TZt2 chart license question(s)

[Taniwani]

Reading a number of posts regarding licensing of charts, I understand that in a TZt2 system there can only be one chart master and all charts need to be licensed to one specific unit.

I have been thinking to have both C-Map and Navionics for my main cruising area to see which I like better before buying other areas, but also I thought that if they were licensed to different units, I wouldn't loose all charts should the chosen master pack up.

I currently think that this should be possible if I'm happy by only having one set available at the time. In other words, if I licensed the Navionics chart to unit A and the c-Map chart to unit B, I could boot the system with unit A as the master and would have the Navionics chart available across the system, and vice versa setting B as master would give me the c-map chart across the system. Is this thinking correct?

On a slightly different topic, I heard somewhere that slave units would be able to continue using charts for some time (?) should the master become unavailable, is that correct and how long would that condition last.

And a last question on that topic. I also heard that, given you have TimeZero software on a PC, you could license all charts to the PC, and they would be 'movable' to another PC should the first fail. Is that true and if so, why is this possible with the PC, when charts are tied for lifetime to a particular MFD?

 

[Johnny Electron]

Your charts won't "Pack Up" if the master goes down. The machines will continue allowing all the connected units to continue using the charts for 30 power cycles which typically will exceed 30 days. If you only power off once a week, the charts will work for 30 weeks. If the master is condemned (not repairable), then your licences can be moved to another master on your system. If you want both C-map and Navionics options for the same area, buy one of them and then do a competitive upgrade for the other. This will save you money. You might want to discuss all this in more detail with tech support.

 

[Taniwani]

Thanks Jonny Electron,

very good to hear about the 30 power cycles concept. That seems good enough to not panic.
Never heard about a competitive upgrade option, can you explain that a bit more detailed?

I did buy the C-Map version so far, and that was based on the fact that I have Navionics on the iPad and a different Map may add some extra information. But I must say that I'm a bit underwhelmed with the C-Map version, it seems less up-to-date and neither sat-overlay or depth colouring seems to work as the areas are significantly offset from the base chart.

And I'm still wondering what actually happens if I have both on one master unit, how do I select which one to display? And with two MFDs could I have one showing C-map and the other Navionics?

Thanks for any clarifications.

 

[Johnny Electron]

Never heard about a competitive upgrade option, can you explain that a bit more detailed?

Say you own the licence to C-map for the west coast of the USA for your TZT2. Your Furuno dealer can order you roughly the same area chart from Navionics at the upgrade price (Half normal price). They only need your system ID and order it as a competitive upgrade. It works the same the other way. If you own the Navionics chart for that area, you can order a competitive upgrade for the C-map. This is only applies to the MM3 charts used in the NN3D/TZT/TZT2.

..areas are significantly offset from the base chart.

Then you most likely don't have the correct underlaying 3D data file loaded. The 3D data file is very important for the photo fusion and depth shading features.

And I'm still wondering what actually happens if I have both on one master unit, how do I select which one to display? And with two MFDs could I have one showing C-map and the other Navionics?

For the TZT2, if your chart selection is left in "AUTO" the machine will attempt to show the best chart available for whatever the range scale is. It might jump between HO, Vector, Raster, C-map and Navionics as your change ranges. If you wish to pick just one type (like C-map) just swipe up from the bottom and set your chart type to "C-MAP" and then it will only use that chart. Yes, you can have one MFD set to "C-Map" and the other set up for "Navionics".

 

[Taniwani]

Thanks a lot Jonny Electron! This is all very helpful.

 

[Taniwani]

Back again on this topic. Got the second MFD a few days ago and tried it out on the boat where the master unit is installed. All seemed to work as advertised. Took the slave unit home to play with weather files and when I first powered it up it said no master unit found, 29 more cycles possible and unlocked the charts. It worked for a couple of power cycles but now it comes up saying no master SID xxxxxx not found (the SID of the master) and 23 cycles left. But it doesn't unlock the charts any more.

Not sure I caused that with playing around. I was mainly trying out loading weather files and I did safe settings to the cloud. Relative to charts I didn't change anything. I'm sure it will start working when I connect it to the master again, but it does worry me a bit.

Regarding the competitive update, I'm still waiting for my dealer to answer, seems they don't know about it.

 

[Taniwani]

And now I'm completely confused... I switched the slave unit to master mode and inserted the unlock code that I received for my (real) master unit, and it took it and unlocked the charts. Magic.

 

[Johnny Electron]

Sounds like you had your master and slave units confused. Unlock codes are keyed to one system ID that is generated and shared to the others over the network. If you clear both units and set the wrong master, the unlock codes will not be accepted. It is good that you have the correct master unit set now.