Garmin BlueChart G2 Vision HD

kap2

kap2

Active Member
Oct 28, 2013
203
Rhode Island
Boat Info
370 Sundancer 1998
Engines
Twin 7.4L Mercruiser V-drive
Looking for advice from members that have upgraded their Garmin charts. Is it worth updating from my preloaded chart to the HD or Vision HD? Also, I've noticed a large price spread online. What should I lookout for?

Thanks!
 
Lookout for fake cards! If it's not used but it costs a lot less than what Garmin charges, beware.

Vision is useful if it covers an area that you plan to cruise but are unfamiliar with, OR if you want to enable the auto-guidance feature.

At this point my card doesn't cover any ports that i haven't been to several times, so while they're cool, things like aerial photos aren't very useful. I plot my own routes using Homeport, and my auto-pilot can't follow auto-guidance, so I don't use that either.

What I DO like is the land imagery. I like to see actual trees, buildings and roads instead of a large yellow mass.
 
I'm a big fan of the Vision HD product as it integrates the bathymetric information into plotting a course (like their auto-guidance feature which I do use). The satellite imagery, however slows things down and, I think, makes the chart resolution too difficult to easily view; so I don't turn that feature on. The camera views have been very handy for me as I do visit a lot of different ports, inlets, and marinas. The different perspectives features have no real value to me.
It's interesting, however, that Garmin's Bluechart Mobile has much more detail than their official navigation S/W like the Bluechart Vision HD. I have come to understand that some of the detail in the Mobile app is not NOAA based data consequently presents an issue for an official navigational suite.
Only buy Garmin products from Garmin or official Garmin outlets unless you are going to buy used..... Consider if you should insert a third party of unknown origin data chip into your chart plotter and it locks up or becomes corrupted; Garmin would probably say you are out of luck and now what does one do? Fork out some Bit-Coins to someone??
 
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I also use the Vision HD product, and the auto-guidance. I do find that although the auto guidance is usually a very efficient route, it will sometimes "cut corners" when it knows there's enough water for your boat. I find that after auto navigate, I go in and make a few adjustments to bring the course to the aids to navigation, instead of cutting them, especially in new harbors, or congested areas. If fog rolls in, or I'm traveling at night, having a course plotted that lines you up on the buoys and keeps you in preferred channels is usually better for you and everyone else around you :)
You do get one free update when you buy from Garmin, so you get 2 years out of a chart. (I update my charts each spring.)
 
I had the vision card but the card died. I do miss having the land look like land, instead of yellow masses as mentioned above. That said, I never used the different perspective views, and only used the auto-guidance a few times. In the bay there are a ton of crab pots, and the auto guidance liked to take me wherever the water was deep enough (within bounds I set up). Unfortunately that means you either 1) set it to be deep enough to be outside typical crab pot depth, or 2) ignore the auto guidance because it takes you through the shallower areas where the pots are. If you set the auto route up to go only in deep water, then it often cant calculate a route to the end destination because you typically enter shallower water (creeks/inlets/harbors) which are outside the depth parameters for avoiding crab pots.

All that said, I didn't work TOO much to get it going because I typically pre-plot on Homeport and import to the in-dash unit, or run a plot alongside me on my iPAD with bluechart mobile zoomed out. I have found that to be my preferred approach. Since the iPAD screen is bigger than my 720 unit screen. Since the chart depths and points are the same on both... it's easy to pick waypoints under way and navigate to them on the 720.
 
ttmott said:
I'm a big fan of the Vision HD product as it integrates the bathymetric information into plotting a course (like their auto-guidance feature which I do use). The satellite imagery, however slows things down and, I think, makes the chart resolution too difficult to easily view; so I don't turn that feature on.
Click to expand...

I'm not even sure I'd use auto-guidance even if my AP was compatible because of the issue be_prepared and Jim mentioned: when I cut buoys, I want to make that call, not my plotter.

Without waypoints, I don't find the auto-guidance very useful. I don't want to concentrate on my plotter enough to follow that efficient, curvy course that can skirt danger zones on the wrong side of markers.

