Is there such a thing as too much technology at your fingertips? Perhaps. Because while it's very handy to have your GPS plotter image in your hand, a lot of us would be happier still with a nice big image on, say, a 17 inch computer screen right there at the plotting table. Makes sense of course, on deck is where the action is and you don't want to be cluttered. Down below is thinking space and there's nothing more reassuring than a big, clear readout of where you are.
Well actually there is - from that well-developed yachtsman's reflex of always preparing for the worst. Which means, because you're wise to it, that you're not just relying on the big map display. Somewhere safe and ready to hand you have the paper charts to back you up, a little insurance against batteries going belly up, circuit breakers with a mind of their own, or just plain bad luck.
Twinning the display is obviously the way things are going these days because we've just come across a neat little plotter that includes a 12-pin SVGA output so you can plug straight in, as long as your computer has the right connection. And yes, there's a huge difference between a 3.5 inch handheld image and a full-on 800 by 600 pixel readout for liquid crystal or cathode ray monitors. If nothing else, you can see a very much wider area than what's squeezed into the handheld unit.
The little beastie in question is a Geonav 4C XS plotter and if you're visiting the Boat Show (Southampton 2005), you can see it in action at C. A. Clase's setup on Stand G91. If you're quick on the draw and buy yourself one there and then, you could also score yourself a Navionics Land&Sea cartridge worth a hundred pounds. In one swoop it would give you a GPS plotter that reads land maps as well as marine, a handy gadget to get you through the Congestion Zone if the voice prompt option is activated.
Up and running, the Geonav 4C uses a Compact Flash media card, exactly the same as you'll find in some digital cameras. Depending on the capacity you choose - you can get them at Tesco up to a whopping 512 Meg and climbing - you can store up to 500 way points, to a maximum of 20 per route. How many routes? Well, how big is your card!
The Geonav itself is properly weatherproof, fits neatly into your hand and has a bright backlit display that works in sunlight. Global positioning is by 12 built-in channels. Not bad, not bad - For £643 you get the plotter plus rechargeable battery and charger, so all-up cost with a nice big monitor is less than a grand. A variant model is available without the SVGA output.
