Amulet
Well-Known Member
If you are an OpenCPN user you may be able to answer the questions following my blether at the start of this message.
For years I've used a laptop down below running Maptech Offshore Navigator wired to a Garmin 72 visible to the helm in the cockpit. The live screen on the computer is wonderful, but with all routes loaded into the 72, the computer can fail and I still have a fairly complete capability. But it would be nice to have an AIS engine and display vessels on the screen. Offshore Navigator doesn't do that. Maptech shows no intention of upgrading it to do so - they have a much more expensive product (Chart Navigator Pro) which has the capability.
So - to OpenCPN. I have played with half a dozen systems but never raised the activation energy to try OpenCPN. All my reading seems to imply that it can do all that I want, but it seems to require a bit of effort to get it all together. I'm on the brink of the transition, but have not completely resolved a few issues. Any help from the enthusiasts on the following questions would be appreciated.
1. Can I get charts for my full potential cruising area. It seems that I can get UK and Ireland from "VisitMyHarbour". Is there a source for the French side of the channel and from there up to the Netherlands? (Willing to pay a sensible amount if necessary.)
2. Can the program give tidal height and current info' in a display which makes it easy to scan backward and forward in time when planning a passage or choosing a spot to anchor?
3. Are the tidal data to support this readily available.
4. Can I transfer routes and other data to and from my Garmin GPS? My reading is that Garmin devices do not support this in the NMEA protocol, meaning that the program has to talk the Garmin protocol to do this. (I read that OpenCPN can output data in the open GPX standard which is a source of great relief - I can then put them into my own spreadsheets and other calculations.)
If these can all be resolved positively I'm up for giving it a bash - unless the wisdom of the forum convinces me otherwise.
For years I've used a laptop down below running Maptech Offshore Navigator wired to a Garmin 72 visible to the helm in the cockpit. The live screen on the computer is wonderful, but with all routes loaded into the 72, the computer can fail and I still have a fairly complete capability. But it would be nice to have an AIS engine and display vessels on the screen. Offshore Navigator doesn't do that. Maptech shows no intention of upgrading it to do so - they have a much more expensive product (Chart Navigator Pro) which has the capability.
So - to OpenCPN. I have played with half a dozen systems but never raised the activation energy to try OpenCPN. All my reading seems to imply that it can do all that I want, but it seems to require a bit of effort to get it all together. I'm on the brink of the transition, but have not completely resolved a few issues. Any help from the enthusiasts on the following questions would be appreciated.
1. Can I get charts for my full potential cruising area. It seems that I can get UK and Ireland from "VisitMyHarbour". Is there a source for the French side of the channel and from there up to the Netherlands? (Willing to pay a sensible amount if necessary.)
2. Can the program give tidal height and current info' in a display which makes it easy to scan backward and forward in time when planning a passage or choosing a spot to anchor?
3. Are the tidal data to support this readily available.
4. Can I transfer routes and other data to and from my Garmin GPS? My reading is that Garmin devices do not support this in the NMEA protocol, meaning that the program has to talk the Garmin protocol to do this. (I read that OpenCPN can output data in the open GPX standard which is a source of great relief - I can then put them into my own spreadsheets and other calculations.)
If these can all be resolved positively I'm up for giving it a bash - unless the wisdom of the forum convinces me otherwise.
