Charts for Laptops

[HunterWanderer]

Does Seaclear overlay grib files?

and display nmea depth, waterspeed, wind etc ?

[ffiill]

Its the intuitive nature of opencpn that bothers me as with dedicated plotters-just prefer it looking like a chart without a load of extra data.
But then I hate predictive texting!

[fishermantwo]

Why the obsession with opencpn-personally dont like it and prefer Seaclear.
Both I believe were developed in US where you can now download both free Raster Navigational Charts and Electronic Navigational Charts.
Open CPN will of course use both but neither work with encoded charts-Seaclear is a few MBs in size wheras opencpn is about 40 mbs.
Seaclear is dedicated to the Raster image based charts and to my mind functions in exactly the same way you would use paper charts and as such feels familiar.
You begin with a small scale for an overall view then move into a larger scale for detail-hate the way openCPN does this on auto so suddenly you have a harbour chart overlaying a far smaller scale chart.
Also like way Seaclear will list all charts for given position so you can choose.
Also when I recently uploaded California catalogue from NOAA in Seaclear I see a list of chart names as well as numbers wheras in opencpn just get meaningless numbers.

Seaclear was developed in Holland and Olle will answer any questions you may have on the Seaclear forum.

[Playtime]

But then I hate predictive texting!

So do I!

OpenCPN with raster (Maptech Admiralty) works very well. I don't like vector charts (except for AIS display with the detail turned down).

[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.

[Robin]

Does Seaclear overlay grib files?

and display nmea depth, waterspeed, wind etc ?

Plus display AIS, simultaneously display the raster or the vector chart so you can click between them, link to a matching Google Earth view that follows your chart scale and position (that is incredible), automatically complete log entries....

I have both Seaclear and OpenCPN and can even run them both at the same time, but why bother when OpenCPN does it all.

[Amulet]

See http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=277963 for some discussion on this. I aired my opinions (prejuduices?) about the half dozen systems I have running in that discussion. N.B. my preference is to send routes from the computer to a Garmin 72 in the cockpit for the helmsman to use when navigating, so my experience of the software is for planning, not live navigation.

[Playtime]

See http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=277963 for some discussion on this. I aired my opinions (prejuduices?) about the half dozen systems I have running in that discussion. N.B. my preference is to send routes from the computer to a Garmin 72 in the cockpit for the helmsman to use when navigating, so my experience of the software is for planning, not live navigation.

I've just read the other thread (I missed it first time around (June 2011) as we were somewhere in France) and agree pretty much with your conclusions. I have exactly the same requirement to upload routes from the laptop to a Garmin GPS (128 in my case). However, I then have a further complication (that I don't think you have). I need the GPS to output route data (BTW, XTE etc) in NMEA native format (not Garmin format) to interface correctly with the Autohelm (which actually steers the boat a lot of the time). This necessitates changing the GPS 'interface' to GRMN/GRMN when uploading the route (before departure) and back to NMEA/NMEA before real-time nav starts.

I used to use Maptech ONL but, as noted, it doesn't 'do' AIS so have now changed to OpenCPN. This has a Garmin route upload function. It also now reads the Maptech BSB4 charts, as well as the CM93 charts. For me, it is undoubtedly the current best software solution.

The only reason for this thread is that my Maptech UK charts are more than 10 years old. I know the rocks don't move but there have been changes in the last years that should be visible on updated charts. The new raster chart package from VisitMyHarbour, due out in April, (see post #10) that will run on OpenCPN looks like the answer.