Hi Guys, here is the text from the article - to see the pictures go to www.blackwatchsa.co.za
AN ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION SYSTEM THAT CONTINUE TO REMAIN “NEWâ€
TRUTH OR MYTH?
[align=center]By Kas vd Merwe of Blackwatch SA[/align]
Those of you that regularly read the Ski-boat magazine would have seen the screenshot of the on-board computer’s navigation display on board the boat Black Watch, which during the 2008 Blackwatch, so impressed the editor, that he asked me to do a short article on the subject.
Before one can elaborate more on the topic of electronic navigation, one needs to understand electronic charts, and how they work. Electronic charts can broadly be divided in Raster and Vector charts. In short, these can be described as follows:
To utilize these advances in electronic charting, more sophisticated stand-alone or dedicated Chart plotters, requiring more and more processing power had to be developed. The companies producing these charts tended to contract with specific plotter manufacturers to use their charts. The need to store more detailed data necessitated the use of bigger “chips†However these equipment and the format in which the chart data was stored, became outdated almost as soon as it was launched. As an example, many users sit with the first generation of charts on cartridges produced by C-Map for inter-alia, Lowrance plotters, which went from the old large cartridges, to the intermediate and the mini cartridges, and more recently a switch to Navionics and yet another chart chip format. The result –every time this happens your expensive investment is gone. In almost all cases, if you want to have access to either the latest chart updates or technology in plotters, you have to replace their entire system including the charts because either the plotters can not be upgraded or the old cartridges does not fit in the new plotters. Frustrating isn’t it!
Therefore, the trend to move to using suitable ruggedized and marinized PC’s and Laptops, originally designed for military and industrial use as the processors which can do so much more than any dedicated chart plotter, and which can be continuously upgraded, was not just to be expected, it was almost inevitable.
The biggest advantage herein lies in the fact that unlike any stand-alone or dedicated unit, the software and all the other peripherals such as monitors etcetera, used in computer based systems, are continuously upgradeable and much more data can be stored, backed up etc. Most importantly, a computer-based system running suitable software can do much more than being just a Chart plotter, GPS, Radar or Sounder.
It can run totally integrated systems and as a bonus, the overall cost of a very high quality electronic installation can be reduced dramatically. Space and energy can be saved and repairs can be done almost anywhere by any decent computer technician because standard computer components are used throughout. No wonder then that it is fast becoming the installation of choice in today’s super yachts.
Today’s modern and extremely fast PC’s and Laptops, can drive multiple large, very high resolution full colour monitors, and with suitable software, allows complete integration of navigation and entertainment equipment in one user friendly system. Play music from your MP3 library, or watch TV, Video or a DVD in the saloon, while the skipper, up on the fly bridge is busy navigating to your favourite fishing spot. When fishing, even video of all the action can be recorded with a remote controlled video camera! All your valuable navigation data and a complete log, is stored on the hard drive of the computer and can be downloaded or backed up to CD’s Anyone who has ever lost all his favourite waypoints due to equipment failure will appreciate the value of this feature.
Black Watch South Africa, (importers and distributors of the exclusive Black Watch range of cutting edge sport-fishing boats) realized this years ago and when they went shopping worldwide for a suitable system, their choice fell Nobeltec navigation whose products enjoyed recognition as the worlds most powerful and affordable solution for PC-based navigation. So confident were we in the product that we obtained a distributorship and our first demo was equipped with the first fully integrated PC based system in South Africa way back in 2004. (Personally I have never looked back on this decision)
When asked about the reasons for choosing Nobeltec, the answer given then, and which is still as valid today, was that Nobeltec was the most advanced yet affordable software available in the world that ran in a normal Windows environment, with the capability to fully integrate all your electronic systems into one extremely powerful and versatile system that would allow you to hook up and run:
1 The Nobeltec programmes and Passport vector charts.
2 Had the ability to integrate all your navigation equipment, such as GPS, Autopilot, Digital Echo Sounder, Digital Radar, Wind Instruments, Speed end Temperature sensors, Engine Management Instruments etc. and display this information on one or multiple displays of the size or quality that you can afford.
