PC Navigation Software

[Freebird]

I suppose this is Sand Bar material since it's not Hatteras specific, but I'm looking for advice on navigation software.

Now that a laptop is along for the ride when I head out, I figure I may as well put it to use for other things than keeping up with all you yahoos. I carry a total of three GPS units on Freebird. A Garmin 2010 Chartplotter with pre-loaded charts, a second Garmin GPS with mapping capabilities which uses the no longer to be found G chips, and a Magellan handheld for just in case.

I still haven't read the manual that came with the 2010, so I don't know how it would work in conjunction with a laptop. I would still like to have stand alone charting capabilities with the laptop though. It would come in handy for using on other boats like Nancy Cay or the GuzCruzer in case GuzBoy's Raymarine loses more than his waypoints!

Please help this computer illiterate hillbilly find some good software.

 

[Liquid Asset]

Maptech Charts with FUGAWI software is a good start. You would need to get an external GPS antenna for your laptop show it could show real time movement. There is also a program called MaxSea that intigrates well into Furuno Navnet electronics and can be a full function network display.

 

[Freebird]

Maptech Charts with FUGAWI software is a good start.

Thanks for the info, but I would like to stick with "made in the USA" software instead of that FUGAWI stuff.

Just kidding, I forgot you were a computer whizzer. I know I'm not supposed to do this, but do you have that same software on your PC? Can I pirate it?

 

[Liquid Asset]

No, Stop being cheap and go buy an updated version so I can pirate it from you.

 

[NAN-PO 41]

Randy,
We have used a Laptop for navigation for several years. We are currently using the Captain program but it is an older program and we are looking at updating. There are a number of programs available and they have different features such as how to save waypoints and the availability of bathymetric charts. You need to look at the different programs and see which features work the best for you. It is great for pre trip planning. Free charts!!
That being said I can honestly say that we really like the laptop approach. The availability of the larger screen is a great feature. You could also mount a P C on the boat and use that as well. We have the laptop hooked up to a cheap Garmin handheld and it works fine. You can buy an adapter cord and that will allow you to hook up the handheld to the laptop and to a 12v power supply so you aren.t using the handheld's batteries.
Another feature we really like is that you can save waypoints on both the laptop and the GPS at the same time. ( Redundancy in case either unit goes toes up )
Fred

 

[Paul45c]

BIRDman, you sure your 2010 doesn't have Bluechart chip capability? I thought they all did. That's hands-down your best option...it'll give you chart detail right on your plotter screen. Each chip will ding you about $130, but they cover a pretty wide area with good detail.

 

[34Hatt]

I too use the Captain software it is a older version but it still works have to load it differently for it too work with XP. They told me it won't work with XP and I had to buy a newer version But I got it to work guess I know more then them .
But I like this approach I have a separate computor on board with a laptop as backup. I also have it at home and work so you can always do planning and just plan old dreaming instead of WORK . It does work well for making Routes during down time so when you get to the boat you just GO. Also you can now get all the charts online FREE.... I have been downloading them and have from Canada to Texas and even got Lake Tahoe just because I wanted to look at it .

 

[Freebird]

Hey, thanks everybody for the input. I really don't know much about computering and stuff.

I know my 2010 has a place to plug chips into, but I never knew why as it is preloaded with charts of the entire free world. I reckon it's time to sit down and read the owner's manual to see what all this thing is capable of.

 

[Capt K]

I have a military grade Itronix laptop with a couple of navigation software packages on it connected to a gps "mouse" so I can pre-plan at home and follow it along onboard. I have not connected it to my garmin mounted on the boat, but I know I can and run them together. The only issue is that daylight viewing is very challenging with the laptop.

I still have two little Garmin GPSMap units that are always right on! I'm thinking of upgrading the one on the bridge to a Garmin 2210.

Let's see....we're on the Sandbar, so I don't have to say Hatt, right?

K

 

[Freebird]

I have a military grade Itronix laptop with a couple of navigation software packages on it connected to a gps "mouse" so I can pre-plan at home and follow it along onboard. I have not connected it to my garmin mounted on the boat, but I know I can and run them together. The only issue is that daylight viewing is very challenging with the laptop.

