Chart Plotter Tuition

[Starheliomos]

Hi

Can anyone recommend a good book or, preferably, a good inter-active CD-ROM that will teach a complete eejit how to use and navigate with a Chart Plotter?

Cheers
StarH

[alystra]

Originally Posted by Starheliomos

Hi

Can anyone recommend a good book or, preferably, a good inter-active CD-ROM that will teach a complete eejit how to use and navigate with a Chart Plotter?

Cheers
StarH

Hi StarH

I recently purchased the RYA's Electronic Chart Plotter program 'The Perfect Introduction to Electronic Navigation'

Easily installed onto your PC. If your plotter or GPS can be connected to a PC, then you get a plotter on a PC. Clear help soon gets you going and I found it easy to understand, though the 'controls' are similar to those of plotters, not Windows style menues and buttons.

I have found it really useful in many ways. It comes with one of several chart packs of popular areas (I have chart pack 12, Oban, Mull & Jura inc. Islay).

My old Garmin GPS doesn't connect to the PC, (or I don't know how) so I use the program to plot waypoints and plan routes. Then, with the GPS next to me on the desk and powered by a 12 volt battery, I can easily feed these waypoints and routes into its memory. Relevant parts of the chart can then be printed out on A4 at a handy scale (with waypoints marked - and course lines if you like) and laminated for use in my RIB. Almost, but not quite, as good as a plotter and much, much cheaper.

Ordered it through the RYA website (www.rya.org.uk)

Hope that helps. Cheers, Tony

[Starheliomos]

Thanks for that Tony, Doesn't seem to be any else on the market so shall have a look at the RYA's prog.

Cheers
StarH

Originally Posted by alystra

Hi StarH

I recently purchased the RYA's Electronic Chart Plotter program 'The Perfect Introduction to Electronic Navigation'

Easily installed onto your PC. If your plotter or GPS can be connected to a PC, then you get a plotter on a PC. Clear help soon gets you going and I found it easy to understand, though the 'controls' are similar to those of plotters, not Windows style menues and buttons.

I have found it really useful in many ways. It comes with one of several chart packs of popular areas (I have chart pack 12, Oban, Mull & Jura inc. Islay).

My old Garmin GPS doesn't connect to the PC, (or I don't know how) so I use the program to plot waypoints and plan routes. Then, with the GPS next to me on the desk and powered by a 12 volt battery, I can easily feed these waypoints and routes into its memory. Relevant parts of the chart can then be printed out on A4 at a handy scale (with waypoints marked - and course lines if you like) and laminated for use in my RIB. Almost, but not quite, as good as a plotter and much, much cheaper.

Ordered it through the RYA website (www.rya.org.uk)

Hope that helps. Cheers, Tony

[Erin]

If you copy waypoints from one programme to another or chart to GPS, watch out that you use the same datum. A waypoint on a GPS usually at WGS84 is not going to be in the same place when plotted on a chart at ED50.

[alystra]

Originally Posted by Erin

If you copy waypoints from one programme to another or chart to GPS, watch out that you use the same datum. A waypoint on a GPS usually at WGS84 is not going to be in the same place when plotted on a chart at ED50.

Yes, that's true. The RYA program uses WGS84, the position of your cross hair on the chart is quoted in that. So, if you set a waypoint on the RYA electronic chart one cable from a rock, say, your GPS will take you right to that place. If you take the co ordinates of that position from the equivalent paper chart, they will not be the same. The amount of correction to apply is marked under the title of the paper chart.

I found this confusing at first, being new to GPS navigation, but with the RYA program there is no need to convert anything, the position of your cross hair cursor is shown in WGS84, irrespective of the chart's datum. Mmm, better stop trying - I'm confusing myself again :-).

I didn't really believe this (or couldn't understand the explanation in the program help, which seems to suggest otherwise). However, having plotted waypoints in the RYA program, entered the co-ordinates it gave me, without correction, into my Garmin 126, and driven my boat there, I can say they were exactly right (to within a yard or two anyway.)

Cheers Tony