Katlian
2013-02-22 04:28:44
Nobeltec has sent up a sales rep to Sitka. He arrived in town this evening. He is available to come down to boats to answer questions for people or do installs. I have also arranged for a morning meeting at the Larkspur on Saturday from 9-11am. Abde will be doing a presentation on Nobeltec Catch version 2. Everyone is welcome to attend the Larkspur meeting.
If anyone want to contact the Rep for a boat visit, you can contact him directly. Abde Sabouni 503-200-8183 abde.Sabouni@nobeltec.com
slr
Salty
2013-02-24 03:31:07
I have a Catch program installed on my computer and attended this training. Met with Abde for a while after the program and he was very helpful with questions I had on using it the way I wanted. We personalized the program and I am very impressed both with the program and the help. Will report later on it after a month or so of fishing and running with it.
Disclaimer, I have been running and testing Nobeltec programs since the early 90's. I don't work for them or receive any commission on their products. I keep advising them that they would sell more products if they provided more training and workshops.
pacific mariner
2013-02-28 17:10:47
I don't really understand why everyone likes nobeltec so much. I have had nobeltec for the last five years and has worked well. But now am thinking of getting a back up computer and to do so I would have to buy a whole new program. So I am leaning towards coastal explorer. My opinion is that there is the same nav software out there, quality wise, for a whole lot less.
gumpucky
2013-02-28 22:30:22
Been using nobletec for the last 10-12 years. Don't know if it's because of that and I'm just used to it or what. I've tried other programs but have never found any that I was completely comfortable or happy with. I bought the new nobletec "Odysey" and it was ok but it wasn't as quick on some of the operations as I'd like and you would have to use two fingers to say... make a depth mark while your turning out of a tight spot with your knee on the wheel and the other hand on the throttle where the old nobletec used one finger on f5 button. I'm not a tec nerd so I can't get too tec specific. If your on nobletecs books as a paying owner of the old program I think Rob will sell you the Odysey for half price. the only reason I did that was cause the old comp. went down and my main comp. had windows 7. I picked up an old refurb w/ XP so I can keep using the old program.
Kelper
2013-02-28 23:23:35
Anybody forgo the laptop and just use a 12v plotter with a chip in it for their main source of navigation? (c-map, navionics, etc) (like a furuno nav net system or a smaller unit)
lone eagle
2013-02-28 23:52:14
I'm still using a 10" color plotter on c map. But I don't fish reefs and rockpiles where bottom contours may be more critical. I hook up a secondary unit in the troll pit which (along with sounder/ radar) works well for me
JYDPDX
2013-03-01 08:33:02
I recently started using Coastal Explorer Nav software and wanted to give it a recommendation on here. I had been using Nobletec version 7 for years and CE is hands down a huge upgrade. Almost everything about it is better. It's really easy to use, intuitive and has a very nice interface. There is a help menu that displays all of the keyboard shortcuts which is really handy. All of my marks from Nobletec were imported flawlessly. It's really snappy, never bogs down on my new computer which was cheap and not fancy.
On the F5: the ONLY thing I don't like about CE is naming your newly made marks is a pain in the ass. I memorized a sequence of about 10 key strokes to input the mark data each time without having to pick up the mouse. I have contacted them and asked them to fix it on the next update and they were receptive but who knows.
Aside from this drawback (which I have found a workaround) it's still way better than the Nobletech version I was using before and it only costs a out $350.
I have taken issue with having to use the same charts as the rest of the fleet however. After years of using and getting very accustomed to the beautiful and concisely detailed Passport charts that were made for old Nobletec version I had, I have to now use the standard raster and vector data from NOAA of which the vector data for many areas of SE AK has not been updated and some of it is downright awful. I've caught a lot of flack out of complaining about this to friends and I began to realize that most people I know use raster charts and the reason for this completely escapes me, nostalgia maybe.
I decide to take a chance on the cmap charts, as they are supported by CE and spent, I think $200 for SE AK. They suck, especially for the price. They don't offer anything that the free NOAA data doesn't and they are not customizeable in any way. They are also cluttered up with a lat long grid that is permanent. They have the same inaccuracies as the NOAA data.
If anyone knows of a better solution please let me know. While I love CE, and its easier than hell to switch between charts on this program- keyboard shortcuts- just hit R for raster, V for vector, M for cmap (the whole program is simple and intuitive) I would really like to have better charts for areas north west of Sitka.
Salty
2013-03-01 18:37:58
Great posts, thanks Joe and Drew.
