hi guys farmer56 here ... has anybody used a garmin gpsmap 536 chartplotter before .... some one wants to sell his .... any thoughts on the unit would be usefull ... only will be used on canada lakes ... thanks dennis
It is a pretty dated unit these days. Not compatible with the latest generation of charts either, but adequate with the older G2 charts.
If the price is right, I guess so?
thanks boon .... i know zero about marine gpsmap .... would the next series newer the
garmin gpsmap 547 chartplotter be any better... used mainly to navigate around all those islands o rainy lake ontario canada .. wanted a stand alone gps no depth finder ... thanks farmer....
farmer56 back ... looks like garmin is bringing out g3 to replace g2 ... and they can be installed in old chartplotter is this a game changer or not.... still green as they come on gps stuff ....
You may want to check how many hours are on the unit?
The backlight fades out over time and it may be hard to see in bright sunlight.
thanks gobi
farmer56 here .... just a little background on how and where we fish .... lake of the woods northern Mn. over 14,500 islands and Rainy lake On. over 2500 islands .... we bought maps from the gov./dnr. we fish out of a 1987 lund pro pike boat 14' { aluminum } w/30 hp tiller handle ... me , being the [self appointed ] so called captain drives the boat ... No. one son is the lookout in front of boat doing dual tasks looking for shallow rocks and reading laminated maps ... son No. two sitting in middle seat tries to get phone service on cell phone .... intermittently getting cell service to look at maps on phone . both sons guiding the old man , first to not get lost . second to try avoid shallow rocks... we use a lowance x-85 depth finder rear and a lowance [ hook ] depth finder mounted on the motor of the trolling motor mounted on the bow .... both sons are very tech. savee .... when we leave the lodge every morning we are a sight to see ... extra boat gas plenty of tackle extra clothing for weather two cast iron pans two dutch cast iron ovens and food for our 2 to 2 1/2 hour shore lunches , hoping to find a new island each meal ... farmer out for now ... no fancy eating place has anything on us ... life is good
I am jealous, most water bodies in MI I can use shore landmarks and navigate, i.e. really small water bodies.
Here is what I do and maybe it will help you some, I can pm you my # if you want to chat.
Lake Maps - i.e. google maps.
I download the area maps when I am home and cache them. so when I am out on the lake (I have tmobile and it has HORRIBLE coverage) I am able to use the GPS signal on my PDA/PHONE any device which see a GPS go figure out where I am.
Navionics has a boating app, which is subscription based, I think it costs $15 a year and you can down maps and contour maps for your area.
I like this as it has the public uploaded sonar maps which are more accurate then the recent survey.
So this will give you BOTH maps of the area and depth(contour) maps.
You can highlight areas and download them when at home.
I also print off the latest contour maps off navionics website > webapp, as the few times I am out fishing, it rains.
I would suggest you don't buy the used unit but invest in a waterproof case for an old phone. use that and navionics app.
I use the navionics app to study new lakes when I stuck in a plane ride back home from work
gobi thanks ... i will relay the info to my sons ... no. two son might have been doing some of the phone stuff you talked about ... i have never bought used electrical/electronic stuff before ... we might be in touch at a later date thanks for offer .... farmer 56 out..... dennis