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Southwind_UB19
29-01-2008, 12:53 PM
Hi All,

I have a Navman chartplotter with a C-map card. I am going to buy a new Colour gps and am wondering if I should get one that supports C-map or just buy a whole new setup. The only decent GPS I could find with C-Map was the Standard Horizon, I don't like Navman. Are there any others?

How do the charts compare against each other? In your opinions which are the Best Charts, I like Garmin's blue chart but only cause I have used it before.

Cheers
Nick

croangler
29-01-2008, 01:22 PM
i think furuno uses c-map

Southwind_UB19
29-01-2008, 02:01 PM
Furuno is a little dear for me, could buy a garmin 525 for lot less

Wahoo
29-01-2008, 02:30 PM
G'day Nick
i run both maps, and the bluechart has more detail on it, not a great deal, both ok


Daz

aussie9
29-01-2008, 03:24 PM
Fishon Marine in the States have a special on Raymarine 435i Chartplotters at present. $1300 or so $Aud.... delivered to your door. They come complete with Navionics XL9 #32XG charts for the whole of Australia.

Just another spanner in the upgrading works...lol

Cheers

tropicrows
29-01-2008, 03:58 PM
Hi Nick,

I have a Navman 5607 chart plotter that I don't find that user friendly. It might just be me but, I would be interested in why you don’t like yours.

Southwind_UB19
29-01-2008, 04:36 PM
The Navman 4600 Sounder and Tracker 900 GPS that came with my boat aren't performing to what i expect. The sounder double reads and drops out at in swallow water and the GPS is old and so slow to update, also the screen has lost a lot of lines. Other mates that have Navman have had problems and most people that own them would not buy again. I have heard that they are better but still would rather a more trusted name.

TheRealAndy
29-01-2008, 05:03 PM
There is a few differences in electronics charts out there that most people are not aware of, and that is the vector v raster maps. A raster map is more or less just a scanned image. A vector map is a series of points, and your plotter will joint the points. The bonus with vector maps is that they scale better, allowing much better zooming, plus you can also associate additional data with the points, such as beacon information.

All the official australian maps are raster, and last I checked the Australian Hydrographic Service were in the process of creating vector based charts. I am not sure where this stands at the moment. C-Map charts are vector based, so are a much better choice than the governement maps, however they may still lack some data and may or may not be approved, but I couldn't confirm or deny this. Given the fact that most of the government charts where outdated and incorrect I wouldn't be surprised if c-map charts are actually better these days.

Redspeckle
29-01-2008, 08:21 PM
Fishon Marine in the States have a special on Raymarine 435i Chartplotters at present. $1300 or so $Aud.... delivered to your door. They come complete with Navionics XL9 #32XG charts for the whole of Australia.

Just another spanner in the upgrading works...lol

Cheers

I all ready have the Navionics XL9-32XG chart of Australia but i run that in my Humminbird 785c2i chartplotter and have the Nav Planner (Navionics) go with it
can not beat the detail they have on their maps allready found some good fishing spots by change of contour depth lines and little risen reefs and sand banks in the bay just can't wait use it out offshore when weather and when the eastly swell drops off
Mitch
ps i bought all boat electronics my here in Australia i don't mind paying couple hundred more for it at least keep australian employ and all way get good after sales service and instead have to wait weeks on end geting fix when buying from oversea's

seatime
29-01-2008, 08:40 PM
You might get a bit more choice in your price range with Navionics compatible plotters like; Eagle, Lowrance, Humminbird, Raymarine.
The Garmin Bluechart is pretty popular too.

do a search on here, there has been threads about this topic before and lots of opinions each way.
I guess it depends on what you want from the plotter, how much you want to spend on the unit, etc. It's always good to have a play with a few different units to help decide.

regards

Southwind_UB19
01-02-2008, 11:02 AM
Think I'll have to wait till I go to Cairns and can have a play with them

polky
01-02-2008, 01:29 PM
I purchased the garmin 525s, including the transducer from the states landed on my door in 5 days and cost $1185 aus, which is pretty good. From what I,ve been hearing the unit is easey to use and the vision maps are good. Polky.

SatNav
01-02-2008, 07:56 PM
"All the official australian maps are raster, and last I checked the Australian Hydrographic Service were in the process of creating vector based charts"

1. That is simply and totally incorrect and obviously you have not checked anything with the AHO for quite some time

2. Do not confuse any vector chart with those "official" vector charts that do comply with IHO standards

TheRealAndy
01-02-2008, 08:31 PM
"All the official australian maps are raster, and last I checked the Australian Hydrographic Service were in the process of creating vector based charts"

1. That is simply and totally incorrect and obviously you have not checked anything with the AHO for quite some time

2. Do not confuse any vector chart with those "official" vector charts that do comply with IHO standards

I said that I dont know where it stands currently. You are right in saying that I have not checked in a while. So instead of being a smart arse and telling me I am wrong why dont you give the full details aswell?

