Garmin HomePort software now free

[HRowland]

The Garmin HomePort software is now a free download.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/prod64242.html

I have been using HomePort for years and find that it is a great route planning tool. It is much easier to use my PC or Laptop to plan a route. Copy your route to a SD card and load into your plotter. I also export my routes in .GPX format to use in the iNavX iPad app. The Active Captain website can also import/export GPX route files, if you copy or create a route on the Active Captain web site export as GPX then import into HomePort. You can then transfer to a SD card for your chart plotter.

Howard

 

[BaseCampAnne]

Howard,

I am slow in understanding the steps I need to follow to add this to my Garmin.

I have an iPad and imagine I need to do the route there first?

On my iPad I currently use Navionics, (altho Rose Point seems to be what travelers in Alaska are using, along with ferries and I think I heard other large boats .)

(I am not using Active Captain yet, with so little knowledge.)

What is the SD card that I need to copy the route onto? It must fit into the slot where I have the chip, correct? Does it then integrate with the chart plotter so it functions with whatever chip I have in?

Any clarification will be helpful, and thank you in advance!

 

[HRowland]

Hi Anne,

HomePort runs on a Windows or MAC PC/Laptop. You can use it to create a route or view/edit routes that you have created on your Garmin chartplotter. Routes and waypoints are transferred to/from Homeport and your chartplotter using a SD card (or chip). On your chartplotter this is the same place that you insert a Garmin map, such as a G2 Vision chart. I have a separate SD card that I use to transfer between my chartplotter and laptop, I temporarily remove the Garmin G2 Vision card to transfer routes. Once transferred into the Garmin Chartplotter routes are stored internally and you can put your G2 Vision or other map chip back in.

I personally find it much easier to use a PC/Laptop with mouse to create my routes. I also use HomePort to export my route to a format that can be imported by iNavX on my iPad. I have also transferred routes to/from the Active Captain web site, again using the GPX format. GPX is a standard format to transfer routes/waypoints- many programs, apps, and devices support it.

HomePort supports Active Captain so you can download the database and have all of the markers available while planning your route.
It can also use your Garmin map, I loaded my Garmin 5212 base map onto a SD card so it would be available when planning routes. If you do not load a Garmin map into HomePort it will use a crude map without any depth data, buoys, or other nautical information. You only need to do this once, I use the same SD card to transfer routes.

 

[BaseCampAnne]

That added info helps a great deal.

Thanks, Howard!

 

[knotflying]

Howard,

I have not really used Homeport. Am I correct in saying that you have to first download a chart and can it be from one of the SD cards we have from the chartplotter?

 

[HRowland]

Hi Mike,

Yes, HomePort needs a map. The built in map is low resolution and does not include nautical features. When I first used HomePort (over 3 years ago) I copied the 5212 built in map to a SD card for use in HomePort. I still use this card to transfer routes to the 5212. I do not remember the procedure but it was only a few screen taps on the 5212 to copy the map.

Howard

 

[HeyShearer]

Howard,

I have not really used Homeport. Am I correct in saying that you have to first download a chart and can it be from one of the SD cards we have from the chartplotter?

Just to add to what Howard rightly posted. I just did this process. Depending on what map (s) you have on your plotter, take a blank SD card of at least 2 gigs, formatted for MS-DOS Fat, even if you use a Mac yes. Insert into the Garmin plotter. I have the 7212. Go to transfer data, it will ask you if you want to transfer the map data to the card? On mine, this took about 30 minutes. I found that I do have to insert the SD card with my maps into my laptop each time I use Homeport. It does not copy, at least my maps onto my hard drive. Not a big deal. Designate a card for this purpose and just keep using it. Back and forth.

 

[spierp]

This is perhaps a dumb question but can the routes that you create using HomePort be used with the autopilot?

There seems to be a distinction on the chartplotter between a "route" and an "auto-guidance path", but I can't figure a way to create an auto-guidance path using HomePort. Am I overthinking this? I just don't want to put a bunch of effort into creating routes in HomePort only to find they won't work with the autopilot. I have the 7612 chartplotter and GHC-20 autopilot.

thanks!

 

[knotflying]

Auto-guidance is a feature that allows you to enter a destination on the chartplotter and it will figure out your course and then you engage your autopilot to follow that route. You need to purchase the chip for particular locations to be able to enable auto-guidance. For the cost, I just manually enter my routes.
Routes are those that you enter and save. You select a saved route and then once on the screen you can select engage route on the autopilot menu.
You can create routes on Homeport on your computer and then transfer those routes to your chartplotter.

Hope this helps.

 

[Red Raven]

I started out creating manual "route to" routes as well but over time I have found the "guide to" (auto-guidance route) feature is so handy that I almost exclusively use it now. There is no additional cost and no need to build the routes in advance. Just find where you want to go on the chart plotter screen (any navigable point within set up parameters works) and hit "guide to" and you are good to go. The key is to set the system to use a safe minimum depth (I use 15 feet) and use the "farthest" from shore setting. If it cannot resolve a route with these settings then I choose a point just prior to the challenging area and navigate manually through that area. I wouldn't be comfortable using auto-pilot in such areas anyway. Also if there are sections of the route that I don't like then again I just manually navigate through those parts. These instances are usually pretty rare.

 

[spierp]

thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear.

I agree the auto-guidance is a very convenient and handy feature. My reason for creating a handful of more detailed predetermined routes is when we're not necessarily going from point A to point B, but doing a a scenic loop where we hug the shoreline in a more nuanced way and end up where we started, hitting a a couple points of interest.

Also, my one complaint with the auto-guidance routes is you end up going right down the middle of more narrow passages as opposed to staying to the right. Perhaps you can make the argument that one shouldn't use autopilot in a more narrow passage anyhow, but I'd like to start with a more workable path on the right and override as needed. We're on lake union so we see this a lot going through the fremont cut, montlake cut, under 520, etc, and also in salt through swinomish channel, deception pass, agate passage etc...

thanks for the tips!

 

[Hamilcon2]

Ok, new 2014 Ranger R21ec has Garmin 740s. Anyone know if we will have wind/water direction. My reading seems I might need XM weatger. Appreciate any info.