Turned my laptop into a chartplotter!

SnaxMuppet

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I have always had Garmin GPS units... both handhelds and also marine chartplotters. I know that many people don't like them and as it is very much personal taste I really don't want to get into a "Garmin are great!" vs "Garmin are crap!" debate.

However, now that I have the Garmin charts and the Garmin PC software I thought it would be good to use an old HP laptop I had not doing much as a chartplotter on the boat. I have a Lowrance 5inch plotter on the MF625 (Lowrance because it is NMEA2000 for the engine interface - Garmin don't do NMEA2000!) and I am finding it a bit small. So, in my ignorance, I thought that if I get a USB GPS receiver and the Garmin nRoute software I should be able to use the tablet PC as a plotter using all my existing Bluechart maps.

I bought the USB GPS, installed it and plugged it in... nothing. After a bit of research (which I should have done BEFORE I bought the USB GPS I suppose!) I discover that the Garmin nRoute is only compatible with Garmin data from the GPS. Shucks! My USB GPS, like most, only did NMEA0183.

Not one to accept defeat I set about searching the internet for a solution and I found one. There is some software that I could download for free and it would allow Garmin nRoute to be used with any normal NMEA0183 GPS...

... and I must say it works a treat.

So, if you have already splashed out on Bluechart and want to use your laptop as a chartplotter then with this software and a normal (cheap!!!) USB or Bluetooth GPS receiver then you can without having to buy the expensive Garmin GPS or new electronic charts.

I won't describe what to do here as it is already described where I found it at ...

http://www.malsingmaps.com/wiki/index.php/Using_nRoute_with_non-Garmin_bluetooth_GPS_receiver

It talks about Bluetooth but the same will work with a standard USB GPS... just look in your Device Manager at the com port it is using and use that port when it talks about the Bluetooth com port. Everything else is the same.

If you get stuck... PM me and I will help.

Have fun.
 

Searush

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Or buy a GPS mouse (about £40) plus Tsunamis99 world charts (about £25) and you will have a world wide chart database with your location, speed course & track displayed on the chart. Cheap & very effective chartplotter. User interface is not very user friendly but once you get used to it it works a treat! Charts are more up-to date than all my paper ones & it is fun working thro' the shifting sandbanks on it!
 

oceanfroggie

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Yes USB gps is a good way to having large screen plotter display.

The Newer Garmin 2007 network units do have NMEA2000. Yes nRoute works a treat with a laptop and the GPS18 USB gps sensor. I have both Garmin and Raymarine setups on our boats and have to say Garmin are truely the best at modern plotters because a) Bluechart presentation is so clear, b) their GPS plotters are the easyest to use, and c) their PC software and route planning software leaves the others trailing far far behind. I use the Raymarine/Navionics and Raymarine/C-MAP as backup to the garmin, but prefer the Raymarine Radar over other radar products inc Garmin.

The problem with USB gps and Laptop PCs for navigation is they are not very useable in an F6 with wet hands, and definitely dont like salt air let alone salt water! Inland or for sheltered coastal cruising inside wheel houses they work well though, but not much use on the helm of a wet boat in rolling seas.
 

SwedishLass

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I have the tsunamis and found it more accurate than my old g-chart. ( I did not cross the isle of dogs on the laptop!) beware however if considering a new laptop for the job, my usb gps did not and the website stated would not, have vista drivers. The old inspiron 2500 pressed into sevice once more. For cockpit use I have the Standard Horizon 175c very pleased with it and the miniscule power consumption. As a raggie I have to think about these things.
 

Renegade_Master

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Had T99 for years (now called "Navigator" by the way) by Transaa Datacom I link it to my Garmin 12xl for a signal ino com one on my old PC, did all my navigating in the UK and now here with it. Great set up.
 

ccscott49

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Thats the set up I have, got the lot on e bay for 35 quid! Works fine, for me. I'm not on the boat, do you know if tsunamis 99 accepts AIS data?
Thanks.
 

SnaxMuppet

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The thing about Tsunamis99 is that it is another system to learn and quite frankly, I resent spending more money out when I have already spent the cash on Bluechart Atlantic, Bluechart N. America and City Select for Europe and N.America.

Tsunamis99 would be a good way to go if I hadn't already got the Garmin charts but this way means I can use the charts I already have with minimum outlay and little more to learn. As well as use the City Select Charts for road navigation. Also, with a Merry Fisher 625 I can't see me making much use of world charts /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I think the main point of my post is that Garmin nRoute requires Garmin input and that is normally only possible with a Garmin GPS unit which are expensive when compared to a normal USB GPS (e.g. GlobalSat). Using this method there is nothing more to buy or to learn except the USB GPS (as you say... about £40).
 

Searush

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[ QUOTE ]
Thats the set up I have, got the lot on e bay for 35 quid! Works fine, for me. I'm not on the boat, do you know if tsunamis 99 accepts AIS data?
Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see it on mine, but seem to remember reading somewhere that it can be. Perhaps it's an add-on or a later version. Mine is version 3 (dated 1999)
 

Major Catastrophe

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Searush, one reservation I have about Tsunami. Earlier this week you posted a picture of that bay with the rock in the middle where you watched JamesTT blast past. On Tsunami, that bay has no detail. In fact Tsunami has no detail between Dinas-Iwyd and Crigyll Bay, which is between chart A1464_2 and A1977. A1826 is the large chart that covers from below Anglesey and Luce bay in Scotland.

It is the same for the Bardsey Island area.

Am I doing something wrong with the programme?
 

Cymraeg

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Sorry to hijack this post, but I've got another point regarding lack of detail on plotting software ...... I downloaded the Raymarine Raytech software, and St. Tudwalls Island off Abersoch (North Wales) isn't shown at all! You can plot a straight line from Pwllheli to St. Davids Head, and the display doesn't show the fact part of the journey would be across dry land! Anyone got any recommendations for cheap (or free!) charts to use with this software for plotting passages at home?
 

Andrew_Fanner

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How detailed/correctable are the Tsunamis charts? Given that I need to make some chartplotter decisions soon I like the laptop approach. Don't need much chart data on approaches to Mumbai but do want plenty of stuff on Estuary sandbanks and buoyage changes.
 

Searush

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Hi Major,
Here is the screen shot from my copy of Tsunamis: Chart 1464, scale zoomed to about 1;3000 (warning displayed "dangerous scale")

mermaidscove.jpg


I actually used a paper copy of Kemp & mk1 eyeball to get in this time as I need to repair my 12v take-off for the laptop. But I did anchor in Aber Menai using tsunamis & it was absolutely spot on! Far more up to date than my 25year old paper charts!
 

Major Catastrophe

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Ah, that is not where i thought you were - you were the next inlet East of Pilot's Cove.

If you look to the West of that point, except for a couple, all the depth soundings disappear and there is little or no detail.

I haven't got my paper charts with me, so I can't compare them, but will do tomorrow.
 

Searush

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Ahh, now I see the problem, Tsunamis, like all chart based systems is based on scans of charts. If there are no detail charts - tuff titty!

I understand that you can scan & add your own charts (taken from various pilots is best I suppose) but I have never bothered to try. If you do attempt it, I suspect that the older the pilot, the more accurate it is likely to be! I'd go for Glazebrook myself if I could get hold of a copy!
 
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