Navigation by chart plotter or laptop

Becky

Becky

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We have a navman chartplotter (as well as our paper charts) but are considering changing to a laptop. This IMHO will give us a bigger image, it will scroll much faster, and as we already have hundreds of pounds worth of C Map charts, we can still use them.

Also while away, we met a couple who were using a laptop at the chart table and a remote screen behind their windscreen in the cockpit. Which to my mind gave excellent vision of hazards, when entering very rock-strewn narrow passages. So I would like to do something similar.

Has any forumite done this? And for those really clever peeps, what hardware would you suggest we consider buying?

Any other constructive comments?
 
Use both. The plotter tends to be a better daylight screen so is good sighted by the helm, whereas the laptop is much better for planning. I also run AIS on my laptop as well.
 
Ditto Talbot - Raymarine ESeries in the cockpit on the Binnacle and Laptop below (if the kids keep the DVDs off it long enough.
Great set up! - Although haven't invested in HSB2 which would make it really fantastic allowing the Laptop to mimic the E series .... oh for a bonus paycheck!
 
Yes same as Talbot..I use both.
I have an oldish Garmin 235 monochrome plotter which is used as the primary GPS, which feeds a laptop system plus two screens.
If the laptop goes down then you always have your fixed plotter and of course paper if everything fails.
For normal use a laptop system is far better both visually and for ease of use, and some of the modern software does far more than even the most expensive fixed plotters can do for a fraction of the cost....but never rely on it totally...always have your backup.


Steve.
 
I used SeapPro on a laptop almost since they invented it. Still do but only for planning. Use plotter now for navigation as uses less amps and less clutter. Also radar/chart overlay etc etc.
Probably can't beat a laptop and good software for planning though.
 
So to augment my Simrad chartplotter, what bog-standard laptop would you recommend? Second-hand even? Running off 12V (not a problem) or lurch from marina to marina and recharge?
 
Becky,

I have looked quite deeply into this for a Moody 44 and reached the conclusion that a laptop in the cockpit isnt practical, both from a getting wet point of view, and also security i.e. stopping it getting thrown around. In addition, the screen is almost invisible in bright sunshine. Waterproof repeater screens seem to cost well over £1000, so you may as well buy a dedicated plotter, e.g. Standard horizon 1000C.

Having used the laptop with SOB software, secured with rope to the saloon table, (where it can be seen from the wheel), this is what I propose to do. I may even connect it to a 23in LCD TV if I can see it from the wheel when I fit it.

Because you have to descend to the saloon to alter anything on the laptop plotter, I have supplemented this with a Lowrance 3600i plotter which lots of people here are raving about (£450 inc. nauticpath chart covering Greenland to canaries). The yard made me a S/S bracket to fit it to the S/S arch in front of the wheel, so it can swivel through almost 360 degrees, and the power cable comes up through the pedestal. i've also got a second power cable so that I can use it at the chart table, or wherever.

I've not been to sea with it yet but, based on others experiences, it should do the trick.

Hope this helps

Richard
 
I have a normal tower computer, installed in a cupboard, 19" flat screen, bin frared mouse and keyboard, GPS mouse thingy and it all works fine, in the wheelhouse, haven't yet decided which charts/system to go with. Still investigating, hav3e asked for advice, but the jargon is just too much! Need somebody to tell me in laymans terms, exactly what their system does and what charts I need, I just keep getting refered to such and such website etc. which I've looked at, which is the reason I asked for advice, I dont understand!!! Anybody here help?
 
Concur with others.
I have a plotter with old C-Map charts at the helm for nav underway and a laptop below. I only keep the C-MapNT charts on the laptop up to date. When planning on the laptop, I check critical dangers, bouys etc to ensure there are no new dangers not on my old c-maps and no one has parked an oil rig in the middle etc. and then download all waypoints etc. to plotter. The laptop programme, in my case Winchart Nexus, gives me tides, best time of departure, and plots the course over the ground. From then on the plotter does the rest. Its all a bit "manual" when planning as the two are not interfaced, but it has the advantage of making me think about the course before I depart. If everything is interfaced and automatic, one slip and the whole lot is wrong! But then being a bit old fashioned I also still enter positions on a paper chart every hour too....
Be aware that to run a big screen laptop can require a charging rate of up to 6 amps from your batteries too. The plotter will be a fraction of this and waterproof to boot.
There is however nothing wrong with the system you describe, if this power consumption is acceptable and you can find somewhere to screw it down so it does not end up on the floor.
 