Except for traveling and to look at place names I seldom look at a Rastar or Vector chart anymore. I started with Nobeltec in about 92 when it was called Navtrek which was furnished free for me to test. I agree, I can hardly understand why anyone uses Rastar instead of vector, but some of my partners prefer it, and it is a nice quick reference as in, "the kings are on the top of the S", or "they are right in the middle of the 53". I loved it when the course or heading up feature was offered, and then when the look ahead feature came along I just loved having my boat at the bottom of the chart with my whole view ahead of me, as it looked out the window.
Except for tracks through shallow places or into harbors I never did use tracks much. I found early on that following tracks, where the fish had been, or the depth they were at, detracted from paying attention to where they are now and especially where they are likely to be next. Plus, my personality is always curious about the next place, even when I am hiking through our local park, which I have done over 60 times in the last three months, I never take exactly the same route.
I like the easy way to make event marks so I could see where the fish had been and direction they were moving. Someone showed me how to easily label marks, routes, tracks, boundaries, etc. and store them so I could make visible only the ones I was using.
I share this history to explain where I am at now, which is better for me. I have two computers and a great navigation program on my iphone, so basically three computer navigation programs running at all times. I have a switch so with one flick I can move from one computer to another on my monitors. I have my color sounder integrated into the computer so its information is shown on the monitors. I have plugged my VIS radio into the computer and whenever a tender, tug, cruise ship, etc. is in the area their name, course, speed, etc. is displayed on the screen. We also have set up a separate cord so we can plug the computers into the 12 volt system if the 110 inverter fails.
But, I am relatively slow and am behind in a lot of this. People who are into this, also have their radar plugged in and can label each vessels distinctive signal and after going by them on the drag have them all with a distinctive label and track color if wanted. They have a black box that converts their color sounder into a computer view so they can split their screen and see the feed over the 3 D, or 2D view.
I had an opportunity to go on a super seiner/crabber/longliner last year and view his new system which is tens of thousands more dollars than I can afford. But, it was really cool to see the difference in bottom mapping with 110 different soundings per pulse than my system with 1 per pulse. Pretty cool to see balls of feed displayed over the bottom chart in different three D or historic views. Really interesting to see the different bottom types. Imagine the learning going on as longliners are importing their marks and sets over the new bottom maps with the substrate identified and can correlate when and where the good sets are with the different substrate, slope, etc.
While the 3D bottom mapping is helpful in trolling, it has revolutionized longlining, shrimping, and crabbing. If you are fishing in those fisheries without it, you are fishing relatively blind compared to your competition.
So, yes it is my opinion that there is much better technology than being discussed in previous posts. Can trollers afford it? I can barely afford to buy bait on what I have made this winter. So, the posts on relatively inexpensive programs are what is important to most trollers reading this site. Thank you. For $15 or so you can get a fine US West Navionics program for your iphone with good charts, track and mark making capability.
But, I thought it might be nice to know why some of those guys are killing em while the rest of us stumble blindly along looking for birds.
I am excited about testing the new "Catch" program, which is a significant upgrade from Nobeltec 9,5 for me. But, it is nothing like some of the technology out there.
Salty
2013-05-24 17:14:47
Attended the latest "Catch" class offered by Eric Holmgren of Current Navigation here in Sitka on Tuesday. About a dozen of us with our computers. Very basic instruction which is what most of us need. I have been using the "Catch" program in an effort to learn it this May. I am beginning to get the basic hang of it. It is an amazing program that is totally different from previous nobeltec programs so there is a re-learning curve with all the icons etc. I like some of the features better than the older versions, particularly the fact that it uses less computer power to map and make changes so it does not bog down like my old program. Once you start to get the hang of the tools they are pretty easy to use and a lot more of them are available quickly than on the old program. I really like the transparencies features that make it possible to view both your 2D and 3D chart in the frame. I don't mean the split screen, and that feature is improved also.
I prefer the 3D view of the old program and the color selections versus the catch. That should be a relatively easy upgrade though. I also like it that we could import all my data from the old program to this one. Find myself choosing to use the new program now because of the improved marking and manipulation even though I prefer the color scheme of the old one in 3D.
Several of us in Sitka are working with the ALFA data sharing program available with the Catch program. Easy to see how it would reduce rockfish by-catch in all the fisheries. Hopefully the ideas for improvements we are communicating to Nobeltec will result in desired upgrades.
If you are not using a sophisticated bottom mapping program then "Catch" is one way to go. If you are satisfied with your existing nobeltec program then I might wait until some of these upgrades are incorporated or buy the program with the understanding of getting the upgrades discounted. I also highly recommend attending training and having a smart young partner or two to work with.