VisiCharts DVD for research, planning, and navigating

2012 edition shipping Mon 27th Feb. Basic no frills edition costs £19.50
Really see what you're getting yourself into...

On a chart and Google Earth^TM combined

Anyone who has entered a new harbour, river, bay or anchorage using normal charts will know the problems. You study the chart and try to get a picture in your head of what you are going into. The trouble is, reality often does not match that mental picture...perhaps you're picturing a narrow stream of navigable water (as shown on the chart), and you're met with a huge watery expanse... Now WHERE IS that buoyage ??

Maybe everything looks spacious on the chart, but as you nose in you realise it's a tiny little place with no room to turn, and cluttered up with moored boats....you've misjudged the scale of the place. Or possibly you have not realised the size and frequency of the shipping using an approach channel and harbour...you could have an unpleasant surprise waiting.

You're snugly anchored somewhere and simply wondering if it's worth the effort to go ashore... will there be anything there nearby or is it deserted ?

At last there is now a way to truly see exactly what you are taking your boat into, as VisiCharts combine the power of Google Earth^tm satellite imagery and charts combined.

The combination composite image gives you the ability to truly visualise where you are going, and see what you are likely to find once you arrive, afloat and ashore. Best still you can connect a compatible GPS (Garmin, Magellan and others) to your onboard PC and place your boat on the chart/image. See Google Earth help online for how to do this, visiCharts or not

VisiCharts (Basic) DVD for Windows to buy and keep £19.50

They work offline and Google Earth can accept GPS input. 800+ Charts/chartlets/harbour plans included, giving FULL coverage of all UK/Irish waters at all scales.

Try out VisiCharts, 30 day money back guarantee. VisitMyHarbour is a Trading Standards Scheme member.

The DVD costs £19.50

VisiChart basic comes with an A5 instruction booklet and the DVD in a plastic wallet.

Any questions just phone 01983 567866 office hours, we're happy to talk to you

This DVD package really does allow you to RESEARCH-PLAN-NAVIGATE

Make the zoomify viewer below go "Full Screen", click the RH button on the bottom toolbar.

Truly visualise your destination and know what to expect, other charts (paper or electronic) can't really help. The combination of satellite imagery and overlaid chart is awesome.
Carry your VisiCharts with you. They are not locked to any single machine and will work on any decent Windows computer with DVD drive. No installation is needed, everything runs straight from the DVD.
VisiCharts work offline too. You can even pre cache 2GB of satellite imagery when online, for later offline use. The charts themselves are completely independent of an internet connection.
Quilted chart layers make ordinary raster charts behave like vector charts, but with far more detail. No need to keep changing charts, the best scale pre-loaded chart for the depth of view is presented automatically.
Connecting a compatible GPS will postion your boat on the composite image.
Familiarity: Why use a strange, new, and difficult to get used to navigation program... VisiCharts harness the powerful geo-browser engine in GE, a tool you probably already use. Tools already built into GE can handle simple routes and waypoints. Routes and waypoints can be transfered from your GPS to the VisiCharts within GE.

See VisiCharts in action, play this short video:

VisiCharts could be of great use to:

Yachtsmen and motorboaters, for pre planning and navigating at sea.
Kayakers, trailer sailers and other small craft users, planning and A4 chart printing.
Ship watchers and coast observers, using the ship AIS overlay.
Harbour authorities

We can guarantee you'll never have seen UK navigation charts like this before because the VisiChart system has been developed by us here on the Isle of Wight. The combination of chart and satellite imagery is truly awesome, and can give a 3D perspective that is hard to match.

Connecting a compatible GPS (Garmin or Magellan) to the PC will position the boat on the composite image accurately, and for onboard use the VisiChart/ Google Earth^TM/GPS combination... Works OFFLINE

*GE even allows users to pre-cache 2GB of their satellite imagery for offline use
*VisiCharts use raster chart data licensed from the UKHO, Crown Copyright 2012

Try out VisiCharts, 30 day money back guarantee. VisitMyHarbour is a Trading Standards Scheme member.

The DVD costs £19.50

Not tech savvy ?

VisiCharts in SeaClear and GE will run directly from the DVD with no installation. When you insert the DVD in a suitable laptop or PC it will start and run itself. See the full start up sequence and minimum specifications HERE.

For composite imagery self select all the charts/chartlets required from the chartroom (800+ sorted by area, number, name and scale), click them and they launch and load into "Google Earth". Load multiple charts for the whole passage, any scale, any order. Automatically they will sort themselves out, layer, quilt and meld themselves together. Zoom in or out, move about - the best chart loaded will display itself. Add more charts to the mix if required.

Onboard and NOT online ? The VisiCharts (and compatible GPS if connected) still function normally using the GE geo-browser engine.

The whole package is designed for those wishing to try out electronic charting for the first time using the familiar, excellent and free ... Google Earth^tm

Specifications required to use VisiCharts

You will need a Windows laptop or PC, running XP, Vista or Windows 7. Minimum Pentium 4 processor, 1.4 Ghz, and 512 Mb RAM. In general the faster and newer your machine, the better for loading multiple (50+) VisiCharts. You will need a DVD drive, as the disc needs to be present at all times you are using this package. USB Dongle version to order £35 extra BUT once you have the dongle we can recharge with fresh charts once a year for around £25 (if required). Other advantage....it's FASTER.

You will need to have downloaded the free version of Google Earth^tmand preferably already be familiar with its features, such as transparency and tilted 3D viewing.

To position yourself within GE or SeaClear you'll need a compatible GPS to plug into your laptop.

