a good reason to keep paper charts

[jillR]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8533157.stm

jill

[goodall_m1]

And this comes at a time when they are talking of switching off lighthouses etc as "everybody now uses electronic navigation to know where they are"...

[Palmtree]

Hi,

The Engineer magazine recently had a article about space debris and the threat that causes to satelites. I can't remember the details but collisions between satellites cause a exponential increase in space debris and ultimately, very quickly, a space no go zone around the planet.

Up to date paper charts sound a good idea.

Ian

[Antares_9]

Paper charts (updated from NTM) are generally kept by even halfway serious leisure boaters anyway not only as a "just in case" but because it is so much easier to do a passage plan on them than on even a 20" plotter screen.

[senator]

Although I plan any passage on paper charts I then put the way points into the plotter, would I spot a minor problem at sea? probably not until I ran aground where I couldn't possibly do so.

I guess if you see a buoy that shouldn't be there or not see a buoy that should be you would pull out the paper but I have to admit to an over reliance on electricay but I don't think I am the only one.

[Antares_9]

I wouldn’t call a situation that might put you aground minor Ian, surely you would spot any errors electronically due to the inaccuracy or discrepancy between predicted and actual depths on your plan.

The buoyage / lighthouse issue is not something that as leisure boaters we have any right to complain about as unlike the pro’s we don’t pay for any of it. I guess we could join in the argument and get the RYA involved but if so, be prepared for the outcome of TH saying OK, fine cough up then.

[Guest]

hiya

To add to the jamming problem, the sun is coming out of a sleeping period into an active period .

The increased radiation can knock out satellites and mess with radio waves.

Richard

[mbird]

I recently bought the chartplotting software from Imray to use on my laptop with a gps dongle, as it was a much cheaper option than buying a dedicated plotter at the moment.

One of the reasons I went for the Imray software instead of one of the competitiors was simply because the charts on it are raster versions of their paper ones. This means when I am looking at the paper charts, and compare it to what is on the screen, they are identical, so no danger of leaving a layer off!

[senator]

I wouldn’t call a situation that might put you aground minor Ian, surely you would spot any errors electronically due to the inaccuracy or discrepancy between predicted and actual depths on your plan.

The buoyage / lighthouse issue is not something that as leisure boaters we have any right to complain about as unlike the pro’s we don’t pay for any of it. I guess we could join in the argument and get the RYA involved but if so, be prepared for the outcome of TH saying OK, fine cough up then.

By minor I was referring to how far out the information was, thinking in terms of about a cable or less being not noticeable against headlands and that but more than enough to run you aground. Good point about the depth soundings though as I do monitor the depth sounder constantly to check for shallow water and if it was showing less than my expected minimum at any time I would be alerted to something wrong. Being Lazy I don't tend to constantly check the soundings against the chart plotter just work out the tidal height and add it to my shallowest point, maybe it is time to start adding it to my soundings and cross checking lot more regularly.

[Guest]

Hiya

Hey Mark I got a chart plotter for £250 from ebay, brand new and came with a voucher for a local Cmap chart

the same plotter was £400 at the boat show.

Rich