MICROPLOT MARINE 7 manual ecdis 74

It must be capable of showing official ENC data The ENC must be up to date IEC 61174 Maritime navigation and radio communication equipment systems— Electronic chart display and informat

Microplot Mariner 7 ECDIS

Operators Manual

Oct 2004 Ver 7.4

Screen save, print & log 19

Chapter 3- File system 21

Introduction 21

Back- up & Copy 21

Files dialog box 22

Chapter 4- SENC- Official vector 25

Legal equivalence to paper systems 25

Installing 58

Loading 66

Chart Overviews 72

Licence & permits 73

Chapter 7- Routes & Route monitoring 75

Routes 75

Importing routes 81

Waypoints 83

Marker main functions 85

Marker additional functions 88

Track save & display control 91

Route verification 96

Route monitoring 102

Chartwork 113

Alarm controls 118

External alarm unit 124

Voyage plan report system 124

AIS Targets (Automatic Identification Systems) 154

Chapter 11- Echo Sounder 157

Sounder 157

Echo sounder features 158

Chapter 12- Backup system 159

Introduction 159

System description 160

automatically (see also manual save) to the Windows directory as normal

On restart, if micplot.ini is found in the program directory, this is loaded This system ensures that, after power failure or computer crash, the

configuration (within 5 minutes of the failure) can be reloaded

ECDIS Software Version control

1 Click on Help > About MP7 from top menu bar Note version number,

compare against type approval certificate

2 For S-57 charts (cells), load an official SENC chart and choose Charts>

Chart Information Check details concerning the ‘last update’ installed

Ensure current

3 For RCDS charts, if installed, open a chart e.g click on Charts > RNC

(ARCS); click on selected chart and then on ‘Open’ Click in Charts > Chart Information and note the date/number of the last update CD

Ensure current

ECDIS is an acronym for Electronic Chart Display and Information System.

At its simplest, an ECDIS consists of a database of electronic charts,

together with the hardware and software needed to display simultaneously

the charts and the ship’s own position (obtained from a GPS or another positioning sensor), and to perform navigational tasks such as route planning, route monitoring, measurement of distances on the chart, etc One of the most important features of ECDIS, that makes it a unique aid to navigation,

is the capability of generating alarms (anti-grounding, off route, etc.), based

on input from sensors and analysis of chart information

Type Approval Of ECDIS

It is the responsibility of Classification Societies (in the case of this product Dent Norske Veritas- DNV) to test electronic charting systems that claim to

be ECDIS, and assess whether they are compliant with all relevant standards

The publication known as IEC International Standard 61174, issued by the

International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), provides guidelines for testing

Legal Equivalency With Paper Charts

In order for an ECDIS to be the legal equivalent of paper charts, the

following conditions must be true:

The ECDIS must be type-approved

There must be a back-up

It must be capable of showing official ENC data

The ENC must be up to date

IEC 61174

Maritime navigation and radio communication equipment systems—

Electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS)—Operational and performance requirements, methods of testing and required test results

Systems that comply with all requirements get a Type Approval certificate

from the Classification Society, and can be legitimately called ECDIS

Approval- Hardware

All the Microplot Mariner system hardware listed below has been approved

by statutory bodies as suitable for ECDIS systems:-

Cert No A- 7627

Microplot Keypad

Navaid Interface Unit

External Alarm Unit

Hewlett Packard Vectra

Barco monitor

Start- up

Startup sequence

To avoid un-necessary alarms the following sequence is recommended

1 Switch on all navaids, radar gyro echo sounder etc

2 Switch on the computer, which will boot and log on straight to Microplot

3 Switch on External Alarm unit

Shut down

To close Microplot, choose File> Exit Microplot off the top menu bar

When choosing this option, Microplot will shut down you computer as well

as the software This is a requirement of ECDIS systems There is a “double gate exit” (are you sure and then are you really sure)

Installation

Microplot will be fully installed by a qualified engineer by the time you come to use the system Re-installation in an emergency should only be attempted with direct communications support from qualified personnel Other aspects for integrating bridge equipment into Microplot are detailed elsewhere in the manual

