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#34
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Doug Dotson wrote:
Doesn't Garmin use CMAP cartridges? Doug s/v Callista They do not. They use only Garmin proprietary chips. Garmin is discontinuing support for their original "G-Chart" chips later this year. They will not sell any more new G-Chart chips, will not update the data on the old ones, and as far as I know that puts that chip dead in the water as far as any further updates. All their newer stuff uses a slightly less proprietary, similar appearing (but not interchangeable) storage media called a "Blue Chart Data Card". The Data Cards are available in a range of sizes (8 to 256MB?). You can buy pre-programmed data cards by area or region. Or you can buy a Blue Chart CD-ROM with most or all of the world on it and pay to unlock regions as you go. Once a region is unlocked, you can use a USB data card programmer (also sold by Garmin) on a PC to burn the charting data to a Data Card and use it in your Garmin chart plotter. The blank data cards and USB port programmers are fairly available at prices less than Garmin charges, I would shop online or on eBay for them before I bought them from Garmin. Once you unlock a region, you can manipulate the the data to your hearts content on any PC with CD-ROM drive. There is software on the CD for doing that. Anything copied to a data card is tied to your specific chart plotter by serial number or something in hardware in the plotter unit and that data card will not work in any other, otherwise compatible, chart plotter. That dispels any notions of sharing chart data with friends and the like. The Blue Chart and data card thing is attractive to me in that you can work all your trip planning, routing, waypoints, and stuff out on a PC, burn your own chart chip (including backup copies if you want), and take them to the boat if you are not already on it. I don't think there is a great cost advantage in buying Garmin's cartography and am not sure if it holds it own with the older, long established, charting folks (C-Map, Nobletech, etc.) or not. I have not used a Garmin chart plotter yet or had hands on one for any reason. But I'd be surprised to find that Garmin is not doing a good job on it, it looks like they are doing a good job of pursuing a bigger share of the market. It would be good for boaters if there was only one major chart chip used by most of the chart plotters and the competition was in selling data CD's and the cost of unlocking needed regions. As it is now, a few companies have the boaters over a barrel on chart chips to some extent. What chart chips you already have can often force the decision on which chart plotter you buy next. I am not advocating anyone or anything here, just talking about it. And I might have some of the specifics a little garbled too, I'm not too deeply immersed in all this. Jack -- Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jacker at midmaine dot com |