Budget chartplotter systems?

[Seagreen]

Thanks. I'm busy burning my keyboard looking at all the "deals" and pondering who and what. There are a few online review but its so hard to trust to these. I go for the "buy it and learn to use it properly" approach. After all, how many of us know how to get the most out of our mobile phones?

 

[Guest]

Very true ... and another matter - Mobile phones - aren't some of the menu systems totally daft !! There is only one phone IMHO that menu is anywhere near simple ! But that would be "Connecting People" wouldn't it !

The market is full of good deals ....... and DON'T forget P&P ... that can often make or break a good deal ......

I am well known for NOT spending money ..... "Plus-Gas Wallet" was my old nick-name .... so when I actually forked out readies for a plotter - people KNEW I had searched high and low. That plotter is still a good deal - but I would have gone for the internal antena version which came out later ... and then the later model that even better resolution ... it goes on Plotters are evolving like Computers did ... buy today - tomorrow is out of date !

 

[Richard10002]

[ QUOTE ]
I wanted Navionics as Nauticpath as others here have found has some areas missing, especially in the Med where I am.

[/ QUOTE ]

I also find the nauticpath chart pretty crap in the med, canaries, the algarve, and parts of the west coast of Portugal.

Also the layering of information is quite amazing. You have to zoom too close for me to see various buoys, wrecks, etc...

If I didnt have C-Map on my PC, I would definitely look at the navionics charts for the Lowrance.

Having said that.... the nauticpath coverage seems pretty good for the UK.

 

[angelsson]

I understand the UK (Nauticpath) are ok but as I am in the Med of no value to me.
The Navionics chart covers the whole of the Med including the Black Sea, a huge area for a chip the size of a fingernail.
Will be using it over the next 10 days, so back to the 'book of words' supplied with the Lowrance, very pleased with the step by step approach to using it.

 

[qetoo]

If you already have a laptop computer, you might consider using it for a chartplotter. I've prepared a presentation of how I use my laptop for that purpose and posted it at:

My Cruising Web Page

 

[Colvic Watson]

I've got the Lowrance 3500C as well and love it, but can I attach an AIS reciever to it and overlay the data?

 

[moondancer]

Any free Raster chart downloads for the UK and Europe?

 

[Robin2]

None that I could find - hence I'm now a C-map customer.

If you have lots of patience you could scan your paper charts for use on some of the PC plotting programs. I did scan some, but I don't have the patience to make that my main source of charts. The real problem is when you try to scan a coast that is not horizontal or vertical - such as the south coast of Ireland. You either have gaps, or you have to scan huge sea areas.

 

[Seagreen]

Well I don't really want to use my laptop for navigation. I find that I don't really have a stable enough power supply, though I'm working on that. I'm quite happy to have a box to tell me where I am and to be a waterproof mounted display, but I don't think my laptop qualifies. I also really like paper charts.

No, I really like paper. But I've had a bad experience with the deficiencies of "traditional" navigation in bad weather, close to big solid bits of the ocean floor (well, the Casquets in a force 10) so I like the "ah, this is where I am!" solution. I've found radar to be fairly pointless. Why?

I was coming out of liverpool in a f3 on a quiet night, and the pricey integrated radar system wasn't showing 3 big bulk carriers within a mile of queens channel. Marpa was a bit hit an miss too.

Maybe it was just me?

 

[fireball]

No mention of AIS in the manual available online - so I guess not...

 

[graham]

I agree with you that a chart plotter could really get you out of the poo on a bad night when all the crew are seasick and the autohelm just burned out. Also no way would I want to be relying too much on a vulnerable laptop.

I cant understand though how a radar could fail to see large ships even in extreme weather?

 

[Seagreen]

Tweaked the gain, the clutter, read the manual, did everything, but apart from a nice image of crosbie and the great orme, the ships didn't really distinguish themselves from sea clutter, even though a 10,000 tonner was half a mile away. Should have been filling the screen. Maybe its me, but the only Radar i've ever seen working as it should was on HMS Hecate a long, long time ago, when I didn't have to shave my chin (or other bits) much.