ELECTRONIC CHARTS - Raster

"Electronic charts are not legal replacements for paper charts, and you must always have current and updated official paper charts on board and consult them frequently"

Raster Electronic Chart Producers

The main producers are:-
British Admiralty (ARCS/HRCF)
Seafarer (HRCF)
NOAA/BSB (USA)
Maptech
Laser Plot (Sea-D)
Map-Media
NDI (Canada)
Softchart

British Admiralty ARCS (Admiralty Raster Chart Service)

ARCS charts are digital facsimiles of the official British Admiralty paper charts stored in the Hydrographic Chart Raster Format (HRCF) from the producers of paper charts for over 200 years, the UK Hydrographic Office. ARCS was the world's first fully correctable raster electronic chart service. These raster charts are:-

• Supplied on CD-ROM in HRCF format providing high standards of accuracy and clarity
• Digital reproductions of the familiar British Admiralty Charts for use on a wide range of electronic navigation systems
• Easy to update with weekly Notice to Mariners corrections available on Update CD's. This gets around the previous problem with updating raster charts supplied on CD-ROM's. Previously the CD had to be completely replaced to supply an update however minor the change might have been.
• Systems available to use these charts on DOS, Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems.

There are two levels of service available for ARCS charts:-

Companies who have completed implementation of ARCS compatible systems (AS AT 1 JUNE 1998) are:-

An online chart catalogue can be found at PC Maritime web site . Fixed Folios of charts can also be purchased each of which contain about 10 charts. The folios available are:-.

Seafarer Charts from the Australian Hydrographic Office

Seafarer charts are digital facsimiles of the Australian Hydrographic Office paper charts stored in the Hydrographic Chart Raster Format (HRCF) which is the same as the ARCS charts listed above. They are therefore compatible with the ARCS charts and can be used on many of the systems that can use ARCS charts.

The coverage is for the Australian area only.

BSB Charts/NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency)

These Raster charts are created from the NOAA (the American Paper Charts) and are available from a company called Maptech in the USA. They are available for use on PC Chart plotter systems and they are also available in Macintosh format media. See also the Maptech section below as they also produce and sell their own format Raster charts as well.

The BSB format digital chart products are made available to recreational, commercial and government clients.

More information about Maptech can be obtained from the Maptech Web Site or from the European agent Nautical Data Ltd for European Charts.