On screen Help

Description

The Help file consists of a table of Contents and an Index (You can also use the Find option, but this should only be used after the Index or Contents options have not taken you to the right point The information symbol can

be pressed for information on the heading subject and always opens a

window underneath the main help window The Tab symbols at the top can

be clicked on and open the listed subject Clicking on the browse button

Microplot 7

Help can be accessed either by

1 Clicking on the Help button in the dialog box In this case you get a reqproduction of the dialog box Click on the item of interest to get the help

2 Clicking on the ? symbol in a dialog box and then clicking on individual item on the dialog box

3 Clicking on Help off the top menu bar

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Window description

Hypertext links

These are activated by any text that is coloured green either pop-up, See

Note or jump to a right hand window Pop-up windows do not stay open if

you click on any other function, either in the program or in Help

There are other options accessed by this menu bar and it is suggested that you explore them

Chapter 2- Program control

Screen functions

View

Use the View option on the main menu bar to select what is displayed on the right side of the screen and to activate scroll bars and hotkeys Scroll bars

are not available if an ARCS chart is not selected Click on the option

required to display/ not display the ticks Microplot Mariner has three

orientations: Chart up (RNC) Leg up & North up, all in True Motion The orange North indicator is shown at top left Microplot provides, on one screen of at least 270mm x 270mm, the facilities to display information for both route planning and route monitoring This is shown on one physical display of 21inches diagonal, (with 64000 colours and screen resolution of

1600 x 1200 0r 1280 x 1020 pixels), which is clearly visible to more than one observer in conditions of light normally experienced on the bridge of a ship

by day or night All text on the ECDIS is readable from at least a metre Text uses sans serif non italic type fonts throughout Microplot Mariner does not use the strike through zero symbol

Menu structure

Microplot has been designed to sound ergonomic principles reflected below, with one screen acting for both route planning and route monitoring

purposes All windows containing text, diagrams, etc which are

superimposed on Microplot are temporary and relocatable, except for the top menu bar Mariners information panels on the right hand side use only the colours prescribed for “user interface colours from the presentation library colour tables Right click anywhere on the main screen (except in a dialog box) to access a quick menu for items needed frequently

1305 All windows maybe removed in a single operator action by hitting [reset

Tool Bar

This is accessed by the View option on the main menu bar and displays a

removable icon tool bar at the right of the screen under the hotkeys This can

be programmed so that the items listed in View> Main tool bar> [items] can

be added All grey scale icons cannot be moved from the tool bar

Screen movement

To centre screen around the marker, move the marker to required location,

choose the cross icon To centre screen around own ship hit the reset ship

icon , (F10) Both marker and ship will appear at centre screen To view

previous settings, right click anywhere on the main screen and choose Go

back/ forward

With ARCS you may scroll the screen up, down, left and right using the

scroll bars (View> scroll bars) Note that when using the scroll bars user

data will be wiped as it goes off the screen; use the cross icon for a refresh

Use View> pan tool for large movement scroll (Also if you move the arrow

icon to the edges of the screen a broad arrow will appear Click the left mouse button to move the screen in the indicated direction.)

Shape to ownship

In File> Files choose the Navigation files Tab and click on shape For quick

acces add to tool bar with View> main tool bar) This shape is already

prepared for you before installation and is restricted access to the authorised

person on board Then choose Selections> Ownship> select shape [Alt 5] Clear by use of Selections> Ownship> clear shape [Alt 0] (See Note)

When ownship's shape is in use, the ECDIS double circle is not used When zoomed out such that maximum dimension is less than 40 pixels, length is set

at 40 pixels NOTE this will be adjusted to suit approved screen size with

1600 x 1200 resolution

Screen auto-reset

To automatically centre screen around ownship, use the reset icon, (Ctrl A);

In addition in the Display Tab accessed with the icon on the tool bar (or

Selections> Menus> M7 settings, Auto-reset can be selected in various

modes a/r ON (OFF) appears on status bar

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When in centred mode, the screen will reset every 6 seconds to keep ownship just to the right of centre Depending on speed of computer, chart system in use, and amount of user data on screen, this mode may be found to be

unsuitable

Screen auto reset (Normal mode)

