PC Chartting Software and USB GPS Receiver

mrsrobinson

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2006
7,704
Virginia
Boat Info
2001 380DA
Engines
Caterpillar 3126
I am looking at MapTechs website, specifically Chart Navigator Pro. I have read up on how it can integrate with our Garmin 2006C GPS.

I also see this: iGPS USB GPS Receiver

Per their note "Plug it to your laptop's USB port, and you'll see your position right on the laptop screen."

So, if I purchase and install the Chart Navigator Pro software, carry the laptop to the boat, plug in the iGPS USB GPS Receiver, sit the antenna somewhere, I am ready to go? It will be just like our Garmin GPS but without the GPS unit if you will? :huh:

Thanks,
 
You can also do it with Garmin's freeware product called N-Route. I downloaded from their website and use it as a chartplotter on my laptop. FREE. You cannot plot a route on it, but you can see your position. I use the Garmin product Mapsource to plot routes. I only used the Maptech software once years ago. So long ago, I cannot draw a comparison of the features to Mapsource. Oh, by the way, I think the N-route only works with Garmin handheld GPS units. I hope this helps.

briman
 
Either way will work. I have a Blue tooth GPS receiver (comparable to the USB unit you describe, but wireless) and I have an older Garmin Handheld that can connect to the laptop via serial connection.

That said, you are in for a major disappointment if you are going to try and use a normal computer for navigation on a 33 foot boat. First you need a sunlight viewable monitor, it has to be water proof, and it has to be locked down so that it won't move in a seaway.

I use mine mostly for route planning but also carry it aboard as a backup navigation system. But, even on the 58 I don't bring the computer on deck.
 
" I use mine mostly for route planning but also carry it aboard as a backup navigation system. But, even on the 58 I don't bring the computer on deck."

That is our plan. I would like to be able to chart our course and then upload it to the Garmin. This stuff is new to me so I am fiddling my way through it.
 
It's a bitch to use a laptop on an express. There really is no good place for the computer, it might get wet up on the helm, and worst of all young man, you have industrial disease! Oops wrong line. Worst of all, is you can't see the screen in direct or even indirect sunlight.

Best regards,
Frank
 
I used it as a primary when I picked up my 48 because it was antiquated and only had charts for southern FL and I did not want to buy more charts in the old format not to metion the learning curve. It wasn't too bad to see, but there is a lot of space at the helm, not like my 34. I also used it as a backup when my new Furuno Navnet v2 system "bricked" because of the new C-MAP software was crap. Look forward to a new post in a few days when I get all my thoughts together to write a review on that particular software. The Garmin always works as advertised all the time.

briman
 
The old mapsource program sucks in comparison to the new Chart Navigator Pro. CNP is a private labeling of the Rosepoint Coastal Explorer program. It's great. It's a very user friendly program.

As for using a PC for active navigation, it's sometimes more trouble than it's worth. In a trawler or other similar enclosed cabin they're somewhat usable. But at the open helm of an express cruiser they're miserable. They're not durable enough and the screens are not bright enough. In an open boat you're much better off with an actual chart plotter. They're designed for use in direct sunlight and have waterproof buttons so you can operate them by feel in the dark and during crappy weather. The user interface on most chart plotters is just better suited for actual use while boating. A PC is great for route planning ahead of time and looking up more detailed information. The Maptech CDs for CNP have a TON of useful info on them (phone numbers, street addresses, aerial maps, etc).
 
I have actually purchased several different copies of various charting packages and Coastal Explorer by Rosepoint Navigation is by far the best in my opinion. You can use the free ENC and Raster charts with it as well. The way they do quilting is very good.

As far as using a PC as a navigation system, if you do it properly, it works good. There's a description on this site about my PC setup but here are a few pictures:

Under the helm:

pic12-19.jpg


Nauticomp marine (sunlight readable) display with touchscreen in the electronics box overhead:

pic11-19.jpg


and here's a shot of Coastal Explorer running:

course7-15.jpg


and here's a shot of WxWorx (XM Weather) running:

7-11wx.jpg


It basically takes the concept of the Sea Ray Navigator (or MapTech one) to a different level that you can service on your own. I'm not a believer in trying to make Windows XP devices "locked down" as they will break in time without typical PC maintenance. If you want an embedded OS, then use an embedded OS... and that ain't Windows.

As far as GPS connectivity, you can do it anyway you want. You'll have to map a com port to either the USB connection or the Bluetooth connection. The Com port then receives NMEA sentences from the GPS. If you have more than one piece of software needing GPS data, like my navigation software and WxWorx software, you'll need to install a Com port splitter software package that will give you two virtual Com ports from the one real one. If you want to get real fancy, you can put in an NMEA multiplexer with BlueTooth capability so the NMEA sentences from your existing chartplotter are broadcast and you don't need a separate GPS for your laptop...

