GPS guided Boat

[kd7ost]

Hi Mark,

It won't work for you that way unfortunately. You face the same issue we UAV guys do when using Garmin GPS handheld units. Read this thread about Smart routefinding. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=475531

There is a product that might meet your needs better. It will cost you a fair price more for the application though. It's called the Pico Pilot SP and can be found here. http://www.u-nav.com/picopilot-sp.htm Have a look and come here to discuss it further if you’re interested.

Dan

[mark.duyvesteyn]

thanks, i looked into that, quite pricey, and i still dont think it will do the trick. the boat needs to be above a certain speed, 5 or 10MPH of something so that it maintains a heading, and it will only hold 32 waypoints.

Why do you think the rcap will not work?

thanks for your help

[kd7ost]

Because the RCAP rely's on a handheld GPS with a "goto" or in your case a "route" functioning in it. Smart routfinding, a software product of Garmin units, won't allow you to repeat the same waypoints. You can make single trips though and start over. It's not the RCAP device that's at fault. It's the Garmin GPS route mode. Check out that thread I posted. It explains things that took a long time to explain. It will help you step back and look at it all. You can use an RCAP. Just not like you described with circling over and over X amount of times. It will only circle once.

Dan

[kd7ost]

And sorry, the 3rd post in that thread is what talks about "Smart route finding".

Dan

[mark.duyvesteyn]

sorry, yes, read all the stuff, and now i understand. damm. Are there any gps units avaiable that don't do the smart route finding? I, its been a while that i have used an garmin gps (owned one for 4 year but it got stolen) is it not possible to "goto" a track? so the gps will guide you over a track you have been made?

[kd7ost]

None that I'm aware of. Magellen makes some units but I don't know of anyone who has used one so can't speak to the route software.

You can do a "goto" in a GPS which is a function that just takes you to a single spot. The boat/plane would loiter there. The "route" is a separate function. I hav etried till my eyes were bleeding (OK not really bleeding) to get the GPS to repeat waypoints or stay in an area. For whatever Gamin's reason, the route function will skip repeated waypoints or even distant waypoints if it can navigate to a closer one. I e-mailed Garmin my complaints till I swear they put my email address on their spam list.

You need a device that has it's own waypoint management system. One that does not use smart routinding.

I just now recalled that the Garmin GPS12 was made back in the day where smart route finding wasn't yet implemented. Maybe you can check one of those out. Or ask people like Dave Jones, Matt Klarich, Mike Robinette or any one else that may have played with that older larger unit to see if it will repeat way points. That might be your answer. Sorry I forgot about that unit. You have a large looking boat and it will be fine with a GPS 12 on board. I can't say if it will work for you though. It is a handheld unit.

Dan

[CrashingDutchman]

I have a GPS 12. I have found in the manual that it can hold 20 routes (route 0 is active route) with 30 waypoints each.

I didn't find anything in the Garmin manual about smart routing or repeat waypoints. If weather permits, I will do a check for you.

In case you are interested, Garmin GPS12 manual is here: garmin.com/manuals/GPS12_OwnersManual.pdf.