Android Development Underway

[familycruisers]

Rated, commented, and shared on FB.

[Pblais]

Installed from the market this morning to my Samsung Galaxy 10.1 running Android 3.2. Installed with no problem then downloaded two regions (4 and 6) all in about 15 minutes. Opened it up and it found my house without asking.

It all works for me just like the video shows. It's quite snappy as far as performance goes too. I had tried a different app but the process of cutting out your maps to have off line really was a lot of work. Having the regions available for down makes it just too easy. I'm positive my wife could install it and used it without running us aground.

The minimal features so far I think are great as far as getting the most out of it with just a few features. The ability to measure and compute distance and bearing is just enough for now. As a software developer myself I can appreciate how it looks like there isn't much there but it just plain works out of the box! This application seems to have a very bright future. Android users need to have this application.

[READY2GO]

We have used it from Panama City Florida down to St Pete so far and love it.

Good job!

[Cormorant]

I've really enjoyed exploring this app. One thing I might suggest changing, though (if it doesn't already have a solution built in which I haven't noticed. . . .). When you zoom in too far, at a certain point the chart switches to a Google Maps-type map with no chart data. Sometimes this doesn't matter -- just zoom back out one level and make due. But in some cases, like trying to read the vertical clearance for a bridge in small type on a small screen. . . zooming in one more level would be a big help. (I'm running MXM on a Droid 3.)

In any case -- loving it!

[manimaul]

Thanks guys... love to hear that you guys are pleased. Lot's of chart plotting systems have an "overzoom". I too would like to add 1 or 2 more zoom levels. This is something I am working on handling programatically without taking to much of a hit on performance or increasing the size of the chart region files. I spent the first few months trying to create a good balance of navigationally useful zoom levels vs performance vs file size. I believe we have a good balance. However, there is always room for improvement. In the end, balance and over all usefulness is the key.

Will

[Pblais]

I spent the first few months trying to create a good balance of navigationally useful zoom levels vs performance vs file size. I believe we have a good balance. However, there is always room for improvement. In the end, balance and over all usefulness is the key.

This really is a difficult issue to get perfectly. I noticed it in Northern NC on the ICW. The Virginia Cut route vs the Dismal Swamp route are not at the same zoom level. It takes several small detail charts to go north from the Albemarle Sound up the Virginia Cut and not all the segments are visible at the same zoom level nor is the Albemarle section to Elizabeth City and north. Quilting that many parts has it's problem when they are all at different scales.

It's pretty hard to normalize all the scales of the different raster segments. The only real solution is to use an ENC vector format. The speed advantages of the raster charts is pretty hard to beat with vector charts. My tablet using raster charts is actually faster than my desktop using ENC. I use twice the resolution on the desktop. Vector format solves all the scale issues but at the expense of the speed. The ability to zoom out and in quickly is a nice feature! There has to be a trade off with speed.

You still need to see the bridge heights and the Nav aid ID numbers with the flash codes. Some type of "Peek" mode where you zoom in and then after a delay come back where you were might help.

[ehlen000]

Hi,

App looks great but since I live in Europe it is useless for now.

Does it support native ENC? or is it possible to convert my own ENC (s57) maps and add them manually? That would make it usefull for me.

That would increase the options for all of us. In Europe ENC's are gathered separate for each country, so managing this on a global scale would not be possible, but I found the maps for my region.

Regards,
Andrew

[manimaul]

Originally Posted by Pblais

This really is a difficult issue to get perfectly. I noticed it in Northern NC on the ICW. The Virginia Cut route vs the Dismal Swamp route are not at the same zoom level. It takes several small detail charts to go north from the Albemarle Sound up the Virginia Cut and not all the segments are visible at the same zoom level nor is the Albemarle section to Elizabeth City and north. Quilting that many parts has it's problem when they are all at different scales.

I pushed out an update for REGION_06 (Norfolk VA to Florida including the ICW) that includes a couple small scale charts from REGION_04 which makes it flow together a little more smoothly as you head north. You can update the region by going to Menu-->Settings-->Install Charts just like the first time you installed the region.

Will

[manimaul]

Originally Posted by ehlen000

Hi,

App looks great but since I live in Europe it is useless for now.

Does it support native ENC? or is it possible to convert my own ENC (s57) maps and add them manually? That would make it usefull for me.

That would increase the options for all of us. In Europe ENC's are gathered separate for each country, so managing this on a global scale would not be possible, but I found the maps for my region.

Regards,
Andrew

MX Mariner will ready any .gemf file in the /sdcard/mxmariner directory. I'm not aware of any programs out there that will rasterize ENCs into a TMS or ZXY format. If you do, then please let me know. We may directly support some sort of vector format in the future.

Will

[Pblais]

The fact that you have to pre process them is sort of a good and bad thing. Dealing with lots of charts that you have to preprocess yourself is a PITA. Every three months catches most of the important issues. Someone would still be wise to add the Notice to Mariners in any case and that would have all the issues that might not be obvious. I still think the biggest bang for the buck is having the regions pre made and you just download via wifi.

Just like the application needs far more "ease if use" than the desktop so does managing the data. Some process to support more international charts will probably need a lot more work. ENC support would be nice as I like it better but it brings a lot more display issues. Bridge data alone adds a lot of complexity. It's really a data problem that has no easy fix.

[Pblais]

I pushed out an update for REGION_06 (Norfolk VA to Florida including the ICW) that includes a couple small scale charts from REGION_04 which makes it flow together a little more smoothly as you head north.

Much better! The extra charts from region 4 add a lot that you really need and the others you add make that section of the ICW much easier to manage. You can pan around at one zoom level now. The BSB ICW map sections are not easy to deal with. The NC section of the ICW has a lot of details to handle.

[manimaul]

Originally Posted by Pblais

The fact that you have to pre process them is sort of a good and bad thing. Dealing with lots of charts that you have to preprocess yourself is a PITA. Every three months catches most of the important issues.

Fortunately, rendering the chart regions is pretty much automated at this point. And, like MX Mariner core, the .gemf format is open source.

The next major chart region update will be in March for MX Mariner. However, if you notice any issues, let me know via email or this forum thread and I'll do my best to fix it asap.

Will

[ehlen000]

Sorry, I am rather new to this, :-) but if I understand correctly, I would need a converter which converts enc maps to .gemf format and put them on the SD? And then i would have coverage? or is the .000 file already in gemf file format and do I just need to copy the file?

Sorry for the questions, but I want to make sure I can get MX mariner working in my region before buiying it.

Also this could help many potentiual users on the European mainland.

Regards,
Andrew

[Cormorant]

Will -- not to inundate you with minutia, but I noticed one of those quilting detail-level problems near the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami on Region 7. That's where I originally tried to zoom in for a better look at the bridge elevation. FWIW. . . .

[Sundowner Porto]

Based in Europe, but have downloaded as am off to US in a few days.

Must say this is a mighty good app, and for the price!!

Well done MX Mariner. Is there any way of using CM93 charts with this?

Thanks