Meridien chartware ID10 - what are my alternative options

[Burnham Bob]

I love the SeaTrak software and ID10 (the old Imray digital charts) covers my cruising ground perfectly.
I particularly like the tidal streams data which makes passage planning a doddle working out the best time to leave and course to steer en route. Picks up my gps dongle perfectly.

Trouble is, the software is flaky and support a bit erratic. I just renewed and their registration server is out of commission so I registered by phone. Now the software won't launch at all - keeps trying to take me through registration again.

Updates always seem to go ok on the laptop but on the desk pc even with the program showing an active subscription, the updates won't install and i get an error message saying 'no current subscription'. So I have to call support and they fix it till next time.

I'm thinking of cutting my losses, asking Meridien for a refund of the recent subscription and installing something else.

Does the forum know of anything that will give me the same functionality? Lots of chart packages out there but the tidal data, passage planning and CTS en route are great to have.

 

[Quandary]

I have Seatrak as well but with the Admiralty chart package though I did have Imray a few years back.
I also have Memory Map with the same chart folio as I need it to use my large scale Antares charts for Scottish anchorages, but I find the functionality /user friendliness of MM really significantly inferior. The difference even without the live tides is enough to make me keep my Meridian subscription. Like you I have had problems with Seatrak occasionally but I have always found the support from their tech. guys very good indeed, once when there was a bit of bother (which was eventually traced to a failing laptop) they extended my sub for a year.
If you find something better it would be great if you came back to report on it.

 

[bitbaltic]

I love the SeaTrak software and ID10 (the old Imray digital charts) covers my cruising ground perfectly.
I particularly like the tidal streams data which makes passage planning a doddle working out the best time to leave and course to steer en route. Picks up my gps dongle perfectly.

Trouble is, the software is flaky and support a bit erratic. I just renewed and their registration server is out of commission so I registered by phone. Now the software won't launch at all - keeps trying to take me through registration again.

Updates always seem to go ok on the laptop but on the desk pc even with the program showing an active subscription, the updates won't install and i get an error message saying 'no current subscription'. So I have to call support and they fix it till next time.

I'm thinking of cutting my losses, asking Meridien for a refund of the recent subscription and installing something else.

Does the forum know of anything that will give me the same functionality? Lots of chart packages out there but the tidal data, passage planning and CTS en route are great to have.

Sadly this is ringing a bell with me at the moment. I might be able to help with why your Seatrak won't launch. I have Seatrak and Meridian's Imray ID30 west coast pack with a licence which I renew each June. I have it installed on two PCs- one on the boat and one at home. Both are fully up to date Windows 10 machines and both less than a year old. I update my charts and software in the spring, so last month I brought the boat PC home to do the update. Here's what happened:

I updated the boat PC by uninstalling the 2016 version of Seatrak and installing the 2017 version as recommended on the website. As you mention you have to enter your product code and then ring up for an access code- Barbara in the office is always helpful with that (but I know for a fact that the server which used to issue the code over the internet hasn't worked for at least 18 months and maybe two years). Installed the new 2017 software and like yourself it didn't work- in my case it didn't boot at all. Had to make an appointment with Phil (who is the help person but also the chap behind the software) to look at the problem. This meant installing a remote viewer software so Phil could access the PC. Eventually the fault was traced to a coding error in the 2017 version of seatrak where it picks up the chart pack licenses on startup. My pack is ID30 and somewhere in the code it had got transposed with ID20. It therefore refused to pick up the licence and the software did not boot. Phil knew about this error but thought he had done enough in the coding to fix it. Result was that he had to go away, re-write and recompile seatrak and put a new version up the next day. That worked and the boat PC installation was up and running. I then ran the latest (Jan2017) version of the chart installer to get the latest charts. This worked and everything was running as it should.

