I am considerning buing some navigation/mapping software and would like
some recommendations.

I have a Magellan marine GPS and I have used it to map to a Palm
(scanned in map of Belize), but that was an old plam and the graphics
were just terrible. There appear to be NO digital charts or topo maps
for Belize.

I use the Magellan when driving, the graphics are OK but my eyes are
terrible.

I just bought a sailboat that has a chart plotter with C-map. I intend
to sail on the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

I was considering buying the following complement of toys:

1. Fugawi Marine 3 GPS Mapping Software $99
2. Fugawi ATL 3 charts $279
3. Iqu3 3600 ~$600 with accessories.

I belive that this will allow me to:
1. Run the Fugawi ATL 3 charts on my Win 98 laptop hooked to my Magellan
GPS.
2. Scan in paper topos of Belize that I can view on my laptop.
3. Navigat in Nova Scotia with the laptop + Magellan + ATL3
4. Upload the same paper scans of Belize to the IQue 3600
5. Use the ATL3 charts on the Ique 3600.
6. Use the Ique 3600 native road atlas for navitation within the US
(better graphics than the Magellan.)

My very rough understanding is that the Fugawi ATL 3 charts are raster
charts and may obviate the need for me to purchase all those paper charts.

Any feedback on the sanity or holes in this plan would be greatly
appreciated. This is a pretty expensive plan, did I miss anything?

Howard

Not sure about the legality of running with just computer charts, but
as someone who supported a bunch of people using windows computers, I
sure would hate to have to depend on it to work - especially when its
needed. If I'm not mistaken the Windows license says something like
you agree that its not fit for any purpose or words to that effect.
My guess is that Bill Gates would not have his billions if all the
people who got screwed by a windows crash could go after him for
damages. That doesn't even start to talk about something that might
involve your life. All that is to say that I have the Fugawi set up
and love it - Even hooked to my old lowrance GPS its lovely when it
works. There were times when it didn't. Fortunately that was only
when I was fiddling about with it. Not sure about the ATL software but
the NDI software that I have is loaded with "protection". That adds an
extra dimension to the "are your going to have it when you need it" -
question. A recovery from a Windows crash can still have you locked
out of the navigation software. You might be trying to phone them from
somewhere - off the coast in the middle of the night? - trying to get a
"key" to the software. When I tried I could only get through to them
Monday to Friday 9 to 5. What's your bet about when you're going to
need them? From what I gather there is now an ongoing dispute between
them and the Government of Canada so there is no assurance that even
that level of support would be in place for their software.

All this is to say I think you have to have physical charts regardless
of the computer setup.

As a side note I think the American government goes about it the right
way. They release their software "free". Fugawi "ENC" gives you
access to the American charts. Course since there is no bucks
involved there seems to be few other software providers making use of
that system - Everybody wants to sell you their copy of their
proprietary charts - by the chart - despite the fact that the
government does the expensive work - gathering the chart data.

I'd be interested if there are other views out there.

Hans

Howard Peer wrote:
I am considerning buing some navigation/mapping software and would
like
some recommendations.

I have a Magellan marine GPS and I have used it to map to a Palm
(scanned in map of Belize), but that was an old plam and the graphics

were just terrible. There appear to be NO digital charts or topo
maps
for Belize.

I use the Magellan when driving, the graphics are OK but my eyes are
terrible.

I just bought a sailboat that has a chart plotter with C-map. I
intend
to sail on the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

I was considering buying the following complement of toys:

1. Fugawi Marine 3 GPS Mapping Software $99
2. Fugawi ATL 3 charts $279
3. Iqu3 3600 ~$600 with accessories.

I belive that this will allow me to:
1. Run the Fugawi ATL 3 charts on my Win 98 laptop hooked to my
Magellan
GPS.
2. Scan in paper topos of Belize that I can view on my laptop.
3. Navigat in Nova Scotia with the laptop + Magellan + ATL3
4. Upload the same paper scans of Belize to the IQue 3600
5. Use the ATL3 charts on the Ique 3600.
6. Use the Ique 3600 native road atlas for navitation within the US
(better graphics than the Magellan.)

My very rough understanding is that the Fugawi ATL 3 charts are
raster
charts and may obviate the need for me to purchase all those paper
charts.

Any feedback on the sanity or holes in this plan would be greatly
appreciated. This is a pretty expensive plan, did I miss anything?

Howard

Hans,

Thanks for your reply.

I share your setiments towards Windows and Mr. Gates. Because of
similar experiences with computer reliability my intention was to have:
1. The chart plotter (vector)
2. The Ique 3600 using Fugawi
3. The laptop with Fugawi tied to my Magellan GPS
4. Paper charts for my principal crusing grounds, but not grounds I will
meerly transit.

My understanding is that the Fugawi are raster based charts. Do you
know that to be true.

Also, I am assuming that it is possible to load the Fugawi charts on
BOTH the laptop and Ique simultaneously. Do you know that to be true.

