Propriety and computer based plotters

Recently I completed a major electronic upgrade on Tidahapah. It actually started as a radar replacement but got out of hand .
Any how all is pretty good and I am happy with the set up. It is as follows
2 x GPS Map 8012 12 "Multi -touch glass multi function displays with 2 external GPS receivers and a duel card card reader.
1 Garmin blue chart G2 Vision for east Coast Australia
1 garmin GMR 18xHD 4 KW 36 nm High Def radome scanner
1 x garmin GDS24 network Fish Finder/sounder
also mu 1 KW B258 50/200 Hz Transducer is connected into the system
1 x garmin GCV10 Down Vu/Side Vu High Def bottom imaging module
Simrad simnet to connect my wind data

All in all I am happy with the complete setup especially the radar and the overlay capability but can't believe the backward step I had to make re the plotter, the computer technology appears to be at least 10 years behind, especially when it comes to the number of way points and the naming protocol.
One would think in this day and age and the cost of said equipment each display unit would come equipped with its own solid state hard drive of about 250 GB.
The frustration with the plotter system has led me to reinstate my Nobeltec system on the laptop as it has all my fishing, diving sites and old anchorages.
I also find the Garmin plotter software a bit cumbersome to use especially when underway.

Do any of you other people have the same problems with propriety plotter software and if so what are the answers. Setting up the laptop takes away from the nice clean install of the other equipment.

Cheers
Benn

Not aware of any of the chartplotters that provide a solid state drive (SSD). In fact, most laptop makers still stick mechanical hard drives in their laptops. The exception is Apple which only uses SSDs. On the flip side, SSDs have been getting cheaper and in time, the cost per Gb should become competitive to mechanical drives. Since your chartplotters have dual card readers, couldn't you insert a 32 or 64Gb NAND chip for additional storage?

You just will not find the same flexibility in a chart plotter that you have with a laptop.

Just guessing but suspect much of your frustration is the learning curve when you switch vendors equipment. Chartplotters don't get much easier than Garmin IMHO.

Donsan
I know what you are saying and I do have extra storage cards but in this day and age and the price of equipment I would expect more
I am not having any problems learning it but disappointed I the sophistication of the software

I too am disappointed in the sophistication of the software and hardware too. My big gripe is not enough of it is wireless and too much is proprietary. I would like to see chartplotters, radar, AIS, sonar, and even autopilots have wireless data transmission that can be shared with each other and laptops, iPads, and other devices. Yeah, marine equipment is in the slow lane for tech.

Donsan said:

I too am disappointed in the sophistication of the software and hardware too. My big gripe is not enough of it is wireless and too much is proprietary. I would like to see chartplotters, radar, AIS, sonar, and even autopilots have wireless data transmission that can be shared with each other and laptops, iPads, and other devices. Yeah, marine equipment is in the slow lane for tech.

Click to expand...

Raymarine's line of MFDs has some pretty good wifi connectivity. You can use a tablet as a remote MFD, run the same software on a laptop, etc. I haven't used this new range, but I have a friend who has a full setup including using his Microsoft Surface as a portable MFD anywhere on his boat.

Marine Multifunction Displays | Chartplotter GPS

Edit: Raymarine will be very high on my list when I come to upgrade Stillwater's nav electronics.

Richard
Stillwater
KK54

Richard,
I have that capability with the Garmin gear and use my ipad as a remote unit which is handy but all that useful on a 50' boat as I am never very far from the nav station.

Benn-Twisted Tree here went through a lot of anguish on his Nordy before finding an acceptable setup. I think there are a few threads on his travails or you can go to his website, www.mvtangelwood.com, and find pretty detailed discussions. As I recall, he ended up without a dedicated plotter/black box system and uses Coastal Explorer, displayed on one his main monitors as well as on a laptop and with a Furuno radar displayed on the other. His installation posts are well worth reading on his website.

Correct. I ended up without any dedicated MFD/blackbox chart plotter. Instead I have two dedicated radars (one big and one small), and a Mac Mini running Coastal Explorer via VMWare Fusion. I love the whole set up. The one thing I gave up is having the radar return overlayed on a chart, but I actually don't miss it at all. In fact, I like what I ended up with even better. With the correct interfacing, I see AIS targets on both CoastalExplorer and on both radars. And as of recently, when I acquire an ARPA target on either of the radars, it also shows up on CoastalExplorer including the heading/speed vector. The result is that I can see everything that I care about on CE without the clutter of the full radar return image. I really, really like it.

Oh, and CE drives the autopilot just fine including following routes, and the next waypoint also shows on the radars.

As for wireless, I think it's great for allowing non-critical devices to get access to all the basic nav instrument data. But I also think it;s really important to have all the primary navigation equipment hard-wired together. Wireless is too unreliable for the critical systems, in my opinion.