stripminer's Full Review: Garmin GPSMAP 172C GPS Receiver
This past July I decided to buy a chartplotter for my 20' fishing boat. At the time I could not truly place a finger on my need for one, other than safety. My wife questioned my sanity as GPS / Chartplotters are fairly expensive items.
My first step was finding a good price on the internet. I then brought a print out of that internet site's deal to my local West Marine where they matched it, no questions asked. I originally bought the internal antenna model but swapped it for the external antenna. ( more on that later )
I have been running my new Garmin for the entire summer about 3 times a week while fishing and boating with my family. I can honestly say that it has changed the way I boat and fish, making both experiences more fun and much safer.
I should mention that I invested in the Garmin Bluechart for Long Island Sound where I do all of my boating. The chart is the backbone of the GPS / Chartplotter and without it one may know where they are but not what truly surrounds them.
The best way to describe it is, take out a paper chart and place a small triangle that represents your boat on the chart. Now as you pilot along your waterways move the chart under your little triangle while you move along. That is, in a nut shell, what the Chartplotter does. While you are driving your boat the Garmin moves a highly detailed chart, including structure, depths, islands and any other item you would find on a chart under a small black triangle that represents your position.
You can configure the GPS to move the triangle around the chart with North always being up or as I prefer, the chart around the triangle. Words will shift so you can read them, even if you drive in circles. I like the boat being fixed as it seems intuitive to me to have the structure that I see to my right to be portrayed to my right on the chartplotter.
As for accuracy, my Garmin with the external antenna has been receiving strong satellite signals that in turn provide reported accuracies down to six feet. In my opinion that is simply amazing. In essence a six foot accuracy ensures me that my twenty foot boat with an eight foot beam actually has a portion covering the exact point being reported by the GPS.
It is important for any prospective buyers to benefit from my experimentation. I originally bought the internal antenna thinking I could "take it with me" but learned that the framing of my boats windshield was blocking satellite reception. The unit worked with the internal, reporting an accuracy of fourteen feet but paled compared to the external's six foot reporting. Also, with internal antenna my GPS was constantly searching for the latest WAAS satellite while the external picks it up in seconds. ( WAAS is the latest satellite technology that is, in everyday terms the most accurate to date )
Now, why do you need to buy a GPS / Chartplotter. First and foremost is safety. There is no need, in today's world, to try and report your position to other boaters or the Coast Guard during an emergency by trying to use landmarks. With the push of a button you will have your exact position on the GLOBE that you can broadcast to those interested in finding you.
If you are buying a Marine VHF you can invest in a Digital Select Calling model, DSC, that you can hook to your GPS very easily and in an emergency broadcast your position to those around you with the press of a panic type button. In turn, if you have your DSC radio hooked to your GPS / Chartplotter you can receive an emergency beacon that will show as a point on your GPS screen and set a course to it. Pretty neat stuff.
I could drone on and on about the ease of using the Garmin but that would be pointless. Setting routes is easy but almost unnecessary with a chartplotter because you see a map of the world before you as you move along. If you have an idea of where you are going, you will find it easily and safely. You will avoid shallow areas and big rocks. You can mark positions and return to them with ease as well. If you are trolling or drifting and find fish you can mark them for future trips. The best part is venturing into new waters that you never dared try before. If you live in the Northeast where the bottoms are rock you know what I mean.
I really like the "bread crumb" trail that the unit maps behind your boat. It is very useful while trolling or drift fishing. I bet it would be really handy in the fog too !
The color screen is bright and can be read in direct sunlight. You can also read it while wearing polarized sunglasses, this can be a problem with some displays. The screen is large enough to read with comfort but small enough to fit on a small or medium sized boat.
My Garmin has run flawlessly all summer and I am confident that it will work very nicely for years.
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