Want To Buy: Navionics Platinum CF cards

[s/vPainkiller]

Looking for US Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Bahamas and T&C's

Thanks,
Scott

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by s/vPainkiller

Looking for US Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Bahamas and T&C's

Thanks,
Scott

Scott,

It seems that the CFs are harder to come by nowadays compared to their SD counterparts - this is a problem for Raymarine owners as most of the plotters take CF (of the non touch-screen variety) eventhough adaptors are possible: however the SDs can't be updated through the adaptors..

I think the CFs you're looking for are the 905PP and the 906PP:

Amazon.com: Navionics Platinum Plus 905PP - Mid Atlantic & Canyons - CF Card: GPS & Navigation
Amazon.com: Navionics Platinum Plus 906PP - US Southeast and Bahamas - CF Card: Software

The 905PP-CF is readily available - the 906PP-CF will be available again in late April early May (i've found from another source).. the 907PP-CF (GOM) has the same issue as they're trying to push people over onto SD which has locking and DRM.

I'd suggest you grab the 905PP-CF from the above link while it's still available.

Hope this helps,

Phil

[s/vPainkiller]

Thanks, Phil.

I actually already have the Gold charts for these areas, so I'm not desperate. I'd prefer to not pay that much, so I was really looking for used, maybe a package deal. Also, I'm more concerned about getting the Platinum for the Bahamas/T&C since I'm more familiar with the US coast and it has better nav aids.

So I guess the SD cards would work for me as well. Thanks for the tips.

Scott

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by s/vPainkiller

Thanks, Phil.

I actually already have the Gold charts for these areas, so I'm not desperate. I'd prefer to not pay that much, so I was really looking for used, maybe a package deal. Also, I'm more concerned about getting the Platinum for the Bahamas/T&C since I'm more familiar with the US coast and it has better nav aids.

So I guess the SD cards would work for me as well. Thanks for the tips.

Scott

If you have a play about on Amazon, you'll find that the SDs are available from a number of vendors and appear to be round 50% of the cost of the CFs.

I've seen adaptors which convert SDs into CFs too (here) - some reviews complain about them being 'slower' than the actual SD, but these reviews are normally written by people who appear to have Gigapixel SLR cameras and the like. I doubt Raymarine, for example, have launched a whole business unit dedicated to development of high-speed SD2CF card converters! In this respect, their product will be something similar to normal converters with the addition of a Raymarine logo...

If you're not that bothered about up to the minute SD card chart updates then it could be worth a look..

Phil

[Cavalier]

Ok,

After having some issues getting hold of the CFs as well, i can verify that they're in stock at Bluewater Books & Charts:

Bluewater Books & Charts - 906Pp Cf Us Southeast And Bahamas

Hope this helps!

[Rocketman]

A bit off the subject but I use the Navionics charts as well and I just down loaded the Navionics charts that you mention to my I phone for $9.99, and it works amazingly well with all new information, and a new version as a backup to the chartplotter. I belive you can also download it to the I pad which I do not own yet, but the charts on my I phone work even when I am not in cell phone range.

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

A bit off the subject but I use the Navionics charts as well and I just down loaded the Navionics charts that you mention to my I phone for $9.99, and it works amazingly well with all new information, and a new version as a backup to the chartplotter. I belive you can also download it to the I pad which I do not own yet, but the charts on my I phone work even when I am not in cell phone range.

Hi Rocketman,

I have both iPhone and iPad versions.. on the iPad iNavX (with the in-app Navionics charts) works out very well. If you have NMEA-WIFI on your boat then you can connect your iPad to it and use it as a real chartplotter with instrument overlay etc.

That said, I've only ever used the iPad/iPhone as a reference. The internal GPS is not 12-station marine standard regardless of what people say, so having a good set on CF/SD for your actual chartplotter is well worth it. The problem with the iPhone/iPad implementation is that 'in software' app developer has to constantly call the "locationmonitorlocation()" function in the API to get accurate GPS data prior to calling "LocationGet()" or "LocationGetCourse()" etc.. they tend not to do this so often as it kills the battery on your iDevice.

I've routinely noticed that my iPhone or iPad has routinely shown me to be 100-150ft away from my actual location while on the water, and this isn't just chart-datum error - it's particularly worrying if you're using your iDevice for waypoints such as "when we get to take partially submerged outcrop we need to go about"..
As with any GPS I usually give land and none-water features lot of respect and try not to plan routes near to it...

But you're right: the navionics app is not bad as long as you're aware of its hidden limitations..

Phil

[Rocketman]

Phil, thanks for that information, I was unaware of the limitations that you point out.

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

Phil, thanks for that information, I was unaware of the limitations that you point out.

If you open up google maps on your phone, click the 'locate me' button in the bottom left and watch and wait, you'll notice that you'll be located by a blue dot surrounded by a transparent blue circle, which is the radial 'error bar' for you location. As you watch and wait the circle will decrease and decrease in size until it has you within what looks like half a block of your location. What's happening is that the internal GPS hardware is being polled multiple times and the results are averaged in an attempt to remove the spurious readings from the instrument. The higher the number of data points the more they can reduce the error and for each step the error-band decreases around your location. You'll also see your location move around a bit (or the center of the error band) until it's happy with where it thinks you are.

If you sit and continue to wait for a couple more minutes, you'll notice that you'll start to drift around your location - this is partly to do with satellites setting (or moving out of your field of view to the sky) and rising and the associated error with the 'triangulation' with the time signal.

Then have a look at your battery level!

This doesn't happen as obviously with a marine GPS, partly because you don't find yourself surrounded by skyscrapers, but also because it attempts to located and sample upto 12 satellites at any one time.