Charts..........

BogMonster · 05 May 2010, 22:48

More specifically, adding them to chartplotters. Not a question most will have had to worry about as everything you buy in the UK seems to come with UK charts preloaded, but nothing will have Falklands charts on, so I will need to add them.

I really want a Garmin GPSmap 551s due to the dual plotter/sonar function, but I'm wondering what you actually get with the Garmin chart card which apparently covers about half of S America, seems like a lot of stuff on a little SD card ... or sh&te charts!

The plotters on our company's launches are Eagle Intellimap and use Navionics chart cards, so I know these are decent quality for this region because I've seen them. The plotter is discontinued anyway, but it doesn't have sonar so no use to me and I don't really want to spend north of about £500 on it.

First question: Does anybody know if you can use Navionics chart cards in a Garmin plotter? I think probably not, but not sure?

Second question: has anybody got the Garmin South America chart card in any sort of plotter, and seen what is provided on it? If you believe the bumph on the website, you get 3D aerial views, subsea views, names of all the fish, what colour the sand is and God knows what else, but I don't believe any of that stuff will be available for the Falklands.

I don't particularly want all the extra detail - but I do want a decent version of the Admiralty charts and not something that looks like it has been drawn on an Etch-a-Sketch and bears no resemblance to the actual coastline. The chart cards are quite expensive so I am really looking for some reassurance that the Garmin charts for this part of the world are decent quality (may be a few years old - that is normal) and that I won't end up with a plotter that is completely useless because all the charts are rubbish.

If anybody has a Garmin covering this part of the world and can look up a waypoint, 51d41'30" South, 57d49'0" West would be a good one, that's in the harbour here. Screen shot would be even better

Chris · 05 May 2010, 23:17

With Garmin rather than buying the Preloaded card its worth downloading the mapsource software and then buying a bluechart CD. You then buy an unlock code to cover your area.

The benefit of this is that you can view the unlocked maps on your PC and then downlod routes, waypoints etc.

See a screenshot below. THe CD I have is for Europe so does not cover your region I am afraid but it gives you a good idea of the level of detail.

Chris · 05 May 2010, 23:22

The lowrance unit I now have uses the Navionics maps which are also very good and detailed however I have yet to find a PC software package that is as good as Garmins.

BogMonster · 06 May 2010, 01:35

Thanks Chris

So how do you get the chart from the Mapsource to the plotter - can it make chart cards by dumping the data onto a blank SD card?

I am sure I used to have Mapsource installed for my eTrex (it had terrible Falklands basemaps, drawn by Zebedee on an etch a sketch) but I don't seem to still have it installed. The image you posted is the sort of detail I want. Just in the process of moving house so the chances of finding the installation CD are minimal but I've got a bit of time to play with...

cjr1971 · 06 May 2010, 06:50

Hello Stephen
Have a look at these websites

http://cnf.at.tut.by/

http://www.mobilecastle.biz/mobiles/...lantic-v9.html

the 1st site is quite an interesting one

Erin · 06 May 2010, 09:09

I think you'll find the Garmin units are now moving accross to their new PC software called Homeport. This relies on you buying a preloaded SD card for your GPS which will also work with the PC or buying a preloaded GPS from which you can copy the map to an SD card and use on your PC with Homeport. I woudl suggest you get in touch with Garmin and ask if they'll send you a screenshot of the Falklands chart. They're always very helpful so may be able to appease.

Jeff · 16 May 2010, 09:55

Hi Stephen
How does this look ?

Jeff

BogMonster · 16 May 2010, 13:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff

Hi Stephen
How does this look ?

Jeff

Excellent, thanks

Any chance of one for 51d 41' S 60d 09' W to see what it looks like there on say a 10 mile scale? Ta

Jeff · 16 May 2010, 16:11

Is this ok ?
Jeff

BogMonster · 16 May 2010, 18:02

Brilliant

thanks very much

A lot more detail than I actually thought there was out around there which is good

I had been told that you could only get one chart area in hi-res due to the space on the chart card but admittedly that was on a fairly old (10 years ish) chartplotter. Is that the standard Bluechart level of detail as you would see on a plotter?

Jeff · 16 May 2010, 18:14

Hi Stephen
This is exactly the level you see on your chartplotter. Mine (GPSMAP 292C)uses the old Garmin datacards as opposed to the newer units which take SD cards - I have the whole of the UK, the Ionion as well as 300+ waypoints and 35 routes on a 256mb card
Cheers
Jeff

PS - this is the Bluechart CD verion - not the latest G2 or G2 Vision charts. These do have photographs of harbour entrances etc ... but not that much use on a rib :-0

BogMonster · 16 May 2010, 22:14

I suspect the whizzy version will not have too many photos of my harbours so unlikely to be worth the extra

Many thanks for your help