3 This can be done in unlimited multiple, resizable windows and on multiple monitors. It can be tiled, overlapped, minimized, maximized and moved around on the screen. The choice is endless!
4 With the multi tasking capabilities of Windows, you can simultaneously open and run in a separate window, any other windows based application, such as the programs required to play your MP3 music files or video files and provide your on board entertainment.
5 Connect a dedicated or portable digital video or digital still camera and capture all the action by remote control.
6 Add to that the ability to access the internet on board from anywhere in the world and download the latest, most accurate weather forecasts and models in GRIB file format which can be viewed on it’s own, or integrated into Nobeltec and displayed right there on your navigation screen.
As a matter of fact you can let your imagination run wild with the only limitation being your budget and the processing power of the computer that you choose!
Today’s high resolution VHB LCD monitors are waterproof to IP65, features touch control, auto dimming, and range in size from 10,5in to 20,5 and these can be viewed in bright sunlight, even with your Polaroid’s on, making them ideal for a fly bridge installation, while inside a salon 42†flat screen monitors are not uncommon!
Nobeltec Software, in their Passport Deluxe chart package used to use the data of the digitized versions of both Vector and Raster official NOAA charts compiled by Transas. While exactly the same and regularly updated data is used by many other systems, Nobeltec developed many unique software driven ways of manipulating and displaying this data, including 3D, which made their Passport charts, the best in the world today at the price. The data is layered so that you can turn any of the included features on or off, change colours etc. The Radar version of the navigation software has the unique capability to overlay the image from a high resolution digital radar, directly on your chart, and automatically adjust the scale to the same scale and direction of the chart screen, bringing new meaning and ease to the use of radar.
The daily downloadable weather overly include data on Surface Pressure, Wind, Ocean Currents, High/Low Movement and Speed,
Sea State, Swell Condition, Weather System Fronts, Latest Tropical Storm Information, Sea Surface Temperature and Ice Information. Features can be individually selected and either directly overlaid on the chart, or the data only can be displayed in a console that can be turned on or off at any time.
The latest development is that Nobeltec (a Jeppesen company) purchased C-Map and as from May 2008 Nobeltec users will have access to the entire over 30000 C-Map charts as well.
Route planning becomes so easy it is almost unbelievable. Once the system is configured with data about your particular boat’s draft, above water height, fuel consumption data etc, all your planning including creating, saving and changing the route, can be done with a few keystrokes. Simply enter your starting point and end point and the software will automatically determine the ideal route around all known obstructions or hazards. You can even merge routes or share waypoints. It can provide you with all the information that you need such as ETA, fuel consumption etc for each leg and with the Tides and Currents information you will even know whether you can pass shallows sandbars etc. at a specific date and time of day.
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Navigation screen with radar overlay[/align]
The 1Kw digital sounder incorporates many advanced features, carefully designed to provide sophisticated functions while being easy to use.
Digital Signal Processing Detects weaker signals and use less power with superior noise rejection. The image is high resolution and use modern PC screen resolutions to offer display flexibility, user designed interface data recording and playback as well as NMEA Output (Sounder Monitor Utility) for depth temperature and speed through water, with the added speed sensor. Coupled with the Bathy Recorder module you can continuously add your own depth soundings to your database and so improve the accuracy of the charts that you have purchased.
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]The sounder screen[/align]
[align=center]A low-resolution screenshot from the GRIB explorer weather module of the data downloaded on 29 April 2008 which enabled me to forecast the high winds experienced off Richards Bay on Friday 2 May 2008 with pinpoint accuracy, days in advance. [/align]
[align=center]In the live mode the text boxes at the bottom of the screen will display exact data wherever you place your cusor on the screen. The same data can also be overlaid on your navigation screen[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]The cold front and high wind (orange)[/align]
The data on your Vector charts an be used by the program to generate and display 3D charts on your computer, thus meaning that you have 3D and vector charts for the price of the vector charts only!
