AngelNav website

I am a brand new user. I have purchased the UKHO BF1 (UK South Coast Folio). On the website you describe the charts as 'up to date' with 3 monthly updates. When I select a chart (e.g. 2450) and get the chart information, the pop-up tells me the Update Date (1 Apr 2021 for Chart 2450). I suspect that this is the current edition date for the chart.

  1. Do the quarterly chart updates include the latest corrections (ntm)?

  2. If yes, is there any way to get the date or number of the latest correction applied as NTM's are issued weekly, not 3 monthly?

Welcome to the AngelNav user group! The short answer to your questions are 1. Not all of them 2. No.

However, I will also give you a longer answer describing the background and the updating process. The charts in BF1 are derived from raster charts supplied by the UKHO who release an updated set every quarter. We make those updated charts available within a few days of the start of January, April, July, and October. As far as I am aware, other suppliers of these charts do annual updates only, so users may have to wait up to 9 months for a chart updated in April.

However, only a small number of charts are actually changed each quarterly cycle, and these are listed in the news section of our website here. For example, in the most recent update 6 weeks ago there were six updated charts for BF1 (3 each for numbers 2611 and 2793). If you load Poole Harbour and Approaches (2611) you will see it that the update date is 29th August 2024. This is the date stamp put on the chart by the UKHO, and it was then made available to us in time for the October update. Chart 2450 has not been updated since 1st April 2021.

The update process in AngelNav happens automatically whenever you have the app running and the device has an internet connection. If you have notifications switched on, you will see this happening on or shortly after 1st January 2025.

I can't speak for the internal processes of the UKHO, but it seems to me that on the whole they do incorporate information from NTMs into the relevant charts in a timely fashion. For example NTM number 3332 from 2023 describes a new buoy in the entrance to Langstone harbour, and this appears on chart 3418 updated 13th April 2023. On the other hand the destruction of Holyhead marina after the storm in 2018 took many years to be shown on chart 2011.

Another point is that some NTMs refer to construction work which is either temporary or takes years to complete. In the former case, the NTM is unlikely ever to be incorporated into a chart, and in the latter case the NTM often says something like "The relevant chart will be updated when the works are complete".

I can't think of a practical way of that we can improve this process, although perhaps including this link within the chart information section of AngelNav would be useful? This would at least allow a user to search for any relevant NTMs.

Bill

Hi Bill,

Thank you for your comprehensive answer.

As you suggest, finding an improved process may be impossible as you are in the hands of whatever internal process the chart originators may have.

For Admiralty Charts, I think including the link to their NTM search on the Chart Info Pop Up is a good idea.

I was going to suggest that your explanation is incorporated into the app documentation, but then realised that you provide access to more than one official supplier, and that each supplier is likely to have their own internal processess for issuing updates on their raster products. Presenting that information in a user friendly way could be a challenge. I believe this is an imortant topic, but one that may be low priority for some users. One option would be to include the information in the user manual, but perhaps better would be to include a description (similar to your above explanation for Admiralty Charts) onto the apps website, and include a link in the user manual to that information for those intersted in the detail of what is, and isn't, included in the quartely chart updates.

Thanks again

Gaius

Hi Gaius,

I have included the link to the NTM search in the latest version (2.0.1) which is now available on the App Store. I will also include something about updates in the documentation either in the manual or on the website.

Thanks very much for raising this issue, which I agree is important!

Bill