C-Map Cartridges Wide vs Local Coverage

[SV Demeter]

I have an older Raymarine RL70 radar/chartplotter that while not color is still fully functional and Im looking at getting some chart cartridges for it. I see that there are C-map NT+ cartridges which come in either Wide Coverage or Local Coverage. My question is what level of detail do the wide level coverage cards deliver? What is the difference between the two?

[Randyonr3]

as with all charts, the wider you get, the less local info and detail you get..
what we've done, get the larger or WIDE chart for distance you would be traveling open water and detail or smaller of the area you want to visit.
we have the wide for areas of the complete pacific but smaller of the islands we intend to visit..
something you want to check, we ran into an issue of charts published at different times.. more info was on the newer charts as well as color.. normally we would put both chips into the unit at the same time as its built with 2 slots.. thinking the larger would show and when we got into the area where the smaller or detailed chart would "pick up", we found the plotter (SL70CRC) would jump from one chip info to the other.. one in B&W to one in color.. we solved the issue by pulling the large area chip when entering a small chip area..
when I call about the issue, they said the problem could be solved by up-dating all the chips to the same date..

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

as with all charts, the wider you get, the less local info and detail you get..
what we've done, get the larger or WIDE chart for distance you would be traveling open water and detail or smaller of the area you want to visit.
we have the wide for areas of the complete pacific but smaller of the islands we intend to visit..
something you want to check, we ran into an issue of charts published at different times.. more info was on the newer charts as well as color.. normally we would put both chips into the unit at the same time as its built with 2 slots.. thinking the larger would show and when we got into the area where the smaller or detailed chart would "pick up", we found the plotter (SL70CRC) would jump from one chip info to the other.. one in B&W to one in color.. we solved the issue by pulling the large area chip when entering a small chip area..
when I call about the issue, they said the problem could be solved by up-dating all the chips to the same date..

Do you happen to know the scale of the wide versus local C-map NT+ charts? I pretty much figured that the wide coverage was just that a wider scale. What Im trying to decide is if its worth getting any of the local chips. These things are priced rediculously for data that NOAA gives away and the thought of carrying a box of 100 chips and having to swap them out all the time seems pointless. I was able to buy from garmin a very detailed set of charts for the whole caribbean and its all on one chip.

[Hud3]

Randy, your experience in the Pacific was different from mine in the Chesapeake Bay and the Caribbean. I was able to get all the detail I needed from the CMAP NT+ Wide Area charts--the same detail as harbor charts and such when I zoomed in. The scale that appeared on the screen depended on the zoom level selected. All the details of the Local charts were there. Since the charts are in vector format, you can't see all of the detail until you zoom in.

[sailorF54]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

as with all charts, the wider you get, the less local info and detail you get..
.

This is not correct as far Cmap charts are concerned. The wider cartridges just cover a wider area, but the content is stricly the same...

[SV Demeter]

Thanks guys thats what I was hoping to hear. As I mentioned the charplotter is an older model and I primarily use it for its radar as Im running openCPN on a laptop below decks and have a garmin handheld color plotter that gives me good detail. I just figured if I could get a few wide coverage ships for the old ray unit it might serve as a decent back up. Thanks everyone.

[minaret]

I have an RL80C+ in the pilothouse and an RL70C in the cockpit. CMap NT+ definitely gives you the same amount of detail regardless of local or wide. Local chart cards are much cheaper.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by minaret

I have an RL80C+ in the pilothouse and an RL70C in the cockpit. CMap NT+ definitely gives you the same amount of detail regardless of local or wide. Local chart cards are much cheaper.

Ok maybe thats it then. I was looking at I thing Landfall Navigations site and it looked like they were all $179 wide or local but maybe I didnt look correctly and the local charts are cheaper.


Ok next question. Is it possible to get a blank C-map NT + cartridge then put charts on it to use on an older unit like the RL70? I guess they would have to be in the right format but I have a copy of CM93 with charts for all over the place and would be great to be able to put my CM93 charts for the caribbean on one of these chips. Guessing I would need to buy some sort of card reader device but maybe it would be worth it?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Ok maybe thats it then. I was looking at I thing Landfall Navigations site and it looked like they were all $179 wide or local but maybe I didnt look correctly and the local charts are cheaper.


Ok next question. Is it possible to get a blank C-map NT + cartridge then put charts on it to use on an older unit like the RL70? I guess they would have to be in the right format but I have a copy of CM93 with charts for all over the place and would be great to be able to put my CM93 charts for the caribbean on one of these chips. Guessing I would need to buy some sort of card reader device but maybe it would be worth it?

Do some searches on this forum, I know the subject has come up. I believe the upshot was "no", but I'm not certain.

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by sailorF54

This is not correct as far Cmap charts are concerned. The wider cartridges just cover a wider area, but the content is stricly the same...

Guys, I'm looking at the charts right now.. I have the pacific chart from the us to Oz.. and the secont chart of Tonga.. the wide chart does NOT give the detail of the Tonga chart..

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

...Ok next question. Is it possible to get a blank C-map NT + cartridge then put charts on it to use on an older unit like the RL70? I guess they would have to be in the right format but I have a copy of CM93 with charts for all over the place and would be great to be able to put my CM93 charts for the caribbean on one of these chips. Guessing I would need to buy some sort of card reader device but maybe it would be worth it?

No, you won't be able to do that. You can buy a "User Card", which is a blank cartridge and use it for storing routes and waypoints for passage planning with the CMAP PC Planner NT+ software and a card reader, but you can't load electronic charts on it.