Seaclear from scratch

[Emory M]

Clean download site

Afternoon,
I want to dump seaclear and start using openCPN. Is there any site that is Clean. All the sites I've checked are loaded with junk downloads and will not let get to openCPN. Help.

 

[Chuckbear]

Here is the official website. Download OpenCPN and be sure and get the plug-ins. Chuck
http://opencpn.org/ocpn/

 

[Emory M]

Thanks Chuck But all I see is downloading thru Advertising and it will load Junk the on this site.
I've been there and it just loads the junk and will not download openCPN. I must be doing something wrong. Popup is off still no good. Emory

 

[Chuckbear]

There is absolutely no advertising anywhere on the OpenCPN download. At the top of the chart you'll see "What's New In 3.0". Click on opencpn.org/download and click on the first download option for Windows. It will download from Sourceforge. No advertising. Chuck

 

[Emory M]

Thanks again Chuck I found the right download button. Need to change my glasses. Now I'm off to get the charts and get my GPS puck working. Emory

 

[Sumner]

We were using SeaClear and will keep it on the computer. It got us down Florida's west coast over to the Keys and up to south of Miami with no problems, all new water to us. We ran it on the ship's computer....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-navigation/Compter-Nav-index.html

..underway with it connected at all times to an older Garmin 76S in the cockpit that didn't have maps on it, but the day's waypoints via SeaClear and that worked great.

We are now switching to OpenCPN and will use it in the same manner on both boats (computer and Garmin 76S and a low cost daylight display now in the cockpit.

One of the main reasons for switching was that it will display...

....currents and tides in pop-up windows. That is great to have in a place like Florida where having that info can make the day go a lot better. SeaClear will not show that info. We used the Garmin for tides, but had no current information and that can help a lot going in and out of cuts.

With one plug-in it...

http://www.nv-charts.com/nv_cd_boxes.php

... will also display NV-Charts so that would be very helpful if we go to the Bahamas at some point and like others have said other features are being added all of the time.

It is super easy to chart a trip with appropriate waypoints and download those to your chartplotter ahead of time or on the fly if you make a change during the day. I'm also looking forward to using it with AIS which our new radio has.

It is a good program. I have it and the NOAA charts on all of our computers and a couple GPS pucks for backup. I use it at home all of the time. People talk about their trips and such and I'll pull it up to see the area that they are discussing. Get it and start using it at home and when you are on the boat it will be easy.

I keep the charts in a folder called NOAA on the desktop and that way they are very easy to point to in the program and easy to copy them to other computers,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================[/FONT]

Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

 

[eherlihy]

I have tried SeaClear and OpenCPN, but the program that I like the best is PolarNavy. While not free, the cost is only $39 for FIVE computers. It displays BSB and ENC charts, displays tides and currents (and the set), and connects easily and consistently with the GPS puck. Another HUGE plus is that it connects to and downloads information from Active Captain. If you can afford the $39 investment, you may want to try it out.

http://www.polarnavy.com/index.php

 

[D.L.Bland]

That 's probably because a paper chart, compasses and dividers ARE greatly superior.
No if one cannot seem to get a fix using a sextant, then one might use a GPS and keep trying to hone the sextant skills in better, but these electronic charts are often the cause of "where did that come from???" and groundings of the UN-enviable type,eh?

 

[Delezynski]

I might also point out.......

I am sort of a belt AND suspender type of guy when it comes to navigation. We have a chart plotter. I also have AND USE OpenCPN on our laptop with CM-93 world charts on it.

BUT, the BEST toy that we have and USE any time we are going some place that is not VERY close is our Yeoman chart plotter. It uses a small LOW COST GPS and PAPER charts. Any paper charts can be used!

It allows us to plot our position every half hour or so on a paper chart, using the GPS, so that if ALL power went out (like a lightning strike or ???), I can just pick up and go!

Greg

 

[Blue Pearl Captain]

To Wayne or anyone who might know the answer to my question,
Do any of these Nav software programs have apps for charts outside the US and Canada? We'll be chartering a Sea Odyssey 50 through the Grenadines in July and it would help to have some redundancy. Does the software require downloading charts from NOAA or other sites or are they accessed trough the provider? Thank you for the tips. BTW, if your Admiral is like mine she provides a keen eye on lookout!