It is pricey to do it this way as the monitor alone will cost you more than $5K. Laptops are great for planning, but they don't work well on the bridge of these style boats. I just wish some of this software, like WxWorx, ran on a Mac...
 
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This is a dilemma that I have been going through this winter...try and set up a PC based navigation system or just go by a new chart plotter and hook it up to fuel flow meters and such. On the Upper Mississippi chart plotters have limited functionality because 1.) The maps are very vague 2.) You can usually see where you are going at all times, and 3.) Narrow areas with boats going in every direction. Before anyone completely blows my theory out of the water, my hand held GPS has saved me once on an after dark excursion, but mainly because I was using my trails from an earlier trip. With the PC it would also have the limited functionality but I would be able to do other things with it besides just looking at where I have been. I do have the software so I can plan my trips and routes with greater detail and put them on the hand held which I do often, but I am sure that I am not able to compare the hand held to a true chart plotter in functionality.
 
I'm not sure I would ever be comfortable with a PC based system as my "primary" system. Also, I've never seen a laptop that can be read in sunlight.... a chart plotter is much much cheaper than a marine PC with a sunlight readable monitor.

I'm not blowing your theory out of the water... I love mine... Especially the versatility.
 
Agreed that the PC based may not be the best for the primary electronic system, but because the waters that I am normally in is where I grew up, and when you base your course on the navigational buoys every 300 to 2000 yards apart, and the traffic load around you, electronic is not even really necessary. (Waiting to take a beating...) I have paper charts with notes on them to highlight certain areas (when did that no wake zone show up behind us...) that work when I need them, they do not give me all the extra information that would be nice sometimes. I was thinking of trying to find a somewhat sunlight readable touchscreen display 8" - 10" that I could route to a Laptop (already have an extra sitting around) in a docking station in the cabin. Our Bimini is always up so that does give some relief to the sun, but not enough for a standard laptop display. So if I can find a display for the right price, and the right software, it would be cheaper in my case than a plotter....maybe. I am also thinking of interfacing a camera with the display as well. On the thought of software, does anyone know of anything that would interface with NMEA 2000 instruments, and what hardware is required?
 
I can't really help with NMEA 2000 connectivity as I did everything on NMEA 0183. Most newer instruments work with both protocols and the PC market is fairly mature with the NMEA 0183 spec so I'm not sure I would be that ambitious yet....

Getting an 8-10" marine display that is usable is going to be tough. These guys seem to have a good product:

http://vei-systems.net/

and they have a small display but I would question the native resolution as they indicate they use scaling technology to get to their advertised values. VEI seems to be popular and I've thought about trying out some of their gear. The small display also does not have a touch screen and you are going to have to work out how interface (keyboard/mouse) with the thing... Again... I'm just not sure how to put a PC on a boat correctly and do it on the cheap without making it look clunky. I have a hardtop on my boat and I can not read my laptop display when the sun is out... it's just too dim.
 
This is a dilemma that I have been going through this winter...try and set up a PC based navigation system or just go by a new chart plotter and hook it up to fuel flow meters and such.

Then do both. They both accomplish different things, at least as their primary purpose. There's a lot of overlap, to be sure.

I guess my best reason for having a hardware chartplotter at the helm, and not a PC display, is the hardware interface. None of the PC-based software is really as well suited as hardware interfaces on chart plotters. Although some hardware interfaces are indeed worse than others. I prefer being able to hit the buttons based on feel, knowing their purpose, rather than have to take my eyes away from the helm for any longer than absolutely necessary. As in, zoom in, in, in and show me depths in a narrow channel. Or zoom out, out, out and let me see the overall weather patterns for the area. Or flip from one set of page views to another. When you know the steps it becomes second nature to do it without having to look at the screen. Not as easy with a mouse, touchscreen or Function keys. The hardware buttons are even more valuable at night so you're not killing your night vision by looking at a screen too long, or one turned up too bright just to figure out the interface.

Don't get me wrong, in the right boat (enclosed helm) a PC-based solution definitely has merit. But in anything faster than a blow-boat I'd really dislike using most PC-based systems at the helm while navigating.

As for local waters, I'm not familiar with the inland charts, but I have heard some vendor charts are better than others. Nothing replaces local, current knowledge, especially on rivers with areas likely to change due to shoaling and such.

But then again, any tools that aid your safely navigating the boat are worth considering. A lot of the handhelds have brackets available for mounting them. And can have marine charts loaded onto them. I'd surely take a setup like that over nothing at all (and probably instead of a PC at the helm).

