On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:40:26 +0100, "Ric" tempted fate
with:
Hello,
I am fitting my boat out for a round the world cruise.
Currently I have a raymarine 425 chartplotter. Unfortunately this suffers
from two disadvantages - first it uses proprietary memory chips for the
charts, which means that I would not be able to electronically download
charts from the internet and load them as I need them - and second it is one
of the worst chartplotters for PC connection as Raymarine seem to have
cornered people into buying their own expensive software to connect.
I am therefore after a more user-friendly chartplotter. Basically I would
like to find a chartplotter that firstly takes Compact Flash cards (thus
allowing me to erase and load charts as I move, downloading them from the
internet or sweapping them with other sailors as needed) and which also
allows easy connection to freeware PC programs.
Ideally, is there any chartplotter out there yet which can use indifferently
all the different electronic chart formats out there? That would be cool!
It would, but I know of no such animal. Question, do you really need
a chartplotter? Since you specify that you have a PC, have you
considered attaching a cheap handheld to it and using something like
OziExplorer? It supports many different chart formats and can
calibrate a scanned chart or even a satellite photo for use. You can
print your charts out, too. If the PC craps out enroute, replacement
parts or a complete replacement may be easier to find than for a
chartplotter. Adapters are available to read some of the different
media with a PC, as well, but I've never tried them. I'm not saying
it's the best solution for everyone, but your stated needs seem to
lean that way. As for me, they can sell me a chartplotter when they
make one that reads my MapTech CDs.
Anyway, Garmins seem to me to have the most extensive support in the
freeware community, for some reason, but I don't really know what you
want to do to your chartplotter with your pc.
__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
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