On the face of the Garmin 440 there is a small door for the SD card. This door has a piece of rubber to make it water tight and is held closed by a magnet. A thumb screw or plastic clip would have done the job, but a magnet is really stupid. There is no warning in the installation section of the manual, but in the spec section it states: Compass Safe Distance: 95cm. If my math is correct, that is 37 inches. Mine is mounted on the binnacle guard and it definitely affects the compass. I have a Simrad wheel pilot that is about 26 inches away from the 440, but does not seem to interfere. My other issue is a lack of dampening of the unit. In really lumpy seas the 440 is sensing side to side movement as well as forward movement. This seems to comfuse the unit and it refreshes the screen contantly. I have to stare at the unit constantly waiting for a brief picture before it refreshes the screen again. The unit acts normally in smoother water. My old 162 never had this problem. On a positive note, the small screen is easy to read even in bright sunlight. Operation is all menu driven and take a little getting used to, but not that bad once you get the hang of it. Don, #6293, Niceville, FL --- On Sun, 6/15/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: GPS To: [email protected] Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008, 4:36 PM I have the 76 model & have not had any problems. I have been considering the 440, what has made you disappointed in this model? Lew -----Original Message----- From: Don Brooks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:39 am Subject: catalina27-talk: GPS My old Garmin 162 chartplotter was mounted on the binnacle guard and served me well for many years. Lately, it started getting very slow to refresh screens. At times, it would shut down with only a black vertical line on the screen. On our last cruise, the screen froze at a very critical moment. Too old to repair, I bought a new Garmin 440, which I am very disappointed with, but that's another story. I read an article in the GoodOldBoat newsletter about the Department of Defense making changes to the WAAS satellites that have caused problems in Garmin 72 and 76. Garmin's tech support recommended to turn the WAAS function off on affected units. So I got out my old 162 and turned the WAAS off and it works fine. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, I turned it off and on several times, and it always slowed down with WAAS turned on. With it turned off, the position error or accuracy, increases 1-2ft, not a big deal. I hooked the unit up on my truck and drove around. Not a problem. Further reading indicates that other brands of GPS are also having problems with the new WAAS transmissions. So if you are having problems with your GPS and it is new enough to have WAAS, try to turn it off. Don, #6293, Niceville, FL Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more!
