Why no mouse input for commercial chartplotters

[jbinbi]

I have a chartplotter at my nav table. Touchscreen. The way to create a route is to touch it to drop a waypoint, move/scroll to the next place you want the next waypoint, touch again, etc.

If you are zoomed out, the accuracy of the touch is way off (the number of waypoints right on the buoy that i will hit is high;-). If you zoom in, scrolling takes forever, and half the time you drag to scroll with your finger, it misinterprets as you touching for a waypoint. Doh! I find it very cumbersome to do it this way.

It would be so much easier to use a mouse. Why isn't this available, or maybe it is and I don't know about it, or maybe I am the only person who thinks this would be useful?

[Rusty007]

Most of the larger chart plotters have USB ports. If you plug a mouse in then it should work. Normally 12" or larger units have this.

[Simi 60]

Opencpn

[smac999]

Most have optional keypads with joysticks. etc. Ie Garmin grid.

[RaymondR]

Probably because they want you to buy some exorbitantly expensive add on or upgrade to a more expensive unit.

I used OpenCPN and a 10" Asus computer with a USB to RS422/485 converter connection to my autopilot for years and it was great to be able to use a mouse with it. The two problems I had were the lack of good digital charts in Australia (The government runs an extortionate subscription digital chart racket in contrast to NZ and our ASEAN neighbors) and having to run up and down to the chart table.

I changed boats and now have a Raymarine chart plotter which does not have NMEA 0183 and won't talk to the Simrad autopilot nor accept wifi transfer of files except with proprietory software and cannot use a mouse. Whilst it's good for seeing where I am and uses Navionics charts which have more inshore detail than the CM93 charts it does not have anywhere near the utility of the OpenCPN/computer arrangement for course planning and autopilot implementation.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

It would be so much easier to use a mouse. Why isn't this available, or maybe it is and I don't know about it, or maybe I am the only person who thinks this would be useful?

I can add a keyboard and/or mouse to our plotter. Are you sure you can't?

-Chris

[alctel]

On mine I can't use a mouse, but I can do all my planning on my PC on openCPN and then transfer the waypoints etc to my chartplotter and my phone (which is my backup) - are you able to do that?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

I can add a keyboard and/or mouse to our plotter. Are you sure you can't?



-Chris

Which make/model of plotter is it?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by alctel

On mine I can't use a mouse, but I can do all my planning on my PC on openCPN and then transfer the waypoints etc to my chartplotter and my phone (which is my backup) - are you able to do that?

Ditto. I also often run them in parallel and capture wp's/tracks on OpenCPN, which also has a lot more options for loading different types of charts and working with them.

[CarinaPDX]

My Furuno MFD8 has a USB port on the back, under a cover. I leave a Logitech "Nano" transceiver plugged in and use a wireless mouse. When entering waypoints, and doing the initial setup, I also use a compatible wireless keyboard. YMMV

Greg

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Which make/model of plotter is it?

Ours is a Furuno NN3D MFD12. 10 years old...

-Chris

[CarinaPDX]

See above.

Also consider replacing the internal hard drive with an SSD. See my thread here: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...sd-184234.html It won't noticeably improve the speed, but it may save you a bunch of money and time later if the hard drive fails. Yours may have the old 40GB drives, in which case you can double your storage to 80GB if you use an 80GB image, which I can provide. Hard drives do fail with age as the lubricant gets old.

Greg

[CarinaPDX]

On second thought, be just a little careful with wireless mice. Wired mice will just plug straight into the connector on the back of the MFD12 and work fine. Many wireless mice will do the same, but not all. Some of the higher performance wireless mice need their own drivers which you are not going to be able to add to your MFD. Older and cheaper are most likely to work. As I said above it is useful to have a combo keyboard/mouse wireless setup with a single USB nano-transceiver; the nano size can be installed and then the cover replaced. Ideally you would want to shave a little plastic off of the top so it doesn't press on the cover; otherwise just leave the cover off.

Greg

[jbinbi]

ZUES 2 12" B&G Chartplotter. There is a USB in the System, but that connects to the fusion stereo.

Don't know if there is something on the backside of the plotter, not easy to get to. Worst manual in the world as well.

Opencpn runs on my laptop, but no good connection to autopilot, don't trust windoes, not into making a linux system or pi box.

Can make routes on opencpn, but while i can easily get nmea data to opencpn from the b&g, can't find an easy way to upload the gpx wirelessly, have to (so far) export to u sd card each way.

A mouse would be very convenient at the chart table to use with the b&g....

Appreciate all the inputs!

[CarinaPDX]

There are two USB ports on the bottom (?): you can use one each for keyboard and mouse. See installation manual here: https://ww2.bandg.com/downloads/zeus...nstall-manual/

There was no mention in the Operation Manual; it seems common these days to separate the installation information into a separate manual - a bit confusing.

Greg