Garmin Maps

S

South lake

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Dec 8, 2011
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222
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
I'm trying to decide what SD map card to get for my chart-plotter. We'll boat mostly on the great lakes and on rivers and lakes in the North Central area. My understanding is that the great lakes are already included in the pre-loaded charts on our 5212 chart-plotter. To get the other lakes and rivers I need to order the appropriate SD card.

I'm trying to decide if there is enough value to order the Garmin Lakes Vision - North Central SD card to get the "vision" extras or if I should just order the Garmin Lakes SD card which has coverage of the entire US without the "vision" bells and whistles.

Any opinions would be appreciated.
 
Many of the mainstream US commercial waterways (barge traffic) are already included in the Garmin maps data included with your MFD. My Garmin 498 and 3210 both included the ICW, Tennessee River and Tombigbee waterways. I had considered buying a card when I first started but after using the Garmins I found they already covered.
 
I ordered a card for Moosehead lake when I went there. I did not find it to be of much value. The channel markers are moved quite a bit and I needed to be real careful. I was better off using a local chart from a resturant place mat. I am using the G2 Vision here in Lower Florida and have found that the auto routing many times will not auto plan because it is shallow and circutous so many times you have to use a shorter distance or establish your own route.
 
knotflying":15mmgrhk said:
I ordered a card for Moosehead lake when I went there. I did not find it to be of much value. The channel markers are moved quite a bit and I needed to be real careful. I was better off using a local chart from a resturant place mat. I am using the G2 Vision here in Lower Florida and have found that the auto routing many times will not auto plan because it is shallow and circutous so many times you have to use a shorter distance or establish your own route.
Click to expand...
I wish I could get the guide to to follow the ICW recommended route, instead of cutting across what it thinks is safe water. It plots a course right on top of the green markers and sounds an alarm that we are about to hit something. If it knows they are there, why does it plot a course on top of them.
 
Hence, the Garmin disclaimer that you are responsible for your own guidence and that their maps a supplemental for which you press the button, ("I Agree").
 
The Vision chips do not have the bang-for-the-buck that I look for... My base map has all the detail I need... ymmv...
 
Thanks Denny. That's precisely the decision I'm trying to make. Is there enough value that warrants the substantial difference in cost to get the vision enabled SD card. So far I haven't decided. The tie breaker for me would be auto-routing but so far I haven't seen any glowing endorsements. Good thing is I'm still waiting on delivery of my boat so I have time to decide on and order the card I want.
 
I have the G2 vision for my home base in RI and I also bought them for my Florida trip. My experience has been that I wasted my money for the Florida chips mainly because there are so many shallow areas that the auto guidence will not do an auto route on a long run, paticularly because there are so many turns that are required. On my home port it is much better. The other advantages of the G2 is the areal photos of areas, which is nice to see a particular port you may be entering and get yourself familiarized with it. I would say the G2 vision is more of a luxury than a real good added feature. Once you get the hang of entering a route it is very easy to set one up. Just keep in mind when setting up a route on the screen you start entering turns from your destination and work backwards to your starting point.
 
The way it is shaping up for me is to forgo spending money for the Vision chip(s) and join Active Captain... Their chart and satellite views do everything I need as far a visualizing the port, channel, whatever, and the base map in the Garmin navigates me there nicely...

You do not need to make a decision on the Vision chip right now as it can be plugged into your 5212 at any time, or not as the case may be... 3D views of the bottom are great advertising - but you are in a boat that draws 28" of water...
Get the boat and put some hours on the engine and make the decision on the Vision chip once you find out how you actually use the boat. Mine did not work out the way I thought it would (best laid plans of mice . . . and all that)
 
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