Navigation programmes for laptops

[ANTREVELL]

I would like to add a navigation programme to my laptop as a backup . Has anybody any experience of the various programmes. I have used Neptune but the CMaps are quite expensive
The boat has a Garmin 4008 chartplotter fitted to the binnacle.

Regards Tony   Cruiser 33  Pegatha

[Craig]

I've used Navionics on an I-Pad for the last 5 years in the Med and Australia. Never a problem.

I can't remember how much I paid for the European charts ( all areas except Britain and Denmark) but well under 60 euros. Charts for Australia and New Zealand were $AUS69.00.

It was interesting to see, at the Desseldorf Boat Show a couple of years ago, that most new boats had docking stations for -Pads ( Laptops) rather than integrated electronics. With Blue-tooth connectivity coming in, AIS and radar can be overlaid on the charts.

Craig
"Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia.

[Yngmar]

I'm using OpenCPN, which is free and great, apart from some minor UI quirks. Also has lots of plugins for all kinds of stuff, including weather routing, GRIB overlays, log book, etc.

Chart sources depend on your cruising area.

[Lyra]

I have been using OpenCPN for the last 6 years as well. About a year ago I installed it on a Raspberry Pi so the chart table remains clear (monitor hangs above the table). Recently they also issued a version for Android which is very convenient when in the cockpit.
Apart from some map sources, if you have paper charts you can scan them and convert to KAP/BSB format which can be used by OpenCPN. I did it manually using several programs but recently saw that there is a program called mapc2mapc which is an inexpensive program that  converts image files to this format in one step.

[MarkTheBike]

If you have an Android phone or tablet (bigger screen) then you could try www.visitmyharbour.com, based in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. They supply digitised charts for UK, France, Western Europe, etc. I joined them a couple of years ago (£25 for life), bought a chartplotter app called Marine Navigator, by Ronald Koenig, from the PlayStore for less than £6 and download all 800+ charts (Admiralty) for the UK for £7.99. These are up-to-date and suitable for navigation. I download a new set every year.You'll find all the info on the website. Apart from the £25 membership (which opens other useful stuff, e.g. blending charts onto Google Earth), my initial bill for setting up the tablet as a plotter was less than £14. It's worth a punt for that price! You don't have to pay the £25 but the charts are a little more expensive (£14.99 from memory). The tablet sits on the binnacle (with a ziploc bag handy for bad weather).

[Salty]

If you have an Android phone or tablet (bigger screen) then you could try www.visitmyharbour.com, based in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. They supply digitised charts for UK, France, Western Europe, etc. I joined them a couple of years ago (£25 for life), bought a chartplotter app called Marine Navigator, by Ronald Koenig, from the PlayStore for less than £6 and download all 800+ charts (Admiralty) for the UK for £7.99. These are up-to-date and suitable for navigation. I download a new set every year.You'll find all the info on the website. Apart from the £25 membership (which opens other useful stuff, e.g. blending charts onto Google Earth), my initial bill for setting up the tablet as a plotter was less than £14. It's worth a punt for that price! You don't have to pay the £25 but the charts are a little more expensive (£14.99 from memory). The tablet sits on the binnacle (with a ziploc bag handy for bad weather).

Thanks for the info Mark, that looks very interesting.

[aquapore]

I have been using both OpenCpn and Polar Navy (Polar View) which I find easier to use. OpenCpn sometime cannot find the USB GPS sensor.

Regards

Aquapore

[seasicksteve]

+1 for OpenCPN. I use it on a laptop with Admiralty charts from visitmyharbour.com.  I love it for planning, creating waypoint files and routes.  I can transfer the waypoints and routes to my Raymarine plotter on an SD card (unfortunately Raymarine don't support electronic transfer as far as I can tell).  I tend not to use it for live navigation - partly a limitation of trying to use an unsecured laptop at sea.

I also have the Navionics boating app on my phone, which is great for checking up on where you are when down below, off watch or in the heads!

[Neil]

I use Navionics on an iPad mini with an external GPS aerial (Dual XGPS 160 SkyPro) connected using Bluetooth. Navionics is good for passage planning and is also a good backup for my Raymarine chart plotter. I also use an anchor watch app on the iPad which is really useful when mated to the Dual GPS aerial, as the aerial is very accurate. Makes for a peaceful nights sleep.

[DT]

Navonics are good , if using iPad get a 4G iPad they have an inbuilt GPS as opposed to no GPS in the just wifi version. Next time around I an going to do sony android with Navonics as the sony is water proof.

[jonrarit]

partly a limitation of trying to use an unsecured laptop at sea.

3M Dual lock ....bit like velcro but much stronger. I have four small pads on the chart table to match the four on the bsae laptop ....end result is the laptop is going nowhere

Hope this is helpful

Jonathan

[sgparkin]

I used to use SOB (Digiboat). Worked well and stores logfiles of position/speed etc. Free for Lite version, $59 to interface with NMEA data.

The maps are separately purchased. C-Map max megawide 1 covers the whole Mediterranean for £229 (eg. https://www.prscomms.co.uk/webshop/c-map-pc-selector-disk/922-disk-mediterranean.html#/chart_licence-max_megawide_area_1_)

I have licensed C-MAP MAX PC charts on DVD covering atlantic france/spain/Mediterranean and West Africa/Atlantic islands.
Was £700 in 2006 - would sell for £100 if anyone interested.

I've never used opencpn but understand you are somewhat restricted in the choice of charts - I don't think you can use commercial (ie paid) charts with it.