On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:40:21 +0000, Larry wrote:

Wayne.B wrote in
:

The idea of being able to download and save Google Earth imagery and
then couple it with a GPS is certainly attractive but I haven't tried
it yet. There are many areas in south Florida where the charts leave
a lot to be desired and Google Earth would be very useful for those
situations.



http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/maemo-mapper/

Works anywhere my little Nokia N800 Linux tablet can connect to the
net...including my sellphone data about 20 miles offshore. To increase
range, simply haul the sellphone up the mast in a ziplock baggie to keep it
dry. The tablet talks to the phone via bluetooth wirelessly.

Using Virtual Earth's hybrid map/satellite photo tiles thru the phone, the
fix from my Nokia LD-3W bluetooth WAAS-GPS pocket GPS puck is so accurate
it will place your car in the parking space at the mall...showing the GPS
position in the windscreen as near the front of the parking space....

Amazing stuff....all free. Rips the tiles directly from various servers in
lots of systems....even aeronautical charts...but not marine, oh, no, not
marine...dammit.

Map tiles are available from these servers.....
http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ead.php?t=5209
&highlight=map+repositories

First class navigation, compliments of the hackers at Maemo....

Sounds interesting but some of the areas in south Florida with the
worst charts also have no cell phone service and probably never will.