, a unique 3D view of database-generated terrain. 3D Vision uses GPS position and the terrain-alerting database to recreate a behind-the-aircraft perspective view of the topographic landscape. The resulting virtual reality display offers pilots a supplemental 3D depiction of land and water features including terrain, obstacles, runways and airport signposts all shown in relative proximity to the aircraft. With the flick of a finger, the 3D view can be rotated around the aircraft to easily view the surrounding terrain. Using forward-looking terrain avoidance capability, the aera 795 predicts in advance where potential hazards may exist and colorises the landscape showing amber or red overlays on those areas. Any towers or obstacles that may encroach upon the flight path are color-highlighted and clearly displayed with height-appropriate symbology.

The path to a paperless cockpit
For pilots who prefer Jeppesen charts and diagrams, Garmin also offers a ChartView enablement option. Garmin ChartView utilizes Jeppesen’s extensive library to provide global charting capabilities.
Other new features include a built-in digital document viewer that enables the pilot to load and view PDF documents, JPEG photos, and many other electronically formatted materials including checklists and detailed performance/procedural data from the aircraft flight manual. There is also a convenient scratch pad for writing down clearances or other important notes.

Added support for helicopter missions
The addition of optional City Navigator data on the aera 795 allows the user to search and locate any desired surface address for use as a flight plan waypoint or for aerial direct-to navigation. This makes it even easier for helicopter and fixed-wing operators to respond to critical missions around streets and highways, survey land or perform search and rescue operations.

Instrument back up and traffic
Garmin’s patented Panel Page on the aera 795 offers a backup solution to the instrument panel with its exclusive display of GPS-derived panel information, including track indication, GPS altitude, groundspeed, vertical speed and turn indication. Plus, the internal GPS provides position updates five times per second (5 Hz), allowing it to present flight data more smoothly and accurately.
The aera 795 will also display traffic if coupled to a compatible traffic source like the Zaon XRX. Garmin has increased the interface capability through the addition of a second serial port to allow even more connectivity simultaneously. With two serial ports, the pilot can display traffic information, send frequencies to a Garmin SL30 or SL40 radio, send position information and more to other select aircraft devices.

Airport Directory and more
Pilots can enjoy the AC-U-KWIK airport directory database, which features worldwide airport information for more than 7,800 airports globally, and contains hard-to-find information for pre-flight planning in North America, Europe, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Africa and Australia.
The aera 795 Atlantic is pre-loaded with VFR reporting points (VRPs), AC-U-KWIK international airport directory data and obstacles where available.

Databases Bundles
Managing databases is easier than ever with database Bundles, annual subscriptions for multiple databases, all for a single, low price. Available through fly.garmin.com, database Bundles provide three options for coverage and content including: US, US Lite, and Europe. After selecting the desired Bundle, fly.garmin.com will walk the pilot through the process to purchase, download, and sync databases to the aera.

Garmin G3X Systems

It’s time to rethink what’s possible in your panel. Now, with Garmin’s G3X system, pilots of experimental/kitbuilt and light sport aircraft are finding they can comfortably afford to fly with the very latest in electronic “glass cockpit” capabilities. Adapting proven technology from Garmin’s top-of-the-line integrated flight deck systems, the G3X offers a full range of upgrade solutions to fit your panel, priorities and budget.

A Complete Silicon Suite
Designed around the GDU 370/375 series of panel-mount displays, the G3X suite provides an easy-to-install, non-TSO’d option that lets you grow your system as your needs and budget dictate. For example, you can start with a single glass display that combines full primary flight (PFD) attitude/directional guidance with electronic engine monitoring and detailed moving-map multifunction (MFD) capabilities. Then, should you choose to expand your cockpit configu­ration, you can opt for separate PFD and MFD screens – or even add a co-pilot’s flight display. A built-in network interface allows up to three displays to be interlinked in the panel, with full reversionary backup for added safety and redundancy.

Highly Evolved. Not Highly Expensive
Simplicity meets sophistication in the G3X flight deck. Using sophisticated graphics modeling, the integrated SVX™ synthetic vision technology provides a 3-D “virtual reality” perspective of what lies ahead. The system pulls together information from the built-in aviation basemap and terrain elevation database, letting you clearly visualize terrain features, obstacles, waterways and airport locations on the 7-inch high-definition display. By adding a GTX 330 Mode S transponder, your G3X display Traffic Information Service (TIS) alerts to help identify aircraft in your proximity. The system can also be coupled with the TruTrak GX Pilot autopilot system to provide sophisticated flight control modes including altitude preselect and capture, heading hold and GPS navigation. The autopilot can even be used to fly WAAS approaches when used in conjunction with a GNS 400W/500W series unit.

Solid-State ADAHRS Makes Gyros Obsolete
The G3X system uses the latest in GPS-aided digital ADAHRS (Air Data and Attitude Heading and Reference Systems). Leveraging solid-state sensors and sophisticated attitude determination and integrity monitoring algorithms used in Garmin’s high-end G1000 system, the G3X’s ADAHRS provides highly accurate and reliable referencing of your aircraft position, rate, vector and accelera­tion data. Better still, the complete sensor package – ADAHRS and EIS engine monitoring¹, plus magnetometer and temperature probe – takes up just a fraction of the space and weight previously required by conventional gyro-based instrument systems.

