Lon

[mascot 3]

Hi again Pavel or whoever can help:

My previous post asking for a detailed list of how to proceed to download opencpn left out some details. I have downloaded the basic program however when I open the program, click on tools and then charts I am unable to get any charts to display under add directories.
Hope that helps out as far as a starting point.

Fair winds, Lon

[jongleur]

I've got the same issue.

[dlymn]

OpenCPN only comes with a crude world chart drawn by a 3 yo. You have to buy charts or find free ones on the net. A 'pirate' might easily find CM93 charts, but I think there are other sources.
Once you've downloaded charts, open tools, go to the chart section and add the folder containing the charts. If it's CM93, it might take a while. Once it is properly installed, you should be OK

[jongleur]

I guess I'm not understanding. Are
there free charts for openCPN or not?
Are they available to be downloaded
and still not be considered a criminal?

"Where" does one go to purchase
said charts? I think there is a thread
on openCPN but it has too many posts
to be useful. I have tried to search it
but came up with no helpful answers.

The tutorial, such as it is, doesn't
explain where I'm going wrong.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by jongleur

I guess I'm not understanding. Are
there free charts for openCPN or not?
Are they available to be downloaded
and still not be considered a criminal?

"Where" does one go to purchase
said charts? I think there is a thread
on openCPN but it has too many posts
to be useful. I have tried to search it
but came up with no helpful answers.

The tutorial, such as it is, doesn't
explain where I'm going wrong.

All US nautical charts can be downloaded free and legal, raster or vector format. Here

Raster Navigational Charts: NOAA RNCs

ENC Downloads

You can download charts for a few other countries free and legal but not that many.

[jongleur]

So what was the "'pirate'" reference above?

But more to the point, how does one
download and use a chart in openCPN?
I have followed all the instructions but
nothing happens.

Does anybody have detailed instructions
that work or can you point me to them?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by jongleur

So what was the "'pirate'" reference above?

But more to the point, how does one
download and use a chart in openCPN?
I have followed all the instructions but
nothing happens.

Does anybody have detailed instructions
that work or can you point me to them?

The pirate reference refers to CM93 charts of the world, produced by Jeppesen that are frequently copied and "shared" without payment to the maker.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by jongleur

So what was the "'pirate'" reference above?

But more to the point, how does one
download and use a chart in openCPN?
I have followed all the instructions but
nothing happens.

Does anybody have detailed instructions
that work or can you point me to them?

They are in the process of updating the documentation on the web site. The documentation that came with the OpenCPN program has detailed instructions how to install charts. This is the "short and sweet" version.

Download charts from web sites such as in a previous post. The files are usually in the .zip format. On Windows you have to copy the folders from the .zip file to some folder such as Documents\Charts (i.e. a folder called Charts in your normal Documents folder.

Next you go to the Options->Charts setup and select the same Charts folder as the location of your charts.

Click the OK button and wait for OpenCPN to digest all your charts.

There is also a plugin called Chart Downloader that will do all of this for you much easier. For Windows get it here: http://opencpn.org/ocpn/downloadplugins