 

[Delezynski]

Yes, OpenCPN is free and you can find and download the CM-93 world charts for FREE. And they are great! I was playing around and looking at the controlling depth on the main canal in Venice Italy! Fun to play with.

Greg

 

[Graycruiser]

Free/low-cost nav software

I've done SeaClear and OpenCPN. I chose to go with Polar Navy (polarnavy.com) It's not free; but, is now offered at $40 and didn't break my bank. You can download it for free and pay later. It uses standard NOAA raster and vector charts that are automaticlly seamed. There is also an interface to your onboard nav data that can be displayed transparently over the chart. I use it mostly for planning cruises. You can record your own routes, waypoints, etc. and serves my needs. What really sold it for me is the integrations with ActiveCaptain.com POIs. Try it, I think you'll like it.

Here we go. I have little tolerance for the technical self agrandizing aspects of computer jargon. I would like to set up my laptop (Dell Inspiron 1525) as a basic chartplotter. I have looked at Seaclear and Raster charts which thus far seem to open in Malay. Would someone be willing to provide a basic setup tutorial for someone who wants a GPS system that provides location on a chart. I have the receiver. (Globolsat BU353) Thus far this has provided hours of iritation to the point a chart, compass, dividers, pencil and a set of triangles look mighty superior.:cussing:

 

[jibes138]

Does anyone other than me still navigate on paper charts with a set of parallel rules and compass and dividers? One thing that is nice on the East Coast is no matter where you are if you head West you can run your boat into land :>). I had a crew one time that forgot that lesson while I was asleep and had us heading to the Azores. Lost about 40 miles of time with that simple lesson. Kind of goes well with the old saying "Go West young man."

 

[Stu Jackson]

Yes, I do, but I go east for land!

 

[kappykaplan]

I do too (use the "old-fashioned" stuff) and I make sure the Scouts who cruise with me can as well.

 

[knucklehead]

Wellllll

Navionics, Raymarine, for the east coast
Garmin for the Bahamas.
Explorer Charts for the Bahamas.

Raymarine said 2 ft.
Navionics said 2 ft
Garmin said 8 ft
Explorer said 8 ft

Draft 6 ft, guess what?
I followed another 6 ft boat

Where? Big Galliot Cay/ Galliot cut, Exumas, Bahamas

 

[Skadins]

One more voice for OpenCPN. Have used it for last 6 years in real navigation. But if you have Android phone or iPhone just purchase Navionics. This is much better, especially with social layer enabled - you will get community comments about places visited, mooring boys etc.

 

[kenn]

Ken, what do you use for Canadian charts? I just downloaded the NOAA ones that cover Lake Erie, Ont, Huron. Do you know if this is good enough? Or are they lacking in any way? (I have paper charts for these too.)

I'm still just playing with OpenCPN and the free NOAA charts, and so I can't yet give feedback on the different maps. Truth is, we hardly ever sail out of sight of the north shore of L.Ont, and we have our paper Richardson's, and our laptop isn't very visible in sunlight. We have a handheld GPS as backup/check on visual reckoning/guidance in fog or dark.

I've tried converting a scanned paper chart to a useable map, but I haven't produced anything useful that wasn't a humungous file.

One of my spring projects is to revisit all this, so that we can make more use of OpenCPN for trip planning and for that future charter.

 

[wufibugs]

Actually having some difficulty downloading OpenCPN to my laptop. It keeps just wanting to download the extractor program. Maybe I need to disable my Norton for the download?

 

[dziedzicmj]

+1 for Navigatrix. you put it on a USB stick (or battery et on an SD Card, if your laptop reads it) and instantly you have a fully operational navigation tool without the need for reconfiguring Windows (or whatever you were running before).

Keep in mind though that nothing is free. You pay in your time and effort or you pay the $$. If you are not, at least somewhat, computer literate you are bound to hit some snags.

MD