May 21, 2006 11:20
Having been playing with MacEnc, the Navionics chart for the Solent and N English Channel, and a Garmin GPS60 for about 3 weeks now I must say I'm quite impressed.
A couple of points:
1. I have to set the Garmin to 'NMEA In/Out' to connect it for navigation purposes, but change the setting to 'Garmin' when transferring waypoints - I'm sure there's a logical reason for this.
2. The Navionics chart shows the low-to-high tide region as the same colour as dry land, which considerably alters the shape of the coastline, sometimes making it difficult to recognise. It would be much nicer if it followed the colour conventions of my paper chart to indicate the drying areas distinctly.
At the moment I can't use MacEnc on the boat (it's not in a fit state to have a laptop on board!) but the convenience of plotting waypoints and routes on a real chart and being able to tranfer them to the GPS makes it worth the money. It will be even better when I get the laptop on board (after I've sorted out the leaking deck fittings and done the rewiring).
A couple of points:
1. I have to set the Garmin to 'NMEA In/Out' to connect it for navigation purposes, but change the setting to 'Garmin' when transferring waypoints - I'm sure there's a logical reason for this.
2. The Navionics chart shows the low-to-high tide region as the same colour as dry land, which considerably alters the shape of the coastline, sometimes making it difficult to recognise. It would be much nicer if it followed the colour conventions of my paper chart to indicate the drying areas distinctly.
At the moment I can't use MacEnc on the boat (it's not in a fit state to have a laptop on board!) but the convenience of plotting waypoints and routes on a real chart and being able to tranfer them to the GPS makes it worth the money. It will be even better when I get the laptop on board (after I've sorted out the leaking deck fittings and done the rewiring).