Admiralty charts into SeaClear

[pcatterall]

I read a recent thread on this but cant find it here. Can anyone help me locate it?
I bought the www.visitmyharbour disk. Its fine but I would like to put the charts into seaclear. The manual suggests it can be done using the mapcal ( ibration) function.
I think the thread said you had to 'pretend' to callibrate the charts then you could import as a group??
I would also like to be able to upload the waypoints created in Seaclear onto my track plotter or at least save them in seaclear. Any pointers??
Thanks

 

[electrosys]

Is it this one ?
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=277963

If you've bought the CD/DVD - then I'm confused (nothing new there, then). I thought the whole idea of the disk was that the charts were 'ready-to-go' with SeaClear, and didn't need any MapCal-ing ...

I'll be watching how this thread goes, as I'm also thinking of buying that CD.

 

[Bru]

Follow the destructions on the Visicharts DVD - the charts are pre-calibrated and there is a Seaclear install pre-configured to use the charts on the DVD

You can also set up an existing install of Seaclear to use the charts on the DVD by adding the relevant chart directories on the DVD to the Seaclear config using MapCal

What you can't do is copy the charts off the DVD and you have to run the startup program on the DVD before the charts will load as that program runs the decryption software

 

[pcatterall]

'Visit my harbour' indicate that the charts can be put into the seaclear chart directory rather than being taken from the disc all the time. It is via the MapCal feature. The thread I refer to was about this (the original post said it didnt work and the response was to actually 'pretend' to use the calibrate feature)
For the price it seems pretty good anyway!

 

[Bru]

Ah right, sorry - now I understand the question

I *think* you can copy the charts to the hard disk and use MapCal to add the relevant directory(s) to the list of chart directories. You then need to update or rebuild the chart database (in MapCal again)

However, you still need the DVD in the drive and to run the startup program off the DVD in order to load the decryption program - that prog then checks the DVD is present on each chart request

I haven't tried the above because I use the DVD in two different laptops (my home machine and the "boat" laptop). I guess it could save a bit of wear and tear on the battery by reducing the amount of time the DVD is spinning

Edit:

You can't load the Visichart charts into MapCal nor can you copy them frpom one place to another using MapCal - the only reason MapCal is involved in the process is because it contains the utilites for managing the SeaClear chart database and config files

 

[Overner]

VisitMyHarbour SeaClear charts

Hi All,

Will try and clear up all confusion about the "Charts for SeaClear 2011" edition, made by us.

http://www.visitmyharbour.com/charts-for-seaclear.asp

You buy the DVD (or CD or USB dongle) and on it are all the 800+UK charts PLUS a version of SeaClear chartplotter burned into the DVD.

This burned in version (we call it SeaClear LITE) is pre-linked to the charts so there is no need to do anything other than "play" the DVD. Within 30 seconds, the user should be able to access all the charts and start making simple passage plans etc. The buyer of the DVD/CD/USB does not need to download anything.

The drawbacks of using the "burned in" SeaClear lite version is that being fixed and unchangeable, certain changes the user may desire will not be saved eg: if you set up the Lite version to accept your GPS/AIS input, next time you start it up it will have "forgotten" where to look for the GPS/AIS.

This is why we recommend installing a SeaClear on your actual computer, and setting it simply to use the charts that are always locked to the DVD/CD/USB.

If you already have and use an established version of SeaClear, you can "point" it at the charts on the DVD using MapCal. If you don't already have SeaClear installed, the DVD contains the program in a zipped folder, for easy installation. There are versions already set up to "point" to the charts on the DVD, you choose the version that corresponds to your DVD drive letter...it could be "D" or "E" or sometimes F,G etc.

If you do install a version on you own computer, the charts still need to be "unlocked" before use, and this is simply done by playing the disc in the normal manner, and then closing the SeaClear LITE version that will have loaded. This only needs to be done once per session.

You can then use your own "Installed" version to access these same charts.

Your own "installed" version will remember when you add a GPS and work with preparing more complex routes, etc.

So in essence, use the burned in "LITE" version for studying and printing A4 charts etc. Install a version of the SeaClear program on your computer for more complex tasks.

Anyone having bought the DVD and wanting advice can just phone up 01983 567866 9AM-6PM Mon-Fri We will hapilly take you through the simple installation process, or tell you how to use your own well established SeaClear installation to access the charts on the DVD/CD/USB.

Hope this helps

SB

 

[fergie_mac66]

Hi All,

Will try and clear up all confusion about the "Charts for SeaClear 2011" edition, made by us.

http://www.visitmyharbour.com/charts-for-seaclear.asp

You buy the DVD (or CD or USB dongle) and on it are all the 800+UK charts PLUS a version of SeaClear chartplotter burned into the DVD.

This burned in version (we call it SeaClear LITE) is pre-linked to the charts so there is no need to do anything other than "play" the DVD. Within 30 seconds, the user should be able to access all the charts and start making simple passage plans etc. The buyer of the DVD/CD/USB does not need to download anything.

The drawbacks of using the "burned in" SeaClear lite version is that being fixed and unchangeable, certain changes the user may desire will not be saved eg: if you set up the Lite version to accept your GPS/AIS input, next time you start it up it will have "forgotten" where to look for the GPS/AIS.

This is why we recommend installing a SeaClear on your actual computer, and setting it simply to use the charts that are always locked to the DVD/CD/USB.

If you already have and use an established version of SeaClear, you can "point" it at the charts on the DVD using MapCal. If you don't already have SeaClear installed, the DVD contains the program in a zipped folder, for easy installation. There are versions already set up to "point" to the charts on the DVD, you choose the version that corresponds to your DVD drive letter...it could be "D" or "E" or sometimes F,G etc.

If you do install a version on you own computer, the charts still need to be "unlocked" before use, and this is simply done by playing the disc in the normal manner, and then closing the SeaClear LITE version that will have loaded. This only needs to be done once per session.

You can then use your own "Installed" version to access these same charts.

Your own "installed" version will remember when you add a GPS and work with preparing more complex routes, etc.

So in essence, use the burned in "LITE" version for studying and printing A4 charts etc. Install a version of the SeaClear program on your computer for more complex tasks.

Anyone having bought the DVD and wanting advice can just phone up 01983 567866 9AM-6PM Mon-Fri We will hapilly take you through the simple installation process, or tell you how to use your own well established SeaClear installation to access the charts on the DVD/CD/USB.

Hope this helps

SB

Could they be used in Opencpn ?

 

[Overner]

SeaClear Charts and opencpn

Short answer NO.

These are specific to SeaClear. We are working on making a version that will work with any plotter that can use BSB charts, such as MaxSea, Open cpn and Cosstal Explorer.

The legal status of the BSB format beloved of many plotting software systems need a bit of checking out first, NOAA have an unexpired patent on the compression used in these. The BSB format is old hat, coming from the days of low powered computers, there will be better systems.

We have the ability to make these, lock to a medium such as USB/DVD, and allow to work with multiple plotting programs. We may well do so, but not this season.

SB