Association Forum - Computer nav software

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Computer nav software

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

seastream
Navigator

Member Avatar

USA
242 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/11/2005 : 07:22:35

A co worker gave me a program from Garmin called MapSource. It's like Street Atlas, but for water navigation as well, having buoy, marker locations, etc. I want something like this to supplement my charts, and it may be cheaper (certainly no more than) some chartplotters. Problem is, it's ONLY for a Windows machine. Anyone know of similar programs written for the Macintosh computers? Thanks, Bob

Seastream

Edited by - on

cathluk
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
513 Posts

Response Posted - 03/11/2005 : 15:55:21

No, but can you upload your GPS waypoints into MapSource?

Edited by - on

seastream
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
242 Posts

Response Posted - 03/11/2005 : 19:49:01

Yes, so they say. If I absolutely had to, I'm not averse to purchasing a cheap laptop (never thought I'd see the day those two words were together!), Windows based, for the cause.

Edited by - on

tmhansen
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
397 Posts

Response Posted - 03/12/2005 : 01:05:30

My son and I were just playing with the program tonight. It came with the GPS. With it we can view charts, set waypoints and routes and then upload them to the GPS. We can also transfer waypoints and routes from the GPS to the PC. In theory anyway. Having problems with PC to GPS transfer. Maps load ok but my routes and waypoints don't and I get an error message. Email Garmin tonight to see if they know what the issue is. Maybe I was trying to upload too much data for my 128 mb data card. To use mapsource you will need an unlock code for a chart set. We have one set unlocked that covers all of the West Coast I think from North of SF to Cabo San Lucas. If, no when, we take a trip to the San Juans we will need to unlock another region.

Edited by - on

sterngucker
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
169 Posts

Response Posted - 03/12/2005 : 10:09:34

After each outing I upload my tracks from my Garmin GPSMap 76S into MapSorce on my PC. It stores a data point about every 20 seconds. Each data point contains date/time, altitude, leg length, leg time, speed, heading, and of course, position. It's really a great way to save all the info of your trip. I have used it to record where and when I see dolphins (I usually stop sailing and drift) and to critique my upwind tack angles. Very, very handy.

Edited by - on

tmhansen
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
397 Posts

Response Posted - 03/14/2005 : 14:57:37

I solved the data transfer problem. I needed to update all of my software, that included the software in the unit itself (from 2.6. to 3.1), the USB drivers, and the Mapsource software. Took a while to download it all but it works now and they have added a few new features.

Edited by - on

WGriswold
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
23 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2005 : 15:15:01

I also have Mapsource on my PC and upload to my Garmin 176C. I really like the Mapsource program. It is easy to use and much more convenient that working directly with the GPS. I recently put a Raymarine chartplotter on my C36 and am going to try to make the Mapsource program talk to the Raymarine unit. I think I can do this through Excel spreadsheets. I can download from Mapsource to Excel and the Raymarine chartplotter will accept wasypoints from Excel. I may have to work through formatting issues. Has anyone ever done this?

Wait Griswold
C25, Lake Tahoe, Ca
C36, Alameda, CA

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2005 : 16:24:31

Seastream,
Is it just me or has no one spoken to your question? You asked how to do this on a MAC.

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1608 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2005 : 00:11:20

My mapsource box says it works with Mac and PC. Got it at Costco last December for about $95.
We have both Mac and PC and we've run it on both.

Edited by - on

jlguthri
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
93 Posts

Response Posted - 03/19/2005 : 22:42:22

I like mapsource... I use it with my Garmin 162 and upload my trip, waypoints, etc. off it... I just take the GPS back to the house (it also prevents it from "growing legs") I usually put them on the web just for the heck of it... I have them at:

http://westmouthbay.com/pictures/album07

The Mapsource box I have only babbles about PC requirements.. I suppose we have different versions...

Edited by - on

seastream
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
242 Posts

Response Posted - 03/20/2005 : 13:47:52

Frank, one problem I see is that even if MapSource is available for the Macintosh, I'd need a USB to serial adapter for the GPS data cable since Macs don't have 9 pin serial ports. I've seen such adapters for around $70.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.