For automatic reset in off-centre mode Set up as follows:- Click on the

square off-centre icon Position the marker at the point on the screen where you wish ownship to be when screen should reset- hit the Reset At button Now place the marker where you want the ship to reset to- hit the Reset To View these limits use Options button This box will automatically reposition itself according to your course, and cause the ship to reset accordingly

Hitting the toolbar centre-at-ownship button a second time will centre the screen at ownship rather than at an offset position

Auto screen reset does not happen if:-

• In chart overview or during edit

• The screen is reset to the marker directly or zoom from overview

• The screen is moved using scrollbars or arrows

Auto reset mode returns on the first occurrence of:

• 30 seconds has passed without mouse movement

• The screen is reset to ownship

• The screen is forced to reset using the toolbar button

Auto-reset is switched OFF and then ON

Status Bar

This is situated at the bottom of the screen and displays:-

• error information on chart systems

• general information on the status of Microplot

1077b

These two modes are operated by the reset and clear buttons Status-Bar

hints are used to clarify each item's purpose and to give more information about status To read different hints, you have to move the pointer off the bar and then back on to a new panel The Navaid indicator shows (if available) validity, number of satellites, and HDOP value and the depth reading shows whether set-up, and if so, whether valid

User data You can access this using the icon on the tool bar (View> Icon ) at top right (or the Display Tab in Selections> Menus> MP7 settings).

Choose the scale brightness icon Note that Marks text and number is drawn

in dark red with night palettes regardless of red/green/yellow selection Red

is not dimmed for marks text or on buttons as it otherwise becomes

unreadable Note- using these dimming tools can result in some chart

information becoming less obvious Use Ctrl Space to revert to Dusk settings

On monitor – call-up menu, check that settings for Brightness, Contrast and Each of the colours the following are in line with installation information: (use + and – keys together to set defaults)

Dimming- Program & Dialog boxes

You can access this using the icon at top right (or the Display Tab in

Selections> Menus> MP7 settings) For the night palette you may choose

text in yellow, green or red The dimming range is set at 1-30 Dimming is logarithmic, so the last 10 settings (10 down to 1) reduce the minimum to 17

to 12 of full Note that Marks text and number is drawn in dark red with night palettes regardless of red/green/yellow selection Red is not dimmed for marks text or on buttons as it otherwise becomes unreadable

Range controls

Range scales

Range is changed using the icons provided The range scale indicator is at

top left next to the Microplot Icon A scale bar is also available When in miles mode, these scales are 6000 down to 5, and then in metres from 480m down to 8m When chart systems are in use the range scales may be

determined by manufacturers If you right click on the screen in raster mode (ARCS, BSB, seafarer charts), you can choose the largest or smallest scale available

Note- Standard display

This is only applicable when the first chart is displayed subsequent to

powering up the ECDIS system The reset screen button at top right will

set the screen to standard display and no hotkeys, with the default scale of the chart

Range scale Go Back and Go Forward

The last 10 operations of range-change and screen re-centre are recorded On right-click, the pop-up menu has selections to Go Back [Ctrl BackSpace] and

Go Forward [Shift BackSpace] This functionality includes the chart system and chart in use, and whether using the low-res chart When an intermediate scale has been used by zooming to a block, this is also returned to

Go Forward is only available after Go Back If the screen is reset after Go Back, then the new settings are the 'last' and Go Forward is not available

Jumping the screen using the arrow icons or dragging a scrollbar slider are recorded actions, but scrolling with scroll bars on raster charts is not

However, left clicking after scrolling to redraw user data will record the new position

Range circle and rings

Range scale bar

Scale bars are automatically set on the extreme left hand side of the screen

At chart scales of 1/80000 and larger the one with the orange dividers

indicates a length of one mile with 1 cable (1/10th of a mile) sub-divisions At smaller chart scales the one with grey dividers indicates 10 miles with sub-divisions of 1 mile, is shown below In addition the North arrow and M for meters is displayed on the right hands side of the chart at top and bottom respectively For scales of 1/80000 and above a latitude bar is displayed

Zoom for vector chart data

Use Selections> Utilities> Zoom to block (create a hotkey) to start drawing

of a utility block When using SENC, the 'sun' button becomes a magnifying glass for this purpose

