The Weak Link Data Exchange is a Weakness for Many E-charting Packages (Sometimes by Design)
And The Winners Are . . . After Months of Reviews, Our Authors Reveal Their Recommendations for Navigation Software
Blog: A Final Word Mad Mariner's Hard Facts on Software series, the definitive word on navigation software and electronic charting, has come to a close.
Review: MaxSea Explorer MaxSea Offers The Right Features and the Right Implementation in Many Price Ranges
Don't Miss Out! Register Today To Read The Rest Of Our Software Series!
Review: TIKI Navigator Pro TIKI Was Written for Boaters and Turns Its Back on Some PC Standards, But It Works Well.
Review: Maptech's Chart Navigator Pro Chart Navigator Pro Combines Rose Point's Sturdy Program With Maptech's Charting Resources. The Result is Strong.
Navigating Maptech Maptech's Navigation Software and Electronic Charting Options Are Vast. Here's a Guide to Sort Out All Those Products.
Review: Raymarine's RayTech RNS 6.0 Raymarine's RayTech RNS Navigation Software Offers a Chartplotter Interface and Easy Networking for Raymarine Users
Review: Nobeltec VNS Visual Navigation Suite is Still a Market Leader, But It Is Undeniably Expensive and Faces Increasing Competition
Don't Miss Out! Register Today To Read The Rest Of Our Software Series!
The Forums Discuss the stories, get your software navigation questions answered and compare systems with other captains.
Fugawi Marine ENC Reviewed Fugawi is the Swiss Army Knife of Navigation Software, Brimming With Features. But Do You Need Them All?
The Forums Discuss the stories, get your software navigation questions answered and compare systems with other captains.
Navigation Software For the Mac It used to be that Mac owners had few options, but times have changed. Meet NavimaQ and Mac ENC.
Use PC Software On A Mac If you own a newer-model Mac laptop with an Intel processor, the machine has a bonus you may not know about: That Mac can actually be a PC—and that means it can run PC-based charting and navigation software.
Free Navigation Software Options Free software like CARIS Easy View and SeaClear II offer budget-conscious options, but our review found limitations.
The Forums Discuss the stories, get your software navigation questions answered and compare systems with other captains.
Getting Started With Electronic Charts Locating and downloading charts can be intimidating, but a little perseverance and instruction can take you a long way.
Tips On Electronic Charts Two veteran cruisers and guidebook authors explain how they use electronic charts and navigation software.
Decoding Raster and Vector Charts To obtain NOAA Raster and Vector charts you must first decode an alphabet soup of file names and jargon.
Hard Facts On Navigation Software You may be onboard with electronic charting, but getting electronic charts onboard takes some work. Here is your guide.
The Story Behind Free Charts Changes at NOAA turned expensive government charts into freebies, reshaping the market for digital cartography.
Book alert
Mark and Diana Doyle, the authors of Mad Mariner's Hard Facts on Software feature, are writing a book based on the series. Called "Get Onboard with E-Charting," the book will be available in the fall in stores and on websites, including right here on Mad Mariner. The book will update the series and go much further, including information on the history of electronic position finding, e-charting basics, electronic cartography, data exchange and more. We'll be happy to notify you when the book is available. Just give us your name and email address to stay up-to-date. As always, we respect your privacy.
