Source for Discounted NV Charts?

[Dockhead]

I want to acquire a set of NV chart sets for the Baltic. These consist of paper charts plus electronic charts in raster format -- perfect for passage planning in OpenCPN.

These things are horribly expensive -- does anyone know a source which sells them at a discount, at least?

[CarstenWL]

... "horrible expensive" ? ...

You get the 4 sets for abt. EUR 200,-, always found this to be a very good deal? Of course depends what you mean with 'the Baltic' ...

There is not much margin for a dealer, difficult to find them cheaper (if you want the latest edition).

If you are satisfied with the last year edition you can safe some money when you buy them used ...

Regards,

Carsten

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by CarstenWL

... "horrible expensive" ? ...

You get the 4 sets for abt. EUR 200,-, always found this to be a very good deal? Of course depends what you mean with 'the Baltic' ...

There is not much margin for a dealer, difficult to find them cheaper (if you want the latest edition).

If you are satisfied with the last year edition you can safe some money when you buy them used ...

Regards,

Carsten

200 euros only covers the far Western end of the Baltic! If you take that, Swedish South and East coasts, Finland, E Gulf of Finland -- you're already over 1000 euros, and you have only covered maybe 40%!

Any tips on where to find them used?

Thanks, Dockhead

[CarstenWL]

... try here: https://www.segeln-forum.de/index.ph...ce&cat=1&type=

In fact I sold mine there last year b4 we went to the Bahamas (only the Southern Baltic set). Sometimes you will find also only the Digital Versions there (if someone uses the paper charts only) but I agree for the whole Baltic it will be expensive if bought new ...

For planning purposes with OpenCPN CM92 charts 'can be found' of course.

Carsten

[Harding]

Never ever use NV charts. The most faulty charts you can find especially for Baltic Waters.
Always use updated charts.
Use: https://www.seapilot.com/ its free, you only need to pay for sucriptions and its cheap.
Seapilot uses official updated vectorized S-57 chart from National Maritime Administrations. the chart presentation is based on professional standards for ECDIS.
In Baltic Waters there is thousands chartupdates (Notice to Mariners) every year.

Harding

[Dauntlessny]

For Digital charts, Jepp C-Maps are $400 for all of western Europe i think.
Also, Navionics on smart phone and tablet for $17 and $27 respectively.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Dauntlessny

For Digital charts, Jepp C-Maps are $400 for all of western Europe i think.
Also, Navionics on smart phone and tablet for $17 and $27 respectively.

I have fresh updated Navionics Gold vector charts on my main navigation system. But I need paper and raster charts for planning and for OpenCPN. NV seems perfect for this since that's exactly what they give you -- both paper and electronic raster charts.

But it is alarming to read these bad opinions about the cartography -- anyone else have such experiences?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Harding

Never ever use NV charts. The most faulty charts you can find especially for Baltic Waters.
Always use updated charts.
Use: https://www.seapilot.com/ its free, you only need to pay for sucriptions and its cheap.
Seapilot uses official updated vectorized S-57 chart from National Maritime Administrations. the chart presentation is based on professional standards for ECDIS.
In Baltic Waters there is thousands chartupdates (Notice to Mariners) every year.

Harding

Thanks; it's interesting to find out about that. I had not previously heard about it.

It's not exactly what I'm looking for since I already have vector charts.

It does not, by the way, seem "cheap" to me -- with one-year subscriptions to individual countries working out to $26 to $67 each. The whole Baltic comes out more expensive for a one-year subscription, than Navionics takes for a chart card you get to keep -- with a year of "fresh data" and vastly more feature-rich. At the end of the year, you get another year for half price. So you get far more from Navionics for less money. Perhaps the vector charts are better quality than Navionics, which maybe makes it worth it -- I don't know, but at first glance it doesn't look all that compelling.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by CarstenWL

... try here: https://www.segeln-forum.de/index.ph...ce&cat=1&type=

In fact I sold mine there last year b4 we went to the Bahamas (only the Southern Baltic set). Sometimes you will find also only the Digital Versions there (if someone uses the paper charts only) but I agree for the whole Baltic it will be expensive if bought new ...

For planning purposes with OpenCPN CM92 charts 'can be found' of course.

Carsten

Thanks!

I do use the CM92 charts on OpenCPN for planning (not navigation!). They are surprisingly good and do not seem very out of date. Quality (for the Baltic area) similar to my Navionics vector charts in my main navigation system.

[Harding]

Dockhead, pls take care of the chart from Navionics and others. They are not procuced bu the authorities ad they miss a lot of informations. The weekly information from Notice to Mariners come verified from the authorities.


Producers of chartplotters are continuously working to improve the software in the instruments. There can be bug fixes or enhancements for making chartplotter faster. There may also come a new accessory that requires that the software is updated.
Until further (spring this year) you still need to have official updated paperchart onboard for navigation acc. to IMO rules.
I Baltic Waters the change with new charts comes very often, severals times per year and cost of each chart is around 22 Euro. The amount of charts in Denmark is 62.
We hope that the authorities soon have their specification ready for recretion sailors.
Imagine if you could receive all relevant forecasts for current, wind, waves and water levels along your route at once? And see the information from a navigation warning on the position, warning belong to?
The authorities is in the process of applying for EU funds to create a platform on the Internet - that is, independently and without the ECDISS - where all relevant information can be retrieved. Sailors could rely on: navigation warnings, weather reports, information on ports and many other details that are continually updated.
The producers of navigation equipment must show a propary SENC format.
The intention from the authorities is that producers must only sell plotters or apps with official digital chart, produced by hydrographic authorities.
The software to be used for viewing the maps must be certified by a classification society - approved by the authorities.
It should not be possible to buy charts without also subscribe to updates from authorities.
Users should not be able to choose how often the charts updated. It makes the authorities.


Seapilot being feed with map data, S-57, directly from the respective hydrographic institutes and converts them to vector chart that follows the international S-52 standard presentation. The charts are always fresh data and is updated to authorities spec. and rules.
Seapilots coverage is most of the coasts of Europe, USA and Canada.


Harding