Move the marker to complete the block, and the screen will both centre at the block and set the scale equal to the vertical axis of the block, which is then removed The scale remains until range up or down controls are used (This zoom feature is not available with raster charts) After zoom, to simplify further zoom, right-click will start another block

Hotkeys

Hotkeys

Only items accessed via the Selections Menu can be hotkeyed; items inside a dialog box cannot be made a hotkey The hotkeys are displayed at the top of

the screen They are accessed using View> Hotkeys option on the top menu

bar There are three hotkey sets and you may

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Hotkey sets

In ECDIS you get two sets of hotkeys viewed along the top of the screen and

accessed with View> Hotkeys Toggle between them by hitting the Set

button that appears at the right of the hotkeys Set 1 is non programmable, Set 2 is, except that the last two buttons (5 and 6) are not programmable in either set These two act as follows, dependent on chart format in use:-

In ARCS, 5= Load chart at marker, 6= chart info: In Vector, 5= Verify

current leg, 6= Spot details: No chart, 5= Chart switch, 6= Screen grid

Otherwise: Set 1 1= Chartwork tools, 2= Clear look ahd, 3= ETA &

marker, 4=Target clear: Set 2 1= Save screen, 2= Brg & Dist window, 3=

1 Move the pointer over the hotkey you wish to setup and right click The main Selections menu appears

2 Move through the menu system till you arrive at the required selection menu option you want to make a hotkey item

3 Click the left mouse button

Mouse- right click repeats last left click

You may often be repeating commands, like mid point during lines edit To avoid sending the pointer back to the on-screen button, you can right click the mouse button to repeat the last left click command

Keypad

Introduction

Microplot 7 uses a dedicated keypad It uses a special board on the PC, supplied by SIS, to power itself and allow a serial mouse as well as the trackerball to be used simultaneously Timeout settings can be done in

Selections> MP7 settings, clcikomh on the Alarm icon and choosing the

Navaid tab

Keypad brightness control

You can access this using the icon at top right (or the Display tab in

Selections> Menus> MP7 settings), at bottom right of the dialog box

Keypad hotkey control

Selecting hotkeys will turn on the hotkeys tool bar Further presses change the hotkey group The hotkey functions on the screen correspond to the numbers one to six on the keypad, starting from left on the screen

Programming of hotkeys can only be done with the mouse or keypad trackerball

Keypad with Version 7

Nums Switches keypad mode to numbers

Changing tabbed pages

Windows provides Ctrl+Tab for this use on the keyboard When using the keypad, use the Tab key to give focus to the tabbed page itself, then use the Alt key This sends a Ctrl+Tab to Windows When any other object has focus, the main Menu will be selected as usual

Keypad failure detection

Choose the 'Navaid' tab on Alarm settings accessed with the and the alarm button at bottom of dialog box A check-box is provided for setting a keypad failure alarm After 10 seconds without reception from the keypad, Microplot sends a request character that normally results in a character in reply, thus resetting the request for another 10 seconds Failing a reply, the character is sent every cycle At 15 seconds a KEYPAD FAILURE alarm is created This alarm verifies that the keypad is powered, it is correctly set up

in Serial Settings, and that there are 2-way communications It does not verify the trackerball, or individual key operation Key operation can be tested in serial settings using the Receive Display button

Screen save, print & log

Screen Save

Selection> Screen> Save Screen [Ctrl T] saves the screen as a BMP or

JPEG file in the current files installation or to floppy, using the drop down box to adjust for size and quality In the Print Tab accessed with the (or

Selections> M7settings) you can specify the name (default "SCREEN") plus

00, 01 e.g SCREEN00.BMP In Mariner ECDIS mode, this name is set

to the voyage file name and cannot be changed Files Menu / Navigation

files has a button to access screen files of the type selected Files may then be

selectively viewed, backed-up, or deleted

Screen print (Not with ECDIS locks)

Use Selections> Screen print [Alt PrintScr] to print the whole screen,

including ownship's panel etc Orientation defaults to Landscape In the Print Tab accessed with the (or Selections> M7settings, the following two

settings default ON:

PRINTER DIALOG: Always display this before print Also allows print CANCEL

B & W REVERSAL: When a chart is not in use, redraw screen with a white background, and white features as black, before print (Not using this will quickly remove printer ink)

