Marine GPS recommendations?

Hi,

I am looking for a GPS with a marine database. This will be used from an
airplane as part of my USCG Aux flights. What I want is to have a database
that shows me the various navigation aids, and places (points, bays, etc) .
I deally I would be able to punch in the name of the place and the GPS could
show me where it is.

The ones I have seen the most ads for are the Garmin GPSMap 76 and the
Magellan Meridian Marine. Does anyone have some expereince with these or
similar units? Both are in the $250 range, which is about what I would like
to spend. However, it looks like I have to buy some additional map software
if I want good resolution. Is that true?

Thanks,

jerry

"JerryK" <jerryk@nospam.com> wrote in
news:iFb5b.336729$Ho3.49621@sccrnsc03:

> Hi,
>
> I am looking for a GPS with a marine database. This will be used from
> an airplane as part of my USCG Aux flights. What I want is to have a
> database that shows me the various navigation aids, and places
> (points, bays, etc) . I deally I would be able to punch in the name of
> the place and the GPS could show me where it is.
>
> The ones I have seen the most ads for are the Garmin GPSMap 76 and the
> Magellan Meridian Marine. Does anyone have some expereince with these
> or similar units? Both are in the $250 range, which is about what I
> would like to spend. However, it looks like I have to buy some
> additional map software if I want good resolution. Is that true?

If you look at some of the Newsgroup postings on the GPS page
of my website, you'll see that for the etrex Venture, you can
load the marine navaid database. The same principal may apply
to other GPS receivers, which may broaden the selection of
units that you could consider(e.g. 'non-marine' units with
a marine navaid database loaded).

--
Dave Patton
Canadian Coordinator, the Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org dpatton at confluence dot org
My website: http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/
Vancouver/Whistler - host of the 2010 Winter Olympics

Jerry,

I would very much recommend the GPS Map 76 over the Magellan Meridian. I
much prefer the operating system and the ability to display more data fields
on the map display. I also like the ability to easily edit the route on the
map display. I am not sure how much resolution that you need. For
identifying landmarks from the air, you may find that the built in base map
is sufficient.

Take a look on my site at www.cockpitgps.com. Let me know what you get and
how it works for you.

John Bell

> I am looking for a GPS with a marine database. This will be used from an
> airplane as part of my USCG Aux flights. What I want is to have a
database
> that shows me the various navigation aids, and places (points, bays, etc)
..
> I deally I would be able to punch in the name of the place and the GPS
could

> The ones I have seen the most ads for are the Garmin GPSMap 76 and the
> Magellan Meridian Marine. Does anyone have some expereince with these or
> similar units? Both are in the $250 range, which is about what I would
like
> to spend. However, it looks like I have to buy some additional map
software
> if I want good resolution. Is that true?
>
> Thanks,
>
> jerry