[ginginsman]

Don't know if any of you have seen this nice bit of Mac evangelism on the GPScity.com site:

http://www.gpscity.com/macsignup.htm

If they really are "approaching 10,000 names" maybe we can help spread the word.

Are there other hardware or chartmakers (C-Map) out there we ought to be talking to?

[GPSNavX]

It is my understanding that C-Map charts are in S-57 3.1 format as such they should work with any Mac Nav app that supports S-57.

[ReeferJon]

C-MAP do convert S57 into their CM93/3 ENC charts, but these are for commercial use and are therefore very expensive.. ie £3500+ for UK charts ( and that doesn't include update fees!) Plus I would imagine they'll be encrypted / dongled.

Their leisure cartography CMAP NT+ (which is what all the PC navigation software on the market uses) is in a proprietary C-MAP format. It is, however priced at a much more reasonable price (about £800 for all the UK charts). They can either be supplied on CD-ROM or C-MAP's proprietary cartridges (as used in the majority of hardware plotters from NavMan, Furuno et al) with the appropriate USB reader. (PC Planner NT+)

Their latest cartography is C-MAP MAX (costs the same as NT+) which has more advanced features such as 3D rendering, greater supporting detail and various other "sexy" features. Again this is available on cartridge or CD-ROM.

If we ignore the technical difficulties / lack of SDK etc etc... the ideal solution for any computer-based chart plotter is, in my opinion, to support Maptech BSB (for raster), S57 (for the US market), CMAP NT+ (for the rest of the world) and if possible CMAP MAX for future compatibility. From a world-wide perspective, if I had to pick compatibility with any one charting system it would be CMAP NT+.