Screen Log

When this is selected in settings, a text dialogue is presented after each screen save Input a one-line message It is saved to a file named

SCREEN.LOG where SCREEN is the chosen name

On viewing screens, the log file is inspected for an entry This is shown on the status bar if found The complete log file can be seen using

SELECTIONS/screen log [Ctr Alt -]

Chapter 3- File system

Introduction

Files

Users vector data is held in a file types marks and lines Within the lines files there are further subdivisions for e.g contour lines, coast, separation zones, shipshapes and mapping lines Within the marks files there are subdivisions for seabed, text points marks and chart symbols These files are setup for you every time you set a new voyage track Right click on a file for more options

Back- up & Copy

File Back-up

1 Choose the User files Tab in File> Files

2 Then select a file, choose Options and choose Back up

File Back-up indications

When a file is backed-up or copied from the backup drive to the installation

its ‘archive’ attribute is cleared by MP7 (see Note) In both

Files/available-files and the file handling dialog a ‘backed-up’ check-box will inspect this attribute for each file and add ‘[b]’ against backed-up files

Note- File Backup (Restricted use)

It is suggested that all existing files are initially set to indicate they are not backed- up To do this use Explorer, select the folder, the select edit/select all, followed by right clicking a file and setting the archive attribute bit in properties

File copy

1 Choose the User files Tab in File> Files

2 Right click on the file choose Options, choose List Back-up

Files dialog box

Files

35

This is accessed by choosing File> Files from the main menu bar You may

have as many files of any type open as you like (depending, of course on memory), but only one file of a particular type (opened for the voyage) that you can edit (i.e add, delete and modify information) While the dialog box

is open you may control the main screen as normal The dialog box has 3 tabs: User files, Navigation Files and Organiser The Organiser Tab will have only the two options for setting the data directory and the Backup location; and both these will be unavailable in restricted mode as the Tab won’t

appear

Merging

Choose Options having selected the files.Merge allows you to combine all the files listed in the opened files dialog box accessed by the User files Tab

in File> Files When 'merge all' is selected in User Files, an option is

provided to merge all files into a new file as usual, or to merge all additional files into the current voyage files Only data that has been loaded is merged,

so use the ink-only loading selection if you need to initialise the current voyage files (though this is not normally necessary)

Files- opening

Lines and marks files are opened loaded automatically when loading a new voyage track file This display allows you to load older files created on

previous voyages In the User Files tab of (top tool bar) File> Files

1 Set the file type

2 Use the drop down to Select (All, Ink or pencil) See page 54

3 Highlight the file you want to open

4 Click on the open button

The Details drop down allows you to quickly show location, date and items

within a displayed file The tick box sets the file to display or not For

Navigation files use the Navigation Tab

Files-closing

File properties

Click on a file, Choose Options, and choose properties to give you more

information on the file in use (you must highlight it first) The top half of the display gives the general usage and information on path and file size

Chapter 4- SENC- Official vector

Legal equivalence to paper systems

Basics- ECDIS Standards

To be defined an ECDIS an electronic charting system (ECS) must comply with a number of international standards and regulations, amongst which the most important are those issued by the International Hydrographic

Organization (IHO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) In

essence, S-57/3 defines the format of the ENC to be used in the ECDIS, while S-52 and the IMO PS describe the operational and performance

requirements of the ECDIS itself

Performance standard

IMO Resolution A/817, IMO Performance Standards for ECDIS,

December 1995 (formalised in IEC61174) It describes the minimum

performance standards for ECDIS, with reference to hardware, software, ENC and updates, user interface, integration with positioning sensors, radar and other devices, etc.)

This Microplot Standard system as a whole does not comply with these standards (although the chart system and functionality described herein has

been approved by DNV) and therefore cannot be used as a means of

replacing paper charts You will need the Microplot ECDIS system in that case.

