C-MAP card renewal - advice needed

[TwoHooter]

Our 11 year old flybridge plotter is a Navnet vx2 with a slot for C-Map NT MAX cards. Previous owners of the boat have assembled a large collection of cards but all we need at the moment is the UK. Our current UK card is 10 years old which is a bit too long in the tooth for comfort. Does anyone have suggestions of a C-MAP dealer who would be willing to give me honest knowledgeable advice about whether this card ought to be updated or replaced with a new one? We will also need advice about replacing both our plotters (helm and flybridge) next year and hopefully the same supplier can deal with that too.

 

[pvb]

Does anyone have suggestions of a C-MAP dealer who would be willing to give me honest knowledgeable advice about whether this card ought to be updated or replaced with a new one?

You don't need honest knowledgeable advice, if it's 10 years old it really ought to be updated! Updating gives you the same data as a new one, at a lower price. Any C-Map dealer can do this for you, or you can mail it to one. See http://www.prscomms.co.uk/webshop/c-map-update/212-c-map-chart-updates.html for typical pricing.

 

[TwoHooter]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

You don't need honest knowledgeable advice, if it's 10 years old it really ought to be updated! Updating gives you the same data as a new one, at a lower price. Any C-Map dealer can do this for you, or you can mail it to one. See http://www.prscomms.co.uk/webshop/c-map-update/212-c-map-chart-updates.html for typical pricing.

Thanks but I don't need to be told I need up-to-date charts. What I need to know is whether the age of my current card (10 years) precludes updating or not. I can't get hold of prscomms and the chandlers I have spoken to don't seem to know anything. I can't send my current card off until I know I am going to get a replacement by return. Any other ideas for someone who understands this stuff?

 

[RichardS]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

Thanks but I don't need to be told I need up-to-date charts. What I need to know is whether the age of my current card (10 years) precludes updating or not. I can't get hold of prscomms and the chandlers I have spoken to don't seem to know anything. I can't send my current card off until I know I am going to get a replacement by return. Any other ideas for someone who understands this stuff?

The vagaries of the English language. It depends whether one infers a third option of "or not" into "advice about whether this card ought to be updated (or not) or replaced with a new one".

Richard

 

[pvb]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

Thanks but I don't need to be told I need up-to-date charts. What I need to know is whether the age of my current card (10 years) precludes updating or not.

Well perhaps you should learn to express yourself clearly then! I'll try to remember not to offer help to you in future.

 

[Aeolus]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

IRO the original question: When I wanted to upgrade my 8 year old card, it transpired that C-Map had restructured their charts and my card 'no longer existed' and therefore couldn't be upgraded. I ended up buying a new one and selling the old one on e-bay - amazing how much people will pay for an old chart chip.

 

[bitbaltic]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

Thanks but I don't need to be told I need up-to-date charts. What I need to know is whether the age of my current card (10 years) precludes updating or not. I can't get hold of prscomms and the chandlers I have spoken to don't seem to know anything. I can't send my current card off until I know I am going to get a replacement by return. Any other ideas for someone who understands this stuff?

Well, C-Map seem to have moved to a subscription-based update service ('Club C-Map'; http://lightmarine.c-map.com/gb/club-c-map/about) and, if the comparable system implemented by Navionics is anything to go by, it is probable that you will have to sign up to this to get an on-line update rather than getting it done via a chandler. Very probably you will have to buy a whole new card (as Aeolus hints at) and then keep that up to date via the online service as your card may not be compatible with the security features of a modern online update system. However it's not clear from the web page what exactly is involved in 'club c-map' so to find out exactly what you will have to do I would ring Jeppersen on +39 (0585) 794 800 or try eu-customersupport@c-map.com.

The plotter is also compatible with Navionics+, although it will need the small area (2gb) cards as it is quite old (a similar restriction probably applies to modern C-map too). Navionics+ is very easy to use, although how easy the small cards are to get hold of I don't know. Again you are best off questioning the organ grinders rather than the chandler monkeys, (0)1752-258726, sales@navionics.co.uk.

 

[TwoHooter]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

Well perhaps you should learn to express yourself clearly then! I'll try to remember not to offer help to you in future.

