UNDERWAYU
pdating data on Ray-
marine chart plotters
just got easier. A
recent partnership between
Navionics and Raymarine has
solved a problem users have
encountered when using wire-
less devices and Wi-Fi-enabled
multifunction displays.
Navionics’ contemporary
cartography and Raymarine’s
latest MFD operating system
are designed to harness a Ray-
marine MFD’s ability to access
the Internet via Wi-Fi or a
wireless device’s hotspot, as
well as the app’s ability to go
online (via Wi-Fi or a cellular
connection) and download the
latest chart updates. Navion-
ics’ new feature, Plotter Sync,
allows your phone or tablet —
running the Navionics Boat-
ing app — to automatically
seek out Navionics cartogra-
phy updates, which it pushes
to your MFD via an electronic
handshake over the MFD’s
Wi-Fi network. Users can also
purchase and download new
charts via their device and
then share this new data with
their MFD using Plotter Sync.
Waypoints, routes and
sonar logs can easily be shared
between your MFD and your
phone or tablet, adding seri-
ous trip-planning flexibility.
For example, users can down-load cartography or updates to
their mobile device at home —
over their fast and robust Wi-
Fi network — plan a cruise,
and then step aboard and
quickly share this data with
their MFD’s hard drive.
Raymarine’s U.S. market-
ing manager, Jim McGowan,
says Raymarine’s latest MFDs
are “smart,” meaning they can
determine which pieces of a
download they already have
and which pieces are needed.
Depending on how up-to-
date the MFD and other Ray-
marine systems are, the MFD
can download specific pieces
of the modular updates in
order to use less data.
Navionics president
Giuseppe Carnevali says the
company offered Plotter Sync
to all of the major marine-
electronics manufacturers, but
only Raymarine has embraced
this capability, at least so far,
and both he and McGowan
are quick to point out that this
is by no means an exclusive
partner ship.
For coastal cruisers, Plotter
Sync represents an important
missing link between an MFD
and the Internet that makes
it easier to manage electronic
cartography, route planning
and software updates.
— David SchmidtELECTRONICS
UPDATE:
SOLVING THE DATA
PROBLEM
COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURER