I’ve spoken on how to boat smarter with a GPS all over the state of Texas and from these many talks I’ve learned what most people want and need to know about how to use a Chartplotter to find better fishing sites, navigate safely and burn less fuel. On this page I’ve compiled a summary of what I’ve learned. Much of this information is also available for your specific GPS and model on one of our GPS Cheat Sheets, available as either a download or laminated, on this site. More detailed 'How To' information can be found in the Online Course section.

Always practice Safe GPS-ing. What I mean by this is to remember that your GPS is an electronic devise and it will die one day. When it dies all of your fishing honey holes, special tracks and hard to remember routes will be history. Your GPS's internal memory is kept alive by a small battery, much like the one used in your computer. The life expectancy of these batteries, according to the manufacturers, is 3 - 5 years. After that you can still use the unit off your boats power but your personal data will be gone. So back it up regularly. And keep a copy somewhere safe. There will come a time you will be glad you did.

Angler Products offers this service. Contact us for details.

As always, here’s to hoping you have a lot of tight lines and Happy Boating!!

Captain John

The information shown below is generic in nature since all Chartplotters were not created equal. Specific 'How To' instructions for your particular unit are available from Angler Products in either a Cheat Sheet or our online classes. Both are written specifically for your GPS, not one size fits all documents.

·        Which Chartplotter Should I Buy?

·        Setting Up a Chartplotter for Ease of Use

·        Using Tracks or Trails on a Chartplotter

·        Determining Your Boats Fuel Consumption with a Chartplotter

·        Using the Built in Tides, Currents and Celestial Information on your Chartplotter

·        Navigating with a Chartplotter

·        Sharing and Saving your Chartplotter Data

·        Upgrading a Chartplotters Internal Software

·        Common GPS Manufacturers Websites for Technical Issues and Software Upgrades

·        What is DSC and How Does it Work

 

Which Chartplotter Should I Buy?

• Buy a screen that’s large enough for you to see running your boat at speed. I've found that people running fishing boats need a larger screen than a person on a sail boat or a kayak. For a fishing boat the minimum screen size I recommend is 5 inches.
• Make sure your GPS has the ability to share data with your computer. Most of them do today. Make sure you learn how to save your GPS data and do so regularly so you're not lost if something happens to your machine.

Back to Top

Setting Up a Chartplotter.

Today’s GPS Chartplotters are extremely customizable. In fact that’s one of the things that scare a lot of folks away from having one. Don’t let it. Once you learn your unit and customize it the way you want it, you rarely have to push more than a few buttons each time you take a trip. Visit our Online Training area to see if we have a downloadable course to show you how to set your make up for ease of use.

Setting your GPS to Track Up instead of North

Most GPS units come from the factory with a North Up Track setting. For 99% of us this doesn’t make sense and makes the unit more difficult to use. However, it’s a simple procedure to correct. The setting you're looking for is Map Orientation. You usually have 2 - 3 choices with North being the one they default to. I like Track Up or Head Up the best. This allows the icon that represents your boat to always be headed on the chart the same direction that you're tracking.

Go on, play with it. You can’t mess it up. If you do there’s always the Factory Default key that will restore all settings to the original, factory setting.

Back to Top

Using Tracks or Trails on a Chartplotter.

Every time you run your boat the GPS is saving a track of your trip. If you run a particularly difficult cut successfully it’s a good idea to save that information for later use.

You can also use these tracks as a basis for outstanding fishing logs. The Chartplotter records the time, date, time spent at a location and speed. If you also have a sounder attached then its also recording the depth and water temperature. Now all you have to do is use a file name that tells what you caught, where and with whom.

Back to Top

How to Determine Your Boats MPG and Range Using a Chartplotter.

Most Chartplotters have a built in trip odometer that allows you to reset all or parts of your trip each time you go out. Use this the same way you use your cars odometer to determine your boats Miles Per Gallon. This will also let you determine the safe cruising range of your boat and can provide a warning to you when it's time to start heading back.

Back to Top

Using the Built In Tide Information on a Chartplotter.

Most Chartplotters have tide information available as part of the Charting software used with the unit. These tide charts can be viewed for most any date and time allowing you to plan your trips ahead of time without having to hunt up the tides elsewhere. A lot of them will even show you how far you are from the nearest tide station to help you calculate what the tides will be doing in your area.

A lot of the current units will also give you sun and moon calculations so you can also see what type of moon you can expect on the days you plan to boat or fish.

Back to Top

Navigating with a Chartplotter.

There are several ways to navigate with a Chartplotter.

