A Marine GPS Chartplotter is a navigational device used to integrate the Electronic Navigational Chart with the GPS data. It displays the chart along with the speed, heading and position of the vessel, radar information from the AIS and other navigational sensors such as sonar and echo locators.

The most common types of Marine GPS Chartplotters used today are electronic although manual versions are available in rarity. The electronic chartplotter gps uses a computer or multiple computers that are specifically dedicated to run the GPS application. It is important to have a dedicated computer system to have sufficient capacity to cater for the considerable amount of disc memory and processing power needed to run the three-dimensional displays of the chartplotter gps. Sophisticated versions of electronic marine GPS chartplotters are constantly evolving with higher processing power and functional capabilities allowing more multiple data displays from different radars and networks.

The basic function of GPS chartplotters is aiding human pilots to follow a particular course. As information systems, they only use the inputted information, in this case the navigational charts. Therefore, they can only be as accurate as the database of charts they use to derive their output information.

All marine GPS chartplotters have a basic navigational display although this may have specific variations dependent on the version. The displays may include visual and audio alarms with different dimensional characteristics and available on screen commands. The display options may also depend on the intended use of the chartplotter where sophisticated models as used by fishing boats give three-dimensional screens. Other than the display unit, a typical chartplotter will have an aerial antennae receiver hoisted to track incoming signals.

There are some basics factors to consider in deciding the right GPS chartplotter for your vessel. The first of these is the price range, Viagra Professional with unit prices ranging from $400 for low end gadgets to $17000 for more sophisticated plotters. Here, the type of chartplotter to buy and how much to spend on it will depend on your type of vessel and the purpose for which you are buying the plotter.

More importantly, you will need to choose between a DGPS and WAAS enabled chartplotter. The aforementioned are different forms of signals that marine GPS chartplotters accept. Although they both operate on the same principle and theory in connecting the monitoring station with the gadget, WAAS uses a higher level frequency than the DGPS.

Other factors to consider include ease of use and level of performance. Modern versions are more user-friendly and most manufacturers will provide a hands-on demo in a showroom

Performance considerations to look out for are speed of response on pressing buttons, zooming capabilities and screen redraws. Performance levels will however, mostly depend on the price and size of the chartplotter with higher end units performing considerably faster and better than low-end units do. Other operational features to consider include ability to read vector chart cards with micro small cartridges. Vector chart cards have no standard sizes and different regions will have different types and sizes. The best marine GPS chartplotters can read any vector chart card, size notwithstanding.

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Category: Recreation and Leisure/Sports/Fishing
Keywords: marine gps chartplotters,chartplotter gps, marine gps plotters, marine navigation electronics