I Want to Use my Mac Book as a Chart Plotter

[hoppy]

the Maxsea Timezero video was mighty impresive. Mulst look into it more

[fronsdal]

I am not able to figure out how to start a thread, so please forgive me for
entering this one, to pose a question about installing AIS with OpenCPN.

My boat is in Portugal and I need to bring with me (from Los Angeles)
all necessary plugs and cables. From the ICOM MXA-5000 I need to run a cable
to my Macbook. (OpenCPN already running.) The Macbook has the
usual telephone jack, a miniport and two USB ports. The cable from the
AIS receiver is just one pair of wires. The term RS 422 desribes either the
plug or the wire. Can anyone give me some advice about this?

There is also the possibility of connecting a GPS to the AIS receiver,
Here the problem is how to connect to the GPS. Again, just one pair of wires.
The term RS 232C is used in this connection.

Finally, do I need an AIS driver in addition to what I have with OpenCPN?

Any advice will be most sincerely appreciated.

Chris

[Maineiac_sailor]

Run bootcamp with nobletec. Great charts, and world wide coverage. Ask around at the marina, somebody has a bootleg copy of one of the high end plotting programs.

Ive even considered getting a small PC just to run windows. I dont want that windows crap on my mac

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Maineiac_sailor

Ive even considered getting a small PC just to run windows. I dont want that windows crap on my mac

Oh the day I don't have to deal with Windows will be one of the best... but the problem is that Maxsea Timezero does need good hardware to run on, incl. a decent video subsystem like the NVidea you find in the Mac's. You can't run this software on a turtle-slow 12V boat PC or netbook.

The good news is that it runs 100% stable on XP with SP3 under bootcamp. No need for Vista or Win7. We should all let Maxsea know we want a native Mac version :-)

cheers,
Nick.

[lorenzo b]

My intention is to use my MacBook OR iPad to download charts for Central and South America.

The plotter we have is a Raymarine, using Navionics chips. I thought I was covered, but sadlyno- the level of detail on the Central and South American charts is scary, as in ABSENT. This same chart is available for iPad, but what's the point?

So I need some charts. Not expecting to use the Mac as a GPS/plotter.

Is it basically PolarView with ChartWorld S-63charts? Is anyone using this combo, before I spend 150 Euro for a map (no previews)?

[Lesterbranch]

Lorenzo,
I have the Navonics Charts on my iPad and you are right. It would not only be scary, but also foolish to navigate with those charts. I am attending a "laptop navigation" class in late may. I hope to learn about more options there.