OpenCPN - Dummy Guide

[Tim Good]

Someone suggested I look at OpenCPN the other day. On board we have a Macbook and a SurfacePro running windows.

Could you tell me what system is best to use, how to get charts and so forth?

Thanks

 

[SiteSurfer]

If it helps, I literally just got a Macbook Pro with Windows 10 (in bootcamp) running with OpenCPN using the Visit My Harbour chart package last night.

My biggest gotcha was the unlocking of the charts, but once that was overcome - it was plain sailing.
In terms of use - I'm sorry but I am in the process of figuring it all out, but at the moment it looks like everything i want and more (much more).

The trackpad on the Mac isn't seeming to be as nice on OpenCPN as I would have liked, but that may simply be a Windows user experience effect, however if you use a mouse its all good.
I used the version of OpenCPN as supplied with the charts by VMH - as V4.2 didnt want to play. V4.0 worked just fine - again that may have been down to the chart unlocking issue I had (which was me not the charts!).

visitmyharbour.co.uk is the website for the charts I used.

 

[Tim Good]

Ok thanks. I could use the surface pro and a pin infecting my MacBook with Microsoft )))

So visit my harbour has a chart pack. Thats just for the UK then? Where do you get other charts for Atlantic, Pacific etc?

Also who makes these charts for OpenCPN? I mean are they accurate?

 

[SiteSurfer]

This is what I bought:
http://www.visitmyharbour.com/unified-charts/

They appear to do several versions, its outside the scope of my knowledge at the moment as to anything more about them than they appear to be raster (admiralty?) charts - and at least as up to date as late last year.

I know others on here have vastly more experience than me. Perhaps you could enlist their help as I am in danger of straying into waters that I am unfamiliar with - and advice that is based on assumption is pretty rotten advice

 

[prv]

Also who makes these charts for OpenCPN? I mean are they accurate?

OpenCPN will accept charts in numerous formats, from official (£££) Admiralty digital charts for shipping to a hand-drawn sketch scanned in as a picture. However, as a free and open-source system it tends to get awkward when copy-protection gets involved - each source is on something of a case-by-case basis and often involves a plugin from the publisher that tends to be Windows-only.

Some years ago now, someone illegally copied a set of CM93 shipping charts for the whole world, which I imagine you can find with a little searching (never tried myself). These are quite widely used, but of course increasingly out of date.

OpenCPN's own list is here: http://opencpn.org/ocpn/chart_sources

Pete

 

[LadyInBed]

Where do you get other charts for Atlantic, Pacific etc?

Google cm93 download
Do a lot of reading, then make a decision.