This feature is extremely helpful when navigating through dangerous areas and even when fishing as it gives a much more understandable image of whet a reef system really look like underwater
[align=center] [/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]The 3D display[/align]
One of the unique and totally underestimated benefits of a Nobeltec system coupled with an Ocens weather package is that you are allowed to install it on two separate computers.
This allows a user the flexibility to plan his next fishing trip or study the results of past trips at home, wherever home might be! Imagine the waste when you drive down to the coast for a weekend’s fishing or boating only to find that the weather forecast was wrong and you can not go fishing or even worse, when you do go out and only after reaching the drop-off you find that the sea conditions are unfishable! With the weather package and access to the satellite derived data not available from conventional weather forecasts, you can determine with great accuracy what the weather will do, up to 7 days in advance and more importantly what the exact sea conditions would be like exactly where you are going to be, not what a land based weather station predicts.
In conclusion, to even attempt to touch on all the wonderful features and possibilities of modern computer based navigation in one short article is impossible, but maybe this article has done enough to get your curiosity going. Bear in mind that a computer based system is not suitable for installation on a small open boat, as the computer needs to be installed in a dry space where it is not exposed to the hard bumps experienced on smaller ski-boats. Having said that, the advances being made with solid state hard drives containing no moving parts, will soon enable even smaller boats to use similar systems.
For more information, visit the following websites: www.blackwatchsa.co.za, www.nobeltec.com, or www.ocens.com
Alternatively contact Kas vd Merwe on 0357891243 and let us help you configure the right system for your needs and budget.
AN ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION SYSTEM THAT CONTINUE TO REMAIN “NEWâ€
TRUTH OR MYTH?
[align=center]By Kas vd Merwe of Blackwatch SA[/align]
Those of you that regularly read the Ski-boat magazine would have seen the screenshot of the on-board computer’s navigation display on board the boat Black Watch, which during the 2008 Blackwatch, so impressed the editor, that he asked me to do a short article on the subject.
Before one can elaborate more on the topic of electronic navigation, one needs to understand electronic charts, and how they work. Electronic charts can broadly be divided in Raster and Vector charts. In short, these can be described as follows:
- Raster charts, the older of the two is basically a scanned image or picture of an existing paper chart that is used as a background on your plotter, which then displays your GPS fix, or previously saved positions as an overlay on the picture. The image quality of a raster chart deteriorates rapidly as you zoom in on an area. For an example, a depth sounding shown is only a piece of the image and cannot be read as data that can be used in calculations etc.[/*]
- Vector charts instead, are truly digitized versions of existing paper charts, thus every feature shown contains useable data. For an example, every depth sounding that you see is a spot containing hidden but useable data such as latitude, longitude and elevation and the text that you can actually see on your screen. This data can then be used for a multitude of other applications such as the creation or generation and display of three-dimensional and photo charts.
To utilize these advances in electronic charting, more sophisticated stand-alone or dedicated Chart plotters, requiring more and more processing power had to be developed. The companies producing these charts tended to contract with specific plotter manufacturers to use their charts. The need to store more detailed data necessitated the use of bigger “chips†However these equipment and the format in which the chart data was stored, became outdated almost as soon as it was launched. As an example, many users sit with the first generation of charts on cartridges produced by C-Map for inter-alia, Lowrance plotters, which went from the old large cartridges, to the intermediate and the mini cartridges, and more recently a switch to Navionics and yet another chart chip format. The result –every time this happens your expensive investment is gone. In almost all cases, if you want to have access to either the latest chart updates or technology in plotters, you have to replace their entire system including the charts because either the plotters can not be upgraded or the old cartridges does not fit in the new plotters. Frustrating isn’t it!
Therefore, the trend to move to using suitable ruggedized and marinized PC’s and Laptops, originally designed for military and industrial use as the processors which can do so much more than any dedicated chart plotter, and which can be continuously upgraded, was not just to be expected, it was almost inevitable.