I still have two little Garmin GPSMap units that are always right on! I'm thinking of upgrading the one on the bridge to a Garmin 2210.

Let's see....we're on the Sandbar, so I don't have to say Hatt, right?

K

Hatt back at ya! We ain't got to say that ship on here. It's the bar!

Military grade? I made a 4-F, is that good?

I would like the flexibility of trip planning off the boat using my PC as well. My 2010 is up on the bridge, but I plan to purchase another mount and maybe a second antennae to be able to use it in the pilothouse as well.

Maybe once I get everything wired and downloaded, I can use the laptop in the pilothouse.

 

[NAN-PO 41]

Randy,
You don't need to move your main GPS. You can use the handheld in the pilothouse and all you need is a 12v cigarette lighter plug for it and a 115v plug for the laptop. (That eliminates relying on batteries ) All you need is a GPS signal to the laptop. You don't need any type of mapping capability from the GPS for it. I am considering a desktop PC for my lower station and not moving the laptop down there.
Fred

 

[doc g]

I've got the Cap'n software. I was running the old version and upgraded 2 yrs ago. I like it but have nothing to compare it to. I really like the split screen page that allows you to use two different zooms on the same view. The customer service is really not good, though (an understatement)!!!!....Pat

 

[Freebird]

Randy,
You don't need to move your main GPS. You can use the handheld in the pilothouse and all you need is a 12v cigarette lighter plug for it and a 115v plug for the laptop. (That eliminates relying on batteries ) All you need is a GPS signal to the laptop. You don't need any type of mapping capability from the GPS for it. I am considering a desktop PC for my lower station and not moving the laptop down there.
Fred

Hey Fred, thanks for the info which sounds good to me. Maybe this won't be as complicate as I had feared. I actually will have a second stationary GPS in the pilothouse, so I can leave the handheld tucked away in the unlikely event the other two croak simultaneously.

 

[Bill Allen]

When we went to the keys last winter I ran my laptop with a cheap handheld gps input. It sat right on my lower station next to my northstar and I was amazed at how accurate it was. Held good signal and with CE it made navagating a pleasure. For basically less money than my northstar. Bill

 

[kemosabe421]

I too use The Capn. I have been very pleased with it. I keep the laptop at the lower helm station and have a 17" remote monitor with wireless mouse at upper helm.

The Capn has just come out with upgrade 8.3. Their website quotes $149 for the upgrade. A friend of mine called them and they said they would sell it for $129.

 

[Boss Lady]

I too am looking for navigation software to run a on computer on board. I checked out the Captn and it was recently bought by the crooks at Maptech. Right now you can buy a copy for $449.00 off of the maptech website. They have elevated the Captn software to commercial duty and raised the prices, and try to pawn of one of their other crapo products on the recreational users called navigator pro which sells for $500. If you are considering the Captn, I would suggest you hurry up and get it before they double the price to make their other rip off products cheap. If you go to this link www.thecaptn.com it will flash up for a few seconds and then you will get redirected to the maptech website that has almost no useful information. Maptech bought the Captn software after the U.S. Coast Guard bought it for their cutter fleet. Small innovative company kicks big company butt. So they bought it to keep from becoming irrelevent. I think the owner/inventor sold himself short by selling out now, but how much they paid has not been released.

after you look at maptech's worthless descriptions go here to find out about the Captn software http://www.sea-tech.com/CAPN.htm

The original raster charts available from Maptech via a research agreement with NOAA were known simply as Raster Nautical Charts (or RNCs). These charts are still available today under Maptech's trade name "Digital ChartKit" and are widely used. NOAA has been working diligently on a new suite of vector charts that comply with the International Hydrographic Office (IHO) standard called S-57. This standard applies to commercial vessels wishing to use electronic charts for navigation and includes very detailed information on what information must be included on the chart. These S-57 compliant charts are known as Electronic Nautical Charts (ENCs). NOAA is well on the way to producing their entire catalog in this new ENC format, and their charts are available for free on the Internet at http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/download.htm. These charts are typically used with high-end charting software known as Electronic Chart and Information Display Systems (ECDIS). These systems are approved for commercial use by a variety of organizations including the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM), the IHO, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

As this progress on these ENC and S-57 charts continues at NOAA in Silver Spring, Maryland, down the road in Bethesda, Maryland, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is hard at work developing a somewhat different and incompatible type of vector chart known as a digital nautical chart (DNC). These charts are intended primarily for Navy and Coast Guard use and aren't generally available to the public.

