at http://www.nauticalcharts.gov/viewer/ Hundreds of charts availiable, easy to look at without any special software. Have fun abe
NOAA internet charts available to all,check it out
- Thread starter abe
- Start date
- Status
SeaClear
Run a seach for SeaClear and you will have a plot charting program for those Noaa charts at no cost.
Run a seach for SeaClear and you will have a plot charting program for those Noaa charts at no cost.
Getting technical
Alan: I hope there are some true experts out there, but here is my take: those charts don't work with that program. The NOAA charts that were made available are nothing more than pictures. There is no computer data embedded in them for the computer (SeaClear) to read and use. It is my understanding that the only truly electronic charts used by SeaClear (or Garmin, Magellen, etc.) are proprietary; the government hasn't made them yet, so you have to buy them.
Alan: I hope there are some true experts out there, but here is my take: those charts don't work with that program. The NOAA charts that were made available are nothing more than pictures. There is no computer data embedded in them for the computer (SeaClear) to read and use. It is my understanding that the only truly electronic charts used by SeaClear (or Garmin, Magellen, etc.) are proprietary; the government hasn't made them yet, so you have to buy them.
NOAA publishes ENC's
Mike, That's not exactly so. NOAA publishes ENC's, or Electronic Nautical Charts which are completley computer-oriented "vector" charts to be used by electronc devices, such as chart plotters. They have also recently made available RNC's - raster nav. charts - which are scans of the original color separates, which look better. Check www.noaa.gov.
Mike, That's not exactly so. NOAA publishes ENC's, or Electronic Nautical Charts which are completley computer-oriented "vector" charts to be used by electronc devices, such as chart plotters. They have also recently made available RNC's - raster nav. charts - which are scans of the original color separates, which look better. Check www.noaa.gov.
Alan - SeaClear
Alan - SeaClear uses an application that is included with the standard install call the "SeaClear Calibration Utility" (mapcal_2.exe) that calibrates your images to SeaClear. The ENCs that I downloaded from NOAA went in without a hitch. What format are the files that you got on the DVD? It looks like it'll handle several formats, but I'm not sure how much work the others take to calibrate. T J
Alan - SeaClear uses an application that is included with the standard install call the "SeaClear Calibration Utility" (mapcal_2.exe) that calibrates your images to SeaClear. The ENCs that I downloaded from NOAA went in without a hitch. What format are the files that you got on the DVD? It looks like it'll handle several formats, but I'm not sure how much work the others take to calibrate. T J
Thanks John!
Now that's cool! I bet those NOAA charts would work with SeaClear. Everyone should be aware of the difference between the charts referred to in link in the original post, and the charts that NOAA offers through this link: http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/MCD/enc/index.htm The charts from the original link are just pictures, the charts available from the above link are true electronic charts as ably explained by John. Alan, if the CD you have has electronic charts, maybe it will work with SeaClear. Your best bet for info on SeaClear is their website. If it works like most windows-based programs, it should have a place for you to specify (somewhere in the setup menu maybe) where to have it look on your hard drive for the charts.
Now that's cool! I bet those NOAA charts would work with SeaClear. Everyone should be aware of the difference between the charts referred to in link in the original post, and the charts that NOAA offers through this link: http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/MCD/enc/index.htm The charts from the original link are just pictures, the charts available from the above link are true electronic charts as ably explained by John. Alan, if the CD you have has electronic charts, maybe it will work with SeaClear. Your best bet for info on SeaClear is their website. If it works like most windows-based programs, it should have a place for you to specify (somewhere in the setup menu maybe) where to have it look on your hard drive for the charts.
SeaClear is great, also Maptech free version
Go to MapTech's website and download the free version of Chart Navigator. It is the same as the paying Lite version, except it does not interface with a GPS, it think. In the download website, it says it will not work with a GPS, but I have not tried it to verify it. I think the paid Lite version (not the pro version) is around $50 or so. You 1st download the Maptech software, about 35 mb at: http://www.maptech.com/support/doc.cfm?docid=172&CFID=12071281&CFTOKEN=85611391 You then separately download the charts, about 100 mb. The free version, along with all the raster charts which are the same as the paper charts in the ChartKits, you can zoom in/out, go from chart to chart, and it will show you the Lat-Lon, let you create a route with multiple waypoints, save them, etc. The SeaClear is free and will talk to a GPS and plot your boat's current position, etc. The author is a one man programmer name Olle working on it part time, so the support is not so great. However, a number of additional volunteers have translated the documentation and interface into over 7 languages. There is a great article on a bunch of navigation software in the May issue of Sail mag.