The biggest advantage herein lies in the fact that unlike any stand-alone or dedicated unit, the software and all the other peripherals such as monitors etcetera, used in computer based systems, are continuously upgradeable and much more data can be stored, backed up etc. Most importantly, a computer-based system running suitable software can do much more than being just a Chart plotter, GPS, Radar or Sounder.
It can run totally integrated systems and as a bonus, the overall cost of a very high quality electronic installation can be reduced dramatically. Space and energy can be saved and repairs can be done almost anywhere by any decent computer technician because standard computer components are used throughout. No wonder then that it is fast becoming the installation of choice in today’s super yachts.
Today’s modern and extremely fast PC’s and Laptops, can drive multiple large, very high resolution full colour monitors, and with suitable software, allows complete integration of navigation and entertainment equipment in one user friendly system. Play music from your MP3 library, or watch TV, Video or a DVD in the saloon, while the skipper, up on the fly bridge is busy navigating to your favourite fishing spot. When fishing, even video of all the action can be recorded with a remote controlled video camera! All your valuable navigation data and a complete log, is stored on the hard drive of the computer and can be downloaded or backed up to CD’s Anyone who has ever lost all his favourite waypoints due to equipment failure will appreciate the value of this feature.
Black Watch South Africa, (importers and distributors of the exclusive Black Watch range of cutting edge sport-fishing boats) realized this years ago and when they went shopping worldwide for a suitable system, their choice fell Nobeltec navigation whose products enjoyed recognition as the worlds most powerful and affordable solution for PC-based navigation. So confident were we in the product that we obtained a distributorship and our first demo was equipped with the first fully integrated PC based system in South Africa way back in 2004. (Personally I have never looked back on this decision)
When asked about the reasons for choosing Nobeltec, the answer given then, and which is still as valid today, was that Nobeltec was the most advanced yet affordable software available in the world that ran in a normal Windows environment, with the capability to fully integrate all your electronic systems into one extremely powerful and versatile system that would allow you to hook up and run:
1 The Nobeltec programmes and Passport vector charts.
2 Had the ability to integrate all your navigation equipment, such as GPS, Autopilot, Digital Echo Sounder, Digital Radar, Wind Instruments, Speed end Temperature sensors, Engine Management Instruments etc. and display this information on one or multiple displays of the size or quality that you can afford.
3 This can be done in unlimited multiple, resizable windows and on multiple monitors. It can be tiled, overlapped, minimized, maximized and moved around on the screen. The choice is endless!
4 With the multi tasking capabilities of Windows, you can simultaneously open and run in a separate window, any other windows based application, such as the programs required to play your MP3 music files or video files and provide your on board entertainment.
5 Connect a dedicated or portable digital video or digital still camera and capture all the action by remote control.
6 Add to that the ability to access the internet on board from anywhere in the world and download the latest, most accurate weather forecasts and models in GRIB file format which can be viewed on it’s own, or integrated into Nobeltec and displayed right there on your navigation screen.
As a matter of fact you can let your imagination run wild with the only limitation being your budget and the processing power of the computer that you choose!
Today’s high resolution VHB LCD monitors are waterproof to IP65, features touch control, auto dimming, and range in size from 10,5in to 20,5 and these can be viewed in bright sunlight, even with your Polaroid’s on, making them ideal for a fly bridge installation, while inside a salon 42†flat screen monitors are not uncommon!
Nobeltec Software, in their Passport Deluxe chart package used to use the data of the digitized versions of both Vector and Raster official NOAA charts compiled by Transas. While exactly the same and regularly updated data is used by many other systems, Nobeltec developed many unique software driven ways of manipulating and displaying this data, including 3D, which made their Passport charts, the best in the world today at the price. The data is layered so that you can turn any of the included features on or off, change colours etc. The Radar version of the navigation software has the unique capability to overlay the image from a high resolution digital radar, directly on your chart, and automatically adjust the scale to the same scale and direction of the chart screen, bringing new meaning and ease to the use of radar.