Sorry to have offended you. Wasn't my intention.

IRO the original question: When I wanted to upgrade my 8 year old card, it transpired that C-Map had restructured their charts and my card 'no longer existed' and therefore couldn't be upgraded.

Thanks for that, I'm not surprised, it's what I expected really.

....Again you are best off questioning the organ grinders.....

Thanks, I'll try going direct.

 

[Pyramid]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

You're card will be too old for an update as you suspected. However, last year PRS provided a new replacement card for £160 rather than the £240 Jeppsons quoted. I simply rang and spoke with them, who advised costs, sent off the old and two days later received the new! Brilliant.

 

[GrahamM376]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

You mention updating plotters next year. Sod's law dictates that you will pay to update your card now and then next year be told it won't fit the new plotter so you'll have to pay again. As rocks don't move, I would be tempted to use the old card for now until you have the new plotters.

 

[TwoHooter]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

You mention updating plotters next year. Sod's law dictates that you will pay to update your card now and then next year be told it won't fit the new plotter so you'll have to pay again. As rocks don't move, I would be tempted to use the old card for now until you have the new plotters.

Well that was indeed the plan (aided by the excellent Reeds, local pilot books, and paper charts) but I suddenly got the collywobbles about using a 10 year old plotter card and once I get the collywobbles I have to do something about it or I lose my nerve completely, hence the desire to update or renew the card.
I have now succeeded in speaking to PRS who have been most helpful - I will post the result of all this in due course.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

I don't use Navionics or CMAP, but I recall seeing an announcement at some point that there was a "trade up" deal. I'd be surprised if they didn't, because it would tempt people to someone else's mapping product...

 

[Rafiki]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

You don't say how far your trip(s) are going to be, but with an two plotters to tell you exactly where you are , paper charts and an up to date Almanac to ensure you have the pilotage information when coming in to port you will be fine.

My only proviso is that if you are planning to do many passages on the notoriously shallow east coast where buoys many miles from ports are actually important to leisure craft and change quite frequently then maybe you should get the latest for at least one chart plotter.

My recc for advice and supply is Henry at Fox's chandlery in Ipswich, he is a font of knowledge on these things and very competitive too, sometimes he has plotters on special offers you would not be able to beat.

 

[TwoHooter]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

You don't say how far your trip(s) are going to be, but with an two plotters to tell you exactly where you are , paper charts and an up to date Almanac to ensure you have the pilotage information when coming in to port you will be fine. My only proviso is that if you are planning to do many passages on the notoriously shallow east coast where buoys many miles from ports are actually important to leisure craft and change quite frequently then maybe you should get the latest for at least one chart plotter. My recc for advice and supply is Henry at Fox's chandlery in Ipswich, he is a font of knowledge on these things and very competitive too, sometimes he has plotters on special offers you would not be able to beat.

There is a stack of cards on the boat covering La Rochelle to Bergen and the whole of the Baltic - but we are just in UK coastal waters at the moment. However I have an irresistible urge to sidle into tight spots and nudge my way through shallow waters, like our trip to Snape Maltings last year which was magic, and we are going to the Scilly Isles next if we get a long enough weather window. So we do indeed need an up to date card.
Thanks for the introduction to Henry at Fox's (I know the place, we left the boat there for a while last June) I'll definitely have a word with him.

 

[bitbaltic]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

There is a stack of cards on the boat covering La Rochelle to Bergen and the whole of the Baltic

That is probably because (like many older units) the plotter seems limited to a 2gb maximum size of card, so you need stacks of them to cover a large cruising area.

You may find you need more than one card to cover all of your intended cruising areas even within the UK (especially for decent resolution cartography), thus pushing up the price of keeping this plotter. Something to bear in mind.

 

[TwoHooter]

Re: C-MAP card renewal? Or replacement?

Our updated card has arrived from http://www.prscomms.co.uk and it works perfectly. Total cost £109 plus the cost of sending our old card to them by special delivery. The card covers the UK and Ireland and is exactly what we needed. Plus, as an added benefit, I now know where to go for honest knowledgeable advice about these things, which was my original quest.

Which makes it all the more embarrassing that I upset the very person, PVB, who pointed me in that direction. Sorry about that.