SatNav
01-02-2008, 08:58 PM
1. If you do not know where things currently stand then maybe it might have been wise to simply say nothing

2. In this age of technology it does not take a great deal of effort to check the current status

3. Once anybody starts to use the word "official" then you do need to make exactly sure of the details otherwise your comments might be construed to have some commercial bias.

4. To say you have not checked in a while is quite an understatement

5. In some respects what you say might be close in some regards but you have failed to qualify your comments in an overall aspect is quite misleading

6. To infer "Given the fact that most of the government charts where outdated and incorrect I wouldn't be surprised if c-map charts are actually better these days" quite clearly shows you probably should have said nothing.

SatNav
01-02-2008, 09:02 PM
1. Where do you think C-map acquires there digital data from in Australia?

Simmo2
01-02-2008, 10:00 PM
Hey SatNav!!
All TheRealAndy was trying to do was help.
You have indicated he is wrong, and you have still done nothing to help!!
What is wrong with you man??? You seem to know your stuff yet sit on a self imposed pedestal?

The forum is about helping....admitting mistakes, learning from them, debating them and getting on with being more knowledgable than the day before.. Get with the program.

Southwind_UB19
02-02-2008, 06:16 AM
I have to agree with you Simmo2, all SatNav has done is bag out RealAndy. I am still none the wiser as to which charts are best, Was hoping for some personal experiance/preference not Official this, official that.

SatNav
02-02-2008, 07:45 AM
There are my ground rules

1. Say it simply

2. Say it with some knowledge and not make assumptions as then others will assume the same thing

3. No point in making assumptions, they are generally always wrong

4. It is not my intention to write a book on any subject or go into detailed personal experiences

5. If there is a query then ask it I will attempt to cover it if I can, I am not a mind reader

5. If correcting assumptions and out of date comments, out of line comments is not helping then, well then maybe some are very hard to please and find it better to chastise

6. If you are a chastiser then don't bother, I'm not interested.

SatNav
02-02-2008, 08:01 AM
Some comments, thoughts and some queries

1. How can anybody claim government charts are outdated and incorrect and c-map charts are actually better these days when C-Map actually use exactly the SAME data?

2. Raising the issue of Official AHO charts in the context here is not warranted, totally different issue but for the record the highest order of AHO charts are certainly vector followed by official raster. C-map are NOT official charts and do not conform to legal requirements

3. There is no need to reference official anything in this but since it was previously raised it did need to be addressed. This is called getting with the program.

Simmo2
02-02-2008, 08:34 AM
5. If there is a query then ask it I will attempt to cover it if I can, I am not a mind reader


How do the charts compare against each other? In your opinions which are the Best Charts

SatNav, in your obviously extensive knowledge on the subject, what is your opinion?

SatNav
02-02-2008, 10:21 AM
Which are the best charts?

1. The "best available charts" in Australia are Australian ENC followed by Seafarer RNC

2. ENC and RNC are covered by notices to mariners and monthly updates which are both critical requirements to have with any elecronic chart system

3. Both ENC & RNC are not generally going to be "suitable" for your small vessels but the question was "which are the best charts" and the question perhaps should have been quantified a little better.

4. Australian ENC will be made available in several other formats (including Cmap) through the International Centre for ENC but still will require the hardware to use them.

5. All the basic recreational charts are look alikes of the official charts with the addition of data/feature sub sets which a user either finds usefull or a gimmicky waste of time

6. All basic recreational chart products do not have an acceptable and timely update procedure to maintain a safe consistent standard and users must accept this short coming.

Taroona
02-02-2008, 10:53 AM
I wonder does anybody have paper charts as well as electronic one's.

What happens when you loose power to the chart plotter or it just stops working ( which has happened to me, corroded fuse holder).

Or you are merrily going along using the chart plotter and you may need a wider reference point than the 5" screen can give in a scale that is readable. Much quicker to open a chart and read, than wait for the little screen to refresh several times.

Gotta say I do find my C-map's handy

Then there's the obligation in the act to have charts with you depending on where you are going to/in i.e. protected waters or open waters

Les

seatime
02-02-2008, 11:44 AM
SatNav has made a very good point! the vector charts as most commonly used by recreational boaties (C-Map, Navionics or Blue Charts) in the main do not have an effective means of updating corrections with the SD cards/cartridges. The layers of digital information found on these charts was lifted from the likes of AHO, Admiralty and QT charts originally. They will only have up-to-date corrections at the time they were produced/formatted.
Also as highlighted by Taroona, it would be prudent to carry paper charts as a back-up in case of an electronic failure. But then who among the recreational fraternity actually goes to the trouble of correcting their paper charts from the Notice to Marine advices? carrying current paper charts would also come under your safety obligation.
Remember GPS plotters are an aid to navigation and should not be relied upon as the sole means of navigation.

cheers

Southwind_UB19
03-02-2008, 07:33 PM
Ended up ordering a Garmin 172C. Based on I have used one and know what I'm getting.

$485 Aus delivered from the U.S. Half the price of buying in Australia.