Companies who supply BSB compatible systems are:-

• Maptech - The company that produce the charts also have their own PC systems including 'Maptech Professional for Windows' , Maptech Chart Viewer (which is supplied free with the Seafile Electronic Almanac from Nautical Data Ltd), Maptech Pilot, Maptech Chart Navigator (for shore based use) and Maptech Cruising Navigator.
• Advanced Marine Technology - Produces products SeaPlot, INStar and AMT ECDIS.
• C.A.N. GmbH & Co KG - A German company producing a combined Chart Plotter and Radar. C.A.N. Home Page
• D.F. Crane Associates, Inc
• Euronav Ltd. - The Seapro2000 product is available in three variants, SeaPro 2000 Std, Plus and Professional. The main features are:- Multiple Chart Windows, Tidal Curves, Full route planning, Folio mode for both vector and Raster charts, instrument display/logging, tidal passage planning, autopilot control etc. Prices start at 340 UK Pounds (EX VAT). For more information see the Euronav Home Page
• Fugawi Software. For more information visit theFugawi Home Page
• ICAN - Aldebaran II & Regulus II. This is a Canadian company based in Newfoundland and supply other add-ons to the systems including "Navigational Aids Module", "Radar Overlay Module" and a "Survey Module". Can also use BSB Raster charts. See the ICAN web site for more information
• InfoNav - A Canadian Navigation system producer (Mariner) (bought by Pinpoint Systems International - see below)
• Informatique & Mer - MaxSea is a chart plotter system for Professional Fishermen, Professional Navigators and for recreational use. See Maxsea Home Page
• JJM Systems
• Kiwitech - A range of PC Navigation systems for Sailing, Power boats and for Sail Boat Racing. The product names are RaceTech, SailTech and PowerTech. For more information visit the Kiwitech Home Page
• Laser Plot - Although Laser Plot create their own charts their systems also support the ARCS and NOAA formats. The ChartNav system comes with a CD-ROM drive, Marinized KeyPad and a choice of monitor options. Visit Laser Plot's Home Page for details.
• Main Course Productions
• Nautical Software - The products are called ChartView Planner, ChartView Tracker.
• Nautical Technologies - The product is called "The Cap'n" which stands for 'Computerized American Practical Navigator'. For more information visitThe Cap'n Page
• Nobeltec - PC Navigation packages including NavTrek 2.0 and NavTrek Solo. For more information visit the Nobeltec Home Page
• PC Plotter - Windows Chart plotter featuring Graphical route planning, Man over Board and much, much more. PC Plotter produce a range of software navigation products that not only use NOAA format charts but can also use other Vector format charts including the Navionics ECharts. They can provide a full range of PC Plotter software from a simple low cost Navigation program up to software that can interface to Weather Faxes, Radars, etc. The whole range of PC Plotter chart plotters also includes the latest Reeds Pilot Electronic Almanac interface which allows port, buoy, light, RDF, waypoint and other information searches. The position of these items can then be viewed on the chart.PC Plotter contact information
• Pinpoint Systems International - This company supplies a range of systems and software using these and other chart formats. They also supply ECDIS systems for use on large vessels with Real-Time Enhanced Radar Overlay
• Quintessence Designs - This company produces a Chart plotter product called NavimaQ for the Apple Macintosh and the Power PC. This product is supplied with an interface cable for connecting to a GPS.Quintessence Designs Home Page
• Radar Communications - The product P-Sea Windplot is capable of using Navionics (Vector charts) as well as NOAA/BSB charts,Maptech and a range of charts produced by themselves. These include about 150 bathometric charts of the USA from the NOS paper charts with depth curves at every 10 meter depth. Also vector charts with scales from 1:100,000 to 1:500,000 and 3D bottom charts which come from NOS (National Ocean Service) data base in the US. The data is GRIDDED in an evenly spaced lat/long/depth data base and presented on a split screen in P-Sea WindPlot in a bar-graph style. You can see all of the different styles from their web site. . For more information visit the Radar-Communications Home page
• Sea Information Systems, Ltd. Microplot range. For more information visit the SIS Home Page
• Sperry Marine.Large Vessel Systems. For more information visit the Sperry Products Pages
• Transas Marine. Also produces charts and further information can be found on the Transas web site

Maptech/Resolution Mapping

This American company have been supplying raster charts for many years and have now added the BSB format charts to their portfolio (see above). Maptech now offers one of the widest selections of raster-scanned electronic charts in the marine market. These are exact reproductions of government issued paper charts, produced with the highest degree of accuracy, clarity, calibration and compression, and offered in a range of formats from individual charts on floppy disks to entire coastlines on CD-ROMs. There are actually 2 Maptech formats an older format based on the PCX graphics file format and RML which is a packed version of the RML format.

Exclusive Maptech Super-CDs. The latest technology stores entire coastlines on a single CD-ROM to let you choose from as many as 500 charts. Each CD-ROM, stored in RML-format, is encrypted so that each chart can be "unlocked" individually. So, you can purchase a few charts now and add charts in the future without returning to the store or the shore.

More information about Maptech can be obtained from the Maptech Web Site or from the European agent Nautical Data Ltd. for European Charts.

Official government nautical charts digitised are:-

• NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) - USA charts
• DMA (Defence Mapping Agency)
• NIMA (National Imagery and Mapping Agency) - USA and worldwide charts
• CHS (Canadian Hydrographic Service) - Canadian charts
• IMRAY (Imray-Iolaire Charts of the Caribbean)
• British Admiralty - UK and worldwide charts
• RNZN (New Zealand Hydrographic Office) - New Zealand area charts

