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Fugawi
is a Canadian company that has been quietly developing utilitarian, value-priced
PC land and sea navigation software for many years. Its current standard
edition even includes both Palm and PocketPC programs in its $99 price.
The new Marine ENC (Electronic Navigation Charts) edition costs $199 and
is one of the first to support NOAA’s own vector chart format.
ENCs are a long-anticipated
and interesting development that NOAA is giving away for free. You can
find out a lot more about the format at www.chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov as
well as see a list of specific areas available for download. My familiar
home waters (shown) are covered, and I’m finding the detail and
presentation to be good. However, I’m going to go by NOAA’s
disclaimer that during this testing and evaluation period the ENCs “are
not to be used as the primary means of navigating a vessel” (and
continue to wonder what they may mean to the evolution of electronic charting).
Fugawi’s Marine ENC edition will also soon support the WeatherPort
live Nexrad overlays discussed in this month’s column.
Overall, there are many
charting programs that offer more features, better displays, and easier
interfaces, but none that pack in so many possibilities at such modest
cost. Demos are available.
Fugawi Phone:
(416) 920-0447. www.fugawi.com.
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