Nobeltec

[bvimatelot]

Just read that Cygnet USA have bought Nobeltec from Jeppesen Marine. One of Cygnet's major shareholders is Furuno.

Also read that Nobeltec does not support Windows 7!!

Dont really know what the short or long term implications are but....thank goodness for Open Cpn! Tony

[osirissail]

Nobeltec also does not support Vista - but Vista can be configured to allow Nobeltec to operate normally. I assisted a woman sailor with a new Vista computer do the modifications and after finished the Nobeltec worked just fine. It took 8 hours (and two cells phones due to battery depletion) with a Nobeltec Tech Rep to complete the installation. I was very positively impressed with the Tech Service that they would allow us to tie up the Tech Rep live on the phone for that length of time. We had to make several manual "registry" corrections and additions.
- - And the woman has inadvertently purchased a Nobeltec "add-on" that when we got it installed allowed her to use any version of e-charts from the free NOAA to the classical older formats. That eliminated the need for her to purchase new high-priced CD's of charts.
- - The question is whether the new owner will maintain that level of support.

[David M]

osirissail,
Was it an older version you installed? The latest versions seem to support Vista according to Nobeltecs website.

Nobeltec's website says the minimum system requirements for Admiral Max Pro and VNS Max Pro is Windows XP Home/Professional or Windows Vista.

BTW, much of the software and drivers that run under Vista will also run under Windows 7. Therefore, it might run under Windows 7, but for anyone who is interested, I would call them first to confirm this.

Links to Admiral and VNS system requirements....
Nobeltec Navigation Software ....then scroll down and under Specifications click on Min System Requirements

http://www.nobeltec.com/products/prod_suite.asp

[sded]

Nobeltec VNS has supported Vista since version 9.2. Unfortunately, those of us who were out of the country and forced to switch to Vista by computer failure had to go somewhere else-I chose Coastal Explorer. Nobeltec has been delinquent in providing support to the new OS's, but I take more exception to their dropping of support to the free S57 NOAA vector charts (the pack doesn't get them back), their poor quilting, and little bugs like the GPS uploads not being sortable and crashing the program after use and some of their routing problems. I still have 9.2 and use it sometimes, but have no intention to upgrade unless the new owners show they have pulled their heads out of their asses and decided to support their users instead of their pocketbook. BTW, their site says I can get the add-on pack for free if I upgrade for $179, but still doesn't support the S57s and I have no ideas whether any of the bugs have been fixed, just that a bunch of "gee whiz" features have been added. I went through long dialogues directly and posted back when they had a support forum, but not much ever came of it, and they finally scrubbed the forum. "How can they not have a users forum", one asks incredulously. Doubt that the current owners can be worse than the previous, though. And I have been a user since the beginning of Navtrek.

[David M]

No support forum?...could they have grown tired of customers revealing problems with the product to potential new customers?

No compatibility with free downloadable NOAA vector charts?...phooey!

[osirissail]

- - The assistance I gave was in Trinidad almost a year ago and the Nobeltec was in its original box and so I assumed it was a recent edition. The modifications we had to make removed the incompatibility of Vista to older XP drivers at the machine level of the computer. I was only interested in the add-on being able to read the old raster nauticial charts of which I have a world-wide library. The woman had upgraded both the computer from WinXP and the Nobeltec at the same time and was rather despondent at loosing the cost of the Nobeltec upgrade due to incompatibility with Vista. Maybe the next Nobeltec version after hers was corrected to be compatible with Vista... all of which goes back to some of the reasons why Vista has had such a short lifespan.
- - The are numerous other computer navigation applications that I think are far superior to Nobeltec including many obsolete/archaic ones - but she had Nobeltec and wanted to be able to use it. I think Fugawi is probably quite good for being able to read anything map-wize, make your own maps, display GRIB and AIS, and lots of other things.

[Jim Callea]

As of today, Nobeltec has told me that my VNS 10 is not compatable to Microsoft 7 on my Toshiba/ Microsoft Vista.

Nobeltec 10 does very well on my existing program.
Jim

[sded]

From the Coastal Explorer Forum:

"Plans for MS Windows 7 Support?
on 13-Aug 13:45

With the upcoming release of MS Windows 7, when will CE be officially supported the OS? Have you done any testing against that OS, any issues? Any plans for beta testing?

by brad (Rosepoint) on 25-Aug 14:32

Coastal Explorer works great on Windows 7 and it will be officially supported on that platform as soon as Windows 7 has been officially released."


Certainly a whole different attitude-same thing with Vista early adopters who were screwed if they had VNS, transparent with CE. Next year some time, for $179 or so, you should be able to upgrade VNS. But you won't be able to ask other users on a Nobeltec forum how it works for them.

[Seaglow]

I have Nobeltec Maxpro running great on my Acer Windows 7 computer. I think anything that runs on Vista should run on Windows 7 also.

My only complaint is the quality of the Mexico charts. Can anyone suggest better charts for Baja that will work with my Nobelec?

[osirissail]

Unless you have the Nobeltec add-on that allows the old raster charts to be used - the answer to Mexico charts is No! If you do have the add-on/option and installed you can use the raster charts for Mexico put out by SoftChart and BSB or get them through swaps. Other than cruising guides there are no "new" charts for Mexico and also most of the world. The old charts are very good for topographical and soundings but are not - obviously - up to date on land/harbor changes in the last 40 years.

[SG]

Which Version of Nobletec to you have?

I have 9.3 --- it clearly takes both the Passport vector charts AND the Raster Charts (I only have the full US version).

[dacust]

Originally Posted by SG

Which Version of Nobletec to you have?

I have 9.3 --- it clearly takes both the Passport vector charts AND the Raster Charts (I only have the full US version).

Once you get to version 10, the Passports are no longer used. C-Map Max Pro instead. And the raster support becomes a paid option. Jeppesen and Boeing at work finding another way to suck money from their customers.

They didn't tell me I wouldn't be able to use rasters when they offered me my "free" upgrade.

-dan

[SG]

Go Back to 9.3x? That's what I'd do.

I didn't go to the later versions because of that.
It will be interesting to see what Maxsea does now that it's parent owns Nobeltec. They have a tradition of using the Raster Charts. Maxsea's Times Zero uses the Mapmedia format to save its rater charts -- which of course is not compatible with other systems (that I'm aware of).

However, Passport Charts are just licensed to Nobeltec.

[dacust]

Originally Posted by SG

Go Back to 9.3x? That's what I'd do.

I didn't go to the later versions because of that.
It will be interesting to see what Maxsea does now that it's parent owns Nobeltec. They have a tradition of using the Raster Charts. Maxsea's Times Zero uses the Mapmedia format to save its rater charts -- which of course is not compatible with other systems (that I'm aware of).

However, Passport Charts are just licensed to Nobeltec.

Yep. I forget what version I have on my other computer. It is the one and only version that supported ENCs. I was thinking of getting rid of Nobeltec, but then they added ENC support, so I paid for yet another upgrade. Then they offered me a "free" upgrade to Max Pro. It dropped ENC support and made raster support a paid option.

-dan