Home › Laptop GPS Software › Laptop GPS on the LAKE
I live on Lake Hartwell which has a 950 mile shoreline. I like to fish and bird watch, and thought maybe GPS might help me. I have been researching it today, but somethings don't post in my brain. Computers are a vast source of fun for us all, and this will be a new area for me.
I just ordered a GPS dongle. I am not sure how I can make the most of it. A rich guy up the lake has a Garmin unit on his boat. Can I download his chip and make use of it?
I like to throw out a few lines, and troll. I see a lot and often I catch fish. Mostly, me and the Beagle float along, drink beer that is too cold and play music that is too loud.
I am not a geek, but I try.
You guys understand this area, what would advise?
Surely GPS might add something to my fun on the pontoon, and with a netbook - on my kayak.
Plus my laptop plays music really well and I would not need the mp3 player.
I know this is funny, and I can take a hit, but if you have advice - thanks.
Darby
I just ordered a GPS dongle. I am not sure how I can make the most of it. A rich guy up the lake has a Garmin unit on his boat. Can I download his chip and make use of it?
I like to throw out a few lines, and troll. I see a lot and often I catch fish. Mostly, me and the Beagle float along, drink beer that is too cold and play music that is too loud.
I am not a geek, but I try.
You guys understand this area, what would advise?
Surely GPS might add something to my fun on the pontoon, and with a netbook - on my kayak.
Plus my laptop plays music really well and I would not need the mp3 player.
I know this is funny, and I can take a hit, but if you have advice - thanks.
Darby
Hey Darby, welcome to Laptop GPS World. That surely sounds like a lot of fun: A netbook playing nice MP3s in your kayak on the lake, and a GPS program running at the same time showing you where you are, etc.
You would not be able to use your friends map data, I'm afraid, but this stuff is not overly expensive. Companies that sell PC software/maps for water navigation include Fugawi, Garmin, and I'm sure there are others, too. I personally have no first hand experience with navigation on water, but there are some members here who do. Hopefully they will be able to give some pointers. In the mean time have a look here: http://www.fugawi.com/web/products/n...s_explorer.htm
You would not be able to use your friends map data, I'm afraid, but this stuff is not overly expensive. Companies that sell PC software/maps for water navigation include Fugawi, Garmin, and I'm sure there are others, too. I personally have no first hand experience with navigation on water, but there are some members here who do. Hopefully they will be able to give some pointers. In the mean time have a look here: http://www.fugawi.com/web/products/n...s_explorer.htm
Hi Darby,
I have a friend who uses a Garmin handheld GPS when he's fishing, summer and winter (ice fishing). Besides using it to know where he's at, he has the most fun marking good fishing spots with it so he can find them again very easily.
You don't need anything special to do this. Any PC navigation program will do the trick. The only drawback to some of them is that the shorelines on many water bodies are not terribly accurate. In fact they are pretty awful on some. As long as the navigation software has all the basic features to play with, the maps will be more important, I think.
Are you talking about Hartwell Lake in South Carolina? That is huge. It looks like someone's built a dam and flooded the river valleys in a big chunk of the state.
...ken...
I have a friend who uses a Garmin handheld GPS when he's fishing, summer and winter (ice fishing). Besides using it to know where he's at, he has the most fun marking good fishing spots with it so he can find them again very easily.
You don't need anything special to do this. Any PC navigation program will do the trick. The only drawback to some of them is that the shorelines on many water bodies are not terribly accurate. In fact they are pretty awful on some. As long as the navigation software has all the basic features to play with, the maps will be more important, I think.
Are you talking about Hartwell Lake in South Carolina? That is huge. It looks like someone's built a dam and flooded the river valleys in a big chunk of the state.
...ken...