Go to MapTech's website and download the free version of Chart Navigator. It is the same as the paying Lite version, except it does not interface with a GPS, it think. In the download website, it says it will not work with a GPS, but I have not tried it to verify it. I think the paid Lite version (not the pro version) is around $50 or so. You 1st download the Maptech software, about 35 mb at: http://www.maptech.com/support/doc.cfm?docid=172&CFID=12071281&CFTOKEN=85611391 You then separately download the charts, about 100 mb. The free version, along with all the raster charts which are the same as the paper charts in the ChartKits, you can zoom in/out, go from chart to chart, and it will show you the Lat-Lon, let you create a route with multiple waypoints, save them, etc. The SeaClear is free and will talk to a GPS and plot your boat's current position, etc. The author is a one man programmer name Olle working on it part time, so the support is not so great. However, a number of additional volunteers have translated the documentation and interface into over 7 languages. There is a great article on a bunch of navigation software in the May issue of Sail mag.
seaclear
Seaclear will work with raster charts. Raster charts are basicly a photograph of the actual navigation charts. Seaclear will not work with vector charts. Vector charts are all data pertaining to the various info on charts. With vector, you can turn off certain depths or highlight shallow depths, etc. Highly controllable. The difference is the complexity of the program that controlls the data. Seaclear is free. The cheapest vector chart program is $100 and most are around $300. If you are happy looking at the info of a paper chart then you should be happy with seaclear and raster charts. You can zoom in and out plus overlay tracks and waypoints with seaclear. Visit the site and do the research...
Seaclear will work with raster charts. Raster charts are basicly a photograph of the actual navigation charts. Seaclear will not work with vector charts. Vector charts are all data pertaining to the various info on charts. With vector, you can turn off certain depths or highlight shallow depths, etc. Highly controllable. The difference is the complexity of the program that controlls the data. Seaclear is free. The cheapest vector chart program is $100 and most are around $300. If you are happy looking at the info of a paper chart then you should be happy with seaclear and raster charts. You can zoom in and out plus overlay tracks and waypoints with seaclear. Visit the site and do the research...
Seaclear frustrations
I've used Nobeltec and Maptech charting software on voyages in the past. I also use computers in my work daily. I am having areal hard time with Seaclear. The user interface is far from intuitive. I am having a hard time getting it to find charts, remember where they are, etc. It can't read my Maptech chart files. Ugh!
I've used Nobeltec and Maptech charting software on voyages in the past. I also use computers in my work daily. I am having areal hard time with Seaclear. The user interface is far from intuitive. I am having a hard time getting it to find charts, remember where they are, etc. It can't read my Maptech chart files. Ugh!
Similar frustrations
jviss - I feel your pain. I'm also a computer geek by trade and also find the interface far from intuitive. The strongest selling point was of course the cost of charts and software. I really wanted to get a feel for doing the electronic navigation before I went out and dropped some coin on a more in-depth system. BTW, in typical male fashion I never read the manual. I just took a glance at it and there are some pretty nice keyboard shortcuts to things that used to take me multiple clicks to get to, i.e. set MOB, find charts for current position, scaling, etc. T J "RTFM" Furstenau
jviss - I feel your pain. I'm also a computer geek by trade and also find the interface far from intuitive. The strongest selling point was of course the cost of charts and software. I really wanted to get a feel for doing the electronic navigation before I went out and dropped some coin on a more in-depth system. BTW, in typical male fashion I never read the manual. I just took a glance at it and there are some pretty nice keyboard shortcuts to things that used to take me multiple clicks to get to, i.e. set MOB, find charts for current position, scaling, etc. T J "RTFM" Furstenau
print the charts
I looked at the government charts and they look good. Is there an easy way to print the whole chart? (I have a D-size plotter)I tried a couple different things but couolld not print the complete chart in a large format.
I looked at the government charts and they look good. Is there an easy way to print the whole chart? (I have a D-size plotter)I tried a couple different things but couolld not print the complete chart in a large format.
- Status