Charts

[sinbad7]

Thanks Marco,that answers perhaps also Rik-lu's question?
Or is the skew intentionally introduced to prevent copying charts for navigation purposes?
The strange thing is it does not seems to affect single screen captures.

Tore

[GPS-Marco]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

Thanks Marco,that answers perhaps also Rik-lu's question?
Or is the skew intentionally introduced to prevent copying charts for navigation purposes?
The strange thing is it does not seems to affect single screen captures.

Tore

Well, I do not know the reason they choose to project in UTM33 instead of Mercatore. Anyway the majority of terrestrial official charts (military, topographic, etc) are projected in UTM. So maybe they gave priority to Land charting.

By the way, OCPN should handle those skewed charts (snapshots) without problems.

Ciao, Marco.

[sinbad7]

Using phiggins latest version of GE2KAP you can now convert outsize bitmaps to .kap simply by entering a bitmap plus a geo ref file in .txt format by the same name.

You can of course do the same with a GE bitmap for OpenCPN access over a large area in a zoomed-in scale. The program can also produce a .kap map from a GE screen selection with a .kap or bitmap overlay from a marine map.

Download a sample oversized GE .kap map of Brekkestoe/Norway here:
BrekkestoeNew-L.kap - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download

Tore

[sinbad7]

Ref my #965

Paul's GE2KAP does not as yet handle overlays of outsize GE maps but I am sure he will find a way. In the meantime,here is a sample of my previous outsize map of Brekkestoe approach with a transparent overlay of a map from the Norwegian Coastguard.

Download here:BrekkestoeAppr-L-OVL.jpg - 4shared.com - photo sharing - download image

It was a quick,manual job in Gimp2 so not all the islands have been made transparent.

Tore

[alaite]

I have several hundred .wci files that I would like to convert to
.kap files to be used with OpenCPN. After reading this thread I
have not found out the best way to handle this task.
Any recommendations?

[sinbad7]

alaite..

You can use the free MapCalII to convert your WCI files to BMP.
Calibrate the file and save it as a png file.

Use the free Chartconvert to automatically create a .kap file you
can use in OpenCPN.

See more details in the attached instructions...

Tore

[sinbad7]

alaite..

If you have problems using the CHARTCAL.DIR calibration file in Chartconvert,you may have to use your Notepad to copy the 4 geo loc points in the CHARTCAL.DIR file and use MapCalII to enter the calibration points again and save a new CHARTCAL.DIR file.

For full compatibility with other nav. progs enter a sequence of number/letters after the # sign,(GE9999) when you enter the calibration details in MapCalII.

Good luck..

[alaite]

Thanks for the instructions, I know how to use the Mapcal2 and
I'm able to convert bmp-files to kap-files by using the Chart Konverter
program but to my understanding this conversion has to be done
one map at a time. So I was looking for some kind of batch process
program which I now suppose do not exist. It's quite time consuming to
do the translation one by one.

[dacust]

Originally Posted by alaite

Thanks for the instructions, I know how to use the Mapcal2 and
I'm able to convert bmp-files to kap-files by using the Chart Konverter
program but to my understanding this conversion has to be done
one map at a time. So I was looking for some kind of batch process
program which I now suppose do not exist. It's quite time consuming to
do the translation one by one.

If you can get the charts converted from WCI to bmp and the calibration in CHARTCAL.DIR, then a simple script can be used to convert all the bmp's to tifs. Then mc2bsbh can batch process all the charts listed in CHARTCAL.DIR. So, you might have to do the conversion from WCI to BMP one at a time, but that should be a simple open and save or export. Sorry, I have never converted WCI to BMP, so I don't know the details. Maybe someone else in here has.

Actually, now that I think about it, it might be possible to batch convert the bmps with 2 convert statements. :

• convert *.bmp -colors 127 *.gif
• convert *.gif -colors 127 *.tif

But I haven't tried this. (and the 127 should be adjusted down to the actual # of colors to reduce image size)

-dan

[sinbad7]

alaite..

If you can send me a .zip file with some of your most urgent WCI conversions,I will convert them to .kap for you. PM me private for my email adress.

Tore

[alaite]

Thanks for your kind offer. I have some 750 wci-files covering Finnish
coast and inland waters. The Chartconvert.exe works beautifully
but it can convert only one chart at a time. So I was asking if
someone had a solution to batch convert large amount of wci-files
to kap files to be used in OpenCPN. I do not want to burden you
with this task, which I can do by myself. It only takes lot of time,
but we still have plenty of ice in Finnish waters and I can use my
evenings for this task.
Regards, Asko

[Cotemar]

Is it possible to purchase Wavy line electronic charts (Bahamas) that will work in OpenCPN

Mark

[sinbad7]

Is it possible to purchase Wavy line electronic charts (Bahamas) that will wor
k in OpenCPN

No idea what format they use... and they don't seem to have much of a selection.

[thatboatguy]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Is it possible to purchase Wavy line electronic charts (Bahamas) that will work in OpenCPN

Mark

This is the response I got from Wavy Line Charts:

Hi George,

We don't sell our charts for electronic use directly, but we do license several companies to produce our Bahamas data set. They are:

www.earthnc.com
www.marine.geogarage.com
www.maptechnavigation.com
www.jeppesen.com

Thanks,
Jane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wavey Line Publishing
Modern Charts for the Modern Navigator

So far I have negative replies from earthnc and geogarage and nothing at all from the other two. Let us know if you find anything different.

George

[Cotemar]

thatboatguy,

Geogarage has Wavy line charts of the Bahamas.

GeoGarage - Route Preparation

Mark