Blurry maps

[georgepetsas]

I am a newbie and I am trying to use OpenCPN 3.0.0. I downloaded the program and on the way somewhere I also downloaded a chart of the Med. (Med.7z). When I expand the Med chart to get a better look at Marmara Turkey it gets to blurry to plot on the chart. Do I need a better map that will take the zooming in? It would be nice to do this so I can see Marmara and its harbors with good detail and be able to zoom out to get a perspective of where it is in relationship to other countries in the Med. The trip I want to plot is from Marmara Turkey to Gibraltar.

Or do I need several charts and transpose the long. and Lat. from on chart to the next to plot my course?

Thanks in advance, George

[sabray]

I had a problem half way to block island. I could only read the charts with lots of lights on and chart quality has been a constant issue after I passed 45. Not saying that's the cause. Now I have all these reading glasses. Real life experience.

[HappySeagull]

Originally Posted by georgepetsas

I am a newbie and I am trying to use OpenCPN 3.0.0. I downloaded the program and on the way somewhere I also downloaded a chart of the Med. (Med.7z). When I expand the Med chart to get a better look at Marmara Turkey it gets to blurry to plot on the chart. Do I need a better map that will take the zooming in? It would be nice to do this so I can see Marmara and its harbors with good detail and be able to zoom out to get a perspective of where it is in relationship to other countries in the Med. The trip I want to plot is from Marmara Turkey to Gibraltar.

Or do I need several charts and transpose the long. and Lat. from on chart to the next to plot my course?

Thanks in advance, George

Yes, a small scale so-called "bsb" or "Raster" chart (one that covers a very large area)hasn't much detail when zoomed in, so for certain, get some more charts for OpenCPN to use. It's exactly the same as photography. A wide angle picture covers territory but a zoom lense gives you the detail. ie: small scale and large scale. It is easy to think of Raster/bsb as just pictures with an invisible grid of position built in that O can read.
Experiment with the Quilting option. As you zoom in and out, O will automatically choose the best scale chart, if there's more than one chart covering the area of interest.
There's no need to transpose a route you have plotted. OpenCPN will lay it acurately across any scale chart you are looking at.

Also, read up a little on Vector charts. Many seem to be using "cm93", which covers the whole world and zooms in with increasing detail in many, if not all places

[georgepetsas]

Originally Posted by HappySeagull

Yes, a small scale so-called "bsb" or "Raster" chart (one that covers a very large area)hasn't much detail when zoomed in, so for certain, get some more charts for OpenCPN to use. It's exactly the same as photography. A wide angle picture covers territory but a zoom lense gives you the detail. ie: small scale and large scale. It is easy to think of Raster/bsb as just pictures with an invisible grid of position built in that O can read.
Experiment with the Quilting option. As you zoom in and out, O will automatically choose the best scale chart, if there's more than one chart covering the area of interest.
There's no need to transpose a route you have plotted. OpenCPN will lay it acurately across any scale chart you are looking at.

Also, read up a little on Vector charts. Many seem to be using "cm93", which covers the whole world and zooms in with increasing detail in many, if not all places

Sorry for being so lame but i am still having trouble. i googled cm93 for OpenCPN and was sent to Chart Formats | Official OpenCPN Homepage there it said "CM93 Version 2.
(C-map Version 3, and later, is in a preprocessed proprietary SENC format and is not supported.)" and another page I found Installing Charts | Official OpenCPN Homepage seems to contrdict this and says "Starting with vector charts? If you are new to vector charts, including CM93 v2, on OpenCPN follow this quick-start guide:" and goes on to explaining about going to the toolbox.Is C-map realy cm93 and they are talking about version 3 vers version 2? I also googled where do I get cm93 charts for openCPN it took me to ask.com and then to the stock market report.

I am totally confussed. I am thinking you were suggesting that i get cm93 charts. Maybe i am mistaken but if i am not is there a link to cm93 charts for opencpn of turkey in detail and detailed charts on the way to Gibralter you can guide me to? Or a detailed Chart of some type of turkey so I can start ploting?

Again thanks in advance, I feel so lame about this. But i am excited to do the ploting on my computer.

[JesperWe]

The CM93 ed 2 charts are not available commercially any more I am afraid, which means that there is no nice easy place to get them. The many copies floating around at various download sites do work, however. Try your favorite search engine for "CM93 Jan 2011" or something similar.

[HappySeagull]

georgepesetas,
so forget that cm93 stuff for now.The thing to know is there are basically two kinds of Chart format for computers and OpenCPN can run them both together.

If we stick to the Chart you do have, did I answer your question per "zooming in detail" and so on?

[georgepetsas]

Thanks everyone for giving your time.

For me paper Mercator charts are so simple - no computer crashes, no hardware failure, or electronics to worry about. I ll wait until it is drag and drop or perfected more.

Thanks again for everyone trying to help me.