chart plotter/via pc

[briananddoreen]

I have been following the posts about using a chart plotter via a lap top and do not understand all the initials used by the experts, and so remain unable to make any decision as to the type of lap top to purchase for use with the Sea Pro plotter system [Raster charts]I purchased at the Boat show.
I am returning to cruising after a twenty three year gap when I used to navigate using paper charts, a sextant, and a radio direction finder, and now I am retired my wife and I intend to cruise the eastern Med this time via the French Canals in April, so I dont have time to learn slowly as I am fast aproaching 70 and the leaving date is much too close. I still have to get the refit on my thirty year old Moody Carbineer finished and back in the water to fit the masts and rigging.
So how about it you experts, can you advise me in plain and simple terms?
My yachts voltage is 24 and 12 via a dropper and 240 via an inverter

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[roly_voya]

Unless you get a second hand one any current laptop is powerfull enought to run a chartplotter, I have tried a test on one and apart from passage planning before a trip could not sea the point as I would not trust nav to somthing as vunerable to damage as a laptop. Would not be without one though us it for; Music, photos/digital darkroom, accounts, email etc, etc but keep it stowed in a waterproof loker at sea! If you want electronic nav have youconsidered a dedicated chartplotter which can be mounted in the cockpit for detailed pilotage, might be useful but still like reading your chart through a letterbox

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[Talbot]

if the current chart plotters are too small then look at the Navman 5600. Best advice is to have a chart plotter mounted so that you can see it from the helm. The laptop is a better bet for planning because of the larger screen, it is also useful for weatherfax, movies, music etc, - but it is vulnerable in bad weather, allergic to water, and uses a lot of electricity by comparison to the plotter.

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[Robin]

We have a 10" plotter as well as a Navman 5" one, you very quickly get used to either. I would also always go the dedicated plotter route and C-Map charts, like you our laptop is for other uses and kept safe and dry underway!

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[ChrisE]

Well, I'm going to give a different reply from Robin and Talbot who I know from previous postings are both plotter fans. I thought you might be interested in a different point of view.

I use and prefer a PC with charts and after using them for five years am very happy with the set up. The advantages as I see it are that I can use the same charts on a PC as I use on chart table (I use Admiralty ARCs charts) and that the size of the PC display (15") gives me similar visual experience as the chart. That is in addition to their use in passage planning, tides, celestial stuff and the like.

I use a plotter on my fishing boat where I'm subject to high levels of spray but on the yacht I find no difficulties keeping the PC dry and in fact prefer the separation of the navving from the driving.

As the previuous poster says above almost any new laptop will do the job. Perosnally, I prefer to buy form one of the larger manufacturuers for the post-sales support.

Whatever system you choose, I hope that you are soon cruising through those French canals.

Chris

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[adarcy]

If you have not "been brought up with" computers, I am sure it is a foreign language especially all the initials.
BTW (By The Way) as you have got as far as posting here some web things can help eg
www.acronymfinder.com
cut + paste it I can't be bothered to master making it a link
will help with gobblydegook.

As the others have said, any new laptop will be more than powerful enough to do all the plotting etc that you will want. The only reason I am sending this is to say there is a trap if you want to attach things to your laptop eg a GPS.
Until 4-5 years ago the normal way to connect peripherals was through a serial port 9 pins D shape (not the 32 odd pins of the parallel printer port) for mouse, keyboard or rarely printer. Now USB (? Universal Serial Bus) is "the thing" usually 2 maybe 4 flattish slots with metal edge connectors for almost everything. The trap is that the only cables I have seen for GPS's are serial. So if you wish to use the laptop to connect to a GPS you have to get one with a serial port or get a USB-to-serial converter. You don't need to find this out after you have left the shop and God forbid sailed away.

If you'd rather not make it "public" but have any further queries that I may be able to help with, you can send a PM (Private Message) - click on my username to get to my biography and there is a button to compose a PM. Any PM replies come up as a flashing flag to the left of the "Main Index" in the upper bar when you are logged in.

Anthony

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[Ric]

If you are returning to cruising after such a huge (in tehnological terms) gap, I'd advise you not to start navigating using a laptop unless you are already very familiar with them.

I am sure you would figure it out - but not without a lot of hassle. On top of that, it seems that you will have lots of new things to get the hang of on your boat.

Just get a simple chartplotter. Better still, get a Yeoman chartplotter. You will get the hang of that very quickly as it is closer to what you are used to.

Besides, why on earth do you want a laptop on your boat, especially in easy navigating seas like the Med? I like computers and when on land they take up a huge chunk of my life (both pleasure and angst). But when I am on my boat (in the Med) I am very happy to be without them (except for a simple PDA for email).

