Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

(or; So much time, so little to do)



Only 10 more weeks until sailing season will be in high gear on the
Chesapeake. In the meanwhile, I've been planning a cruise to Bar Harbor. I
found that Google Earth is a medium for selling and recruiting potential
crew. I wrote some computer stuff to translate exports from my Nobeltec nav
software into kml files that GE understands. Although I was happy with the
way the routes were displayed, it still didn't look very nautical. I needed
aids to navigation. I wrote more computer **** to build a database from the
USCG Light Lists. Now I'm getting somewhere.

The Zip file http://www.gis.net/~rayd/demo.zip contains 2 files,
ptown2castine.kml is the route and p2catn.kml contains the ATN's that I may
or may not see along the way. Clicking the link above and selecting "open"
should open the zip file. If you have GE installed, you should only have to
click on the file names and something googlish should occur. I have several
thousand ATNs from Bermuda to Midway, 99% of what's out there. They are
only as accurate as what is published in the USCP Light List volumes. I'm
finding more errors everyday. Let me know what you think.



Ray

S/V Trinity, Annapolis

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

"RayD" raydatgisdotnet wrote in
:

(or; So much time, so little to do)



Only 10 more weeks until sailing season will be in high gear on the
Chesapeake. In the meanwhile, I've been planning a cruise to Bar
Harbor. I found that Google Earth is a medium for selling and
recruiting potential crew. I wrote some computer stuff to translate
exports from my Nobeltec nav software into kml files that GE
understands. Although I was happy with the way the routes were
displayed, it still didn't look very nautical. I needed aids to
navigation. I wrote more computer **** to build a database from the
USCG Light Lists. Now I'm getting somewhere.

The Zip file http://www.gis.net/~rayd/demo.zip contains 2 files,
ptown2castine.kml is the route and p2catn.kml contains the ATN's that
I may or may not see along the way. Clicking the link above and
selecting "open" should open the zip file. If you have GE installed,
you should only have to click on the file names and something googlish
should occur. I have several thousand ATNs from Bermuda to Midway, 99%
of what's out there. They are only as accurate as what is published
in the USCP Light List volumes. I'm finding more errors everyday.
Let me know what you think.

Ray

S/V Trinity, Annapolis

1) I think that you're re-inventing the wheel, but it's a fun exercise.
2) Check out http://www.earthnc.com/
3) Learn about layers. This way the cans only appear when zoomed in on.
You don't want to see all of the info when zoomed way out.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

"Geoff Schultz" wrote in message
.. .
"RayD" raydatgisdotnet wrote in
:

1) I think that you're re-inventing the wheel, but it's a fun exercise.
2) Check out http://www.earthnc.com/
3) Learn about layers. This way the cans only appear when zoomed in on.
You don't want to see all of the info when zoomed way out.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Thanks for the layer tip, Geoff. I'll put it in release 2.

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

"RayD" wrote
... I have several thousand ATNs from Bermuda to Midway, 99%
of what's out there. They are only as accurate as what is published
in the USCP Light List volumes. I'm finding more errors everyday.
Let me know what you think.


The Google Earth seems to be stitched together from a bunch of
satellite photos that range from old to very old. In some places I
know of highways & neighborhoods that have been in place ~10 years
that don't show up.

OTOH I have followed waterways on Google Earth to get an idea of
terrain & contour & development around potential anchorages. Kind of
interesting, possibly helpful. A lot of remote areas you can't zoom in
enough to get much detail.

Geoff Schultz wrote:
1) I think that you're re-inventing the wheel, but it's a fun exercise.
2) Check outhttp://www.earthnc.com/
3) Learn about layers. This way the cans only appear when zoomed in on.
You don't want to see all of the info when zoomed way out.


That's cool. Thanks for the tip Geoff.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 19:14:24 -0800 (PST), wrote:

OTOH I have followed waterways on Google Earth to get an idea of
terrain & contour & development around potential anchorages. Kind of
interesting, possibly helpful. A lot of remote areas you can't zoom in
enough to get much detail.

