Plotter software on Windows CE Satnav?

[Norman_E]

I chanced upon this cheap satnav on Ebay. It runs Windows CE. It made me wonder if software like Open CPN could be put onto it, and charts loaded via an SD card, to use it as a very cheap chartplotter?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I chanced upon this cheap satnav on Ebay. It runs Windows CE. It made me wonder if software like Open CPN could be put onto it, and charts loaded via an SD card, to use it as a very cheap chartplotter?

I don't know. But Windows CE is NOT the same as desktop Windows, and programs for Windows don't generally run on Windows CE. Unless OpenCPN is known to run on it, I wouldn't expect it to. If you want to go to a lot of trouble, you could probably compile OpenCPN for it!

 

[Norman_E]

I doubt I could compile OpenCPN for it, but given the price of chartplotters it looks worthwhile for someone to try. An alternative might be to see if any charts could be made to run on whatever software controls the satnav.

 

[Trident 24]

Don't know

I don't know whether it would run with a screen that shape but Garmin made plotter software for their old Bluechart charts.

It was called Que.

It will certainly run on a 'normal' Win CE PDA.

 

[Hoolie]

I have asked this question on the OpenCPN forum. Although wxWidgets (essential for O) has been ported to WindowsCE 6.0 it appears no-one has tried compiling OpenCPN for this version.
So the answer to your question is - nobody knows

I guess it needs someone with the support tools for WindowsCE to give it a go.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I have asked this question on the OpenCPN forum. Although wxWidgets (essential for O) has been ported to WindowsCE 6.0 it appears no-one has tried compiling OpenCPN for this version.
So the answer to your question is - nobody knows

I guess it needs someone with the support tools for WindowsCE to give it a go.

It also depends which flavour of Windows CE - it isn't a monolithic OS like Windows; it runs on everal different processors and can be provided with various different modules - including in forms that are totally locked down, with no capacity for user installation of software. So, even if OpenCPN can be compiled for Windows CE, it still might not run on any particular device.

 

[Hoolie]

It also depends which flavour of Windows CE - it isn't a monolithic OS like Windows; it runs on everal different processors and can be provided with various different modules - including in forms that are totally locked down, with no capacity for user installation of software. So, even if OpenCPN can be compiled for Windows CE, it still might not run on any particular device.

Yes indeed. The cheap devices Norman_E referred to often don't seem have readily identifiable processor types so it will bound to be a bit of a struggle.