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[charles_reed]

I don't underestimate the ability of people to come to grips with new technology, but I doubt the rationale or wisdom of your proposed approach.

1. At the best of times PCs (and I've made my living from them in the past) are difficult, unstable and complex bits of kit. Whilst they can do just about anything it is at a cost in complexity and inefficiency. On a boat, under way at sea, they have no place unless safely stowed.
2. The software and chart format you have chosen are obsolescent (all the hydrographic offices are at the point of releasing on vector format) and will quite soon be subject to reduced support.

I use a dedicated electronic chartplotter (it's a very early vector model and also obsolete) and a laptop. The laptop is equipped with Sea-Max software which allows use of any available chart formats (excepting Tsunami/Garmin) as well as using *.grib files and boat polar analyses to preplan passages. It's used for that - preplanning and is securely stowed when under way. It's also invaluable for SSB-downloaded wefaxes, the boat log and a comprehensive planning/recording database.

I'd go along with one other contributor as the most self-kindly way to reap the benefits of modern technology as starting with paper charts and a Yeoman plotter (and I've often been taken to task for referring to the Yeoman as the world's most expensive electronic pencil). After all you're not going to need an enormous portfolio of charts to store (my main reason for going electronic was price and storage space/weight) and you'll be building on solid past experience.
If not, go for a dedicated chartplotter - the 3rd generation of colour plotters are coming on the market with built-in WAAS GPS, at entry levels of £500 and less. The vector charts are far less expensive than raster as well. Learn about using the laptop at your convenience.

Whilst I'm about it ( and I'm a single-hander of similar age to you) why miss 2 of the worlds greatest cruising grounds (S Brittany coast and the Galician Rias) for a mediocre and boring chug through the French canals. My original plan was similar to yours (through the garonne lateral and Midi to Sete) but problems in 2001 with mast removal at Bordeaux and transport caused me to take the scenic route and never once did I or my frequent visitors regret it. For my money the Atlantic coasts of France, Spain and Portugal are better in nearly every sense to the mediterranean where I now am.

I'm just in the middle of researching the replacement to my current electronic chart-plotter, if you'd like to share in that info please send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll forward the info to you.

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[happychap]

hi
I' ve just read through the 7 or 8 posts so far and they are all correct - helpful -yes and no. I'm a bit younger but probably in the same state of computer literacy.
A new laptop has just cost me approx £900 plays DVDs for entertainment, we can compose e-mails on board and send later ( or through the mobile for another couple of hundred) get weather info via ssb etc. but at the moment it looks as though I need to spend another £80-100 just for cables to connect the GPS. I had just got used to Windows 98 and now I'm getting confused in Windows XP

My current thoughts are 1) buy a second hand laptop say £200 and a dedicated chart plotter at the cheaper end say £5-600. including the cost of charts you'll be just over the cost of a new laptop. DVD players (presumably230v) are advertised on Amazon at £29.99, and some of the second hand laptops will have them anyway.

A small cheap printer would be useful on board and if you print your approaches then you reliance on plotter/pc needn't be life threatening. If it's too windy out there get another book to read.

can you print from a dedicated chart plotter to a normal pc printer??


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[Robin]

If the chosen plotter has C-Map cartography then buy C-Map's 'PC-Planner' for the laptop. This is a cartridge reader and software so you can display everything on the laptop, as well as do route planning, waypoint entry etc. You can then transfer data to and from the plotter via inexpensive blank memory cartridges. You can also print out the charts as seen on the laptop screen.

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[simonbertie]

You can buy a gps with a usb cable attatchment on on ebay for around 30 -50 quid.They are waterproof,see through grp and v.accurate. Simply plug into a cheap laptop ,configure to your charts and away you go .Friends of ours have 2 laptops on board for their liva-board cruise and do all their nav by them inc.additional info from pilot books. If one breaks /glitches the other can come out.Total cost for both £400.

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[Robin]

I still prefer to use dedicated (waterproof) plotters rather than my laptop for realtime navigation though I know lots of people do use them OK. My concerns are with the reliability in on board use, what happens for example if I drip saltwater over the keyboard from my wet hands/oilies? Also both my pc and laptop occasionally 'freeze' requiring a restart, what if that happened in the middle of a tricky passage just at the wrong moment? Plus the laptop takes much more battery power, not important for occasional use but run continuously on passage it is.

So I will keep my laptop on board for planning, Wefax etc and very useful it is, but realtime nav is on the plotters, one below and one in the cockpit, both from separate GPSs and on separate batteries for safety.

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