PC Plotter Software -- one man's view

[nigelmercier]

Say you're in the middle of nowhere, your laptop takes a wave. The dongle stops working...

My SeaPro dongle is plugged into a USB hub, in a locker.

 

[bromleybysea]

PC Plotter does need a dongle, I'm afraid, and it won't allow me to put the charts onto the hard disk unless they have been 'updated'. Doesn't tell you how to update them, tho.

In the latest version of PCPLotter Navionics charts post-2011 will load to the hard disc. They have also improved the chart index- now you get a description of the area covered instead of indecipherable numbers, and on my set-up the charts now auto-load as you scroll across the folio. There are a number of other improvements as well. What they mean by updating is part-exchanging your old charts for new ones at a 50% discount. You can change area if you want. One interesting feature is that on the PC the most recent large area chart (Western Europe) displays areas not listed in the index and which don’t display on the plotter. I have the whole of the southern North Sea including the Thames Estuary and the coast of Europe up to Denmark. Means I can delay updating my UK-Holland charts.

I don’t think the dongle issue is significant in itself. After all, you are depending on a number of vulnerable bits of kit having a laptop on board in the first place. There should always be back-up systems and everyone should be able to navigate using paper charts and have the means to do so.

 

[Kerenza]

I believe Neptune now supports imray charts, although I have no actual experience of this. it could get you the extended coverage you ask for.

On the subject of hardware I have looked long and hard before replacing my waterproofed iPad Running navionics with an xplore tablet.
This runs navmonpc in the background behind neptune, transmitting all the data wirelessly to any idevice with a suitable nmea ap.

As a computer literate person it has taken over a year to configure my system reliably, which includes sea talk to nmea converters, and several on board serial converters, with independent battery backup.Mission critical electronics need redundancy built in. It is a timconsuming extension of the sailing hobby, so doesn't suit everybody. and For real time navigating it's still dependent on someone transmitting a gps signal.

The xplore has the advantage of being transportable and readable in sunlight, so on my own yacht it lives below plumbed into the navstation and thus available at the helm plotter, while when racing on other yachts it stands alone giving useful advantages.

 

[pteron]

I don’t think the dongle issue is significant in itself. After all, you are depending on a number of vulnerable bits of kit having a laptop on board in the first place. There should always be back-up systems and everyone should be able to navigate using paper charts and have the means to do so.

I don't know which dongle Seaclear uses, but this page http://www.retailedge.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2497 quotes a failure rate of 'less than 0.5%' for their dongle and they think that is good. I think it's abysmal. That's one in 200 fail. They will log into your computer and give you a software key if it fails. I don't think Seaclear (or any others) will do that to your pc when you are in the middle of the pacific approaching a reef.

For comparison, a good failure rate is 5ppm, i.e. 1000 times better than quoted above.

Yes there are other components that could fail but none of them are superfluous - simply there because your software provider doesn't trust you.