Now, route planning? That absolutely sucks on most chart plotters. But more often than not any "planning" ahead of time is usually just to get time/distance estimates. I don't often make the effort to upload the routes, it's more tedious than it's worth most of the time.
 
Wow! I'm still living in the 20th century and this is all new to me.
Is there a program that I can download onto my laptop that will allow me to view charts and plan a trip? It doesn't have to have the ability to connect with anything else, I would just like to get a good look at navigational charts with buoys marked on my laptop at home.
 
I was having trouble finding charts for an outdated chartplotter, so I decided to try my laptop until I figured out what to do with the chartplotter (eventually decided I needed a new boat instead of a chartplotter).
I borowed a copy of Fugawi from a friend, and used the GPS receiver from my "Microsoft Streets and Trips" which connects through USB. I was actually very impressed how well it worked. It was accurate upto about 15ft, and all of the rastor charts were free from the government! The computer automatically zoomed in or out depending on what charts were available for the area. Sure the screen could be difficult to see depending on the sun, but it was free!
 
I borowed a copy of Fugawi from a friend....Sure the screen could be difficult to see depending on the sun, but it was free!

I'm not so sure it's a good idea to tell the world you pirated a piece of software (about $300 worth) and then claim it's "free".

If you want to get started in PC navigation, get a current Maptech chartkit (real paper charts) and it comes with some software that you can get started with...

http://maptech.com/water/companioncd/index.cfm

I believe it will read all the NOAA free raster charts as well so you are not limited to the area of the chartkit.
 
PC based navigation definitely has its pros and cons but a system can be easily devised using a laptop, a GPS antenna with USB or serial connection, a remote monitor (high NIT), and a trackball. Run the laptop's charger and monitor off a small inverter and PC navigation becomes an even more capable system than proprietary marine nav systems, at a very reasonable cost. Our cruiser had Sunbrella overhead and the monitor never had a problem (we travel a lot in the summer). The computer sat on a folded towel on the galley counter, out of harm's way. A home made approach but it worked quite well.

However after four years of running my navigation (Nobeltec VNS and vector charts) this way, I can say it has a few glitches and these are O.S. related, for the most part. Also, as Bill said earlier, the feel of the trackball/mouse is just not the same as the keys on a Garmin or Raymarine plotter.

So, with our new-to-us 460DA a decision on upgrading the electronics had to be made. We've just swapped out the '02 electronics for the E series digital package and I am getting away from computerized nav as the primary set-up. My main reason for doing this is future resale of this vessel. Why? Because I had a bit of buyer reluctance in selling the last boat with the computerized navigation on it.

How's that for an about-face?
 
Because I had a bit of buyer reluctance in selling the last boat with the computerized navigation on it.

I'm curious about what monitor you used because high-nit sunlight readable monitors usually cost more than a full blown chart plotter. Even the E120 from Raymarine has a fairly low-resolution monitor (I think it is 600x800 with only 256 colors) and that just doesn't cut it in the PC world.

I would also say again that I think the only way a marine PC doesn't subtract value from a boat is if it is professionally and permanently installed and is a supplement/backup to a real chartplotter/nav system.
 
I'd like to have a PC (or Mac) based computer on the bridge with a nice, high NIT monitor like Gary's, but I would never want that in place of a dedicated, embedded navigation system like Raymarine, Furuno, or Garmin.

To me, the most attractive features of the computer are the communications for email, weather and other info, the music and video storage/distribution, and route planning / nav backup.

Having a computer glitch or fail while you're using it for navigation far from home isn't fun. Everybody on the boat knows it when my Sea Ray Crap-out-igator drops out. Though I carry back up handhelds complete with my routes, etc. and I carry paper charts and am well practiced at using them, I've really grown used to the primary systems and how easy they make traveling / navigating in unknown waters.
 
Gary,

The monitor I had was a Samsung 15" with a contrast ratio of somewhere around 450:1 and NIT rating about 500cd/m2(?) While not as bright as the dedicated waterproof marine monitors with much higher NIT, it was certainly a good performer and only cost around $350 four years ago. But my forward canvas was never removed so there was no direct sunlight and viewing was always satisfactory.

I think the future of marine nav in pleasure craft will be computer based and I still may add a redundant PC system to my E series next year (more likely though a second E screen). I like what PC's can do for you at the helm. My previous installation was somewhat simple and if I would do it again I would certainly like a professional-looking install like yours with a dedicated CPU and flush mount monitor and perhaps 12V power supplies instead of an inverter. But I did this on a small budget and it worked very well as my primary nav for four seasons (until I got a new laptop with Windows Vista, then the trouble began).

James
 

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