Thread: Cartography
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Old 10-07-2019, 08:04 AM   #5
Maerin
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This is one of the primary reasons I'm a fan of PC-based solutions- You're not locked into a proprietary source for charts which are updated perhaps annually, sometimes longer intervals. My PC is small, 12VDC, very robust, a fraction of the cost of a purpose built chartplotter and its function can be assumed quickly by a laptop running the same software. Coastal Explorer allows 3 simultaneous instances running, their support team has always been helpful when transferring licensing between machines. Never a problem. Updating US charts is simple, free. Bahamas charts are available as Explorer charts, or based on Explorer Chart data, they're C-MAP charts, downloadable. Easy. Canadian charts are only available from CHS sources, they're not inexpensive, but not any more costly for PC than for a proprietary chartplotter. CHS support is good, obtaining the charts requires a bit of planning, online availability is not smooth, but that may have changed since I last bought CHS charts.

All that said, my PC doesn't do radar. I use Furuno, so I have a fully redundant system, and the chartplotter/radar ports ARPA targets to the PC, so it's well-integrated, but my Furuno charts are a pain and costly to update. The PC solution may not have all the whistles & bells that some of the newer proprietary gear has, but still some advantages over the proprietary systems.
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