Free navigation charts!

[john_morris_uk]

I wonder how true that may be with the litigious society that is the usa

If the charts were that bad then there would be hundreds of lawsuits

I think that you will find that there are plenty of caveats about the use of the data on charts and as far as I remember, this applies to the US Chart data as well as UKHO.

You certainly can't sue the UKHO for duff data, as all they have to show is due diligence. In other words that they have done their best, and the data is the best that there is etc. UKHO even tell you when and by what method the data was collected so that you can make a seamanlike decision about how to treat the charted data for a particular area.

How the data is collected by US authorities is another matter!

 

[Ariadne]

I had the same argument with the Met' Office last year when I wanted some long distance forecasts.

They do use the data provided by NASA, and I have a tax payer provided the software and computers to analyse it and to produce a forecast. I also pay the meteorologists wages and for everything else to do with the Met office. So why should we have to pay for a long rage forecast, when they have analysed all the data and all they have to do is highlight the area and e-mail the forecast out!

Regardless of any other issues, the same goes for the UKHO. No reason to charge apart from the fact that they can and do. They should be available for free in electronic format, so can use them PC based or print them out. As for how valid the data is, well the CD chart sets are only updated every 6 months, and only if you pay extra for it!

Rip off UK Government again.

The NOAA charts are very good; I have the electronic copies of the Atlantic, S Pacific & Indian Ocean routing charts, I got them all printed full size (in colour) and bound for less than 60€! A hell of a lot cheaper than the UKHO charts at £20+ each plus postage!

 

[mlj]

The reason the USA charts are free is that the largest USA boating organisation took the USA Government to court, on the basis that taxpayers had paid for the data collection and so owned it.
They won after about a seven year battle.
Sadly our RYA is more interested in Olympic sailing and the associated publicity,than taking on a tough and expensive battle on behalf of all non-commercial sailors.

 

[bg9208]

Free charts

Found this on the web regarding OS maps. Note the bit at the end saying OS staff not keen on open-ness(surprise, surprise):-

"The government has said that it will "explore ways" of making the Ordnance Survey's maps of the UK freely available on the web from April 2010. Gordon Brown announced the change at an event also attended by web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee who is now the UK's information tsar, advising on the handing over of private government data to the public.

The government has apparently been impressed by the successes of handing over crime data to the public, which has led to various user-created maps that help citizens assess the safety of particular areas.

In the new year, Brown has promised to fully publish 2000 sets of data. That could include all legislation, as well as road-traffic data over the past 8 years, property prices yield, and motoring offences with types of offence and the numbers, by county, for the top six offences.

Previously mapping data was available, but only to companies who wanted to pay a fee of £5000 per usage. When that price is combined with the ease-of-access of the Web, it makes any internet application employing the maps prohibitively expensive.

However, Ordnance Survey staff aren't happy. They said, earlier in the year, that moving to a free model would cost the UK between £500m and £1bn over the next 5 years. A treasury study put the price at more like £12m, with a net gain of £156m to the UK economy. The staff said that Brown's move was in "complete contradiction with the OS's own plans to explore commercial opportunities and find new ways of raising revenue". (To help pay MP's expenses maybe?)

Still, given that many believe that Brown will be exiting Downing Street at the next election, what does he have to lose? Especially as the Conservatives support the data-sharing initiative, too."
Maybe Tim Burners-Lee the "Information Tsar" (Where do they dredge up these ludicrous "jobs for the boys" titles) should be tasked with doing the same thing with the MoD who have the stranglehold on maritime mapping information.

I'm afraid I'll still believe it when I see it.

 

[fergie_mac66]

T

I'm afraid I'll still believe it when I see it.

Free os maps online already started for some scales

this link

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/getamap/