C-Map MAX Pro Mega Wide Coverage Chips...

[Boracay]

I'm thinking about a bit more of a navigation system for Boracay and the most likely candidate is to base it on the Cmap MAX Pro Mega Wide Coverage chip for Australia, but it's hard to work out how it all comes together.

I'd welcome general comments about it's practical use, but in particular I'd like to know if these chips can be used simultaneously in a PC and a plotter, and if they can be updated electronically?

I also wouldn't mind knowing how other charting systems stack up.

[ianhouston]

We've been using a Cmap mega chip (Mediterranean) in a Standard Horizon 300i chart plotter for three years now - sailing from Holland via the UK, Atlantic coast of France, Portugal, Spain, then Mediterranean Spain, France, Balearics Corsica and Sardinia. Find it a real practical (and financial) benefit, since we carry far fewer paper charts now; tho' old habits die hard and we still maintain plotted positions on paper.

It's very helpful for coastal sailing, particularly at night: also when you are constantly entering new ports/anchorages,it has virtually done away with the old anxieties of identifying land features to make sure you are where you think you are! Using the 'track' feature is another bonus for re-negotiating unmarked channels and shallows: ditto the 'zoom' feature for navigation hazards.

We also have a C-Map card reader, and via a USB connection to your laptop you can do everything on your computer that you can on the chart plotter. I find it easier to use the PC for passage planning etc., which is a bit fiddly to do on the plotter - a large keyboard and screen display is much preferable. Another benefit of using it with a PC is that you can print off sections of particular interest - large scale plots of strange harbours, navigational hazards etc for use with a passage plan.

The chip can easily be updated - I think the cost is about 40% of buying a new chip.

We have ours mounted at the chart table by the bottom helm so no problems of visibility. We have only had one 'glitch,' when the screen display went AWOL. But that was quickly remedied by taking the chip out of the CP, wiping the electronic contacts clean and re-inserting te chip.

Sorry no experience of any other systems.