Equipment Review:
Garmin GPSMAP 4008

The Garmin GPSMAP 4008 was introduced in 2008 as part of the "latest generation" chart plotter display units, and it is a very impressive piece of kit.

The Outside

Garmin go the extra mile for design and styling. This looks a high quality product, with a strong casing, neat buttons and a nice modern look to it. The screen has video-quality resolution on an 8.4” VGA display - this is much better than older displays measured in pixels. It can be mounted on a bracket or in the dash, and although it is deeper than the equivalent Standard Horizon models it is nowhere near as deep as the Raymarine unit so most instrument bulkheads on boats over 23 feet should be able to accommodate it.

The Charts

Garmin use BlueChart g2 Vision which you will need, as the worldwide base map supplied is only useful for school geography lessons. You will probably have to buy the card for the whole of the UK and Western Europe, because a subset of this is not much cheaper than the full chart area. This chart card includes satellite earth images in place of land areas, and aerial photographs for selected locations such as harbour entrances. It also supports a 3D fish-eye view which looks impressive in a demo but uses only the chart data so the flat bottom of the Eastern Solent is not very interesting. The 3D Mariner's eye view is a bit more useful as it shows the land as bumps, as you would when viewing from the sea, and shows lights where they would be seen.

Connecting Up

If you want to add more gizmos and use this unit as a command centre, you can add radar, fish finder video cameras and other data receivers such as weather and AIS. The video input cable comes in the box so you can easily fit a camera - I tried out an underwater colour camera bought from eBay for less than £50, and the display was crisp and detailed. Other Garmin devices can be connected with the Garmin Marine Network system, a high-speed data network of cables and connectors which ensure all Garmin devices connect up and work efficiently.

Installing

I originally planned to install it in the dash, but this means a complete redesign of my switch panel so I took the easy route of a bracket mount. In hindsight this was a good move as the screen and controls are close to the helm position. It also means I can take it home for safe keeping! The external GPS receiver supplied can be flush mounted or pole mounted. I spent and hour flush mounting in a very fiddly place before discovering the pole mount adaptor in the box, which meant it could have been a straight swap for my old one! Oh well, at least it won't have a stumpy mast to get damaged.

The GPS cable has a fused power input and fray of tiny wires (is that a collective noun I wonder?) Surprisingly for such a plug-happy company, the Garmin GPS receiver cable has to be connected to the unit's data cable by connecting individual wires. I chose to use solder and heat-shrink tube, although you could use a mini connector block. Instructions were easy to follow, and I connected everything including the NMEA-Out to the DSC VHF radio. I surprised myself when I powered up - everything worked first time!

Using

When you power on for the first time, it takes you through a short interview to establish settings and preferences, then off you go. Software updates and the G2 charts are supplied on an SD card which is easy to insert through a door on the front. Everything is highly intuitive, and it uses the concept of fixed keys down the side of the screen, with changing legends on the screen depending on what you are doing. Just like a cashpoint machine in fact. There is a very flash zippered wallet for the manual...but the manual is on a CD! This is frustrating because you have to print it out (not many people will have a PC in the wheelhouse to view a manual) and the format (and the wallet) is American letter size not A4. If you are familiar with a GPS or chart plotter you will not need to refer to it much, I was using the chart plotter without looking at the manual once.

The pictures on the right do not really do the display justice, but it does show the flexibility of the screen and the useful images available on the card. I have had only limited time to use it at sea so far, but I can't fault it for anything yet!

Setting up Waypoints at Home

Setting up waypoints is a lot easier with a full keyboard, a beer in front of you and sitting on a chair that is not wobbling about. To do this you need a PC and a copy of Garmin Mapsource software (about £29). The software is simple and reasonably intuitive, if not particularly modern-looking. The main gotcha is finding out how to transfer data onto a SD card then onto the GPSMAP 4008. Double gotcha actually, as my version of the software must have been on the shelf for a while and didn't even know what a 4008 was! The automatic software update failed with an unhelpful message but luckily the main Garmin web site had a full upgrade download available which worked first time. The other gotcha was writing to the SD card. Hidden very, very deep in the manual was the casual mention that the card has to be initialised in the unit before the Mapsource program will recognise it. This is done by saving the user data using the standard options on the unit. Once that is done it is a doddle, Mapsource recognises the SD card and will write all the data you have created on the PC onto the card so it can be uploaded into the GPSMAP unit.

Manufacturers information is on the Garmin web site.

The best price at the time of purchase was from the Marine Superstore, Port Solent.

Expect to pay around £1,200 for the GPSMAP 4008 and £190 for the full UK chart.

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