| Hmmm, I assume you mean course plotters you use with regular charts and
not the new electronic chart/plotter that interfaces with your Loran or
other instruments.
Parallel rules are great for the kitchen table, but poor for the small
boat due to the unstable nature of the later, as well as the size of the
plotting surface (with folded charts you can't always get to a compass
rose).
Never used a rolling ruler, but I'd think the same limitations would
apply.
The tables that you slip a folded chart into with drafting style arms that
you can plug compass variation into, etc all seemed more trouble than they
could be worth.
I just use the simple see thru plastic plotter that's about 4" x 14"
with the course angles inscribed. Simple and cheap.
A friend who I've sailed with in the fog uses a 29 cent kid's
protractor. He's a P-3 (plane) navigator in the US Navy and can look at a
course line and come within 2 degrees just by eyeballing it.
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| Re:2
I thought you were referring to the electronic. My Apelco 6600 has an
optional chip that allows chart displays on the Apelco screen. Now, if
we were a computer company, I bet someone could figure out how to
extract the info (not for sale,, of course). Apparently, someone in
Canada traced the pertinent charts and translated the info into this
chip. This chip requires the Apelco or Raytheon Lorans, I guess.
Is there anything we could do with a chip?
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