Internet Connection: You'll need a broadband connection to see (or collect and cache) the satellite imagery that is streamed by GE servers. Once you have cached the imagery you want, the internet connection won't be needed to run the composite VisiChart/ satellite imagery system. The VisiCharts themselves are on the DVD and need no connection to function normally.

What not to expect from the VisiChart DVD.

It is best to look on this VisiChart DVD (at £19.50) as a unique research and planning tool with the ability to position your moving boat. Google Earth is not a fully fledged marine chartplotter, but has the huge advantage of satellite imagery.

This little section is developed to clarify things for potential customers before purchase. It is always difficult purchasing something unseen and untried, especially when it is new technology.

VisiCharts running in GE:

1. Don't expect to insert the VisiChart DVD and have "Google Earth" suddenly and automatically turn into "Google Sea". You have to manually choose the chart/s you want to use from a menu. These chosen charts will then mix themselves together and overlay on the imagery.
Reason: A DVD is too slow and clunky to stream "tiles" quickly enough to "fill in" sea/river areas on the fly. Your chosen charts (up to 100 or more depending on your machine capabilities), load themselves into RAM and stream themselves from there.

2. Don't expect, even when you have loaded all the charts required, that there will always be a chart showing as you zoom in and out of your chosen areas.
Reason: Unlike satellite pictures of sea, roads and houses, navigation charts do not compress down nicely. In fact they look hideous and are worse than useless in low resolution. VisiCharts are designed to appear at approximately 50% of their full-size, but in FULL RESOLUTION for perfect clarity. They then drop out at 2-300%, leaving the deck clear for a larger scale chart of the same area (that you have chosen) to render itself. The exception to this are harbour charts, that we allow to go up to 400% size. This enables a thorough investigation using the composite imagery, and there will be no larger scale chart trying to load itself on top. The net result is, as you zoom in and out of your chosen area (that you have previously loaded all the charts up for), there may be certain depths of zoom where there will be no charts showing. Solution: Load in more charts of different scales, or slowly zoom in or out until one of your charts does render.

3. Don't expect, to simply plug your GPS into your laptop and have it work straight away, although in some cases especially with serial connections this is what will actually happen.
Reason: Connecting a GPS is very dependent on the GPS device you are using (dongle/handheld/bluetooth etc), and how it interfaces with your computer. Garmin and Magellan GPS sets are already set up to work with Gogle Earth. "Google Earth" is not our program, we didn't design and have no control of it's functionality, we simply designed the VisiCharts to work with it. Reasonably comprehensive instructions are within the written manuals provided by GE available HERE

4. Don't expect the VisiCharts to be lightning fast, but do expect them to be perfectly usable and practical.
Reason: The 3-D composite imagery uses a lot of processor power, the older and lower specification laptop will struggle with large 100+ chart layers. Modern dual core machines with decent graphics cards will handle huge layers. Solution: Don't put too many charts in for the capability of your machine. Uncheck nonrequired items in GE such as roads, boundaries, places of interest... this will help speed things up. In practice, you'll be able to load all the charts you need for a real passage even on older machines.

5. Don't expect to have satellite imagery for every location when off-line. Do expect the VisiCharts themselves to continue functioning off-line.
Reason: The satellite imagery within GE is streamed directly from their servers online and as required. GE caches up to 2GB of this imagery and stores it on your hard disk on a "last in first out" basis. A thorough examination, beforehand and online, of all your likely stopping places will store these images in the cache. These satellite images will be available for use off-line in conjunction with the VisiCharts. The VisiCharts themselves completely independent of the Internet, they are on the DVD.

General Limitations, please read carefully:

There are general limitations when using the VisiCharts within SeaClear or GE. This is because we only produce the content, not the programs. We are therefore unable to lock the VisiCharts to your machine, but can only lock them to the DVD. This has certain disadvantages, but the big advantage of portability between machines. The main disadvantage of this locking system is the inability to save anything when you close GE when it has been using the charts, and of course the DVD must be present for the VisiCharts to function.

In short we recommend that you download the free version of " Google Earth", install it on your machine and have a thorough play with it (if you're not already familiar with its features). In particular try out the 3-D features (by tilting your angle of view), the variable transparency slider, and learn how to turn off all unnecessary layers and information. Check out how you can connect your particular GPS and make it work. Explore how the cache stores satellite imagery for off-line use (by switching off your Internet connection and using GE to go back over areas you have recently looked at). Once familiar with "Google Earth" you will find VisiCharts very easy to use.

Finally: Our customer service is second to none, we answer all emails promptly and thoroughly, and we love talking on the phone to members, customers and potential customers. If you have any questions or just want to know more about VisiCharts we're more than happy to talk to you. More than likely you will be able to talk to the VisiChart designer. Just call customer services on:

01983 567866 Mon-Fri 9-5 or Contact Us anytime.

P.S.
When you deal up with VisitMyHarbour.com, you are not enriching the coffers of some moneygrubbing PLC. You're not accessing illegal, ripped off, hacked and cracked C-Map charts. Nor are you dealing with a shark of a broker in a smart blazer, and half a dozen dodgy companies he's laundering your hard earned money through. You are dealing with genuine hands on boating enthuiasts, who work hard and love the sea. We have many 100's of paid members, ranging from hot air baloonists to Fastnet navigators in locations that range from Singapore to Brazil,

"Thanks very much for your very prompt and considered reply.....it's that 'John Lewis' standard of customer service again that you're becoming known for."

We truly do believe in the brotherhood of the sea, and aim to work in a spirit of co-operation. We are in the ongoing process of gathering and building up the best and most up to date pilotage information available for UK waters, and with your support we'll accomplish it.

Best Regards,