Companies who supply Maptech compatible systems are:-

• Maptech - The company that produce the charts also have their own PC systems including 'Maptech Professional for Windows' , Maptech Chart Viewer (which is supplied free with the Seafile Electronic Almanac from Nautical Data Ltd), Maptech Pilot, Maptech Chart Navigator (for shore based use) and Maptech Cruising Navigator.
• Nautical Technologies -See Pinpoint Systems International for more information on their product "The Cap'n". VisitThe Cap'n Page
• Nobeltec - PC Navigation packages including NavTrek 2.0 and NavTrek Solo. For more information visit the Nobeltec Home Page
• Pinpoint Systems International - This company supplies a range of systems and software using these and other chart formats. They also supply ECDIS systems for use on large vessels with Real-Time Enhanced Radar Overlay. Products include 3D Sea, Sea Master and "The Cap'n" which stands for 'Computerized American Practical Navigator' (more info at The Cap'n Page . For more information visit the Pinpoint Systems International web site.
• PC Plotter - Windows Chart plotter featuring Graphical route planning, Man over Board and much, much more. PC Plotter produce a range of software navigation products that not only use Maptech RML format charts but can also use other Vector format charts including the Navionics FloppyCharts. They can provide a full range of PC Plotter software from a simple low cost Navigation program up to software that can interface to Weather Faxes, Radars, etc. The whole range of PC Plotter chart plotters also includes the latest Reeds Pilot Electronic Almanac interface which allows port, buoy, light, RDF, waypoint and other information searches. The position of these items can then be viewed on the chart.PC Plotter contact information
• Quintessence Designs - This company produces a Chart plotter product called NavimaQ for the Apple Macintosh and the Power PC. This product is supplied with an interface cable for connecting to a GPS.Quintessence Designs Home Page
• Radar Communications - The product P-Sea Windplot is capable of using Navionics (Vector charts) as well as NOAA/BSB charts,Maptech and a range of charts produced by themselves. These include about 150 bathometric charts of the USA from the NOS paper charts with depth curves at every 10 meter depth. Also vector charts with scales from 1:100,000 to 1:500,000 and 3D bottom charts which come from NOS (National Ocean Service) data base in the US. The data is GRIDDED in an evenly spaced lat/long/depth data base and presented on a split screen in P-Sea WindPlot in a bar-graph style. You can see all of the different styles from their web site. For more information visit the Radar-Communications Home page

Sea-D Raster charts from Laser Plot Inc.

This American company have been supplying raster charts for many years. The charts are supplied on CDROM.

The company also make their own systems and is the supplier of ECS to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Lifeboat Service.

For details of the chart coverage visit the Sea-D on-line chart catalogue

The ChartNav system comes with a CD-ROM drive, Marinized KeyPad and a choice of monitor options. They also support other chart formats as shown above.

• Chart Nav INS+ is an integrated electronic chart navigation system produced and marketed by Laser Plot Inc. This product offers government and private raster and vector format charts including ARCS(BA), RNCI(NOAA), NDI(CHS), DMA, NOS, NGDC. The ChartNav system comes with a CD-ROM drive, Marinized KeyPad and a choice of monitor options including an option of a TouchNav Touchscreen. Visit Laser Plot's Home Page for details of the Laser Plot systems. This product won the National Marine Electronics Association Award for the best electronic charting device in 1991, 1992 and 1995.
• Chart Nav SeaMate - This is a complete navigation system using the ChartNav software.

Map-Media charts

These are raster charts produced in France for the Informatique & Mer Maxsea products and are mainly from all the European Hydrographic Offices. For more information on the Raster charts visit the Map-Media Home Page. For more information on the Informatique & Mer Maxsea products visit the Maxsea Home Page

Other Chart Producers

Nautical Data Interchange

A Canadian company that supplies raster charts for Canadian waters in various formats including BSB. An on-line catalogue of Canadian BSB format charts (in BSB version 1 or BSB version 2) can be found at NDI web site

Systems that can use these charts are as follow:-

• Chart Nav INS+ is an integrated electronic chart navigation system produced and marketed by Laser Plot Inc. Visit Laser Plot's Home Page for details of the Laser Plot systems.
• Nautical Technologies -See Pinpoint Systems International for more information on their product "The Cap'n". VisitThe Cap'n Page
• Pinpoint Systems International - The product is called "The Cap'n" which stands for 'Computerized American Practical Navigator'. For more information visitThe Cap'n Page
• Nobeltec - PC Navigation packages including NavTrek 2.0 and NavTrek Solo. For more information visit the Nobeltec Home Page

Softchart

These are raster charts of the USA sold by Pinpoint Systems International.

A chart catalogue can be viewed at the Pinpoint Web Site

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