Garmin quickdraw on mac3/9/2024 ![]() Which is why super easy ActiveCaptain electronics updating is great news. The MFDs now also offer some valuable new chart and radar interface features, they support the FLIR M232 thermal camera and Clarion CMS4 stereo system I’m happily testing, and several bugs have been squashed. It’s tedious, and may take your home or office Internet connection, but relish what’s coming – shown below.Īnd note in the GPSMap version 10.0 details above that Garmin did not just add support for all the ActiveCaptain features. ![]() For my GPSMap test system, that meant downloading a huge 1.6 gigabyte file to a PC, unpacking it, copying it to an SD card - or buying the card - and finally installing it. ![]() Making the ActiveCaptain connection is a horse-before-the-cart situation for boats with existing Garmin WiFi displays you need to update the displays the old way before enjoying the new way. And make it a large capacity card if you plan to download lots of charts onto your phone or tablet - especially BlueChart Vision style satellite maps and aerial photos (yes, they work) - because the app will automatically copy such OneCharts to the AC card on your MFD in case they are fresher than what’s already available on the boat system.Īnd you, too, may be pleased to find that some of your already owned charts will get updated for free once ActiveCaptain is fully up and running…but there is one more step. You can also register a new account when you open the app, but traditional AC users should note that the email and password asked for are not the ones you registered at (though that may change eventually).Īlso, once the app is running and you’re ready to try the MFD integration, you’ll need a blank SD card which the system needs as a waystation for all the data you may transfer back and forth. Nonetheless, you have a few tasks to complete before reaching the AC happy place.īesides simply installing the Android version of ActiveCaptain or the iOS version - already submitted to Apple and due any moment on iTunes - you’ll need to remember your MyGarmin login credentials. The years of development Garmin put into the ActiveCaptain app and hardware integration are probably why all its aspects have tested quite well for me so far, and Garmin also took the time to build feature explanations and setup guidance into all the platforms. will want to have, even if they only use a few features. The bigger picture: ActiveCaptain the app is a bundle of goodies that most every Garmin boater - cruisers, fishermen, racers, etc. It seems very likely that more merging of the two ActiveCaptains will happen, but, for now, Garmin just seems to have used the good name. So while the info that’s now called the ActiveCaptain Community is fully available in the Chart section of the ActiveCaptain app, just as it was in BlueChart Mobile (BCM), AC data does not (yet) appear on AC-enabled Garmin displays, and other aspects of the old AC, like eBoatCards, remain solely on the recently overhauled site. In fact, the app has been in development at Garmin for three years, and Garmin only acquired ActiveCaptain last May. Note that ActiveCaptain the app is very much about integration of mobiles with Garmin marine electronics, and so far not particularly about the excellent ActiveCaptain crowdsourced cruising information many of us associate with the name. Here’s what the new ActiveCaptain page looks like on a Garmin display, in this case a GPSmap 742xs. In short, when Garmin touts ActiveCaptain as an “all-in-one” app, they are not exaggerating! On the other hand, the charts, which allow you to plan trips wherever you are now, cost nothing, as long as you already own the same area on a compatible WiFi-enabled Garmin display - a major feature called OneChart.Īnd finally the Helm tab is just like the standalone Helm app that has long allowed Garmin owners to view and control their WiFi MFDs with their phone or tablet when on the boat. Meanwhile the Chart tab is very much like the BlueChart Mobile app Garmin introduced in 2012, except the weather features are not included (yet). ![]() Using and/or sharing QuickDraw crowdsourced depth data also got a whole lot easier, and more. The Dashboard offers a set of utilities like setting up the novel Smart Notifications, as well as familiar tasks like Software Updates that used to be much harder to do. ![]() Let’s start with a peek at the three major tabs in the free Garmin ActiveCaptain app, as seen above on my Android phone (click the image larger for more detail). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |