January 7, 2006 18:33
I've had one of those little USB GPS units for several years. I have the older BU-303 unit, which I purchased through eBay from a Singaporan mystery dealer for $58. Under the circumstances I wasn't expecting much, but I had already been through the experience of trying to build my own cables for other handheld GPS units, and this thing came with a USB plug.
Boy was I wrong! I'm extremely familiar with GPS units, and I've never seen a marine GPS that acquires as quickly or works with such a limited window. It works on my dashboard no matter which way the car is pointed. We used it to take a tug and barge down Cook Inlet a few months ago by hanging it out the nearest window. We didn't even secure it down. It swung back and forth on its cord for a full day.
I don't know how waterproof these things may be, but for the price it just doesn't matter. I keep mine with me as an emergency backup on a commecial fishing boat. If I needed to navigate a little sailboat, I would use a few wraps of Saran wrap for spray protection in a good exposed location and then take it off when I was done. It may be as waterproof as it is accurate, but there is no reason to leave it behind.
You might get a usable signal by sticking your unit in a window, but I wouldn't do it that way. I wouldn't worry too much about booms or rigging or any other obstruction though. My previous car and tugboat installations have left about 50% of sky view.
The only caveat that I have noticed with my unit is that it seems to continue to operate even when I put my ibook to sleep. I unplug mine if I'm not using the laptop to limit the battery drain. It reacquires so fast that I've never had any issues with plugging and unplugging.
Boy was I wrong! I'm extremely familiar with GPS units, and I've never seen a marine GPS that acquires as quickly or works with such a limited window. It works on my dashboard no matter which way the car is pointed. We used it to take a tug and barge down Cook Inlet a few months ago by hanging it out the nearest window. We didn't even secure it down. It swung back and forth on its cord for a full day.
I don't know how waterproof these things may be, but for the price it just doesn't matter. I keep mine with me as an emergency backup on a commecial fishing boat. If I needed to navigate a little sailboat, I would use a few wraps of Saran wrap for spray protection in a good exposed location and then take it off when I was done. It may be as waterproof as it is accurate, but there is no reason to leave it behind.
You might get a usable signal by sticking your unit in a window, but I wouldn't do it that way. I wouldn't worry too much about booms or rigging or any other obstruction though. My previous car and tugboat installations have left about 50% of sky view.
The only caveat that I have noticed with my unit is that it seems to continue to operate even when I put my ibook to sleep. I unplug mine if I'm not using the laptop to limit the battery drain. It reacquires so fast that I've never had any issues with plugging and unplugging.