Print your own paper charts...?

aidancoughlan

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Hi all,
Just bought my first boat (27ft westerly merlin), and I have no charts at all yet... my intention is to buy paper-only charts to start with, but....

Does anybody know if the various navigation software programs have printing facilities to print on paper, and if the resulting charts are sufficient for paper chart table navigation?.
It seems to be cheaper to buy packages of electronic charts than the paper equivalent, if you can print them yourself this makes it seem attractive.

- Anybody done this, or do all the PC navigators buy proper paper charts for backup as well?
- do they have marking on the side for lat/long etc.
- can they print to chart table sized files which can be printed by a professional printer

I'll be sailing Irish Sea - east coast Ireland, with occasional trips to wales,IOM,South coast Ireland, perhaps Scotland.
Any comments on what charts to use, or any folios that would suit these cruising areas?

regards,
Aidan.
 

cagey

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try maptech brilliant piece of kit, wont intimidate to start with and then it will amaze you as you delve into it.
 

aidancoughlan

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Hi cagey,
Maptech was the one that caught my eye in a quick google - it list printing paper Chart "Pacakges" or similar term in its features. (Havnt compared others much yet) Have you tried printing from it, and do you think the output is sufficient for navigating by?
 

cagey

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Yes have printed the occasional chart only problem is printer inks dont like water. usually take laptop strap it to chatt table plug in gps and away we go.
you'll find the tides and currents a fascinating tool.
minor gripes not all charts are as up to date as they should be, some areas are missing (like upper reaches of Fal) but that is being unfair on something as cheap and usefull.
 

steverow

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Why dont you try it the other way round, buy paper charts and scan them into Seaclear, available free from www.sping.com/seaclear, which is a superb plotter program.
This allows you to print the charts also, which is useful for route planning.
Provided you have a half decent scanner, you can use Panavue to stitch the sections together. Time consuming, but strangely rewarding when completed.
You can also use the charts of your choice ths way, and are not limited to just UKHO offerings, as with Maptech. I use Imray.

Steve.
 

Jules

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Maptech coverage of east coast Ireland not great, but will be improved at end of 2005. They're trying to get all Admiralty charts in an area onto one folio, at my suggestion. This would include ECI harbours.
If you buy this year the upgrade is normally free.
Thoroughly recommend Maptech, with the above provision.
Each tidal diamond is shown in real time, making the Arklow banks a doddle!
 

rwakeham

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Good tip re the stitching progamme. So you know if Sea Clear has an upper limit on file size. I read the tips on the site but my files (in both BMP and PNG format) can not be read. The chart has come out at 90Mb clearly massive and I expect too big.
 

aidancoughlan

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Hi guys, thanks for the many tips & replies...
Not sure if I am asking the right question though - since conventional wisdom mandates having paper charts on board for the cruising areas, I am trying to determine if the print output from any of the chart packages effectively allows you to print your own to a standard that they can be used as the sole means of navigation on board.

ie. I am not intending to navigate by laptop or plotter (for now anyway), but could I hold off buying paper charts, and buy one of the electronic packages instead, use it to plan at home, and print my own charts (laminated) to take on board?

To be usable I reckon they would have to be
- exactly to scale on paper (presumably would be),
- print the scale and lat & Long markings accurately on the sides of the chart.
- allow printing of various user-selectable areas of the electronic chart in A3/A2 sizes, or preferrably to fit the specific size of my chart table.

Am I expecting too much from the printing features?
if not why dont we hear about electronic navigation users doing this?
 

srm

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Hi,

If you look at commercially produced paper charts they are printed on heavy duty water resistant paper - for good practical reasons.

If you want to print your own you are limited to A4 or possibly A3 size paper, probably not of very good quality for the use you will put it to, and laser or inkjet print that may not last long when drawing over it and rubbing out. Probably OK to look at in a plastic cover but not practical for plotting on in a small (wet) boat.

Sean
 

aidancoughlan

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yes, chartlets printed in ink on standard paper without waterproofing would not be usable - I was thinking of laminating them. Trouble with laminating large charts is that they become unweildy (have sailed on a bigger boat than mine with a good set of laminated charts, and I dont think my boat has the space to handle them comfortably). In addition, it seems that on most of the charts we use the same sections again and again, not requiring the whole thing at once.

If I could print my own (and laminate) at A3 (or A2 via specialist printer) I could pick the exact areas to cover in the selected size, each convenient enough to handle on the chart table. Passages could be done on small scale charts, switching to local area ones when needed.

ps. In hindsight, I think the potential cost savings is probably not an argument in favour of doing this - while entire electronic coverage of Irish south coast and both sides of the irish sea would be cheaper than full set of paper equivalents, you could probably get away with a lot less to start with.

now, if I could ring up a chart supplier and ask for an A2 chart (or chart table size) printed to cover the area between my choosen X,Y co-ordinates, laminated and sent out by post, that would be good !
 

aidancoughlan

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UPDATE - Re: Print your own paper charts...?

I've called MAPTECH UK (Kelvin Hughes), C-MAP and Winchart software providers about this and the feedback was...

Maptech- effectively prints a dump of whats on screen - no Lat & Long printed on borders.
Winchart- does allow you to select a specific area of the chart to print, but does not currently print Lat & Long. (free update on the way will fix this)
C-MAP.co.uk - Planner NT software will print the area of chart currently viewable on screen, and does print lat & long on borders.

I also learned that:
- you are obliged to carry paper charts for the area you are navigating (obvious)- in this part of the world that means UKHO charts. Navigating by your own printed charts (and apparently by Imray & Stanfords) are also technically illegal, which I was surprised to hear.
- printing Vector (C-MAP, Navionics) charts will usually lose information - ie. information such as the number of flashes on lights etc. is only shown on screen when you click on the screen graphic - this is lost when you print.

so, I've abandoned this idea - off down to the swindlery to buy fixed size inflexible paper charts after all. Seems to me like the electronic chart market is missing an opportunity here though...
 

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