The daily downloadable weather overly include data on Surface Pressure, Wind, Ocean Currents, High/Low Movement and Speed,
Sea State, Swell Condition, Weather System Fronts, Latest Tropical Storm Information, Sea Surface Temperature and Ice Information. Features can be individually selected and either directly overlaid on the chart, or the data only can be displayed in a console that can be turned on or off at any time.
The latest development is that Nobeltec (a Jeppesen company) purchased C-Map and as from May 2008 Nobeltec users will have access to the entire over 30000 C-Map charts as well.
Route planning becomes so easy it is almost unbelievable. Once the system is configured with data about your particular boat’s draft, above water height, fuel consumption data etc, all your planning including creating, saving and changing the route, can be done with a few keystrokes. Simply enter your starting point and end point and the software will automatically determine the ideal route around all known obstructions or hazards. You can even merge routes or share waypoints. It can provide you with all the information that you need such as ETA, fuel consumption etc for each leg and with the Tides and Currents information you will even know whether you can pass shallows sandbars etc. at a specific date and time of day.
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Navigation screen with radar overlay[/align]
The 1Kw digital sounder incorporates many advanced features, carefully designed to provide sophisticated functions while being easy to use.
Digital Signal Processing Detects weaker signals and use less power with superior noise rejection. The image is high resolution and use modern PC screen resolutions to offer display flexibility, user designed interface data recording and playback as well as NMEA Output (Sounder Monitor Utility) for depth temperature and speed through water, with the added speed sensor. Coupled with the Bathy Recorder module you can continuously add your own depth soundings to your database and so improve the accuracy of the charts that you have purchased.
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]The sounder screen[/align]
[align=center]A low-resolution screenshot from the GRIB explorer weather module of the data downloaded on 29 April 2008 which enabled me to forecast the high winds experienced off Richards Bay on Friday 2 May 2008 with pinpoint accuracy, days in advance. [/align]
[align=center]In the live mode the text boxes at the bottom of the screen will display exact data wherever you place your cusor on the screen. The same data can also be overlaid on your navigation screen[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]The cold front and high wind (orange)[/align]
The data on your Vector charts an be used by the program to generate and display 3D charts on your computer, thus meaning that you have 3D and vector charts for the price of the vector charts only!
This feature is extremely helpful when navigating through dangerous areas and even when fishing as it gives a much more understandable image of whet a reef system really look like underwater
[align=center] [/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]The 3D display[/align]
One of the unique and totally underestimated benefits of a Nobeltec system coupled with an Ocens weather package is that you are allowed to install it on two separate computers.
This allows a user the flexibility to plan his next fishing trip or study the results of past trips at home, wherever home might be! Imagine the waste when you drive down to the coast for a weekend’s fishing or boating only to find that the weather forecast was wrong and you can not go fishing or even worse, when you do go out and only after reaching the drop-off you find that the sea conditions are unfishable! With the weather package and access to the satellite derived data not available from conventional weather forecasts, you can determine with great accuracy what the weather will do, up to 7 days in advance and more importantly what the exact sea conditions would be like exactly where you are going to be, not what a land based weather station predicts.
In conclusion, to even attempt to touch on all the wonderful features and possibilities of modern computer based navigation in one short article is impossible, but maybe this article has done enough to get your curiosity going. Bear in mind that a computer based system is not suitable for installation on a small open boat, as the computer needs to be installed in a dry space where it is not exposed to the hard bumps experienced on smaller ski-boats. Having said that, the advances being made with solid state hard drives containing no moving parts, will soon enable even smaller boats to use similar systems.
For more information, visit the following websites: www.blackwatchsa.co.za, www.nobeltec.com, or www.ocens.com
Alternatively contact Kas vd Merwe on 0357891243 and let us help you configure the right system for your needs and budget.