These are the same charts used by many popular chart plotters including Raymarine, Lowrance and Humminbird, so the same cartridge can be used by the dedicated chart plotter and the PC - a welcome saving. Once the PC has read the data, the card can be returned to the chartplotter until a new area is required.

The software offers all the normal navigation features such as route planning, tidal calculations on multi leg routes and a sophisticated layering function allowing various fields of data to be turned on and off such as buoys, lights, depth contours, spot depths etc. The product is fully AIS compatible and will accept an overlay of AIS target data from any compatible receiver or transponder.  This is where the program really excels, with one of the most powerful and flexible AIS presentations available on the market today. AIS targets can be coloured, prioritised and even scaled as you zoom in and out (assuming the AIS user has entered the correct details into their transponder).  Every target can be labelled and just one click on a target will immediately present you with the vessel’s call sign, name, course, speed and MMSI identity data. Most importantly, targets are instantly coloured red if they are predicted to be on a collision course and the system calculates closest point of approach (CPA) and time to closest point of approach (TCPA).

Support for all of the latest AIS data such as Search and Rescue and Aids to Navigation (AtoN), is included along with interfaces for the entire range of Digital Yacht AIS receivers and transponders allowing the SmarterTrack PC Navigator software to disable the send function on a Class B transponder as well as being able to instigate a safety related message (SRM) which effectively sends an automatic MayDay through  the transponder. 

SmarterTrack PC Navigator is priced at £249.95 including VAT complete with chart reader and is suitable for installation on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 systems.  It will also run on a MAC under PC mode.  The company also bundles a “Lite” or trial version with all their AIS products which doesn’t read charts or provide navigation data but does do an overlay of AIS targets.

The product also does a good job of handling tides and currents with tidal height shown plus also tidal currents for a given location and these can be used for route calculations.