"claus" wrote in
:

NOAA's Raster Charts (BSB) are (finally) available again - the free
downloads are he

http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/ChartSer...x.jsp?type=BSB




Thank you, Claus! I've sent this message to NOAA to try to get them
interested in providing a more "modern", shall we say, live data server
where charts can be downloaded, even on the fly from cellular tethered
laptops and cellphones to tethered devices such as my Nokia N800 Linux
internet tablet.

"Is there any chance you'll put these raster charts on a server as map
tiles like Google Earth, Virtual Earth, Runway Finder (aeronautical
charts, and a host of others use from live servers I can use with map
tile software such as Maemo Mapper on my Linux internet tablets?
https://maemo.org/downloads/product/.../maemo-mapper/ This free
software, coupled with the WAAS-enabled Bluetooth GPS put my boat dead
in the channel of any of these satellite photo servers, a very valuable
tool in any waterway inland. To have the latest official NOAA charting,
not some vendor's 3-year-old proprietary chart plug, would be simply a
fantastic service to the marine community. The standardized map tiles
are stored on SDHC large memory cards in the device, or downloaded fresh
from the servers via Bluetooth tethering to my cellular phone. Please
investigate the possiblity of providing NOAA chartography on such a
system, the new standard for the online charting industry. Thank you."

If NOAA simply interfaced with Google Earth and Google put it on their
massive server farms, we'd all have live, up-to-date nautical charts
available online on Google Earth as an overlay or through programs like
the FREE Maemo Mapper on my little tablet:

https://maemo.org/downloads/product/.../maemo-mapper/

Maemo Mapper, running off data from the Nokia 12-channel WAAS-corrected
Bluetooth GPS receiver you can hide in your hand, will place its current
position blue dot in the exact parking space your car is parked in at
the mall on any of the many supported satellite map tile servers such as
Google Earth or Virtual Earth. We already have aeronautical charting
from the map tile server at runwayfinder.com for the entire US airspace.

See how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=698iql3B824
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3uV8cSMhI