Tinkering with my old Garmin GPS 75 and an old solar panel
Posted By RichC on February 20, 2011
While doing a few chores around the yard on a bright and warm-ish Saturday afternoon, I decided to hook my old Garmin GPS 75 (early 1990s) to a solar panel scavenged from the boat to see if they both still worked. Besides being clunky, and slow to acquire the satellites, the GPS worked after putting in new batteries. Unfortunately all my old waypoints and trips were gone. (GPS 75 PDF manual)
A little sailing history on the Garmin GPS 75:
Sailing legends Sir Robin Knox Johnson and Sir Peter Blake used a Garmin GPS 75 for their round-the-world voyage in a catamaran in 1994. The team won the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation in a time of 74 days, 22 hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds. This was their second attempt at the prize after their 1992 voyage was aborted when their catamaran Enza struck an object, tearing a hole in the hull. The GPS 75 used in their successful voyage was later donated to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, where it is currently on display.
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