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Thread: Budget electronic charting

  1. #11
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    Have any of you tried using OpenCPN on Linux, using a Windows emulator, like Wine?

    EDIT: never mind...runs on LINUX!
    Last edited by AlanH; 11-28-2017 at 01:41 PM.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  2. #12
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    Actually, looks like I have a free copy of Windows Vista I can use on this ancient laptop. That's nasty, but it should work.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  3. #13
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    Pretty slick. I downloaded and installed it tonight. I used the chart downloader to grab about a dozen local charts for SF Bay and the coastline a couple hundred miles up and down....works great. Now to pick up a little usb gps receiver.

    Heck, I might have to buy a new battery for this laptop, this is so painless to use.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  4. #14
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    There was an inexpensive Chinese BU-353 GPS receiver in Alan's stocking this Christmas. It works great with OpenCPN. I've discovered that I can't run OpenCPN at the same time as their included GPS monitoring software, but that's no big deal. Sweet! Now to buy a new battery for this ancient laptop.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  5. #15
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    May 2015
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlanH View Post
    It works great with OpenCPN.
    Same plan here, i.e. OpenCPN. In fact if there's enough interest on the forum with Bay locals would any be interested to meet up and discuss how to best use this and qtVlm and other plug ins, getting weather forecasts etc?

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post
    Same plan here, i.e. OpenCPN. In fact if there's enough interest on the forum with Bay locals would any be interested to meet up and discuss how to best use this and qtVlm and other plug ins, getting weather forecasts etc?
    There's a many-years-long ongoing OpenCPN forum on the Cruisers forum... http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f134/

    I haven't looked it over, yet.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  7. #17
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    San Francisco Bay Area
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    So, the terribly clever Jacqueline Philpott showed me her nifty little Samsung Galaxy Tab E Lite, 7 inch electronic whiz toy at the cruise-in this weekend. She pointed out that she'd installed a $14 app and a bunch of NOAA charts. Because the Galaxy has a GPS built in, it displays charts and puts a little red boat on the chart in your location. Well, cool. Just like the big boys'n girls. Also, apparently OpenCPN now has versions which run on Android tablets, but two blog reports I've read say it's still kind of buggy.

    This thing is the perfect size, IMHO. It's about the overall size of a paperback book, so it's significantly more view-able than a cell phone, but not so big that it's a PITA in the cockpit. I just bought one on ebay for $65. I will follow her lead and install a kids shockproof holder, as she pointed out that she's dropped a couple of them. They're $10... That would be me, I will drop the thing for sure. It will live mostly in a ziploc bag, when it's in the cockpit.

    Any dedicated marine GPS charting display with a 7-inch screen is $200-$400.

    I bought a new battery for the laptop, as well. So now the laptop will live down below and the Galaxy will sit in a little cloth pouch in the cockpit in it's plastic bag, safe and dry until it's 1:00 AM on a Farallones race and the fog is thick as peanut butter. Also, this fulfills the YRA and Coasties requirement that the boat have a GPS on board. My old early 2000 Magellans give me lat/long, speed and course but are so old they're not mapping units. They also can take 5 minutes-plus to acquire 4 satellites to get a really good fix.

    THANKS, Jackie!
    Last edited by AlanH; 01-23-2018 at 12:31 PM.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

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