Interesting Nav Program

[Pascal]

Here is a fairly new Nav program which i became aware of last week in the Active Captain newsletter.

www.polarnavy.com

obviously the big advantage is that it incorporate Active Captain data, which i find myself relying on a lot.

easy to set up, seem to work well and has a pretty good/intuitive interface.

You need to download and run both PolarView and PolarCom. I had an issue with both programs not communicating together but got a quick response from the developer indicating that both need to be version 1.5 to work together. easy fix.

while not free like OpenCPN which i've been using for over 2 years / 10K NM, it's under $50 so it won't break your budget.

it can use a variety of chart format incl. NOAA and NV Bahamas charts.

havent' used it in real conditions yet, but will in the next few days, so far looks promising

[pmurphy]

Does the program require you to be online in order to use? If not, can you still see the Active Captain data even though you are off-line. That would be really nice.

[pn2000]

Does the program require you to be online in order to use? If not, can you still see the Active Captain data even though you are off-line. That would be really nice.

I figured I'll butt in and reply directly, if no one minds

PolarView is primarily an off-line navigation system. Internet connection is not required to use most of the functionality, including a complete ActiveCaptain database.

Internet connection is required for initial download and updates of charts, POI and weather data. Once downloaded, data is stored locally.

[34Hatt]

I figured I'll butt in and reply directly, if no one minds

PolarView is primarily an off-line navigation system. Internet connection is not required to use most of the functionality, including a complete ActiveCaptain database.

Internet connection is required for initial download and updates of charts, POI and weather data. Once downloaded, data is stored locally.

I use computer base programs such as this and would like to know more been to the site and its got my Interest.

I have a feeling you know a lot about this program so I am asking the Moderators and Doug can pn2000 post more about this program.

Please

[Pascal]

You need to get on line to update Active Captain data (every 1 to 2 weeks works pretty well) otherwise no internet connection required

[Pascal]

I used Polar on a 4 day trip to bimini this week end and so far so good, i like it. Used it for the trip itself, as well as on a couple of day trips over there. Had it up and running for about 30 hours or so (not just underway but on the hook) and it was stable without crashes or loss of signal. Seem to be small enough not to be a resource hog on the machine.

WP and route functions are easy to use.

in addition to Active Captain data, the big plus over OpenCPN is the chart quilting which works real well. using the mouse pad scroll wheel let you change the charts/zoom effortlessly. nice feature, almost no load delay.

weather support is nice...

so far, the only thing i find that OpenCPN handles better are the tide graphs which are a lot more precise. in openCPN you can drag a ruler across the graph to get precise time/height data, where as in Polar you have to guess tide height between high and low... minor gripe.

another minor issue is night time colors. OpenCPN has an extra setting which is dark enough yet not as hard to read as teh full night setting. I find the OpenCPN intermediate setting combined with dimming the actual computer screen to be a lot more comfortable than Polar night setting.

bottom line, solid program and i'm definitely going to buy it.

[34Hatt]

Had it up and running for about 30 hours or so (not just underway but on the hook) and it was stable without crashes or loss of signal.

Does it have anchor watch?

[pn2000]

another minor issue is night time colors. OpenCPN has an extra setting which is dark enough yet not as hard to read as teh full night setting. I find the OpenCPN intermediate setting combined with dimming the actual computer screen to be a lot more comfortable than Polar night setting.

Are you using raster or vector charts?

P.S. Yes, there is anchor alarm in the program.

[administrator]

I use computer base programs such as this and would like to know more been to the site and its got my Interest.

I have a feeling you know a lot about this program so I am asking the Moderators and Doug can pn2000 post more about this program.

Please

Sure - no problem.

[34Hatt]

Are you using raster or vector charts?

P.S. Yes, there is anchor alarm in the program.

Great my old Capt Voyager doesn't!

As for Raster or Vector do you have to use one or the other or can you run both?

I imagine you would need to maybe change the path to which charts you want to use?