The licence gives two installations so I then did a brand new install on my new laptop, for planning at home. This, awkwardly, required me to first download the old 2016 version of Seatrak from the "my purchases" part of the website and install the originally purchased "package" of seatrak plus ID30 charts. Then I had to immediately uninstall the 2016 Seatrak and install the freshly re-written 2017 Seatrak in order to get the software up to date. Rang Barbara for the access code again, got it up and running, all good so far. But of course this version had 2016 versions of the charts, not the latest 2017 charts. Ran the Jan17 chart installer and, hey presto, it said I had no license. Rang Phil again and it turns out the .exe chart installer isn't yet fully compatible with the 2017 version of Seatrak. Again it's something he knows about but hasn't had time to fix. Again we had to install a remote viewer on my new laptop and Phil was able to manually do some jiggery pokery which sorted it all out.

I mentioned that my Seatrak licence runs until June. At the end of March both of my Seatrak installs started up a nag screen saying my subscription had expired and the package was unsafe for navigation. A minor problem, but I didn't want the nag screen there so I have this afternoon just got off the phone with Phil. It's again a problem that will only be solved by re-coding the software to a different licensing system. It will take some time (probably until June!) before he is able to get back to me on that.

On top of this I called sometime last year to point out that the tides for Bristol are wrong (have a look at its tide curve and it jumps up and down every couple of weeks). That was another problem Phil was aware of, again software side, and it still isn't fixed.

So that's four problems I've encountered recently (and all I'm trying to do is install the latest version of the software and use it). All four of them are completely vendor-side, coding issues that as a user I can do nothing at all about. Probably the only reason I haven't followed your thinking in asking for my money back is that I have had Phil on the phone so much that he is practically part of the family. I will see how/if I get feedback on the latest issue but I am also wondering whether I will renew in the summer. It's not the quality of support but the amount of time I've had to put into chasing (mostly known) problems on their side is far too much.

Re. an alternative PC plotter. If you happen to have a modern navionics SD card in a deck chartplotter, then I would recommend PC plotter (www.pcplotter.com) as it can use the exact same charts copied to your hard drive. It has a very good route planning and tidal component but it is not as quick and easy as Seatrak's. If you want to stick with Imray raster charts the only alternative is Neptune's Planner Plus (http://www.neptune-navigation.com/). I have never used it and have heard mixed reviews. Otherwise tOpenCPN with the new UK ?vector charts from o-charts looks interesting to me but I will leave it to the OpenCPN officianados on the board to comment on that.

 

[Burnham Bob]

Actually Phil sorted my problem when I managed to get through. I really love the software and the chart pack so now it's all working I'm sticking with ID10 and SeaTrak. The licence issue is one I keep getting too. I know I've got one but the software says I haven't when I try to update. Everything working fine now but the proof will be when a new chart pack becomes available. My laptop usually updates fine but the desk pc has the licence issue. Will the new 2017 software I've just installed solve the problem? Hope so. Worries me that you say the chart installer isn't fully compatible with the 2017 software though....
Another problem I pointed out is that where charts say 'see note' there's no way to display the note even though there is a notes icon.
Hope the glitches are sorted before the next chart pack though as it really is wonderful software when it works.

 

[bitbaltic]

Worries me that you say the chart installer isn't fully compatible with the 2017 software though....

I think the issue is that every chart pack has its own .exe installer, so that's twenty-odd bits of software and Phil has to go through them all manually to update them. My guess is that he has done the most-used chart packs (Solent surely) first and is working through the rest. So it should get sorted, the question is how long.

Another problem I pointed out is that where charts say 'see note' there's no way to display the note even though there is a notes icon.
Hope the glitches are sorted before the next chart pack though as it really is wonderful software when it works.

I have had Seatrak for about, huh, four years maybe? maybe longer. And that problem has always been there. So I doubt it is going quickly.

But yes when working properly it is very good software particularly for planning and I do like the digital Imray charts, that is the main reason I have had it so long I guess.

 

[MoodySabre]

I abandoned Seatrak (as it didn't easily interface with a USB AIS dongle) and have used the Belfield charts on my laptop which work easily with a USB AIS Dongle. This year with an SH AIS VHF and Navionics on an iPad I probably won't use it.