Practical Sailor did a review of electronic charting programs in Sep
2006 issue. First of all, a comparison between Cap'n, and Nobeltec is
somewhat moot since Cap'n, was bought out by Maptch and is no longer
marketed. However, neither program was highly rated. Cap'n, one of
the first programs on the market, is somewhat dated, even in the latest
version. Nobeltec VNS is slow to adapt to new devices and only accepts
proprietary vector charts (but does accept most formats of raster
charts). Nobeltec does not support 3D viewing. Cap'n does not support
weather GRIB. Cap',--poor useability, poor stability, good tech
support (Maptech will continue to support the product). Nobeltec good
usability, excellent stability and excellent tech support. Also, the
review noted that Nobeltec seemed geared to the powerboat crowd. All
this said, I have an older version of Cap'n and it seems pretty good to
me, but then, I have little to compare it to. Practical Sailor
Recommended GPS NAVX/MACENC and Maxsea. They said that Fugawi Marine
was a best buy and Chart Navigator Pro/Coastal Explorer was the best
choice (this is a Maptech program). I also have a lite version of
Maptech's program--it seems pretty good, but it won't support my older
model eTrex handheld (Cap'n does).
Don Bouchard wrote:
Has anybody compared The CAPN by Nautical Technologies and Nobeltec's VNS
version 8 or 9? Any recommendations? Has anybody tested both Electronic
Charting systems?

Thanks for the informative review of choices.

Don

***
"Peter" wrote in message
oups.com...
Practical Sailor did a review of electronic charting programs in Sep
2006 issue. First of all, a comparison between Cap'n, and Nobeltec is
somewhat moot since Cap'n, was bought out by Maptch and is no longer
marketed. However, neither program was highly rated. Cap'n, one of
the first programs on the market, is somewhat dated, even in the latest
version. Nobeltec VNS is slow to adapt to new devices and only accepts
proprietary vector charts (but does accept most formats of raster
charts). Nobeltec does not support 3D viewing. Cap'n does not support
weather GRIB. Cap',--poor useability, poor stability, good tech
support (Maptech will continue to support the product). Nobeltec good
usability, excellent stability and excellent tech support. Also, the
review noted that Nobeltec seemed geared to the powerboat crowd. All
this said, I have an older version of Cap'n and it seems pretty good to
me, but then, I have little to compare it to. Practical Sailor
Recommended GPS NAVX/MACENC and Maxsea. They said that Fugawi Marine
was a best buy and Chart Navigator Pro/Coastal Explorer was the best
choice (this is a Maptech program). I also have a lite version of
Maptech's program--it seems pretty good, but it won't support my older
model eTrex handheld (Cap'n does).
Don Bouchard wrote:
Has anybody compared The CAPN by Nautical Technologies and Nobeltec's VNS
version 8 or 9? Any recommendations? Has anybody tested both Electronic
Charting systems?

"I also have a lite version of Maptech's program--it seems pretty good,
but it won't support my older model eTrex handheld (Cap'n does)."

Huh? Surely it must be able to interface to the etrex when the etrex is
in NMEA mode as opposed to Garmin mode.

I have hooked up my eTrex to just about everything that takes a GPS
input without any problems.

Thanks for the info on the reviews.

Tom

Chart Navigator Pro/Coastal Explorer was the best
choice (this is a Maptech program).

Technically, Chart Navigator Pro is a relabelled copy of Coastal Explorer
(made by Rosepoint) but bundled with quite a few of (all?) Maptech's US
chart DVDs. That said, it's a GREAT program regardless of which version.