March 29, 2008 08:17
gorgesailor Wrote:Garmins that have USB output cannot transmit the NMEA data through USB like they can through serial
Seems to me that ought to be a consideration when buying a GPS, and there's so many out there (including Garmin) that work fine and simply (and inexpensively) with a Mac and MacENC. I honestly don't see why people don't just get one of the $20 GPS if they want to interface with MacENC using USB. If you like the bells and whistles of the fancier ones in the cockpit have that separately. MacENC doesn't need any of that stuff to work. I guess a lot really depends on how you use your laptop and GPS while sailing.
That being said, I still have my issues with Garmin, like why can't I send a route to my Garmin via nmea. For me it means disconnecting the GPS from the nmea network and connecting to my Mac with the serial/Keyspan cable and putting into Garmin mode, loading the route, then changing everything back. A bit of a pain.
AND, Canadian Charts...tell me about it! I sail B.C. a lot and have all the westcoast bsb charts, which set me back way too much. As much as I'd like, I'm not about to put out over a grand for the S57 charts when I already have paper and bsbs.
Scot