Oregon 400c g2 Bluecharts All Regions Unlocked ?

[pratzert]

I am having a heck of a time getting specific info about the Oregon 400c which comes wiht the g2 Bluecharts on it.

 

Does anyone here have the 400c ?

 

1.) Are the maps on an "SD" card or in the unit memory ?

 

2.) Are "ALL" the regions unlocked for viewing or Only one and then I have to pay for others ?

 

3.) Can you actually "plot a course" thru channels between markers/bouys ?

 

4.) Any idea how often the g2 charts are updated and how much an update would cost ?

 

Thanks for any help.

[eaparks]

I am having a heck of a time getting specific info about the Oregon 400c which comes wiht the g2 Bluecharts on it.

 

Does anyone here have the 400c ?

 

1.) Are the maps on an "SD" card or in the unit memory ?

 

2.) Are "ALL" the regions unlocked for viewing or Only one and then I have to pay for others ?

 

3.) Can you actually "plot a course" thru channels between markers/bouys ?

 

4.) Any idea how often the g2 charts are updated and how much an update would cost ?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

Hopefully, I can assist you. I have an Oregon 400c, just came from a 60CSx. Still use both.

 

1. Maps are on the units internal memory and are also the basemap for the unit.

 

2. All regions are unlocked, including the Bahamas. I haven't looked beyond that to see if any othe parts of the Caribbean are unlocked.

 

3. Yes, most definitely. Is rather time consuming creating the waypoints on the unit if you are covering several miles and have the unit zoomed in a lot. In a channel with a lot of turns you would want to be zoomed in a lot to be sure you were marking the center of the channel. Another option would be to create and save the track using the GPS. Or option no. 2 create enough waypoints on the unit and transfer to Mapsource and connect the waypoints as a saved track and send the track back to the unit.

 

4. Don't know.

edit: g2 map is called "U.S. Marine Detail g2i v2.51" on the Maps page of the unit.

Edited April 1, 2009 by eaparks

[pratzert]

I am having a heck of a time getting specific info about the Oregon 400c which comes wiht the g2 Bluecharts on it.

 

Does anyone here have the 400c ?

 

1.) Are the maps on an "SD" card or in the unit memory ?

 

2.) Are "ALL" the regions unlocked for viewing or Only one and then I have to pay for others ?

 

3.) Can you actually "plot a course" thru channels between markers/bouys ?

 

4.) Any idea how often the g2 charts are updated and how much an update would cost ?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

Hopefully, I can assist you. I have an Oregon 400c, just came from a 60CSx. Still use both.

 

1. Maps are on the units internal memory and are also the basemap for the unit.

 

2. All regions are unlocked, including the Bahamas. I haven't looked beyond that to see if any othe parts of the Caribbean are unlocked.

 

3. Yes, most definitely. Is rather time consuming creating the waypoints on the unit if you are covering several miles and have the unit zoomed in a lot. In a channel with a lot of turns you would want to be zoomed in a lot to be sure you were marking the center of the channel. Another option would be to create and save the track using the GPS. Or option no. 2 create enough waypoints on the unit and transfer to Mapsource and connect the waypoints as a saved track and send the track back to the unit.

 

4. Don't know.

edit: g2 map is called "U.S. Marine Detail g2i v2.51" on the Maps page of the unit.

 

eaparks... Thanks a ton for your help.

 

So... you CAN manipulate data using MapSource.

 

I had been reading reports to the contrary and I am glad you can use mapsource.

 

Perhaps it's that you can't actually load the g2 charts into mapsource. But I do already have the regular bluecharts and maybe I can use that back and forth. ( I have a 76CSx. )

 

Thanks again. Tim

[eaparks]

Just so you will be aware of the City Navigator and Garmin Topo map drawing problem with all of the Oregon and Colorado units that have satellite imagery, which includes Oregon 400c, 400i, Colorado 400c, and 400i. See my post from a previous thread.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=3861926

[eaparks]

eaparks... Thanks a ton for your help.

 

So... you CAN manipulate data using MapSource.

