Imray's digital charts, launched in 2005, have been so successful that last year they were acclaimed “best digital product” at the International Map Trade Conference.
This year, they are even better. Just like their Admiralty equivalent, Imray's entry-level computer chart plotter software range has been given a radical overhaul, with a vast reduction in the number of chart packs, each now covering much greater areas than before, and so offering greatly increased value for money.
In fact, the Imray charts offer even better coverage than the Admiralty equivalent. There are just four CDs, three covering the whole of the British Isles, and a fourth covering the Bay of Biscay. The four CDs cover the European coastline from northern Scotland to Gibraltar.
And, unlike its Admiralty offering, the south coast folio covers the French side of the Channel, as well as the English, and includes Holland and Belgium, too. There's also a good overlap between the folios. They are priced at £59.95 each (inc VAT).
The four discs are:
- ID10 North Sea
- ID20 The English Channel
- ID30 West Coast of the British Isles and Ireland
- ID40 The Western English Channel to Brittany and the Iberian Peninsula
Apart from the greatly increased area covered, the principal change existing users will notice with the new edition is that the charts are now loaded on to a computer hard-drive via a registration system. This means the disc no longer has to be kept in the drive to use the charts and plotter.
A user will be able to load the programme on to a maximum of two computers. Each disc comes with a purchase code which enables a request code to be generated. This is either emailed or telephoned through to Imray who supply a response code to enable the charts to be loaded.
Be warned: this is not like the automated online registration familiar from Microsoft products, etc. You will have to wait for someone to respond, so if you attempt to register out of office hours (as I did) you will have to wait until the next working day for the vital code. And in fact I was sent the wrong code by email, and had to phone for a correction.
But once it was finally loaded, I was prepared to forgive those minor inconveniences!
Other changes include an AIS interface and an improved correction system (expected to be in place by March) which will allow corrections to be automatically downloaded from Imray's web site and placed on the charts. This year's charts will be updated until the end of 2009.
The company's software partners have developed an annual tidal programme to run either as a stand alone programme or with the Imray Digital Chart programme.
Meridian Chartware's UK Tides (a single disc covers all the Imray digital chart areas) costs £17.50 (inc VAT).
However, Imray is offering a combined package of one Imray Digital chart area plus the tidal programme at £69.95, and once the tidal programme has been purchased it will run across all four chart discs so does not need to be purchased again.
Apart from those welcome changes, the package is much as before, offering high resolution images of Imray charts, plus all the harbour plan insets. Chart notes, warnings and tidal diamonds are displayed as text boxes.
Chart plotting software allows route planning using waypoints and the programme can be interfaced with GPS for real-time navigation, or used for passage planning off-line.
The controls are reasonably intuitive and simple to use. It doesn't take many minutes of clicking on buttons and exploring drop-down menus to work out how to put in waypoints, create a route, use the electronic dividers, and so on.
There isn't a lot of difference in functionality between the Admiralty RYA Chart Plotter and the Imray offering. Those who normally use Admiralty charts will feel more at home with the Admiralty plotter, and those more used to Imray charts will prefer the Imray package.
But Imray has definitely edged ahead in terms of the sheer coverage of its electronic charts. It will be interesting to see how Admiralty Leisure responds.
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Imray's digital charts offer outstanding value for money, and an excellent introduction to electronic navigation. Even if you don't want to navigate by connecting a GPS to your laptop, the chart CDs will earn their keep as a passage planning tool. The fact that you can load the charts on two PCs, without the bother of having to put the disc in the drive whenever you want to use them, is a bonus.
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