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LooseChange said..

Toph said..

Ramona said..
Australia is nearly the only country left now that makes it's citizens pay for the charts twice! Even New Zealand has free charts now.

Just found these of the WA coast
www.transport.wa.gov.au/imarine/nautical-charts.asp

Large gaps in the available charts in the far north, but IIRC those charts (in detail) weren't available in hardcopy either.

Or, for all of Australia, $57 gets you these current and up to date pretty pictures you can run on OpenCPN.

o-charts.org/shop/en/12-oeevc

Be good to look at a sample. Don't they trust us?

Lydia
I have no idea of the actual datum. (LAT or LLW)
The GPS/Charts also have no information on datum.
At 1.6 meters draft it hasn't really worried me.

This is what Wkik told me. All gobbledigook to me.

In recent years national hydrographic agencies have spearheaded developments to establish Chart Datum with respect to the Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS 80) reference ellipsoid, thus enabling direct compatibility with satellite navigation (GNSS) positioning. Examples of this include Vertical Offshore Reference Frames (VORF)[7] for the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and Bathyelli for Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOM).

So I emailed C Maps to find out. Had some other questions that I have been meaning to ask.


Will see if they get back to me and how long it takes to answer.

Gary

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Ramona said..

LooseChange said..

Or, for all of Australia, $57 gets you these current and up to date pretty pictures you can run on OpenCPN.

o-charts.org/shop/en/12-oeevc

Be good to look at a sample. Don't they trust us?

For a sample just look at any Australian Hydrographic Office chart, o-charts have the license from Hydro and publishes them in a more affordable manner. The only downside if you can call it that is that they are not legally recognised for vessels having to meet the SOLAS regulations, which is of no concern for a recreational boater.

Thanks LooseChange... Are the files already in Kap format? I would quickly pay the $56 if they are already formatted for OpenCPN. I was going to convert the WA DPI charts from their PDF (once copied to your computer), but I had no idea where to start. Scruzin has a blog on the www that I found, but I got stuck even with that

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Toph said..
Thanks LooseChange... Are the files already in Kap format? I would quickly pay the $56 if they are already formatted for OpenCPN. I was going to convert the WA DPI charts from their PDF (once copied to your computer), but I had no idea where to start. Scruzin has a blog on the www that I found, but I got stuck even with that

Toph, I'm trying to teach myself how to write code . So I google "idiots guide to writing in python" or suchlike and follow all the really simple guides.
And I get stuck even with the idiot ones.
Sigh....

I renewed my navionics last night for the cost of $44 au for 12 months as it expired yesterday and we had a strong wind warning 25 to 30 knots sometime after dark. For me I don't skimp on renewal as it seems far more reliable than my actual ships Raymarine c70 and c 80 that's still causing me some grief. I just don't understand why you need to skimp on purchasing free gps maps when it's good at $44 per year?

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Toph said..
Thanks LooseChange... Are the files already in Kap format? I would quickly pay the $56 if they are already formatted for OpenCPN. I was going to convert the WA DPI charts from their PDF (once copied to your computer), but I had no idea where to start. Scruzin has a blog on the www that I found, but I got stuck even with that

As far as I can deduce from what I read I would say that these are ready to go and hot to trot charts as they are Aus Hydro charts. Further I would say that there is a little bit of brain power required to install them because if you read further these have an electronic fingerprint that prevents you from running them on more than one device (you are allowed one backup copy) or from sharing with the boys down the pub. They do state to read all documentation before ordering them.

I'm still using CM93 charts ( that I got from a bloke down the pub )

Southace, for what it's worth I have an updated Navionics subscription on my phone and and up to date card in my Raymarine MFD. You will get no anti Navionics sentiment from me. In fact an out of date Navionics helped me out last year when at 2200 first night out of TI for Gove I lost ALL shipborne navigation systems including 3 GPS, autopilot, wind, log and depth instruments. I did have the Aust charts from Memory Maps (Quick Charts), but my GPS puck had stopped working sometime back but I had manually dropped a pin on our Lat and Long every hour so I knew our position and I am capable of navigating by paper chart of which also carried.