 

I had been reading reports to the contrary and I am glad you can use mapsource.

 

Perhaps it's that you can't actually load the g2 charts into mapsource. But I do already have the regular bluecharts and maybe I can use that back and forth. ( I have a 76CSx. )

 

Thanks again. Tim

 

I wan't sure if I explained what you were asking, because you can not view the the g2 charts on the unit in Mapsource. I was saying to create waypoints in the unit and transfer just the waypoints to Mapsource to manipulate them.

 

As far as using your exisiting Bluecharts and creating waypoints and tracks in it and sending those to the GPS and viewing in your g2 charts on the units, yes you can. I do the same with Garmin's U.S. Inland Lakes on my PC.

 

For the most part the U.S. Inland Lakes and g2 Charts are the same, except for 1 area on the TN River where 2 g2 charts mate with each other and 1 of the g2 charts has the channel off by about 200'. It's obvious when you zoom in on the unit that the geographic features don't match (line up) changing from 1 chart to the next. In this case the U.S. Inland Lakes is correct and the g2 chart is off.

edit: g2 charts have considerably more detail than Inland Lakes detail but the general buoy locations, sailing lanes, lights and markers are basically the same for my area.

Edited April 1, 2009 by eaparks

[MarcTheReliabilityMan]

eaparks... Thanks a ton for your help.

 

So... you CAN manipulate data using MapSource.

 

I had been reading reports to the contrary and I am glad you can use mapsource.

 

Perhaps it's that you can't actually load the g2 charts into mapsource. But I do already have the regular bluecharts and maybe I can use that back and forth. ( I have a 76CSx. )

 

Thanks again. Tim

 

I wan't sure if I explained what you were asking, because you can not view the the g2 charts on the unit in Mapsource. I was saying to create waypoints in the unit and transfer just the waypoints to Mapsource to manipulate them.

 

As far as using your exisiting Bluecharts and creating waypoints and tracks in it and sending those to the GPS and viewing in your g2 charts on the units, yes you can. I do the same with Garmin's U.S. Inland Lakes on my PC.

 

For the most part the U.S. Inland Lakes and g2 Charts are the same, except for 1 area on the TN River where 2 g2 charts mate with each other and 1 of the g2 charts has the channel off by about 200'. It's obvious when you zoom in on the unit that the geographic features don't match (line up) changing from 1 chart to the next. In this case the U.S. Inland Lakes is correct and the g2 chart is off.

edit: g2 charts have considerably more detail than Inland Lakes detail but the general buoy locations, sailing lanes, lights and markers are basically the same for my area.

[MarcTheReliabilityMan]

Thank you for posting this question and the responses! I have had the same questions and find the response very useful.

[pratzert]

FYI... I've mentioned it before, but I have the 2008.5 Bluecharts and they have been out since the middle of last year. I had assumed that Garmin ( or whoever ) was putting out a neweer updated version of Bluecharts every 6 months or so.

 

I emailed Garmin to ask when the next Bluecharts would be available and Garmin responded that they were not going to be puttin gout any more updates of Bluecharts and that the units that use Bluecharts were being updated with firmware that will allow them to use the g2 Bluecharts.

 

That is not good news. I have always used Bluecharts and Mapsource to plan courses and navigation BEFORE I took any trips/cruises on the boat or jet ski.

 

You can't load the g2 Bluecharts into Mapsource so you can't do a real time or visual plotting of courses etc.

 

I have not seen any firmwar eupdates for my existing 76CSx yet to allow it to use g2 and by the time I use the 76CSx for navigation, the charts will be nearly a year old.

 

I wonder if this firmware update is going to be for ALL of the Handheld Garmin GPS units ?

 

Additionally, the g2 Bluecharts are only available on SD cards which are MUCH more expensive than the regular Bluecharts on DVD.

 

So Garmin is taking away a major feature and capability of my 76CSx and it's goingto cost me a bundle.

 

The same will hold true for the Oregon 400c. I have not seen any information about any sort of "Upgrade" or updates of the g2 Bluecharts at all.