MacBook Pro as a chart plotter?

[peter2407]

I have (sort of) revived my iPad2 and updated navionics, so yay! as they say. Question is - can I use my MacBook Pro for similar - either with my navionics purchase (doubtful), with an iPhone 5 or 6 tethered as a gps device (not sure) or with another gps adapter - or not navionics, but something else, but what? TIA

 

[elton]

I have (sort of) revived my iPad2 and updated navionics, so yay! as they say. Question is - can I use my MacBook Pro for similar - either with my navionics purchase (doubtful), with an iPhone 5 or 6 tethered as a gps device (not sure) or with another gps adapter - or not navionics, but something else, but what? TIA

I believe there's a version of OpenCPN for OSx. https://opencpn.org/

 

[pvb]

How waterproof is a MacBook Pro? Regardless, I think it's far too nice to risk getting it wet on a boat.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

There is navigation software for Macs, google is your friend here.

 

[Yngmar]

There is no Navionics app for Mac. You can get MacENC/GPSNavX (see http://inavx.com/#apps) and then license the Navionics charts for that through a third party provider, but it's somewhat complex and much more expensive than the Navionics app pricing (about £70 for UK charts only last I checked).

Or get OpenCPN, with charts from o-charts.org. These vary per region and are usually the official charts, which are often not as good as Navionics, as aimed at shipping, not leisure (certainly the ones for Spain - although on the upside, all the marine reserves and fish farms are up to date). Other chart sources available too.

I use OpenCPN on the Macbook Pro, but only for planning. Come passage time, the Macbook gets packed away, as it is too expensive to risk and cannot tolerate the slightest drop of salt spray. Also they make them only with silly high-gloss screens that can only be used in a dark room. It's a massive overkill in computing power for a bit of chart display anyways. A £100 tablet (also running OpenCPN, with the planned route synced to it) can do it better and is easier to waterproof, so that's what's in the cockpit, and as backup a robust old Thinkpad on the chart table for around the same money.

 

[Frank Holden]

I use one of these with my MacBook Pro http://www.chartandmapshop.com.au/2...MIkNqpxOCI3AIVhoaPCh14rwvoEAQYASABEgLJf_D_BwE .

Charting software is OpenCPN together with global CM93 1.31 charts and also a south american folio of KAP and BSB charts..... gratis from another sailor.

I'm running the same setup on the ship's PC - an Acer Veriton L670 I picked up second hand for about $US100.

What I did spend a few bob on recently was a folio of iSailor charts ( the software is free ) for my i-phone and i-pad. They seem pretty good.....

 

[jdc]

I use, occasionally, a MacBook Air as a chart plotter.

The software is SeaPro and, because it only runs under Windows, I use 'Parallels' (this is useful anyway as there are quite a few useful programs such as zygrib and WXTide which need windows so the emulator has paid for itself).

For GPS, I use the AIS transceiver's USB port. That gives WAAS augmented GPS plus also the AIS reports received so seems ideal. I can use a Bluetooth GPS dongle instead, but since I leave the expensive and not at all waterproof PC below on the chart-table the USB cable isn't such a bore.

But I admit I hardly ever use it nowadays. It's only under unusual circumstances that I need a computer not a chart-plotter: this is when the Raymarine plotter doesn't work (N of 75 degrees it fails to display - which betrays bad s/w testing) or when the data isn't available for the plotter. This last is mostly when trying to view BSB/KAP files from, for instance, Antares. Why a MAC? Because it's better than Windows 10 for my normal work, which includes some s/w development and use of Matlab fr which I prefer unix as an OS.

One final point about Raymarine [Rant alert]: I asked them whether I could obtain a development system to allow me to create charts compatible with their 'Lighthouse' software and were told that this wasn't company policy: they wish to give a monopoly to a small Canadian company to produce anything other than Navionics charts for Raymarine, even when they distribute these charts at no cost. Serves them right that almost immediately they said this Navionics were bought by Garmin, their biggest competitor. We should continue to encourage Raymarine to open up the plotters to charts from multiple sources: why can't I use my perfectly legal and paid for ARCS charts on the Raymarine plotter? No skin off their nose is it?

 

[pvb]

One final point about Raymarine [Rant alert]: I asked them whether I could obtain a development system to allow me to create charts compatible with their 'Lighthouse' software and were told that this wasn't company policy: they wish to give a monopoly to a small Canadian company to produce anything other than Navionics charts for Raymarine, even when they distribute these charts at no cost. Serves them right that almost immediately they said this Navionics were bought by Garmin, their biggest competitor. We should continue to encourage Raymarine to open up the plotters to charts from multiple sources: why can't I use my perfectly legal and paid for ARCS charts on the Raymarine plotter? No skin off their nose is it?

There will surely be a contractual agreement in which the chosen chart supplier pays Raymarine an amount per plotter sold for being lucky enough to be the chosen chart supplier.