CHARTPLOTTER

[BOB A]

CONCIDERING BUYING A CHARTPLOTTER CURRANTLY LOOKING AT STANDARD HORIZON 170C OR GARMIN 182C ANY SUGGESTIONS

[Kyle Ewing]

I recently bought a Standard Horizon CP-150 which is the smaller, non-color version of the 170C.  Will let you know after the season how I like it.  Selling points for me were features for price and C-Map NT+ software.  Because of how I plan to use it, the larger screen and color aren't worth the extra cost to me.  

I plan to mount mine at the chart table and interface it to the radar at the helm to display GPS and waypoint info.

Kyle Ewing
Donnybrook #1010
Belmont Harbor, Chicago

[Ray & Sandy Erps]

I just picked up a used laptop and installed chart plotter software in it.  I'm pretty excited about the new toy.  I thought it would be more versatile, as I'll also have chapters out of the Coast Pilot for this region, reference material on local marine parks available off the internet, Tide and Current software, scans of important documents like registration, birth certificates and the dog's shot records, phone number and addresses in case of emergency and it plays DVD movies and loads music up on our MP3 players.  The downside is that the computer needs to stay downstairs out of the weather and may use more power.  Kind of interested in what others think is the way to go, dedicated chartplotter or a computer.

[mike baker]

I bought a Garmin 182 a couple years ago.  It doesn't have color but works great.  I mounted it on the binnacle beside the instrucment pod and interfaced it with the auto pilot.  Blue chips have all the detail of paper charts plus some local information.  Each chip covers more area than other brands and is less expensive.  The only way I would part with my 182 would be to trade it for a color model.


Mike Baker #815 "Gray Hawk"

[mike baker]

I forgot to mention that from my experience a chart plotter should be mounted beside the helm.  Of course I don't do it, but I could almost steer by the plotter alone without looking forward.  Before all of you jump on my, I would never do that nor push my luck in bad visibility just because I have the plotter.


Mike Baker #815 "Gray Hawk"

[SailDan]

Ray: We installed a NAVMAN 5600 chartplotter last spring in preparation for our trip to the North Channel (Lake Huron, Ontario). I mounted it on the stanchion next to the helm. These units use C-Map NT & NT+ (narrow and wide area coverage, respectively). They have a 6.4" diagonal color screen and have inputs and outputs which allow you to interface with your autohelm, connect to extermal alarms, depth meter, speedo, etc. We are extremely pleased with the unit, its price and quality of construction (made in New Zealand). Their support is also great; I screwed up and broke the antenna during installation.  I called the company's 800 number on the east coast and they sent me a new one at NO CHARGE the next day. I would definitely go with the color display for daylight viewing. They also sell a smaller 5" color chartplotter, Navman 5500.  If you want grey / monochrome they manufacture a 5" grey / monochrome model (Navman 5100).
Good luck,
Dan

Here are a few sites you can check out:
http://www.navman.com/marine/products/
http://www.boatersworld.com/bm/chartplotters/NavMan/319860193.html
http://www.sailnet.com/store/item.cfm?pid=29383

(PS: If interested, you can seen the unit in use during our North Channel trip at the following site:

[This message was edited by Dan Harrington, #1289 1994, "Weal Sea" on March 25, 2004 at 11:51 AM.]

[Ray & Sandy Erps]

I’ve learned quite a bit about electronic charting software this past month and have come to the conclusion that if you travel in Canadian waters, now is probably not the best time to get into it.

First a little background.  I got along just fine without hitting the hard stuff for ten years with only a depth sounder, compass and charts.  Later I bought a little Garmin hand held GPS that gave me instantaneous Lat/Lon and the ability to store way points.  I was very comfortable with set up.  Still, I would get a little nervous now and then in a couple of places up in Canadian Waters.  There are a lot of rocks in the Gulf Islands and I didn’t have the intimate knowledge of them like the waters of the Puget Sound.  During those times I thought how much more relaxing the trip would be with a chart plotter.

