# Chartplotter Thoughts



## Fishers of Men (Jul 29, 2005)

Chartplotters are a very useful navigational tool when you are out on a fishing trip. 
It does not matter what the size of the boat is or where you are fishing.

Chartplotters can create a plan for your route and provide accurate information on your location and what course you are on. 
The display unit is usually mounted at the helm of the boat or can also be mounted by the controls and the antenna is mounted at the top of the boat.

The position of the boat is sent to the display screen by GPS and translated by the chartplotter as latitude and longitude which will be seen in a graph on the chart. The chart on the screen will look close to a paper chart and show depth, land mass and navigational aids.

Chartplotters are generally easy to use depending on the make and model and you can easily plot your trip on the chart in the display. 
Some models will let you point to a destination and it will create the coordinates for you. 

*Chartplotters use two different types of charts - raster and vector* to produce information. Vector charts were once preferred because they are small and have crisp,clean images and can place more charts in the chartplotter, however technology progressed and the difference between raster and vector charts became negligible.

The display can either be LCD or a full color screen and this is very important. 
The size of the screen can be a few inches wide to a foot in diameter. 
The full color display shows the information and symbols more clearly and is preferred but usually more expensive.

It is sometimes very bright where the chartplotter is mounted so readability in the glare is very important and is a useful feature to look for.

Si-tex has daylight/sunlight viewable screens that you can set and even night vision.

There are many different models of fish finders and chartplotters to choose from and you can benefit from either unit for a great day of fishing.
*So which of these chips is best? *
That depends to a great degree on which is more important to you, cruising, or fishing.

Generally speaking, C-Map is superior when it comes to port services information (what kind of facilities a specific marina has), while Navionics has superior bathymetric (ocean bottom) details at this time.

If you cruise, C-Map is going to be your top pick.
If you fish, Navionics may well win out with the bathy.

Garmin throws a major kink into the works by producing chips that are pretty darn accurate on both port services and bathymetric detail. 
Be careful when choosing unit size for a binacle-mounted unit. 
The captain's view through the windshield can be eliminated by too big of a screen unit.
To get the best of both worlds, however, your choice of manufacturers is limited to Garmin.

Both C-Map and Navionics make specific model lines which are intended for specific purposes. C-Map, for example, offers Max Lakes chips which include shaded depth areas, state-by-state fishing regulations, fish ID charts, and even roadway data.

Navionics, on the other hand, offers specialized chips like the Bahamas Special Edition, which is the first electronic cartography for the islands that includes bathymetric 3-D generation.

*The bottom line? The unit you choose will probably accept only one of these three choices  C-Map, Navionics or Garmin*  so before you spend your cash, make sure you take the unit for a test-spin with the cartography installed. Otherwise, you may get a nasty surprise.

It should be noted that a recent trend is to include some basic charting data in the unit itself, with more detailed cartography "locked" in a drive inside. Pay the manufacturer an additional fee, and instead of inserting a card you'll get an unlock code that allows you to pull the data right off your combo unit's internal hard drive.

Currently, it's the most expensive units that offer this feature. But since Northstar started this trend with its 965, other manufacturers have picked up on it. In the next few years we may do away with chips and purchase unlock codes instead.

To be continued...


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