Home made chartplotter

All U Get

All U Get

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Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Hi all,

I had a little issue with my chart plotter and remembered that I had loaded a program on a laptop. Well it was actually two laptops ago but my tech saved it in a file called Old Laptop. I asked my son 2 years ago to connect some electronic charts to the program and suggest a GPS antenna for the laptop. He got me a little GPS puck and said I should install the driver and have the port linked to the chart program. I should have done it right away.

Sitting at anchor and trying to remember the steps wasn't my best day. I did get it to work so the question is "Have you made your own chart plotter?" It has to work beyond cell range so the smartphone/I-pad may be iffy 20 miles out.

All U Get
 
Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
6,152
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Try OpenCPN. It works with NOAA raster and vector charts and should take a position input from your GPS puck.
 
D

dlochner

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Jan 11, 2014
14,008
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
iPads that have cell phone data capabilities do not need to be connected to cell network for the gps to work. The gps chip is embedded in the cell phone chip. Wifi only iPads will not work unless connected to some network.

Of course the charts must be downloaded and stored on the iPad prior to going out of cell range. Navionics has several products. Check the iTunes store.
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
We use our samsung 10" tablet as a secondary plotter all the time. Has gps built in. No cell plan
 
D

dlochner

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Jan 11, 2014
14,008
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
The iPad does not need a cell plan for the gps to work, it just needs to have the capability of having a cell plan. The wifi only models do not have a gps.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I have used my older XP laptop with GPS puck as a "Chart Plotter" before. Except for the battery life issue (did not connect it to the house bank), it worked just fine. Good large visible screen and mouse access. Is this something I would do on a permanent basis? Sure would.

The only thing I would do differently is get a machine that has a 180 degree rotatable display so it will lay flat on the keyboard. I would also get a GPS puck that was more accurate than the one I had. The one I have works fine inside the cabin but the dang thing says I am moving when I am not.

Anyway, yes, laptops work great for chart plotters. However, they are not marine proof so be prepared to replace them when they become corroded from the environment unless one has a way to make them more durable.
 
Head Sail

Head Sail

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Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
Davidsailor26 is right. OpenCPN is free but takes a little tech savvy to download the free NOAA raster or vector charts. Downside is I usually have to leave it on the nav table below plugged into the inverter if under sail.
 
Joe

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
8,318
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
For the PC.... OpenCPN can be downloaded here... I recommend reading the user manual link before getting started. You can download the NOAA charts here. Essentially... the process is to download the charts to a file that you link to your choice of reader.... opencpn is one.... there is also SeaClearII... which used to come linked through the NOAA site... not sure about that anymore.... but you can get it here.. works well on older OS such as vista and XP... I have it on this Window 7 computer.. don't use it much since I installed Navionics on my Samsung tablet.....

Regarding smartphones and tablets..... Navionics will work anywhere once downloaded to the device. It is not necessary to be connected to a cell or wifi network. If you are unfortunate enough to have an Ipad that does not have internal gps(I can't believe they would even sell such a product)... you could probably plug your puck into the tablet to make it work. All the Samsung products have internal gps.

My experience has enlightened me to the limitations of the smartphone/tablet nav apps and the free chsrtplotter software.
 
25yearslater

25yearslater

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Aug 20, 2010
1,399
Oday 27 Oak Orchard
I bought an old restored HP tablet with an XP operating system off Amazon real cheap. Works well with the raster charts and the puck. Cheap. Less than 150 bucks for everything, cheap, and it also has a magnifier that magnifies the speed, lat, lon data so old eyes can see it. I did have help from my son setting it up and he continues to tutor me on the various functions. I run off a lighter socket and power supply which I have wired into the boat's batteries. Nice little do dad and did I mention, cheap. Oh yeah OpenCPN which is free so it is better than cheap.
 
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heritage

heritage

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Apr 22, 2011
974
Hunter 27 Pecan Grove, Oriental, NC
I have never had a chartplotter and have relied on a laptop that I keep on the nav desk running Open CPN with raster NOAA charts. In the cockpit, I have my galaxy 5 Samsung android running the MX Mariner app which also uses the NOAA charts. The Samsung is waterproof. Neither needs a cell connection. The Samsung is really all I need for active navigation, but the laptop is useful to see the big picture and for route planning. Also, Open CPN has a lot of advanced features such as tide data and AIS inputs.
 
All U Get

All U Get

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Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Some good ideas here. I asked an Apple tech if any of their products supported GPS functions. I got the mysterious response that Apps can be loaded that will use their technology to run. I would imagine this tech wasn't running for office, but that was a slick answer. The cruisers I've talked with locally are using PC and Apple products with various nav. programs. Wifey is getting something nice for Christmas.

All U Get
 
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