Gaudy chartplotter screens

[Guest]

Navman 5600...

Having passed an eye over the 5600 - I have a question on your use of it.,

Do you ever connect to a PC as well and use its GPS and facilities in coordinated nav ?

Upload / download of routes / waypoints - ever try it ? via PC ....

Reason I ask is that I am a follower of the PC based plotting and still look at Ploters for cockpit use. The PC to be relegated to cabin use when required .... ie. PC switched off for majority of time and on when necessary ....

Is the colour so much better than a B&W ?? Does anyone use a B&W and like to comment on ?? I was used to B&W Fathom charts as well as later clour metrics .... so for me B&W if viewable and able to diplay clearly would not be a problem for me .....

Interested in replies ....


<hr width=100% size=1>Cheers Nigel http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/searider/

 

[pvb]

Re: Navman 5600...

No, I haven't tried linking it to my PC, so can't help on that.

I think that colour is a vital element in making a plotter instantly understandable - especially in cockpit use in poor weather conditions. The added clarity provided by the colour display is worth every penny.

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[Robin]

Re: Navman 5600...

Nigel

We have a 5500i Navman, in our case kept deliberately as a total standalone in the cockpit, but it does have a NMEA output that could give a position to a PC. It would not directly allow transfer of WPTs/Routes etc between PC and plotter but that transfer is possible indirectly using PC-Planner from C-Map which is a card reader for C-Map plus software to run their charts on the PC. Transfer of data is done via 'user cards', load the wpts/routes to the user card in one location then put it in the other one and upload there.

We have 2 C-Map plotters, not connected. I downloaded all our WPTs/Routes from our original Nav table plotter to the Laptop using a user card and PC-Planner, there we can view all the charts (plus an inbuilt world chart, surprisingly detailed), print bits of charts, modify or add routes and WPTs etc and then download via the user card to each plotter. This way the laptop is not used underway so isn't at risk from dripping oilies or a Bill Gates crash and doesn't drain the battery. We have a plotter interfaced to the instruments, pilot, radar at the Nav table and next to the radar and we have the Navman waterproof plotter out in the cockpit, both sing from the same hymn sheet as far as routes and WPTs are concerned. The only small drawback is that we need 2 chart cartridges, in practice not a problem as the 'next area' cartridge has more than enough chart detail to use in the secondary plotter. The secondary plotter could be either, normally the chart table one except in inshore navigation in fog when I prefer to use the chart table plotter next to the radar - the autopilot is also controllable from the nav table via a 2nd head. I hope that makes sense!

Robin

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>