looking to buy a chart plotter/gps with fuel flow

[walken1414]

HELP. i am about to go nuts. i am looking for a chart plotter with fuel flow and have no idea what to get. also what is the difference between gps and a chart plotter. do you want a internal or external antenna?
we boat on inland waters if that helps.
any help you can give would be great, i have very little hair left and this is not helping.
thanks

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: looking to buy a chart plotter/gps with fuel flow

HELP. i am about to go nuts. i am looking for a chart plotter with fuel flow and have no idea what to get. also what is the difference between gps and a chart plotter. do you want a internal or external antenna?
we boat on inland waters if that helps.
any help you can give would be great, i have very little hair left and this is not helping.
thanks

"GPS" as the name implies, is a global satellite system which, among other things, provides data identifying the position of the receiving antenna. A chart plotter, among other things, displays the data acquired by the GPS antenna on a chart of the region in which the antenna is located.

An internal GPS antenna will function just as well as an external antenna, based upon my personal experience, and makes rigging the electronics package easier. There will be proponents of both systems.

In order for your plotter to display fuel flow and other engine data independently from another separate display, you must first determine whether or not your engine(s) are capable of transmitting data in a format that your chart plotter can read. The question becomes: what motor(s) do you have?

 

[tkrfxr]

Re: looking to buy a chart plotter/gps with fuel flow

HELP. i am about to go nuts. i am looking for a chart plotter with fuel flow and have no idea what to get. also what is the difference between gps and a chart plotter. do you want a internal or external antenna?
we boat on inland waters if helps.
any help you can give would be great, i have very little hair left and this is not helping.
thanks

Look into LowranceNet. Here is a good start.

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/LowranceNET-Marine-Networking-System/

You need to research quite a bit before you buy. I would consult a professional, or at least find someone with a boat like yours, amd with a setup like th one you want....

(sounds like you need to go to some boat shows to see what's out there...)

-Good luck!

 

[walken1414]

Re: looking to buy a chart plotter/gps with fuel flow

thanks, we went to the boat show last night and not a single dealer there. i have been on the lowrance web site and am still lost.

 

[jhebert]

Re: looking to buy a chart plotter/gps with fuel flow

A GPS and a chart plotter have absolutely nothing to do with fuel flow.

As mentioned, GPS is an acronym for a global positioning system, and most commonly refers to the U.S. military's NAVSTAR GPS. Buying your own GPS would cost billions. You are probably talking about a NAVSTAR GPS receiver. They cost about $40 for a state of the art receiver.

A chart plotter is a device that is able to use electronic chart cartography and to display a vessel's present position on the electronic chart. These displays can also be used for other purposes. When multiple functions are displayed on a display, the display is called a multi-function display.

Fuel flow can be measured by a sensor in the fuel line or it can be imputed from data supplied by an engine controller. A number of multi-function displays can utilize data from a fuel sensor or from an engine controller about fuel flow rates, and then display the data to you.

These days the more common arrangement with a display and a fuel flow sensor is to connect them using NMEA-2000 networking. NMEA-2000 networking is also used to connect a multi-function display to an engine controller.

 

[dan t.]

Re: looking to buy a chart plotter/gps with fuel flow

Northstar makes both chartplotters and depthsounders with fuel flow capacity