Best source of Charts for OpenCPN, Lenovo tablet running windows 10

Tim O

Tim O

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Hi all....what are your thoughts on this.....have downloaded OpenCPN 4.8.0 onto my tablet...whats the best source of charts for UK waters? Tablet is running Windows 10 (which I loathe but there we are...)
 
You can get a full set of UK & Ireland Admiralty charts from VisitMyHarbour for thirty-odd pounds. Slightly more if you want the French coast too.

No updates, so worth waiting a month or two till the 2018 version comes out.
 
Alternatively you can get the latest Admiralty vector charts for UK and northern France from https://o-charts.org/. These will be licensed to only run on one device

You will need a USB connection (OTG cable) for the Visit My Harbour charts as they come on a USB stick. The advantage of the VMH charts is that the USB stick can be moved to different Windows platforms.
 
Playtime said:
You will need a USB connection (OTG cable) for the Visit My Harbour charts as they come on a USB stick. The advantage of the VMH charts is that the USB stick can be moved to different Windows platforms.
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That's one of the options, but you can also download the raster charts. You get two keys, so can install on two machines.

The VMH website is a bit confused about the various options, so you do have to read through each page carefully before deciding which option suits you.

By the way, have you tried the o-charts ones yet? The downside of the VMH charts is that the OpenCPN day/night feature doesn't work well with them. I'd be interested to hear, as I hope the OP will otherwise I'll have to apologise for the thread hijack, whether the o-chart ones are better in that regard.
 
lpdsn said:
By the way, have you tried the o-charts ones yet? The downside of the VMH charts is that the OpenCPN day/night feature doesn't work well with them. I'd be interested to hear, as I hope the OP will otherwise I'll have to apologise for the thread hijack, whether the o-chart ones are better in that regard.
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I have both versions on the laptop, how can i help ?
 
PaulRainbow said:
I have both versions on the laptop, how can i help ?
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OpenCPN has a little toggle button for night sailing, which switches through day/dusk/night settings. It doesn't alter the brightness of the VHM Admiralty charts although the OpenCPN parts of the display do dim.

It's quite significant for me for night sailing as I have the tablet mounted at the chart table and viewable at the helm through the companionway, so it affects my night vision as it is quite bright at night when it can't be dimmed.

When I was prototyping with the infamous charts that fell off the back of a hard disk a decade or so ago, the dimming feature worked perfectly.

Just curious as to whether the o-charts version dims correctly. If so I might go for them rather than updating my VHM charts.
 
lpdsn said:
OpenCPN has a little toggle button for night sailing, which switches through day/dusk/night settings. It doesn't alter the brightness of the VHM Admiralty charts although the OpenCPN parts of the display do dim.

It's quite significant for me for night sailing as I have the tablet mounted at the chart table and viewable at the helm through the companionway, so it affects my night vision as it is quite bright at night when it can't be dimmed.

When I was prototyping with the infamous charts that fell off the back of a hard disk a decade or so ago, the dimming feature worked perfectly.

Just curious as to whether the o-charts version dims correctly. If so I might go for them rather than updating my VHM charts.
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Just checked, my VMH charts work as you describe, the O charts change colour schemes.
 
Update for the OP. I've just browsed around the o-charts website. Definitely cheaper than VMH, but it appears there are still potential issues with Windows 10 updates.
 
As Ive been a good boy this year, Santa is bringing me a Raspberry Pi. I also have an android Tablet and a Mac. I gather that the Pi will run OpenCPN and the o-charts charts from a external storage device. Can I also plug that in to the mac to use it for planning routes at home? Or do I have to, in essence, pay for 3 downloads, 1 each for tablet, Pi and Mac?
 
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PaulRainbow said:
Works fine on my Win 10 tablet
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This is what I found when browsing the o-charts site. It's actually a link, click on more info when it's talking about the'fingerprint'.

https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/d..._manual:toolbar_buttons:plugins:charts:oesenc

See comments under Windows10 Users.

" Be aware that a W10 system after one of its unattended and forced self-updates imposed by Microsoft may appear as a different system, voiding the license.
You will need the back-up license then.
The announced schedule of MS for updates is about every 6 months.
We are working to enable alternative solutions under W10.

Until the solutions are in place we cannot recommend to use the combination W10/oeSENC"

The o-charts website itself only makes a brief reference to upgrade issues.

PS you can attempt to isolate your tablet from the web to stop updates. I tried that, but then at 2am one morning about ten miles off South Rock the damned thing somehow managed to initiate an upgrade. It was the old ubiquitously-available charts I was using for the trial so it rebooted fine half an hour later, but the implication is that with a major upgrade there could be issues with o-charts & Windows 10. You can, of course, always try the back-up copy or buy them again if it fails completely.
 
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I thought the W10 update issues had been resolved some months ago - the Ocpn website has a very long time constant.

If you're still concerned then you should contact o-charts as they are the agents for the charts.

The chart licence can be linked to two fingerprints. That allows you to install and use charts on two devices with free updates on each for a year. Technically that is an installation on a primary device with a back-up on another.
 
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My Win10 boat laptop has been updated several times since I did the fingerprint and downloaded the oeSENC charts in the early summer. Recently it completed the Fall Creators Update and is now running Version 1709 of Win10. After each update there has been no problem with the oeSENC charts.
That said my personal preference is for the raster charts from Visit My Harbour - I just like the style and clarity of Admiralty raster charts - but the new vector charts for OpenCPN (oeSENC) are a welcome addition for those who like vector charts.
 
Hoolie said:
I thought the W10 update issues had been resolved some months ago - the Ocpn website has a very long time constant.

If you're still concerned then you should contact o-charts as they are the agents for the charts.

The chart licence can be linked to two fingerprints. That allows you to install and use charts on two devices with free updates on each for a year. Technically that is an installation on a primary device with a back-up on another.
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Thanks. I may well give it a go in the new year. At €18.50 for the British Isles it's probably worth the risk. And if Bill Gates zaps them I still have the VHM charts in reserve.
 
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