Official SENC Vector data

Chart data is delivered using the IHO transfer standard for digital

hydrographic data (S-57 and S-52/3.1 (a)) Microplot Mariner uses the S57 Import program to accept (Verify) and convert official HO data (ENC) to the CM93/3 format IHO Recommended colours and symbols are used

throughout in accordance with IHO s52 and IEC 1174 The specified sizes for symbols, figures and letters are used throughout and are not less than 3.5mm In addition, the symbols are always drawn with at least the same number of pixels as are required to draw the symbol at the size defined in the

The precision of HO supplied data is maintained In addition point reduction and/or smoothing operations used to compress the chart information in the SENC, do not cause the resultant image of the chart displayed at ENC scale

to differ from the ENC image by more than the display resolution

HO data is supplied in a cell structure Microplot Mariner maintains all cell dependent characteristics in its display

Transfer standard

IHO Special Publication S-57, IHO Transfer Standard for Digital

Hydrographic Data, Edition 3.0, November 1996 (hereinafter called S-57/3)

It describes the standard (i.e the data model and format) to be used for exchange of Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) between Hydrographic Offices, ECDIS manufacturers, mariners, and other data users

The SENC database

Since the S-57/3 format is not suitable for data processing, the ECDIS shall

convert the ENC into a different format (usually binary and more compact

than S-57/3), called the SENC (System ENC) format In the case of

Microplot this is the C- Map CM93/ 3 A special module the SENC

Compiler, performs the conversion from ENC to SENC The resulting data is loaded into a separate storage area, the SENC Database, from where it is accessed by the chart display and navigational functions of ECDIS

On the ship, S-57/3 data (text data not suitable for data processing) is

converted and is loaded into the ECDIS in a dedicated storage area, called

the ENC database; this shall only include ENC issued by Hydrographic

Offices and distributed directly or through a RENC (or the RENC’s

distributors)

Installing

Ordering Official SENC Vector data

Ordering data can be via e-mail, fax or phone from your RENC, Chart Agent

or sometimes direct from a Hydrographic Office

Receiving Official SENC Vector data

When you receive official S57 data it will be either by CD, floppy, or via an on-line service through the Internet Once you put the CD or floppy in the drive, the Microplot install program starts and automatically interrogates the

CD, telling you what sort of data it is (S57, ARCS etc) and where it

originates (Primar, UKHO etc)

The C-Map conversions

ENC are verified during the install process by specialized software (the 57/3 Verifier), to ensure that they are fully compliant with the ENC Product

S-Specification (Appendix B.1 of S-57/3) If the result of verification is

positive, data is transferred (and then maybe converted) to a SENC See Note

Note- C-Map Approvals

Det Norske Veritas have type-approved as elements of ECDIS both the 57/3 Verifier and the CM-93/3 Compiler, as well as CM-93/3 format itself, all of which have been designed and written by C- Map, Norway

S-Installing from magnetic media

Insert the data CD or floppy into the appropriate drive This action will automatically start the install software (You can also start the ENC Chart Import program from the Database Tab of Charts> SENC options) You are then prompted to start the install process Choose the database you wish to install to This will normally allow only one choice but office users may have more S57 Verification is automatically ticked on if you have an ECDIS lock Click Next to go to the install dialog box

To view what permits you have installed, choose View The drop down at top left allows you to select by country Your User ID Permit number is located

at bottom left of this dialog box If you wish to install individual permits manually, you may do so here as well

ENC load logs

Use View off the top menu to see logs for to-day and past days A message

“end of conversion” is displayed when the load process is complete Any errors or problems with the convert are recorded in a log file accessed with View from the top menu bar You can also print this log for record keeping The Verification results tab give results only for the current operation one

RENC Internet upload

Choose the on-line button when running the import program There is no requirement to have an Internet web access software running You will need

to have set up a default DUN, but the program will allow you to choose a different DUN from the default if necessary You will have the choice of FTP or HTTP (usually direct to a RENC website) In most cases (and when you are accessing a RENC- e.g Primar) use the HTTP option (default)

When using a computer other than the ECDIS to download charts you will need to ensure the tick boxes for convert are off You can choose Files off the top of the on-line dialog box to export to floppy or to the ECDIS if

connected by network

Convert after Internet upload

Once the files have been copied onto the ECDIS system from the remote via network, they can then be converted to the SENC Microplot checks every 10 seconds for Networked files Once the files have been successfully received Microplot will pop up a message in the small blue-background Current Operational Modes dialog stating Networked files available for conversion

