On Thu, 26 May 2005 08:59:59 -0400, "Jason"
wrote:

I have been looking for a chart plotting application that I can run on my
laptop, attached to my garmin gps. I've heard good things about the Capt'n.
I was also interested in Fugawi 3 because it can be used with land-based
maps as well as marine charts. The product description makes it seem pretty
powerful, and the price is great ($84). But, sometimes you get what you way
for...

Has anyone tried Fugawi 3?

Thanks,
Jason

In my experience, people's favorite chart package is mostly determined
by which one they started with. Personally, I have several, and use
them all for different purposes. Functionally, they're all pretty
close and I suppose any would meet minimum requirements. First step
is to research what cartography (charts) you would like to use based
on appearance, coverage of your area, cost, etc. Vector or raster is
the first decision. Which you choose will eliminate a lot of choices
in charting software.

From your question, it sounds as if you have chosen raster. In that
category, I like the Maptech chartkits for the extra photos and topo
maps. You need to use Maptech software to use the extras, but many
packages will read the charts. Softcharts (from the same people tha
sell CAPN) are the other major choice I've used and they are fine.
They can also be purchased one at a time instead of in regional kits.
Maptech software won't read Softcharts, but most packages will.
Ideally, you would want to try the alternatives out on the water, with
the boat pitching and rolling as well as at your desk at home.

A final confusion in US chart selection is new free US vector charts
known as ENCs. They are the wave of the future, As far as I know,
Fugawi leads the market in supporting them, but I think that situation
will change. The vendors are still figuring out how to make money off
the deal -- the real profit has always been in the charts.

My real recommendation is that you not accept recommendations from
people who don't know your boat, your navigation needs, where you
sail, how powerful your laptop is, etc. While you are educating
yourself on the various alternatives, you might want to look at
OziExplorer. You can trial it for free while you get a handle on what
functions you need. Then you can ask better questions. In the
meantime, Ozi is pretty powerful, licenses for about the same price as
Fugawi, and will use just about any raster chart. It has a rather
inelegant user interface, in my opinion, but it works. It will also
run well on a laptop that would choke trying to run Maptech.
__________________________________________________ __________
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To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
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