NOORDERSOFT

The current version 2010 of PC-Navigo has appeared on the 15th of january 2010. The last build is 2010.1.1.9 (for former builds, free patch files are available, see the help desk page).

Owners of a 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 2006, 2007, 2008 or 2009 version who wish to update to the new version 2010 may use the orderform. The price of these updates varies from € 50,00 to € 485,00, depending on the version. Advance payment of your order is expected, the software will only be forwarded upon reception of all due payments.

Attention: in 2011 the updating system of PC-Navigo will be thoroughly modified. Updates based on versions older than 2009 will then no longer be possible. If you still own an older vrsion and if you want to make sure you'll be able to keep it up to date - and receive technical support whenever necessary - you had better update your version to a 2010 version soon!

In PC-Navigo 2010 the following improvements and additions have been implemented:

• The Inland-ECDIS viewer and a lot of the available Inland-ECDIS ENC cartography has now been incorporated as a STANDARD item of PC-Navigo 2010, so that ALL of the PC-Navigo-users can benefit from the detailed electronic navigation charts;
• The AIS-module has also been made a standard item in version 2010. AIS-carrying vessels can be shown in the electronic navigation charts;
• The rather poor and incomplete Inland ECDIS ENC' of Holland, Belgium and the border areas of France and Germany has been completed and improved, so that ALL waterways of the Netherlands, of Belgium, of the most north-western part of France and of the most western part of Germany are now available free of charge. German waterways are available at a special rate, while waterways in Austria, Switzerland, Tchechia and many of the Danube states are downloadable free of charge too;
• The stoppages list now also contains interruptions of operation (allowing boats that may pass under the closed bridge to do so) and limitations of dimensions (e.g. in the case of a stoppage of the large chamber of a double lock) so that these parameters are taken into account in the voyage planning.

New in PC-Navigo 2009:

• The geografical position of numerous waterways has been checked and updated by means of the fast growing amount of public geodata;
• Settings (of the ENC and other chart images) and interaction possibilities of the ENC have been enlarged;
• The ENC-version can now be loaden with the available "official" ENC charts, but also with private ENC produced by NoorderSoft, to allow the use of ENC even if the public authorities have not yet produced a full chart coverage;
• Serious mistakes and bugs in the waterways network can now be corrected by means of maintenance patches (just as the functions of the program have been repaired regularly with patches);
• Maintenance and technical assistence can now be provided "on line": our technician logs onto your compter and is able to see which settings or installations are faulty; he can repair and improve them directly, using HIS mouse and keyboard to improve the installation on YOUR screen.
• (On versions equipped with an AIS module:) An AIS transponder can be connected, by means of which PC-Navigo can show the position of other transponderized vessels in the charts, to enhance navigation safety;

The former version PC-Navigo 2008 had been released on the 11th of february 2008. In that version 2008 some substantial improvements had again been accomplished:

• The increased accuracy (100 to 10 meters) has now been implemented throughout all the data of the Western European Waterways;
• After the Dutch and German waterways, the Belgian and French rivers and canals have also been checked and corrected by means of areal photography;
• The "official" distance tables, that kept causing deviations in time calculations, have been totally abandoned and replaced by distance tables that were reconstructed by means of stereophotogammetry. This has eliminated all deviations in distances and the ceonsequent time calculations;
• The ECDIS cartography is now available in SEVEN countries already;
• So called "course-up-rotation" is permitted, allowing navigators to rotate their chart screen in function of the ship's course;
• Many still missing (fixed) bridges (a.o. in France) have been added to the databse.

In version 2007 we already had incorporated some important improvements:

• The accuracy of the network data has been increased: the maximum of a shift, that used to be 100 meter, is now 10 meter;
• The Dutch, German and English waterways have been corrected and checked by means of areal photos;
• Existing flaws in the distance tables have been removed;
• A seperate (optional) module with an Inland ECDIS ( ENC) viewer provides access to professional charts of the waterways authorities;
• A new division of the coverages of the various Europe versions - either continental Western Europe (NL-BE-LU-DE-FR-AT-PL-CZ) or the whole of Europe (Ireland till Russia, Finland till Greece, including the United Kingdom and Ireland) - makes the West-Europe-versions faster and more accessible;
• The zoom settings of PC-Navigo have been greatly improved: a set zoom factor is held until the user changes it.

Improvements between versions 4.5 and 2006:

• All waterways have been completely updated;
• All operating schemes are now incorporated without any simplifications: even the most elaborate schemes - like the railway bridges - have been inserted completely into PC-Navigo's database;
• Waterways in eastern Europe, of which few reliable data exist, have all been checked against secundary sources, like areal photography, satelite photos and referenced geodata. This has decreased the average position devations dramatically;
• The waterways that still were missing in PC-Navigo 4.5 have ALL been added in 2006: therefore the user can navigate in a lot of new areas, like Sweden, Finland, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Italy and Portugal.
• The interaction with the GPS has been made dynamic: the GPS checks the flow of a journey and proposes changes if the plan begins to deviate from the real progress;
• Pictures of many bridges and locks can be stored in the computer, to get a clear view of the situation near a lock or bridge;
• Not only obstruction messages, but ALL Notices to Skippers can be shown in a "dedicated" way (i.e. depending on the planned voyage);
• Maritime connections have been made possible with most of the European sea ports and with all sea locks and estuaries.

The next update after PC-Navigo 2010 will appear in April 2011.