• Navigating by pointing your cursor to where you want to go and telling the unit to take you there.
  • In this example you move your cursor to the spot you want to navigate to. Now you press the Navigate key and instruct the unit to go to that spot. Remember a GPS will take you straight to that spot 'as the crow flies', it will not take you around hazards, land or other boats. That's what your job is.
• Navigating to a saved spot (waypoint).
  • Let’s say you have 100's of my Angler Products Fishing Hotspots loaded on your GPS. This is where you'll go to your Hotspots file (waypoints) and choose the one that you want to visit. Simply find the hotspot in your file and press the Go To key or Navigate key to take you to that spot. But make sure you remember the caution shown in the above example.
• Entering your own special location (waypoint) information and navigating to it.
  • You can also enter you own location information (waypoint) and when you're finished you'll navigate to that spot just like you did in the example above. The caution from the top still applies.         

Back to Top

Transferring Information between a Chartplotter and a Computer.

Most of the Chartplotters out there today have some way to share their information with a computer. If the one you're looking at doesn't don't buy it. You will quickly wish you had one that shares information with a computer and you'll probably not save any money at all.

All of the makes do this one way or the other but most use either an interface cable or a small data card like the digital cameras use. And there's free software available online to let you move the information back and forth easily.

Back to Top

Upgrading a Chartplotters Internal Software

Here's another reason you want to be able to connect your Chartplotter to your computer. Most of the better units out there today are continually updating the unit’s internal software. These updates can be as simple as fixing some software bugs to speeding up the units redraw rate or as serious as providing new Chart updates to show you new hazards and navigational aids. If your Chartplotter doesn't have a computer connection then you are stuck with having to send the unit in to have those fixes applied.

Either learn how to update your software or send it to someone that can do it for you. You’ll be glad you did.

Back to Top

GPS Manufacturers Website Address for Technical Issues and Upgrades

1. For Garmin: http://www.garmin.com/support/
2. For Hummingbird: http://www.humminbird.com/generic.asp?ID=356
3. For Magellan: http://support.magellangps.com/support/index.php?group=default&languageid=1 
4. For Lowrance: http://www2.lowrance.com/Downloads/Updates/default.asp; Lowrance also has a video showing you how to perform the upgrade. Click on this link to see how easy it is: Upgrading the Lowrance HDS's Internal Software
5. For Furuno: http://www.furunousa.com/Support/Default.aspx
6. For Raymarine: http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/default.asp?site=1&section=3

Back to Top

What’s DSC and How Does it Work?

DSC (Digital Selective Calling): Marine radios equipped with DSC serve as one facet of the GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress & Safety System). A DSC equipped radio has all the features of your current VHF radio, and more. DSC technology makes a VHF radio work more like a telephone. It allows boaters to send a digital call directly to another DSC-equipped vessel or shore station, much like a person-to-person telephone call.   Channel 70 has been set aside as the VHF/DSC digital call channel. Once the DSC call has been confirmed, both parties are automatically switched to a working voice channel.   In an emergency, one push of a button and your DSC radio will send an automated digital distress alert consisting of your identification (MMSI) number, a description of your boat and your personal contact information.

MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity):  The MMSI number serves as both a nine digit “telephone number” and as a unique identification number for the U.S. Coast Guard to use in order to locate and identify you in an emergency.   During normal communications, vessels with DSC capable radios may call each other over channel 70 using the MMSI as a "telephone number". The signal will only be received by those vessels with the MMSI numbers that were called.   During an emergency, the boater may push a button to automatically transmit a May Day call which would include their MMSI number (and location if the radio is linked to a GPS receiver) to every DSC radio within range. When the U.S. Coast Guard receives the unique MMSI number, it will use the information on file (emergency contact number, type of vessel, etc.) to mount a more effective rescue effort.   For more information regarding MMSI, visit:
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mmsi   

IMPORTANT NOTE: Depending on the make and model of your DSC radio, it may limit the number of times you can try to program your MMSI number into the radio. If you try to enter an MMSI number too many times, the radio may lock out future attempts, forcing you to send the unit to the manufacturer to re-program the MMSI number. Typically the radios offer you two (2) opportunities to program your MMSI number, but be sure to read the owner’s manual regarding your specific model. Please be careful when initially programming your newly assigned MMSI number.

Get your MMSI number from: http://www.boatus.com/mmsi/

How does this help me with my fishing? With a DSC equipped VHF and GPS on your boat you can actually "show" your location to your friends when you're out on the water. Using my GPS I can select one of my buddies MMSI number and send them a message through my VHF radio that will show up as a boat icon on his GPS screen with my name underneath. It flashes and shows my friend my exact location. This is very helpful if we're both trying to find fish and want to help one another. No one else can see or hear this transmission and it will be on the other person's GPS when they come back from a long wade. No missed radio or phone calls.

Back to Top

That's it. I hope this has helped. Remember, for specific 'How To' information for your unit check out the Angler Products Cheat Sheets specifically written for your make and model available on this site.

Thanks for visiting and have fun on the water.

Captain John