Well Uncle Sam was giving us some money back this year so I jumped in.  First choice was between Vector or Raster Charts.  I think Vector charts are the future.  If money grew on tress, I’d have gone that route.  Problem was the Canadian Chart provider, NDI, started putting their charts in a format not supported by Nobeltec.  I decided to go with “First Mate” by Nautical Technologies.  It was a decent little program that showed you where you were on Raster Charts and the program came with a set of charts of your choice.  Raster charts have been around awhile and there are different companies to choose from so there is some healthy competition.

“First Mate” arrived two days after ordering it.  It loaded up well and worked as advertised.  I was happy with it.  It didn’t show tide and current overlays on the charts, which would have been very handy, but I had a separate Tide and Current program.  Our trip to Desolation Sound is coming up in July, so I started looking around for some Canadian Charts.  I was finding that several of the webpages for Canadian charts were no longer active.  I also soon found out that the Canadian Charts new format (BSB4) wasn’t supported by “First Mate”.  I called Nautical Technology up and they said that several industry leaders lobbied NDI not to go to the new BSB4 format, but they did it anyway.  I was told that Nobeltec refused to support it as did Nautical Technology at first, but they went ahead and tweaked their full meal deal software (Capn Voyager Mosaic) to be compatible.  They would allow me to send back First Mate and they would upgrade me to Voyager Mosaic.  I plunked down the extra money and waited another five days for the new and improved software to arrive.

While waiting, I started checking into this business with Canadian Charts on the web, as I got a little hint of hostility directed at NDI by the folks at Nautical Technologies.  What I found is that there is a little charting war going on up in Canada.  The government agency that is responsible for finding the rocks and marking them down on paper has given NDI a monopoly to distribute the charts.  NDI decided it was going to charge a 50% royalty for its charts.  I’ve learned that the corresponding U.S. agency doesn’t charge any royalties because the tax payer already paid for it.  Other countries charge around 5 to 8%.  I learned that C-MAP and another similar outfit tried negotiating with NDI to get the royalty rate a little lower and NDI held fast.  The result is that Canadian Charts are hard to come by.

Now one can still buy NDI charts but they come with only a one year license.  It appears that the user is given some codes to load it up on your computer that are good for a year.  I’ve asked the folks at NDI what happens after a year and haven’t gotten straight answer yet.  My concern of course if spending big bucks for some Canadian Charts and then not be able to use them the following season unless I send them an annual license fee.  The NDI website said they are doing this in the interest of boater safety, so the boaters will always have fresh charts.  That works for rich boaters but what about us poor boaters.  Now I don’t figure that the rocks move around that much anyway unless Canadian rocks are different than American Rocks, so if I was sure that I could still use the charts for several seasons, I’d go ahead and shell out the bucks to buy a set, but so far I haven’t gotten any reassurances from NDI.

The plus side is that all of this has ticked off the Canadian boaters and they’re complaining to the government.  Maybe something will change before vacation in July.

[jentine]

Every time I think that I should get another chartplotter, I read a story like the one from Ray.  It makes me glad that I have had a Yeoman.  I have had one on each of my boats for more than 12 years.  It has been a good decision.
Whenever I sail in other than home waters, I can always get some kind of chart at a reasonable cost.  I once used a pull out from National Geographic for an ocean chart.  I will continue to use the Yeoman until they are no longer available.  I hope that day never comes.
It is one chart plotter that can be used in the cockpit or chart table or anywhere else and give the navigator a broad overview of the area.
Don't get me wrong, I have the Captain with electronic charts and a Raytheon chartplotter, but my mainstay is the Yeoman and hard charts.

Jim Kane

[svsjora]

I installed a Garmin 2006c gps/chartplotter last year and it is awsome! The Bluechart vector graphics are superb. I mounted it under the deck overhang to the right of the nav station. From there it can be easily operated sitting or standing. Having it below eliminates the sunlight problems. It is interfaced with my pedestal mounted radar which acts as a repeater for the nav data and of course is also interfaced with the autopilot.