[andymills]

Hey All-

I have a Gheenoe NMZ. Im doing a solo backcountry camping trip to the Everglades next month and need to work out a GPS. Ive looked heavily at the Garmin 78sc, especially now that its on sale for $250s. Comes with the maps and all. I recently saw that Garmin has a new EchoMap 44 GPS/Sonar combo, also with the maps. It would be nice to have a sonar for fishing inlets, etc.

My worry is that I get backcountry and I run out of battery, and be SOL. Especially with trolling motor use and so forth. I'll be back there for 2 days. I have a 5w solar panel charger, but turns out that only charges when the sun is out!

Any advice one way or the other? I don't need a GPS often. In fact, hardly ever. I think Id get more use out of the sonar long term. In the interest of being simplistic, Id like to only have 1 unit, not multiple things on the boat.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[firecat1981]

The solar charger isn't going to do much but maybe a trickle to keep the battery charged when in storage. I gave up on mine. It really didn't charge it like I would expect even after a few days in decent sun.

I would get a cheap depth/fish finder, and a separate battery powered GPS if I were you. Like you said you might kill your battery with the TM, then you will be out of luck in the back country. I have an older Garmin Etrex and love it, it was cheap, works very accurately, easy to use, and I was able to find free maps for it online. Batteries usually last about 12 solid hours of constant use, then I pop in a few more AA's and its ready to go again. I never knew how much I would use a GPS until I got one. Now I have to take it with me even if I'm going to a familiar place just so I can look on google earth to see where I went and had luck.

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1299454967

 

[andymills]

Holy cow- thanks! Ive heard of those sites, but never looked for or found one. I'll go with 2 separate units. Which solar charger did you have?

 

[firecat1981]

I got it from bass pro, I don't remember if it was their brand or Minn kota. It was smaller like the size of my laptop. I'd hook it up and leave it exposed to the sun and after a few days I might have 1/4 charge on my battery if that. I think it would be ok as a maintenance charger, but that is it. IMO nothing beats charging off your outboard, if that is an option.

Now just thinking outside the box here, if you had a small lawnmower battery to just run the gps/plotter then you can probably use the solar charger.

 

[andymills]

I have actually thought about that. A little safer option... Im going to look into it. I don't want to get crazy with wiring, but it may be worth a look.

Thanks!

 

[swampfox]

For a NMZ I would go with a Garmin60. You can get them for under $150 all day on Ebay. This will get you home for sure. Put a set of fresh batteries in before you go and bring some spares. But you won't need em it will last over week easy no problem. You can go online and build in way points and routes before you leave. Then just download it to the unit. I used one for years on my KTM 640 Adventurer aka"the paint shaker". It handled the vibes that big single put out no problem. I pounded it hard in the dirt,mud, water, heat and rain. And it never missed a beat. You can do a simple RAM mount setup easily. The maps you will be getting with others will be very vague. If you are fishing in the right spots. most likely it will show you on dry land or a generic marsh. So bring a AT&T iPhone or pad for SAT images to find those hidden gems up the tiny creeks.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-GPSMAP-60CX-GPS-Handheld-Receiver-/201241709348?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item2edaf0cb24

[smiley=2cents.gif]

 

[firecat1981]

Swamp, check out my link above, those maps will work with pretty much all the garmin units. They are very accurate from what I have seen.

 

[jmrodandgun]

.  I have a 5w solar panel charger, but turns out that only charges when the sun is out!

I have one of the Goal Zero Sherpa 100 units. Awesome kit. The panels will recharge the battery bank in about 8-10 hours on a bright day. If you charge the battery bank at home with the wall charger then you can leave the panels at home on a short 2 day trip.

The battery bank itself will recharge you camera batteries about dozen times. Gopro's about 15-20 times. Who knows how many times it will recharge AA batteries. We have done a few 6 day trips with the sherpa 100 and it recharged my camera batteries, the AA batteries in my Garmin 62, as well as ran LED camp lights all six nights. I only put the panels out one day.

 

[andymills]

.  I have a 5w solar panel charger, but turns out that only charges when the sun is out!

I have one of the Goal Zero Sherpa 100 units. Awesome kit. The panels will recharge the battery bank in about 8-10 hours on a bright day. If you charge the battery bank at home with the wall charger then you can leave the panels at home on a short 2 day trip.

The battery bank itself will recharge you camera batteries about dozen times. Gopro's about 15-20 times. Who knows how many times it will recharge AA batteries. We have done a few 6 day trips with the sherpa 100 and it recharged my camera batteries, the AA batteries in my Garmin 62, as well as ran LED camp lights all six nights. I only put the panels out one day.

Very cool- thanks! I have a 5W panel, so it should be decent. I'll give it a test run in the back yard next week.