Chart plotter
Chart plotters are ship navigation devices that show an electronic nautical chart on a display .
The devices offer a zoom feature, through which the sea area in different scales and levels of resolution can be displayed and degrees of detail. For example, you can see the beacons on the overview map, and the further you zoom in on the navigation map, the buoys and fairways, and the port facilities in detail on the port map.
Chart plotters have a color display and can be connected to a GPS system, echo sounder or anemometer, for example. This means that they always provide the skipper with the latest information and are therefore an important navigation aid.
Multi-functional displays combine GPS, chart plotter, radar, AIS , echo sounder and fish finder on one screen. The radar image and other displays are placed on the nautical chart in semi-transparent layers and thus provide an excellent overview of the situation in the sea area around the ship.
Originally, chart plotters were mainly used in large shipping. They are now integrated into electronic information systems (ECDIS) that cover the entire ship management. Chart plotters found their way into the recreational shipping industry due to the sharp drop in prices in the 1990s and are now standard equipment on every charter ship.
In 2005 the first mobile phones with GPS and map display were available. On modern smartphones , nautical charts can even be shown on the small display. However, their often inadequate protection against the effects of the weather and rough handling speak against the use of smartphones as the main navigation instrument.
Development tendencies
Increasingly, laptops and tablets are used as inexpensive replacements for chart plotters. Networking via Bluetooth and WLAN , data from other navigation devices is shown on the display. The use of SSD memories makes the devices resistant to vibrations. Water resistance is achieved through protective housing or special water-resistant displays.
Free maps can be used through open operating systems. OpenSeaMap works on Garmin plotters and handheld devices with "marine mode", as well as on devices from the Navico group with the brands Lowrance , Simrad , B&G .