Features

MTW: Electronic Charts

In 2005, NOAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began distributing raster and vector charts for free. There are also tens of thousands of pages of nautical reference material available free on the Web. However, collecting and maintaining a complete nautical e-library is extremely time consuming. As a service to our Managing the Waterway cruising guide readers, we download and catalog updated NOAA and USACE charts and nautical publications yearly.

Whether you already own navigation software and only need updated charts and reference materials, or you are a newbie who wants free or trial software and charts to test the e-charting waters, this 2-DVD set makes you good to go!

U.S. Raster and Vector Charts—Charts are cataloged and organized into popular cruising geographies. Chart files are standard BSB (raster) and S-57 (vector) charts provided by NOAA and the U.S. Army Corps and display in all computer-based navigation packages that support these formats.

Nautical Reference Library—This third annual update now includes just under $3000 and over one gigabyte of government publications, reference texts, and nautical calculators in searchable Adobe Acrobat PDF or HTML web browser format.

Free and Trial Software—Contains free and trial software applications for both PC and Macintosh operating systems.

Specifications

MTW: Electronic Charts

Complete Electronic Chart and Nautical Reference Library

US $39.95

Two DVD discs of charts, publications, and trial software

3,000-plus charts

All available NOAA raster charts (RNCs)

All available NOAA vector charts (ENCs)

All available USACE inland waterway charts (IENCs)

Free and trial versions of PC and Macintosh charting and navigation software

Nearly 200 government publications, reference texts, and nautical calculators

Updated annually

Charts

MTW:Electronic Charts contains over 3,000 raster and vector charts for United States waters. Charts fall into three categories by chart source and format: (1) NOAA Raster Charts (RNCs) of U.S. coastal waters, (2) NOAA Vector Charts (ENCs) of U.S. coastal waters, and (3) U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vector Charts (IENCs) for U.S. inland waterways.

NOAA RNCs are standard BSB raster format files with complete coverage of U.S. coastal waters and U.S. possessions.

NOAA ENCs are standard S-57 vector format files covering U.S. coastal waters. Note: chart conversion is an ongoing effort with NOAA having currently completed approximately 60% of its catalog. Priority is given to those waters deemed important to commercial ship traffic.

USACE IENCs are standard S-57 vector format files of U.S. inland waterways. The USACE has currently completed approximately 90% of its intended "high-usage" inland river system. Note: for Great Loopers, coverage from Chicago, IL to Mobile, AL is now complete.

Publications

The following 35 groups of government publications, reference texts, and nautical calculators are included on MTW:Electronic Charts, comprising a total of 177 volumes.

Software

MTW:Electronic Charts includes the following free and trial software applications. SeaClear II is fully-functional e-charting freeware for the PC. The remaining applications either limit functionality (such as restricting the number of waypoints or routes) or have a built-in time expiration (such as a 30-day trial period).

Compatibility

Included charts are standard BSB (raster) or S-57 (vector) format files, unchanged from their distribution by NOAA or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Therefore, any software application that supports these standard formats (not all applications support both BSBs and S-57s) can display the charts. We've personally loaded and tested the files on the 19 popular applications listed below. The charts should be compatible with additional applications, such as Deckman, Expedition, GPSy, Henry Navigation, MacGPS Pro, NavGator, Offshore Navigator, PassagePlus, SeaTrack, and Tridentnav, depending on that application's specific BSB and/or S-57 support.

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