dwhatty
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2008
- Messages
- 2,846
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- "Emily Anne"
- Vessel Make
- 2001 Island Gypsy 32 Europa (Hull #146)
Anybody tried this program.
I just installed* Garmin 4XXX series chartplotters and Garmin touted this new program to be compatible with these units. I like the units so far.
However:
I spent a day using this program to plug in all my local waypoints and name them. Then uploaded them to the chartplotter.
Found out that the chartplotter only allows 10 letters for names vs the program's more generous allotment. Well, I can live with that and will go back and figure out a different, more limited naming protocol.
More annoying though was that, although the Homeport program uses the charts downloaded off of the chartplotter, when I uploaded the waypoints to the chartplotter the waypoint locations were fairly close to, but not in the same place as, where they were on the chart when it was being used with the program. In some cases, the locations were quite a bit off (a hundred or more feet).
Also, waypoint names often obscured navigational buoy symbols selected as waypoints (they didn't on the program) and the "dot" symbol for a waypoint, which was a true dot on the Homeport program, morphed into a largish obscuring gray square on the chartplotter (even though the chartplotter terms that symbol a dot).
The chartplotter also changed waypoints for which I used an "X" symbol on the program into this gray square "dot" as the chartplotter does not have an "X" symbol.
Frustrating, severely limits the usefulness of the program for this particular series of chartplotter and you would think that Garmin would warn you about this in its literature before you spend the (actually very reasonable $25) for it. Unless I am doing something wrong?
Rant over.
I just installed* Garmin 4XXX series chartplotters and Garmin touted this new program to be compatible with these units. I like the units so far.
However:
I spent a day using this program to plug in all my local waypoints and name them. Then uploaded them to the chartplotter.
Found out that the chartplotter only allows 10 letters for names vs the program's more generous allotment. Well, I can live with that and will go back and figure out a different, more limited naming protocol.
More annoying though was that, although the Homeport program uses the charts downloaded off of the chartplotter, when I uploaded the waypoints to the chartplotter the waypoint locations were fairly close to, but not in the same place as, where they were on the chart when it was being used with the program. In some cases, the locations were quite a bit off (a hundred or more feet).
Also, waypoint names often obscured navigational buoy symbols selected as waypoints (they didn't on the program) and the "dot" symbol for a waypoint, which was a true dot on the Homeport program, morphed into a largish obscuring gray square on the chartplotter (even though the chartplotter terms that symbol a dot).
The chartplotter also changed waypoints for which I used an "X" symbol on the program into this gray square "dot" as the chartplotter does not have an "X" symbol.
Frustrating, severely limits the usefulness of the program for this particular series of chartplotter and you would think that Garmin would warn you about this in its literature before you spend the (actually very reasonable $25) for it. Unless I am doing something wrong?
Rant over.