So none of this is about skimping or being cheap. For me, I like to plan off my computer rather than the plotter and Quick Charts covers the legal requirement to carry the charts in the first place. I was looking for something to use with OpenCPN because that program looks more versatile than Memory Maps.

But here is what I found interesting earlier today. Below are two pair of identical locations. One is from a source that I used exclusively to navigate 4,500nm last year, and the other is available for free (admittedly only the West Coast). Guess which one cost over $200.....

And guess which one I'll prefer to navigate off in the future!

African Reef south of Geraldton.


Perth boaties fav play ground

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LooseChange said..


For a sample just look at any Australian Hydrographic Office chart, o-charts have the license from Hydro and publishes them in a more affordable manner. The only downside if you can call it that is that they are not legally recognised for vessels having to meet the SOLAS regulations, which is of no concern for a recreational boater.

I already have all the official Hydrographic office charts loaded with Seaclear. I was hoping for something better! Pointless paying $56 just to use with OpenCPN. Not to keen on being limited to one plotter either. Flashed up my new unit yesterday afternoon with the 22 inch screen driven by this
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-Wyse-Z50d-thin-client-Mini-Computer-Office/332905100348?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
Damn that's a brilliant piece of kit. I bought the other one as well for my mate and that will be loaded with the same charts as mine. So that's 4 machines.

if you want something even more compact there are plenty of tiny NUC boxes to choose from these days...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Unit_of_Computing

HI Fish,
another vote for the NUCs. We've use these commercially as video decoders behind a monitor. The cheaper versions still work really well for standard 1080P style video, where a raspberry PI is just rubbish in comparison, ie: too clunky for video,
The NuC is a great solution for a boat.
My ruggedised PC for the boat cost $3500, as they do extra things like dip the motherboard and components in a anti moisture coating. You can buy a NuC for sub $600 bty comparison.
I do think any PC will die on a boat due to the environment, but a NuC is no better or worse than any normal PC in that regard,

There is only one thing that a NUC suffers from is a lack of RS232 ports. You can use the USB ports, just make sure you have enough.
I have 3 x RS232 com ports used plus 2 x USB for normal keyboard and mouse.
1 x GPS,
1 x AIS and
1 x Topline bus (NKE)

Thread drift! Back to regular programming.....

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shaggybaxter said..

My ruggedised PC for the boat cost $3500, as they do extra things like dip the motherboard and components in a anti moisture coating.

if i was putting a NUC (or any other computer) on a boat i'd marinise it with potting compound:

www.electrolube.com.au/products/polyurethane-potting-compounds.html

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fishmonkey said..

shaggybaxter said..

My ruggedised PC for the boat cost $3500, as they do extra things like dip the motherboard and components in a anti moisture coating.

if i was putting a NUC (or any other computer) on a boat i'd marinise it with potting compound:

www.electrolube.com.au/products/polyurethane-potting-compounds.html

That's the stuff! Great bit of kit, works like a charm.

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Perth boaties fav play ground


Toph said..

But here is what I found interesting earlier today. Below are two pair of identical locations. One is from a source that I used exclusively to navigate 4,500nm last year, and the other is available for free (admittedly only the West Coast). Guess which one cost over $200.....

Toph, looking at these two charts just as you presented them (without zoom), after taking a moment to look through a few details, I actually prefer the one on the LEFT.

Is that your preference ?

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Karsten said..

Perth boaties fav play ground


Toph said..

But here is what I found interesting earlier today. Below are two pair of identical locations. One is from a source that I used exclusively to navigate 4,500nm last year, and the other is available for free (admittedly only the West Coast). Guess which one cost over $200.....

Toph, looking at these two charts just as you presented them (without zoom), after taking a moment to look through a few details, I actually prefer the one on the LEFT.

Is that your preference ?

Me too

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shaggybaxter said..
HI Fish,
another vote for the NUCs. We've use these commercially as video decoders behind a monitor. The cheaper versions still work really well for standard 1080P style video, where a raspberry PI is just rubbish in comparison, ie: too clunky for video,

The laptop I use at the moment has worked perfectly for 6 years onboard. Playing around withe the Wyse unit this afternoon. Windows 10 and an SSD hard drive, it's a real rocket ship. Commercial unit used in hospital rooms apparently. Has ample connections, 5 USB3. I'm running a 22 inch screen. Have two units, one for my mate as well. Will set them both up with Seaclear and Admiralty charts and Open CPN with CM93 charts Loosechange dropped off today. Killer nav station for $70 [with an old monitor laying about]. Mate will be driving 24 inch TV.