Howard

Hans wrote:

Not sure about the legality of running with just computer charts, but
as someone who supported a bunch of people using windows computers, I
sure would hate to have to depend on it to work - especially when its
needed. If I'm not mistaken the Windows license says something like
you agree that its not fit for any purpose or words to that effect.
My guess is that Bill Gates would not have his billions if all the
people who got screwed by a windows crash could go after him for
damages. That doesn't even start to talk about something that might
involve your life. All that is to say that I have the Fugawi set up
and love it - Even hooked to my old lowrance GPS its lovely when it
works. There were times when it didn't. Fortunately that was only
when I was fiddling about with it. Not sure about the ATL software but
the NDI software that I have is loaded with "protection". That adds an
extra dimension to the "are your going to have it when you need it" -
question. A recovery from a Windows crash can still have you locked
out of the navigation software. You might be trying to phone them from
somewhere - off the coast in the middle of the night? - trying to get a
"key" to the software. When I tried I could only get through to them
Monday to Friday 9 to 5. What's your bet about when you're going to
need them? From what I gather there is now an ongoing dispute between
them and the Government of Canada so there is no assurance that even
that level of support would be in place for their software.

All this is to say I think you have to have physical charts regardless
of the computer setup.

As a side note I think the American government goes about it the right
way. They release their software "free". Fugawi "ENC" gives you
access to the American charts. Course since there is no bucks
involved there seems to be few other software providers making use of
that system - Everybody wants to sell you their copy of their
proprietary charts - by the chart - despite the fact that the
government does the expensive work - gathering the chart data.

I'd be interested if there are other views out there.

Hans

Howard Peer wrote:

I am considerning buing some navigation/mapping software and would

like

some recommendations.

I have a Magellan marine GPS and I have used it to map to a Palm
(scanned in map of Belize), but that was an old plam and the graphics


were just terrible. There appear to be NO digital charts or topo

maps

for Belize.

I use the Magellan when driving, the graphics are OK but my eyes are
terrible.

I just bought a sailboat that has a chart plotter with C-map. I

intend

to sail on the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

I was considering buying the following complement of toys:

1. Fugawi Marine 3 GPS Mapping Software $99
2. Fugawi ATL 3 charts $279
3. Iqu3 3600 ~$600 with accessories.

I belive that this will allow me to:
1. Run the Fugawi ATL 3 charts on my Win 98 laptop hooked to my

Magellan

GPS.
2. Scan in paper topos of Belize that I can view on my laptop.
3. Navigat in Nova Scotia with the laptop + Magellan + ATL3
4. Upload the same paper scans of Belize to the IQue 3600
5. Use the ATL3 charts on the Ique 3600.
6. Use the Ique 3600 native road atlas for navitation within the US
(better graphics than the Magellan.)

My very rough understanding is that the Fugawi ATL 3 charts are

raster

charts and may obviate the need for me to purchase all those paper

charts.

Any feedback on the sanity or holes in this plan would be greatly
appreciated. This is a pretty expensive plan, did I miss anything?

Howard

Think you're way ahead of me on a number of things Howard. I have the
ENC version of Fugawi its help screen says -

"Fugawi is a comprehensive program for integrating vector and raster
charts or maps with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Fugawi
Marine ENC supports the S-57 vector data format adopted by the world's
hydrographic offices. The program also allows one to calibrate maps
precisely that have been scanned or imported from other digital
sources. Numerous government and commercial digital map products can
also be imported. Finally, vector street-level data is available in
selected regions."

As I mentioned I think the ENC part of Fugawi is worth it just to make
Fugawi usable with the free NOAA ENC charts. What I know about your
IQue comes from what I saw from Google. Fugawi talk about loading to
Palm so I'm guessing that your Ique should be covered in a similar
fashion. I'd email the Fugawi folks. They've helped me through the
bits I've learned and been quite friendly doing it. Not sure about
the software you talked about though. As I mentioned I've bought the
NDI stuff and found them a bit more sticky. For example, I had to prove
to their satisfaction that I had bought my software before they would
even talk to me. Evidently they don't keep track of who they sell
their software to. Hopefully the software that Fugawi sold you comes
from a happier group - but I'me guessing your question would rest with
them. The NDI software could only be loaded to 2 PC's. There may or
may not be similar restrictions with your software.

I would like to hear how your setup works out.

Best of luck.

Hans

Howard Peer wrote:
Hans,

Thanks for your reply.

I share your setiments towards Windows and Mr. Gates. Because of
similar experiences with computer reliability my intention was to
have:
1. The chart plotter (vector)
2. The Ique 3600 using Fugawi
3. The laptop with Fugawi tied to my Magellan GPS
4. Paper charts for my principal crusing grounds, but not grounds I
will
meerly transit.

My understanding is that the Fugawi are raster based charts. Do you
know that to be true.

Also, I am assuming that it is possible to load the Fugawi charts on
BOTH the laptop and Ique simultaneously. Do you know that to be
true.

Howard

On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 09:52:17 -0400, Howard Peer
wrote:

My understanding is that the Fugawi are raster based charts. Do you
know that to be true.

Plain Fugawi uses raster charts. Fugawi ENC supports both raster and
vector charts. US vector charts are available for free from NOAA with
more and more available all the time. Canadian vector charts from NDI
provide less coverage so far and are not cheap, let alone free. They
bundle the vector charts with raster charts to give complete area
coverage. Get the ENC version if you go with Fugawi.

Also, I am assuming that it is possible to load the Fugawi charts on
BOTH the laptop and Ique simultaneously. Do you know that to be true.

Once installed on my computer, the NDI vector and raster charts for
Fugawi are simple files that can be copied and moved to another
computer. I don't think there's any reason you couldn't download them
to another device, although running both simultaneously would probably
violate the license agreement.

Ryk