- #Air navigation computer for mac#
- #Air navigation computer install#
- #Air navigation computer full#
- #Air navigation computer software#
(The site will also store your routes and waypoints, backups of your charts, and other files, so its not totally for buying charts.) Note that the non-NOAA charts can be quite expensive. For other raster and SoftCharts, such as the Canadian CHS charts or Wavey Line Bahamas charts, users must buy and download them from the X-Traverse website ( and must purchase a $10 annual membership to use the site.
You will need to be connected to the Internet to download the program from the Apple app store and to download the free NOAA raster charts from the NOAA website.
#Air navigation computer for mac#
The latest version is set for Mac operating systems 10.6 or later, but the company also offers an earlier version for OSX 10.4 or 10.5.Īs with most products for Macs, installation is simple and straightforward. The 10-year-old program has been updated numerous times, so it is totally stable and pretty much free of glitches and problems. The price includes all future updates, apparently forever. GPSNavX costs $60 and can be installed on every Mac that you own. Overall, we can report that all four programs perform basic chartplotter functions well and vary mostly in user-friendliness and ancillary functions, such as connecting to other onboard instruments and receivers. We have used these navigation programs on a number of Apple machines, currently a MacBook Air with a GlobalSat Technologies USB puck GPS, the BU-353. For this evaluation, we used OpenCPN during two three-month cruises and Polar View for a little over a month during another cruise. We have used GPSNavX and MacEnc extensively since their introductions.
#Air navigation computer full#
Look for a full review of the program in an upcoming issue. Their sample screen shots make it look promising, and theyve incorporated Active Captain data.
#Air navigation computer software#
Weve reviewed the iPad app ( PS, February 2012), but this new software is dedicated to OSX machines. Just before this issue went to press, a new Mac-specific chartplotting software was entering the market: Charts & Tides by Navimatics.
#Air navigation computer install#
It is possible to install a Windows-simulator on a Macintosh computer and thus run one of the PC programs, but its inefficient, and most Mac users rank Windows somewhere below unmuffled Cigarette boats and clogged marine heads in popularity. Another program, PassagePlus, is a Mac program, but uses only NZMariner, AusRNC, and ARCS Navigator charts (New Zealand, Australia, and England) it was not included in our review. If you have a PC at work and a Mac on board, or vice versa, PolarView and OpenCPN may be of more interest to you.
The first two are only compatible with a Mac computer, while the last two are available in PC and Mac versions. The available Mac software programs (from highest priced to lowest) are MacEnc, GPSNavX, Polar View, and OpenCPN. There are still not as many marine navigation programs for the Mac as for the PC, but their quality often matches that of PC software, and their cost tends to be lower, ranging from free up to about half the price of a top PC program. If youre unfamiliar with the differences between raster and vector charts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has an excellent explanation online, at Basically, raster charts look like traditional paper charts, whereas vector charts display a variety of layers of navigation info, often with proprietary add-ons from companies like Navionics or Garmin. In 2005, he followed with MacEnc, which was very similar to GPSNavX but used vector (or ENC) charts in addition to the raster charts that are used by GPSNavX. The void was filled by an Oregon company, operated by programmer Rich Ray, when he introduced GPSNavX in 2003. When Apple converted to its current Unix-type operating system-OSX-in 2001, there were suddenly no navigation programs for Macintosh computers. In this review, well look at chartplotting software thats compatible with Macintosh computers.
In Practical Sailors more recent reviews of navigation software that can be used with an onboard computer, we concentrated on software for PCs (PS, April 2008, August 2007, and October 2007, for example) that only can be used with the Windows operating system.
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