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Ramona said..
Playing around withe the Wyse unit this afternoon. Windows 10 and an SSD hard drive, it's a real rocket ship. Commercial unit used in hospital rooms apparently. Has ample connections, 5 USB3.

Don't know where I got the impression that, to run open CPN, you don't need a powerful cpu at all (could even run it on RPi).

So Ramona, with you sounding so pleased with your new PC and SSD (fast) drive, does that mean there is substantial advantage to the user experience to using a more powerful motherboard for doing open CPN navigation ?

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Karsten said..

Don't know where I got the impression that, to run open CPN, you don't need a powerful cpu at all (could even run it on RPi).

So Ramona, with you sounding so pleased with your new PC and SSD (fast) drive, does that mean there is substantial advantage to the user experience to using a more powerful motherboard for doing open CPN navigation ?

You don't need a powerful CPU, it's not the motherboard that does any hard work in this instance. I use Open CPN on an old Samsung 10.1 tablet and it keeps up just fine. What you do need is a sufficiently powerful GPU.

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LooseChange said..

You don't need a powerful CPU, it's not the motherboard that does any hard work in this instance. I use Open CPN on an old Samsung 10.1 tablet and it keeps up just fine. What you do need is a sufficiently powerful GPU.

Thanks LooseChange, I'm on a learning curve here. If it's a Windows PC, is there a way of looking in Device Manager to identify the GPU brand/model and thus deduce how powerful (or not) the graphics processor is ?

I note that Device Manager has a branch called "Display Adapters". Is that related ?

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Karsten said..


Thanks LooseChange, I'm on a learning curve here. If it's a Windows PC, is there a way of looking in Device Manager to identify the GPU brand/model and thus deduce how powerful (or not) the graphics processor is ?

I note that Device Manager has a branch called "Display Adapters". Is that related ?

Yes, Display Adaptor will tell you what brand and model GPU you have, it will unfortunately not tell you how memory it has although many of the newer GPU's steal some of the system ram to boost the performance. Have a look at the manufacturers web site and see if that can help you identify the amount of memory you have. I wouldn't be too concerned about it as the screen refresh rate does not need to be very high (unless you are moving at a gazillion miles an hour)

OpenCPN doesn't need much computing power (by today's standards) to run.

as far as GPUs go, most computers these days have CPU chips that have an integrated GPU processor in the same chip. these share the main system RAM, and are plenty powerful enough for OpenCPN. some computers also have an additional dedicated GPU; these are usually more powerful than the integrated GPUs, the downside being that they use more power and generate more heat. however, you don't need the power of a dedicated GPU for OpenCPN.

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Karsten said..

Don't know where I got the impression that, to run open CPN, you don't need a powerful cpu at all (could even run it on RPi).

So Ramona, with you sounding so pleased with your new PC and SSD (fast) drive, does that mean there is substantial advantage to the user experience to using a more powerful motherboard for doing open CPN navigation ?

Nav programs require very little computer power. I've run Seaclear with windows 98 on a laptop. This unit is all about power consumption. There is no fan and with an SSD no moving parts. Uses 15 watts of power. Most power consumption now will be with the 22 inch screen. With both units operating it's about 52 watts. Laptop with a 15.5 inch screen and battery removed is about 55 watts. Modern LED TV around 24 inches draws very little power. I particularly like Windows 10 for other non nav stuff too.
The photo is from more than 15 years ago on my fishing boat. 19 inch screen run from a work station down below. I had 8kva of power then! I would have used a larger screen but could not see over anything larger.

Aqua maps has just released Australian charts. $30. Good nav program. Search Aqua Map Marine

Interesting sideline here to the GPS discussion around here of late!

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/magnetic-north-pole-moving-arctic-siberia-canada-earth-navigation-ships-a8724426.html?amp&utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true