So what laptop do you guys reccomend- something cheap and cheerful so if you dump the tea on it it's not a disaster? What about power supply/consumption?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Need somebody to tell me in laymans terms, exactly what their system does and what charts I need, I just keep getting refered to such and such website etc. which I've looked at, which is the reason I asked for advice, I dont understand!!! Anybody here help?

[/ QUOTE ]


I found the following software:

http://www.digiboat.com.au/

which is free to trial for 6 months, then costs $40 Australian for the standard version. There is a Pro version for $250, but this seems to only adds networking and increases AIS targets from 400 to 1000.

I had decided to use either C-Map max, or navionics charts, (why reinvent the wheel?), and plumped for C-Map Max as this is what the SOB software uses.

The software requires a bit of intuition when creating routes and finding various functions, but it worked fine for my one and only trip so far, from Pwhllelli to Glasson Dock. The River Lune and Glasson are fairly tricky pilotages, but with the above setup I was amazed at how easy it was, (almost like playing a video game <g>). We also went inside the Skerries off Anglesey with a full flood tide running, (would probably have gone outside without the software), and it was a dream.

from my previous post, you will see that I can secure the laptop on the saloon table so that it can be seen from the wheel, and I have now added the Lowrance 3600i with nauticpath charts at the wheel.

As an aside, I have also bought the Standard Horizon DSC VHF, (VM-3500E), with a full function remote mike in the cockpit, (£300).

With plotter and VHF at the helm, I no longer have to go below other than to look at the radar, (couldnt afford to upgrade the plotter/radar facilities to have radar at the wheel yet).

Hope this helps
 
I used to run an old 300Mhz laptop, but that was severely handicapped by its display capabilities (I had upgraded harddrive and CD writer) so did some searching. I was initially attracted by the cheapest Dell, but when I had worked out the add-on costs, went for a Revo 6000 from Novatech I have been very happy with its display and the frugality of its power consumption. It was also as cheap as some of the second hand laptops on ebay!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for your input,
How do you load the C map/navionics charts? Do they come on CD?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can get them on CD, or you can buy the plotter cards and a card reader, (about £140 including PC Planner software).
 
We secure our laptop to the chart table by putting a luggage strap around the chart table lid with a velcro strip sewn in and velcro stuck to the bottom of the laptop.
This way it is quickly removable and secure - not fallen off yet!
 
Another vote for Talbot's suggestion, I use all three.

I get an overview from paper charts, then plan on Seapro on a PC. I then transfer the waypoints over the network to RL70C at the helm.

Even tho we have a dedicated PC onboard (low power, 12V supply etc.) it hasn't been reliable enough. We switch it on so that Seapro shows AIS info on the screen if the trip is more than local, but we'll sometimes find it has frozen and has to be rebooted. Not something to rely on in fog.
 
Paper and laptop for me. Whilst keeping the laptop well strapped to the cart table keeps it out of sight for the helm, sensible route planning (and by that I mean a route line on the plotter) reduces the tricky navigation to "which side of the line am I?" Which even the most non yachty can verify.

Laptops don't draw 6 Amps all of the time, only when they are charging the batteries. I keep mine topped up with an inverter (which is more reliable in my experience than 12v adaptors - at least for the Dells I have used for the last 6-7 years) so the laptop batteries never get low, reducing the charge to less than 1Amp.
I use Tsunamis Navigator (not the illegal "cracked copy") with enough charts to go from Holland to S. Biscay and run it all of the time I'm moving. It keeps a rolling log of everything I input and a track of where we were at any time with lat and lon plotted every hour. Backed up with a written log I think it is OK
Cheers
 
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