Doug, are there any free BSB charts available for the Tenn-Tom
waterways?

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

RayD wrote:
(or; So much time, so little to do)



Only 10 more weeks until sailing season will be in high gear on the
Chesapeake. In the meanwhile, I've been planning a cruise to Bar Harbor. I
found that Google Earth is a medium for selling and recruiting potential
crew. I wrote some computer stuff to translate exports from my Nobeltec nav
software into kml files that GE understands. Although I was happy with the
way the routes were displayed, it still didn't look very nautical. I needed
aids to navigation. I wrote more computer **** to build a database from the
USCG Light Lists. Now I'm getting somewhere.

The Zip file http://www.gis.net/~rayd/demo.zip contains 2 files,
ptown2castine.kml is the route and p2catn.kml contains the ATN's that I may
or may not see along the way. Clicking the link above and selecting "open"
should open the zip file. If you have GE installed, you should only have to
click on the file names and something googlish should occur. I have several
thousand ATNs from Bermuda to Midway, 99% of what's out there. They are
only as accurate as what is published in the USCP Light List volumes. I'm
finding more errors everyday. Let me know what you think.



Ray

S/V Trinity, Annapolis




Ray,

Along these lines I would like to be able to use GE off line as a
navigation aid. Some of the areas I cruise in have fairly gross
differences between charted lat/long and GPS lat/long. It seems the
difficulty is getting past the GE cache limit, 2GB if I am correct.

So, what I would like to do is download a fairly large area and then
track my progress via GPS. Doing this in combination with my chart
plotter, radar, etc.

If you can solve THAT issue then I think you have something unique.
Maybe also illegal.

Or, if there is a already a way to do that, I would appreciate hearing
about it.

Many thanks,

Howard

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

Wayne.B wrote:
Doug, are there any free BSB charts available for the Tenn-Tom
waterways?

You can download ENC files from the Corps of Engineers but apparently
I don't ahve the right software to make them work.

DSK

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

On Jan 6, 10:38 am, wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
Doug, are there any free BSB charts available for the Tenn-Tom
waterways?

You can download ENC files from the Corps of Engineers but apparently
I don't ahve the right software to make them work.

DSK

The IENC files for the Tenn-Tom are included in basic form with
EarthNC Online (the free EarthNC version at http://earthnc.com/about_online)
and in full version with EarthNC Plus the $50 chart package which
covers the entire US (http://earthnc.com/earthnc-plus). In general,
the Army Corps river charts aren't as detailed as the NOAA coastal
charts, but they do provide the necessary navaids and depth contours
to get the job done.

- Virgil

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

Ray,

Along these lines I would like to be able to use GE off line as a
navigation aid. Some of the areas I cruise in have fairly gross
differences between charted lat/long and GPS lat/long. It seems the
difficulty is getting past the GE cache limit, 2GB if I am correct.

So, what I would like to do is download a fairly large area and then
track my progress via GPS. Doing this in combination with my chart
plotter, radar, etc.

If you can solve THAT issue then I think you have something unique.
Maybe also illegal.

Or, if there is a already a way to do that, I would appreciate hearing
about it.

Many thanks,

Howard

Howard,
The 2GB cache will cover a lot more ground than most imagine,
especially in terms of boating distances. The key is to 'preview'
your trip while connected and not concentrate zoomed-in viewing
outside of areas you're likely to need.

An easy way to cache a route is to use the Path Tool in Google Earth
to rough out a track, highlight it in the places menu, then click the
'Play Tour' button at the bottom of the Places menu. This will cause
GE to 'fly' your route at low altitude. You can adjust your flying
speed in Tools - Options - Touring to pace it with your internet
connection speed to grab the imagery. You can get a similar effect
with more 'stand-off' range by creating a folder and filling it with
placemarks spaced along your route. GE will zoom out more while
flying between placemarks vs flying a route line.

If you're really into experimenting, then Google Earth Voyager will
let you 'scan' a defined area. GE Voyager is easy, but you've got to
follow the instructions pretty close (see http://destinsharks.com/google-earth-maps/162
for more information).