Navigate with Electronic Charts
In addition to its detailed terrain map, the G3X system comes preloaded with geo-referenced Garmin FliteCharts®, which displays a graphical representation of your aircraft overlaid directly onto NACO-format IFR approach plates. FliteCharts also allows you to easily find and view all U.S. AeroNav Services, standard terminal arrival routes (STARs) and more. For pilots who prefer Jeppesen charts and diagrams, Garmin also offers ChartView™, which utilizes Jeppesen’s extensive library to provide global geo-referenced charting capabilities. The Garmin SafeTaxi® service is also built-in, providing geo-referenced diagrams for over 900 U.S. airports. Plus, AOPA Airport Directory data puts detailed information on more than 7,400 U.S. Airports right at your fingertips.

So Many Ways to Connect
To create the ideal glass package for your aircraft, the G3X will integrate seamlessly with a wide array of Garmin avionics and sensors. The affordable SL40 VHF Comm or SL30 Nav/Comm units offer space-saving 1.3-inch high formats that fit easily in most smaller panels. To augment the G3X’s non-TSO’d internal VFR GPS, you can opt to add Garmin’s popular GNS 430W or 530W WAAS-certified IFR GPS/Nav/Comm units for even more capability. Another great choice is the GMA 240 non-TSO’d audio panel: It supports dual COMM and NAV receivers, has two music inputs, and lets you hear G3X audio alerts through your headset. You can even connect cellphone calls or iPod/MP3/XM Radio players – which the system will override with instant muting when radio transmis­sions are received from ATC.

AvMap EKP IV PRO

With the same design and software as the EKP IV, the EKP IV Pro is the professional version designed to provide special software features and data sets.

PRO FUNCTIONS
-Search and Rescue flight patterns
Choose from three pre-set patterns that draw the SAR pattern selected at the push of a key.
See you aircrafts track on the display and easily monitor your movement along the SAR pattern. Download track and SAR pattern for post-ops training. You may choose among three patterns. EXPANDING SQUARE, CREEPING LINE AHEAD and CIRCULAR.
-Customized Regional coverage Area
The Av-Map customized regional coverage option supplies the opportunity to create a Compact Flash loaded with the terrestrial data of your area.
-Place and street Research
An advanced feature of the EKP IV Pro is the ability to access the detailed Tele Atlas street data. The Search function allows the operator to instantly navigate to the desired address. You can search for a place or street entering State, Country, Town and street name.
-Connection to the radio localization system (Telefix and or Kenwood APRS)
The EKP IV Pro may be connected directly to Telefix, a localization system for fleet management and or Kenwood APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) . By means of these systems it is possible to send ones own position to a remote control center. From the control center it is possible to receive waypoints that are automatically displayed on the EKP IV Pro Screen.

Garmin AERA 500 GPS: features and specifications

The Garmin AERA 500 GPS touch screen portable offers easy transition from flying to driving with an intuitive, icon-driven user interface. The aera models feature crisp 4.3” QVGA widescreens, plus the simplicity of a single cable solution for power.
For aviation, AERA combines colorfully detailed topography with built-in terrain alerting, high resolution terrain, and airways are also available with selected models.

Aviation features and specifications

* Easy-to-use touch screen interface
* Bright 4.3” diagonal, color touch screen display; 480 x 272 pixels; WQVGA TFT display with white backlight
* Lithium-ion battery - lasts up to five hours, depending on usage and settings
* Flight Plans: 50 with up to 300 points each
* Flight log: At least 30 most recent flights
* Auto time zone – aera will automatically adjust your time zone while navigating
* High-sensitivity GPS receiver with WAAS position accuracy for improved performance and reception
* Simplified PC connectivity, using USB mass storage for easy data base updates at http://fly.garmin.com
* Unit dimensions – 5.3”W x 3.3”H x 0.9”D
* Weight – 9.5 oz (270g)
* Rugged and waterproof (IPX-7)
* Interface with SL30 and SL40 for frequency tuning

Garmin zumo 350LM Motorbike Sat Nav GPS

The Garmin zumo 350LM is a rugged and super sleek GPS designed specifically for motorbikes. With some awesome features including an MP3 player and Bluetooth for wireless phonecalls and also a rugged, waterproof case and a glove friendly interface, it's ideal for any biker hitting the road. It also comes with full street level mapping of Europe.
As well the awesome route planning features, when you get home you also can see your whole journey using Google Earth, or use Garmin Connect to access a huge online community of bikers to share tips and info or compare tracks and routes. This is an awesome machine that will quickly become an indispensable tool for any biker.

• Garmin zumo 350LM
• Preloaded City Navigator® NT for Europe (full coverage)
• Motorcycle mount with power cable mounting hardware
• Lifetime Maps
• Automotive suction cup mount**
• Automotive power cable
• USB cable
• Dashboard disc
• Quick start manual