>> West Marine and other marine supply companies sell digitized >> charts and navigation programs based on marine charts rather than topo >> maps. >So, to the users of those digitized marine charts, my question is, do they >have the same nifty features that TOPO! has, including the direct >download/upload of waypoints with handheld GPS units, and the ability to >print out custom paper charts? Jim, The digitized charts are one product typically running about $180US and seem to cover areas similar to the US BBA Chart areas. I have the east coast of Newfoundland which in NDI format and, I guess, copyrighted by the Canadian Government. I guess rule # 1 is know the format of the charts and the formats supported by the software. The chart cds come with a primitive viewer, no GPS or print options (at least mine did/didn't) MapTech (www.maptech.com) seems to be the largest supplier of digitized charts. There are several (many?) suppliers of various types of navigation software. MapTech also does USGS Tops. Standard disclaimer. I have MapTech's Cruising Navigator which I think was $49.95US. I spent most of the first week working with tech support to learn you need the current release to work with the Canadian charts. I haven't had a lot of time since then and have only managed to poke around a little. It does have a ton of features, most of which I don't even understand. It does upload/download from the GPS, (dunno which ones but I could check) and does have some print options. You can layout routes and waypoints and move them back and forth to the GPS. There are all kinds of options for marking up the chart and I assume, printing them out. I think there is stuff hidden underneath that I haven't found yet that provides some 'cruising guide' type information. Their standard disclaimer is these charts are not to be used for navigation. If you have any specific questions let me know and I'll try to ferret it out. I probably won't get a chance to play with this toy until I'm on my way north. Clyde Sisler http://csisler.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue May 25 1999 - 16:07:56 PDT
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