As far as offline charting with GE goes, EarthNC Plus Google Earth
charts are designed for this use case such that navaids, depths, etc..
are all available on your local hard drive. Real-time tracking is
available with GooPs GPS to Google Earth software, and a low-cost USB
GPS. The entire set-up, less laptop, is only $160 including a USB GPS
unit.

- Virgil

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 16:41:17 -0800 (PST), vzett
wrote:

Real-time tracking is
available with GooPs GPS to Google Earth software, and a low-cost USB
GPS. The entire set-up, less laptop, is only $160 including a USB GPS
unit.

Interesting. Exactly what software components and options are needed?

Is there documentation on how to pull down the Google Earth data?

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

vzett wrote:
Ray,

Along these lines I would like to be able to use GE off line as a
navigation aid. Some of the areas I cruise in have fairly gross
differences between charted lat/long and GPS lat/long. It seems the
difficulty is getting past the GE cache limit, 2GB if I am correct.

So, what I would like to do is download a fairly large area and then
track my progress via GPS. Doing this in combination with my chart
plotter, radar, etc.

If you can solve THAT issue then I think you have something unique.
Maybe also illegal.

Or, if there is a already a way to do that, I would appreciate hearing
about it.

Many thanks,

Howard

Howard,
The 2GB cache will cover a lot more ground than most imagine,
especially in terms of boating distances. The key is to 'preview'
your trip while connected and not concentrate zoomed-in viewing
outside of areas you're likely to need.

An easy way to cache a route is to use the Path Tool in Google Earth
to rough out a track, highlight it in the places menu, then click the
'Play Tour' button at the bottom of the Places menu. This will cause
GE to 'fly' your route at low altitude. You can adjust your flying
speed in Tools - Options - Touring to pace it with your internet
connection speed to grab the imagery. You can get a similar effect
with more 'stand-off' range by creating a folder and filling it with
placemarks spaced along your route. GE will zoom out more while
flying between placemarks vs flying a route line.

If you're really into experimenting, then Google Earth Voyager will
let you 'scan' a defined area. GE Voyager is easy, but you've got to
follow the instructions pretty close (see http://destinsharks.com/google-earth-maps/162
for more information).

As far as offline charting with GE goes, EarthNC Plus Google Earth
charts are designed for this use case such that navaids, depths, etc..
are all available on your local hard drive. Real-time tracking is
available with GooPs GPS to Google Earth software, and a low-cost USB
GPS. The entire set-up, less laptop, is only $160 including a USB GPS
unit.

- Virgil


Virgil,

Well now I have something to do this coming weekend. I'll give it a go.
Somewhere else I saw directions for saving the various cache files
under different names.

Unfortunately no live connections are available where I'm going. But
then again, that is why I go where I go.

Many thanks,

Howard

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

On Jan 8, 9:31 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 16:41:17 -0800 (PST), vzett
wrote:

Real-time tracking is
available with GooPs GPS to Google Earth software, and a low-cost USB
GPS. The entire set-up, less laptop, is only $160 including a USB GPS
unit.

Interesting. Exactly what software components and options are needed?

Is there documentation on how to pull down the Google Earth data?

Here's a write-up on managing the Google Earth cache:
http://earthnc.com/forum?forum=5&topic=2&page=1

- Virgil

Cruise Planning w/Google Earth
 

Thanks.


On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:45:46 -0800 (PST), vzett
wrote:

On Jan 8, 9:31 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 16:41:17 -0800 (PST), vzett
wrote:

Real-time tracking is
available with GooPs GPS to Google Earth software, and a low-cost USB
GPS. The entire set-up, less laptop, is only $160 including a USB GPS
unit.

Interesting. Exactly what software components and options are needed?

Is there documentation on how to pull down the Google Earth data?

Here's a write-up on managing the Google Earth cache:
http://earthnc.com/forum?forum=5&topic=2&page=1

- Virgil