I create routes in Homeport instead. I decide which markers to clear and which to cut, and what bearings to take. I set WP's where I want them and I name them. At this point nearly every Garmin owner on my pier has a copy of my routes. As much of a techno-geek as I am, I'm a control freak too.

G2 Vision slowed my 5212 to the point that I wanted to upgrade, but not to the point where I wanted to forego imagery. The first time I used it in my 8212 sea imagery was on. I didn't even know that existed. I promptly turned it off. Imagery doesn't impact the performance of the 82 at all - it responds immediately to any input. The newer software allows you to scale how much of the imagery is visible. I keep land on full and sea off, and it will likely stay that way.
 
RollerCoastr said:
I'm not even sure I'd use auto-guidance even if my AP was compatible because of the issue be_prepared and Jim mentioned: when I cut buoys, I want to make that call, not my plotter.

Without waypoints, I don't find the auto-guidance very useful. I don't want to concentrate on my plotter enough to follow that efficient, curvy course that can skirt danger zones on the wrong side of markers.

I create routes in Homeport instead. I decide which markers to clear and which to cut, and what bearings to take. I set WP's where I want them and I name them. At this point nearly every Garmin owner on my pier has a copy of my routes. As much of a techno-geek as I am, I'm a control freak too.

G2 Vision slowed my 5212 to the point that I wanted to upgrade, but not to the point where I wanted to forego imagery. The first time I used it in my 8212 sea imagery was on. I didn't even know that existed. I promptly turned it off. Imagery doesn't impact the performance of the 82 at all - it responds immediately to any input. The newer software allows you to scale how much of the imagery is visible. I keep land on full and sea off, and it will likely stay that way.
Click to expand...
Much of my Auto-Guidance use is in the Bahamas (Northern Abaco to South Exuma) where it has proven very effective and helpful in plotting a course. We never really do the same route twice when there. This doesn't say that I assume I can disappear from the helm, nothing changes whether or not the plotter is in use. The Hazard Review feature is also very helpful. I'm using it on a 7612xsv.
 
G2 Vision slows down your 7612?!? That's really disappointing. What firmware are you running?

Do you have a Garmin AP? That would change my opinion drastically, but in 8 seasons of having auto-guidance, the convenience of that hasn't outweighed the use of my old-fashioned auto-pilot.
 
RollerCoastr said:
G2 Vision slows down your 7612?!? That's really disappointing. What firmware are you running?

Do you have a Garmin AP? That would change my opinion drastically, but in 8 seasons of having auto-guidance, the convenience of that hasn't outweighed the use of my old-fashioned auto-pilot.
Click to expand...
I have the Garmin GHP Reactor Autopilot with Smart Pump and Shadow Drive as well as the Garmin xHD2 open array radar. What seems to "labor" the system is the satellite imagery overlay. Also I have Noland engine monitors, a couple of GHP20 MFD's, Sonar, and the AIS enabled VHF all camped on the NEMA2000 backbone. As far as firmware on the 7612, I don't know, however, the latest SW download has been done on all of the Garmin components. I should probably clarify what I mean by "labor" is that photo imagery overlay which is the same as Google Earth from what I can tell seems to refresh slower when the radar sweeps over it so I simply turn off the imagery feature. The system is very fast and agile regardless.
 
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Ok, the GHP makes all the difference with auto-guidance, so now makes sense that you like to use it. It's great for people with a compatible AP or no AP, but nearly uses with an AP that requires waypoints.

I might have to take the plunge soon. I've been struggling with some bad wiring somewhere on the 0183 network, then I noticed recently that the screen on my antique AP is cracked.

I tried to look-up the difference in processor speed between an 82 and a 76. I can't find any specs to tell me. I would expect my out-of-production 82 to be slower, but nothing I can throw at it slows it down - even with radar overlay and land and sea imagery. I'm assuming if you ran an update that yours is at 9.2.... I wonder what's going on?
 
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