Free Charts and Free Software

[Guest]

Can anyone help with info on websites that offer free downloads of charts or very cheap ones. Similarly are there any free downloads of (or cheap) software to enable weather data to appear on my laptop from navtex or SSB receievers.

 

[Guest]

Try having a look here;

http://zazu.optiva.ee/pub/nmea/

 

[Guest]

try www.dtechcharts.co.uk for Scotland and Ireland
Not free but very reasonable

 

[Ralph]

I have just bought MAPTECH Cruising Navigator from MES Ltd. www.mesltd.co.uk I think. It uses proper Hydrographic office charts. You can buy a chart pack consisting of between twenty and thirty charts depending on area for around £90. The chart pack comes with a free version of MAPTECH navigator though I don't think that it is as good as the cruising version. You can set your course on the PC at home and then upload the route to your navigation GPS on board. I don't imagine you will get a better deal than that. I printed out a full size chart on my large format inkjet today at A0 size and was well impressed with the quality. You can just print out the bits you want as well on a smaller printer.

 

[davel]

OziExplorer is a good package that allows self scanned maps (or others such as Maptech) to be used. Ozi offers realtime tracking, upload to GPS, waypoint entry/management, route planning etc etc and is very gfood value at $75 US.

Take a look at www.oziexplorer.com and down load a free trial version.

 

[Bergman]

You can download Mscan Meteo Fax and Mscan Meteo Text free from the net. Just search on the name and you will find the download site.

Fax gives you weather fax

Text gives you Navtex and RTTY

Just connect audio output from receiver to audio input on computer and the processor does the rest.

 

[Miker]

How up-to-date are the charts? NM

NM

 

[jfkal]

Re: How up-to-date are the charts? NM

The more (frequent) you pay the better it gets. Most "free" charts have nothing more than entertainment value.