To start the import process either select and cancel the above mode or run

Using

Chart switch

The chart system last in use is remembered by the program so that the

selection Selections> Charts> Chart switch can be used as a hotkey to

quickly switch chart display on/off

Displaying Official SENC Vector data

ECDIS has required standards of display levels and accessibility to “objects (any item on the chart- chimney, spot depth, buoy etc) The ENC and updates

is clearly distinguished from ownship data and other windows that appear

These functions are accessed via Charts> C-Map Microplot displays all the

SENC data, and the user may define what levels of information he requires within the Standard and complete displays It is not possible to reduce

information from the Base display, or below the level of Base display when switching data off in the Standard or complete displays

All updates and the SENC itself are displayed without any degradation of their information This is ensured by the C-Map verifier and CM93-3 format, both of which have been approved by DNV and are in use by the Microplot Mariner program It is not possible for the user to alter the contents of the ENC, and updates to it are stored separately

The Microplot program cannot ensure the user has the latest up to date

information However, the software will show, on demand all information about the cells in use in all modes of operation It is up to the navigator to ensure that his navigation data is up to date for the selected Voyage

SENC Layering

Layers are required to establish the priority of data on the display The general rule for the priority between different categories of information is given below

1 ECDIS visual alarms/indications (e.g caution, overscale);

2 HO-data: points/lines and areas plus official updates;

3 notices to mariners, manual input and radio navigational warnings

4 HO-caution (ENC cautions); 5 HO-colour-fill area data;

6 HO's on demand data;

7 mariners data: points/Iines and areas; 9 manufacturer's data: points/lines and areas; 10 mariners colour-fill area data

NOTE 1 - This list does not indicate a drawing sequence, but specifies that the information content of category n + 1 does not obscure the information content of category n or any higher category (i.e n + 1, etc.)

tab of Chart> Options off the top menu bar Chart abbreviations (INT-1) are accessed through Charts> off the top menu bar

Use this function to access the ECDIS chart 1 Use the drop down menu to access Chartlets and you will see all the symbols, once you have zoomed in

use Selections> Chart> spot details to interrogate the symbols and their

meaning

Symbol sizes

The symbols are always drawn with at least the same number of pixels as are required to draw the symbol; and they are drawn at the size defined in the presentation library for the minimum resolution and minimum chart display area (270 mm x 270 mm)

Cell boundaries

On the Display Settings tab of Charts> C-Map there is an option to show

the SENC cell borders on screen You can also switch off the chart ID

numbers if you want Only those cells found using the 'Refresh' button on the Cell Information tab can be displayed To see more range up again and hit 'Refresh' Sometimes you may see cells of different scales shown on screen at the same time This is indicated below by the magenta chevron line just above the orange marker Overscale areas are denoted in a similar way

When the display cannot be completely covered with ENC data for the

selected navigational purpose, the remaining part of the display is filled with data based on a more general navigational purpose (if available)

Better cell scale available

When in SENC, cells displayed depend on the screen scale If an installed cell provides more detail than is currently shown at ownship's position, a message 'Better scale available' is shown at the left of the status bar

When RNC is in use, and any ENC cell exists as screen centre "ENC

available" is shown on the status bar in text message mode Information on any RNC chart of better scale is added to it

When not using ENC and ownship enters an area covered by a cell, the

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Cell availability

If any area covered by the ECDIS display includes waters for which no HO ENC at a scale appropriate for navigation exists, an on screen alarm is shown with a warning; the no data symbology of a grey screen is shown If there is

an official RNC chart available representing those waters the warning tells them which chart to load (the border of the RNC’s available is also shown)

If no RNC is available then the warning says, “No ENC data, refer to paper chart If an area of the chart with no ENC data is covered by non-ENC data

Cell Information

Cell Information is accessed using the icon on the tool bar or the

Charts> C-Map dialog box, accessed off the top menu bar From here select

the Cell Information Tab Change range to a suitable level and select

'Refresh' Cells found in the current area are listed along with the date of last update and number of corrections Select a cell and click the Cell Info button The chart information dialog is shown populated with information about the selected cell

525Other options available on the Cell Information tab are: -

Goto Cell - centres the screen at the top left of a cell

Updates - shows list of updates

Viewing- This allows you to view a cell in any range scale