Free marine navigation charts and Ozi
William Burke
Get yourself a registered copy of Oziexplorer from www.oziexplorer.com for
75.00 US. Then got to http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov/ and download any US low
resolution chart you want for free. The charts are a little fuzzy but you
can pick out the buoys and hazards but you may not be able to read the fine
print on the buoy numbers. You should have a backup set of real navigation
charts on hand. Remember a prudent mariner never puts all his eggs in one
basket. The registered version of Ozi likes to work with .tif files and the
charts you d/l will be in .gif format. I use a graphics program called Paint
Shop Pro to convert the .gif files to a .tif format and I shrink the size
of the files using packbits compression. Its the only compression Ozi will
let you use with .tif files. I'm a garmin fan and use a gps III and recently
bought a gpsmap 161 for my boat. So far I have downloaded 365 NOAA charts
and calibrated them using a 4 point calibration (4 corners). I have found
that since SA has been turned off and the minute scanning errors in the
charts I am within at least 50' of where Ozi shows me. That's close enough
for me unless you're buoy hunting in the fog. You don't even need a
sophisticated GPS because you can manipulate your waypoints, tracks and
routes in Ozi. Basically all Ozi needs from your GPS is your position. Any
questions feel free to e-mail me.
Bill Burke
"Josh Assing" <jo...@jassing.com> wrote in message
news:ji7i4tsv4msfo1q50...@4ax.com...
> Anything out there that plugs into gps/laptop for navigation/course
plotting for
> sailing?
Gerard van Toornenberg.
Thanks for your welcome tip. It was hard to find any freeware Charts from
the US.
I was(still) looking from a Chart of the Port Everglades(Miami). I will try
it again.
It was one of my favorite ports in the US during my ten years sailing
experience as marine engineer, starting from 1957. I am missing the good old
days.
Best regards,
Gerard van Toornenberg, 52° 46.120' N 005° 06.149' E Medemblik, The
Netherlands
Email: toorn...@quicknet.nl
Site: www.gpspositioner.com < Look to GPS Positioner Pro first. For What's
Next >
or http://home.soneraplaza.nl/mw/prive/toornenb/Index.html
"William Burke" <wbu...@twcny.rr.com> schreef in bericht
news:hod26.61707$7I.69...@typhoon.nyroc.rr.com...
ed....@attremove.net
>Hallo William,
>
>Thanks for your welcome tip. It was hard to find any freeware Charts from
>the US.
>I was(still) looking from a Chart of the Port Everglades(Miami). I will try
>it again.
>It was one of my favorite ports in the US during my ten years sailing
>experience as marine engineer, starting from 1957. I am missing the good old
>days.
>
>Best regards,
>Gerard van Toornenberg, 52° 46.120' N 005° 06.149' E Medemblik, The
>Netherlands
>Email: toorn...@quicknet.nl
>Site: www.gpspositioner.com < Look to GPS Positioner Pro first. For What's
>or http://home.soneraplaza.nl/mw/prive/toornenb/Index.html
Gerard,
perhaps these are the NOS chart #'s you're looking for:
11470 is a 1:10,000 chart of Ft lauderdale - Port Everglades
11468 is a 1:10,000 chart of Miami harbor
11467 is a 1:40,000 west palm to miami (icw pf)
11465 is a 1:40,000 miami to elliot key
- Ed