Charts for Laptops

[Playtime]

There was some discussion of this on another thread (USB GPS) but to avoid further thread drift, I'll start a new thread here.

I am currently using OpenCPN with CM93 charts and also Maptech (BSB4).

The Maptech charts are now 10 or more years old and I am looking to replace them with modern equivalents, covering the South of England (S of E) plus CIs and northern/western France.

I am aware of good deals for the following -

ARCS charts for the whole UK from Belfield (£70), and

AVCS charts for the whole UK from PolarView (£55).

However, neither of these cover France (in any detail) and, AFAIK, neither chart type is usable in OpenCPN.

Questions -

Are there any chart 'deals' that will run on OpenCPN (except CM93), for the areas required?

What chart deals, for any plotter programme, cover S of E plus France (north and west) and which are recommended?

[Jabamusic]

Have you been here?

http://www.visitmyharbour.com/articl...sp?arturn=1400

[Playtime]

Have you been here?

http://www.visitmyharbour.com/articl...sp?arturn=1400

Yes and very impressive/good value it is for offline (printed) charts and other pilotage info. However, I don't think you can use the charts available with a plotter programme in real-time (please correct me if I'm wrong). I am really looking for charts that can be used on the laptop at sea.

[Jabamusic]

Hi
That isn't my understanding of one of the products they offer ie an electronic version of all digitised charts for £25 !.
Take a closer look - it MIGHT be actually what you are after - but there again it might not be !! :-)

Jaba

[Playtime]

Hi
That isn't my understanding of one of the products they offer ie an electronic version of all digitised charts for £25 !.
Take a closer look - it MIGHT be actually what you are after - but there again it might not be !! :-)

Jaba

Jaba

I did look quite closely and it is my impression that the charts are in .jpg format and would individually need registering with 3 points in something like SeaClear to be able to use them for real-time nav. They can be printed or stored and viewed on line but not in a plotter programme with a GPS connected.

My only slight reservation is whether they can be used in real-time on Google Earth with a GPS connected. Maybe someone else can help with that one?

[Jabamusic]

Oh, Ok - my bad !

Jaba

[prv]

I did look quite closely and it is my impression that the charts are in .jpg format and would individually need registering with 3 points in something like SeaClear to be able to use them for real-time nav. They can be printed or stored and viewed on line but not in a plotter programme with a GPS connected.

I think you are correct in the case of the service originally linked to, which is for charts viewed online at home. However, they also have a separate service which is intended to be used at sea: http://www.visitmyharbour.com/charts-for-seaclear.asp . They come with SeaClear; I don't know if they would also work on OpenCPN.

Pete

[jon]

Also Memory Map good value UK at £50ish.
Reliably informed that next year to cover France as well.

[m20b25]

...AVCS charts for the whole UK from PolarView (£55)....

AVCS is Admiralty Vector Chart Service. Coverage for the whole of the UK would be a couple thousand £! Generally for commercial users and the permits run out after 12 months.

I did just look at the PolarView website and they are saying "ENC's". Now, unless these are updated weekly from UKHO supplied data, they are not actually ENCs, and should not be sold as such. I'm guessing they would be vector charts put together from S57 ENC derived data from the UKHO.

Hi Playtime,

No the ones we'll be producing won't really cover France (although it may well have 2675 which will get you across the Channel). The package will have all the Channel Islands charts included though.

Tend to agree with you about Raster/Vector charts.. if anyone is interested in the differences and limitations have a look here:

"At the UK Hydrographic Office, and many other national Hydrographic Offices, vector data (ENC) is created by tracing over the raster data. The significance of this cannot be overstated . The best quality image possible from this data can only ever approach the original raster image. When the electronic navigation chart (ENC) is displayed, with all possible display options enabled, the total amount of display information will still only approximate to that available from the raster image."

From a white paper by CherSoft, the company who produce "Easy Tide" for the UKHO. For a full understanding of the differences between RASTER and VECTOR charts download the PDF white paper from here:

http://www.chersoft.co.uk/nav_chartformats.htm

Steve at VisitMyHarbour

Careful! When was this paper dated? I'm led to believe that S57s are no longer done like this. It may have been the case originally. In ECDIS, ARCS are used if S57 coverage is poor.

A vector chart is not automatically an ENCs unless it is produced by a national hydrographic organisation. Ie AVCS S57s are ENCs, the charts for $30 on PolarNavy are not ENCs!

Here is the official line on ENCs:

Electronic Navigational Charts are official nautical charts produced by national hydrographic organisations which are designed primarily for use on Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS).

Best to get that cleared up.