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JOHN C
Joined: 08 Jan 2016 Posts: 52 City/Region: Cleveland
State or Province: OH
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Mighty Wench
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 6:30 am Post subject: Canadian Charts |
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It is actually worse than that. The charts are encrypted and locked to a computer, at least the last time I checked they were. That means if your computer dies, the charts go with it. It is typical government bizarre since various apps with charts are very cheap now.
We have used a laptop for a chart plotter for a long time. The interface with either open cpn or seaclear is so much easier, especially for planning, than any chart plotter I have looked at (keyboard with lots of keys and mouse cannot compete with a few buttons - even with touch screen, at least in my experience). Also, you can get a big screen (becoming MUCH more important as time goes on) for cheap (we buy reconditioned laptops which, so far, have cost less than $250).
We have a Rosborough but we just keep the laptop on the port dash when under way and shield the screen when we need to. It is also important to keep it out of the sun due to heat (not as involved as it seems - you just have to shade it with something).
Sometimes, you can find old Canadian charts that are not encrypted. They are out of date, but the rocks don't generally move much.
John _________________ 24' Rosborough RF-246
John and Susan |
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Marco Flamingo
Joined: 09 Jul 2015 Posts: 1155 City/Region: Seattle
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2004
C-Dory Model: 16 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Limpet
Photos: Limpet
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 11:40 am Post subject: |
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Maybe I already have what I need. My Lowrance has a Navionics card that covers Canadian waters (including lakes and rivers), so I have the "charts" on board. There might be software that would allow me to view them at home on the computer. I assume that the Navionics micro SD card would be copy protected.
Mark
I traveled with an old laptop for the first couple of years on the C-Dory because it had the Nobeltec Tides and Currents program on it that I had used since the 1980's. This winter while sitting in the garage messing with my Lowrance I came across "T" and "C" icons that were turned off. Yeah, I found out that the Lowrance had almost everything that the laptop had. Plus, Tides and Currents was only upgraded through Windows 7, so I had to use an old laptop. Just some background on my level of computer sophistication (or lack thereof). I guess that I should read my owner's manuals. |
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