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Mark Borgerson

In article ,
says...
wrote in news:1172125377.914203.44450
@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

This group has helped me before and I can't understand what the deal
is with digital charts, whether raster or enc. I can go into any
local map shop, chandlery, marine supply place and buy any nautical
paper chart that was produced by the Australian Hydrographic Office
for $29 bucks. The US has totally free downloadable digital charts
(both raster and ENC) for all US coasts and territories because the US
taxpayer has already paid for the production of these charts.

I would be quite happy to pay $29 for the digital equivalent of a
paper chart. I have navigation software that reads digital charts.
But if I want, say AUS 154 (Williamstown) in digital format I would
have to pay for a (redundant) viewer and then the chart(s); somewhat
more tha $29.

Don't figure

Cheers, Jim

Ha, I was just on NDI digital ocean website to see what canadian stuff
goes for - $899.00 !!!!!
All they did was take over all the canadian govt work, somehow they got
the rights, and have held it for ransom. I see the Can govt is buying it
back, another financial fiasco !
I'm mad a govt for pawning it off in the first place and disgusted at
the price the private company is charging, monopoly or not.
Ron in BC waters

Instead of updating my 6-year-old NDI charts, I went with the
Garmin BlueCharts. IIRC, I got the region that included all
of the inside part of Vancouver Island for about $150US. It had
the added advantage of being downloadable to my GPS76C. I kept
the GPS in the cockpit, and downloaded the tracks to the PC
each night.

In defense of the Canadian Hydrographic Service, they have about
the same coastline as the US, but only 10% as large an economy
to tax to support their efforts. Still, a more reasonable
pricing scheme would garner more unit sales with reasonably
low web-based distribution costs.

Mark Borgerson