Electronic Charts for PC???

[TenMile]

Anyone here on the board know of a good and cheap (or free) package for the PC that can be used to view the depth and structure of an area? I have a Raymarine chartplotter and sounder and can download their RayTech Planner software but it seems pretty clunky.

Ideally I would like an application that simulates my GPS/Chartplotter and allows me to take a look at a new fishing area and scope out the best spots to drop a line. I have the Navionics electronic charts on a Compact Flash and can hook that up to a CF card reader.

Sitting in the boat at 11pm at night in the driveway to play with the GPS is a little cold at this time of year.

 

[bananas]

LastChance should be able to help u out.

 

[island idiots]

Hey TenMile,
I have Blue Chart of the Americas Version 7.5 for my Garmin GPS. Its loaded on my PC and it is awesome. Can't remember what it cost, around $200.00 I think, but it has great detail and I can cruise the coast from the comfort of my living room on my PC. Cheers, I.I.

 

[Kisinana]

Check out NavSim Mapcruiser Duo. Great program canadian made and can also be used on a handheld. I run it on my laptop and just plug in my GPS in the boat

 

[SIR]

I have a copy of Nobltech Visual Navigation Suite and the chart set for the West Coast out of a larger boat that we no longer have. The purchase price on them is around $800 I'd be willing to sell them for $150. The upside is that you can plug your GPS into your laptop and have a REALLY nice large screen on boat nav system as well as using it for simulation at home. We loved it when we had a larger boat with room for a laptop.

The chart viewer that comes with the charts is okay but the Suite does a lot of really cool trip planning functions like time and gas calculations as well as click-on-chart-location tide and current info, zoom-in/zoom out through chart scale sets fro the same area etc.

Just let me know if you are interested.

 

[nedarb2]

theres a whole bunch on used victoria right now, http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/4750385&category=power-boats

 

[TenMile]

I ended up taking a look at the product from NavSim as recommended by Kisinana. While the laptop connection to the GPS would be cool, laptops and fishing boats aren't really the best mix of technologies if you know what I mean.

NavSim makes a little product called the NavSim Viewer which is much less expensive than the Mapcruiser (but doesnt have the two way communication with the GPS). They also have a site where you can purchase the charts online and then manipulate them with the viewer. Charts are about $19 each and if you buy two, the viewer is free.

 

[Oglthorpe]

Just google Mapster. You can look at all the charts you want for free.

 

[Copper Moon]

I have NavSim's pocket pc version and use it in my zodiac to complement the laptop running Nobeltec on the larger boat. It uses the same chart formats and works quite well. I bought a Holux bluetooth receiver on EBay for the gps end and it works great.