I am sure that Maptech will maintain its' unholy alliance with the government and keep its' strangle hold on the information that "we" the "taxpayers" foot the bill so Maptech can turn around and sell it to us.

 

[ThirdHatt]

I have used Capn 6.0 for many years with great success using Maptech BSB charts. Now that they are offered for free, I decided to update by downloading all new charts so that I would have the most recent datum. I did this, but the charts are not overlaying properly. Normally you'd just see the outline of other charts overlaying but the charts all show at the same time.

I called Maptech and they told me to download the newer version 7.5 free. Anything newer and I'd have to pay Maptech. I downloaded 7.5, had the same problem. I called back, they said to download 8.3 and it would fix it. I told them I would not pay them after all this, they said they would give me the registration code for free to fix the problem. I said wow, sounds good. Downloaded 8.3 and what do you know, SAME PROBLEM! I called back again and they said that they (Maptech) just bought the system and therefore they have no real database of problems/fixes yet! They told me to wait until the next version comes out (whenever that is) and that SHOULD fix it. I am NOT HAPPY because my old 6.0 worked GREAT (except for when the computer crashes) but they made me delete it to use the new version.

Lesson: BE CAREFUL downloading the new "free" charts with ANY version of The Captain. You may cause more problems that you solve!

 

[Boss Lady]

the former owner/inventor is the new maptech product manager, so they are lying to you about not having a database of problems. This software has been in service with the coast guard since 1999 and was procured as a COTS (commercial off the shelf) solution which replaced a non-compliant Defense Contractor developed system that was way behind in keeping up with technology. The CG has 229 cutters with the Capn system, I think they call it Voyager. I have Furano Navnet equipment and I have been investigating MAXSEA software since it integrates with the Furano so well. It uses standard ethernet to communicate. Does anyone have any experience with MAXSEA that they can share with us? Thanks

 

[Boss Lady]

Here is a link that gives the governments defense of giving Maptech an exclusive control in "Perpetuity" of "our" map data.
http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/OCS/rnc/nenc.htm

 

[Boss Lady]

I have used Capn 6.0 for many years with great success using Maptech BSB charts. Now that they are offered for free, I decided to update by downloading all new charts so that I would have the most recent datum. I did this, but the charts are not overlaying properly. Normally you'd just see the outline of other charts overlaying but the charts all show at the same time.

I called Maptech and they told me to download the newer version 7.5 free. Anything newer and I'd have to pay Maptech. I downloaded 7.5, had the same problem. I called back, they said to download 8.3 and it would fix it. I told them I would not pay them after all this, they said they would give me the registration code for free to fix the problem. I said wow, sounds good. Downloaded 8.3 and what do you know, SAME PROBLEM! I called back again and they said that they (Maptech) just bought the system and therefore they have no real database of problems/fixes yet! They told me to wait until the next version comes out (whenever that is) and that SHOULD fix it. I am NOT HAPPY because my old 6.0 worked GREAT (except for when the computer crashes) but they made me delete it to use the new version.

Lesson: BE CAREFUL downloading the new "free" charts with ANY version of The Captain. You may cause more problems that you solve!

Don't forget that Nautical Technologies was a competitor until Maptech bought them, so I am not surprised that Maptech's charts don't work with their newest product. If you are old enough to remember the phrase "DOS isn't done until Lotus won't run" then you will understand what is going on. This was the reason Microsoft has a release of software updates every couple of months, that way they can keep changing the code so competitors can't keep up and make their products work well enough to keep customers.