[rockDAWG]

Thru Active Captain, it is $39.99 plus $9.99 coupon. The license is good for 5 computers with 30 days money back guarantee.

I bought the Navimatics previously. It seems that Polar View has more features. I will look into this more. But for $39.99, it is harmless.

The below is from AC

>>> The Apple Macintosh >>>

There are people who love Apple and people who hate them. No matter
how you feel though, there's no denying the incredible success Apple
has gained since the iPod, iPhone, and iPad product lines. Today Apple
is the largest company in the world by market capitalization:

- Apple is bigger than the entire US stock market was in 1977

- Apple is worth more than than all NFL football teams combined (by ten
times!)

- Apple is significantly larger than the GDP of Denmark (and Sweden and
and Venezuela and approximately 160 other countries)

We've had a long personal history with Apple ourselves:

- Karen was an employee of Apple doing marketing in the very early 90's

- Our first company developed software for the Macintosh (real success
came when we ported that software to Windows though)

- Jeff met with Steve Jobs twice and had numerous conversations and
meetings with Bill Atkinson, developer of MacPaint and HyperCard

- Products that we developed were on the cover of MacWeek and we
received a MacEddy award for software we wrote for another company
in 1989

There were years when we only used Macs and years where we got rid of
all of them and only used Windows. Today we have both although our
main laptops are both MacBooks (a Pro and an Air). We use Boot Camp
to run Windows on the Macs for navigation software which works great
although requires a reboot.

It's estimated that 8-9% of computers in use today are Macs. This is
interesting because the ActiveCaptain website statistics show that
about 22% of the access to the site is using Mac/OSX. So more boats
out there are floating with Macs than you'd normally see in other
places.

Because of this, we thought it would be a great time to talk about
the Mac navigation software that we use on our own Macs - PolarView.
It's a native OSX application that uses the free BSB/NOAA raster and
S57/NOAA vector charts along with a variety of international chart
options. It's blazingly fast, creates routes that are compatible with
ActiveCaptain, and has full support for the ActiveCaptain data offline.
You can even write a review for a marker while using PolarView.

PolarView has a normal price of $49.99 and includes a license for 5
computers. There is a Windows version too and you can use the 5 copies
across any combination of 5 computers (Windows or Mac/OSX).

Right now there's a special price of $39.99 - but we're not done.
We wrote to the developer and November isn't a big month for navigation
software so they're providing a $9.99 coupon to ActiveCaptain users
between November 1st and 30th. Use this code when purchasing:
PVAC201211

If you have a Mac, this is really great native OSX software and
you'll find good uses for it. Plug in a USB GPS like the GlobalSat
BU-353 and you have a full backup navigation system for your Mac.
This is the only OSX navigation software with ActiveCaptain support.

We honestly use this software for real. And often. It's quite nice
to be able to run it without rebooting into Windows.

More info on PolarView including a free 30 day trial:
Polar Navy - Marine Navigation Software

A good place to purchase the GlabalSat BU-353:
http://www.amazon.com/GlobalSat-BU-353/dp/B000PKX2KA

 

[brak]

Just to make sure (although this is a good deal, methinks - but hey, I am slightly biased):

There is no "30 day money back guarantee".
There is a:
1. Free 30 day trial. I.e. there is no need to pay for a license right away. Rather - download, install and use the product first. All features of licensed version will be available.

2. Refund policy is simple (also listed on ordering page):
- Activation code that was not used at all - full refund
- Activation code that was used to activate 1 copy of PolarView - 50% refund
- No refunds for 2 and more activations.

This policy is not subject to any time limits.

 

[rockDAWG]

Thanks for the heads up. I assume that you are a current user

Do you know if PV allows you to incorporate the Gulf Stream prediction chart into their chart like the one provided from PassageWeather.com

It will be great if we can do that, so we can plan our insertion and exiting points for crossing the GS.

 

[carl762]

Hey Brak, I bought PolarView a long time ago. I want to get it running on my iPhone and another computer. I can't find the activation code on my main computer. How do I find the code?

Thanks. I use PolarView on the boat on a netbook in a waterproof case and GPS puck. Works nice.

 

[rockDAWG]

It looks like you have to submit a support ticket in their forum to get it.
Here is the link to start.

activation code

 

[carl762]

Thanks RockDawg.

 

[smurphny]

Bought this program a few months ago. No problems while fooling around testing it out, no crashes, no errors, reads ENCs well and does not take forever to load charts. Have NOT used it on the boat yet, so we'll see. It seems to be a good value for the money and does not use up too much computer memory. I can also run it on my little Dell Mini as a backup. The main program I use is Sailcruiser with C-Map charts. Sailcruiser has many more features, including polars and tack plotting but for the money Polar View has almost everything necessary. It is much better than freeware programs which I found to have all sorts of problems.

 

[rockDAWG]

I found my answer to my question. I wrote to Polar Navy and got an answer from them regarding importing gulf stream data into their chart.

Here is what they said:

PolarView can load data in GRIB format. If they provide data in GRIB format - it can be loaded in PolarView.
Also note that RTOFS GRIB model, which can be downloaded directly from PolarView, includes Atlantic ocean current prediction (that means - Gulfstream).
--
Polar Navy Support

I should have thought about that. Unfortunately, PassageWeather.com does not supporting GRIB format, or at least I can't find it on their site.

I also looked into NOAA site and found this:
Atlantic RTOFS Nowcasts/Forecasts

I am sure somewhere here, I can find the GRIB file for the GS. If anyone knows, please post or I will continue to search for more answer.

 

[brak]

The GRIB file for Gulfstream *is* the RTOFS model, and it is already built into PolarView.

 

[jrd22]

Looks like a great program, unfortunately the $1200 for the Canadian charts I would need is kind of a deal killer.

 

[brak]

Sorry, nothing I can do about that. Write to your friendly Canadian chart service (CHS) and let them know you are interested in better chart licensing prices

That said, I think Navionics ENC regions for Canada are EUR150 (that's about $200) a piece and generally, unless you cruise the entire length of Canadian coastline, you can get away with one - at least in the west/British Columbia coast.

Not sure about BSBv4 (raster chart) prices, but I think they are on the same scale.

 

[rikhall]

Navimatics - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/charts-tides-us-canada-east/id458456027?ls=1&mt=8

East Coast of USA and East Coast of Canada - software and charts - $24.05

I have no idea how they got that kind of deal on Canadian charts???

Rik

 

[brak]

East coast of USA is free

No idea how they get Canadian charts at that price. If you contact CHS and find out anything useful - please let me know.

 

[eherlihy]

Upgrading your OS (I just jumped from Win7 to Win10) REQUIRES that you use an additional license!

I just ran into this issue with PolarView NS from PolarNavy; it isn't so much "a problem," but it is something that you should be reminded of (it took me by surprise). Your initial purchase likely included 5 licenses, so it should not be a big deal. If you are running those 5 licenses on multiple machines (I am also running on a WinXP machine at my navigation station), be careful that you don't run out of licenses.

 

[jcapo]

I've been using PolarView for coastal and ICW navigation for 5 years. No complaints at all. Integrated Active Captain data is wonderful!

 

[eherlihy]

Ugggggh....

I PURCHASED Polar Navy's PolarView NS software partly BECAUSE it was not a "subscription" licensed product. My understanding was pay once, and use it forever. It seems, however, that this has changed with the latest release 3.0.1. Per the Polar Navy release notes;

An update on product licensing and availability. We were informed by a data licensor that the product access to PolarView NS must be no less restrictive than access to the data source. Free application with fee-based network data access is not compatible with the licensing requirements.

Product compliance requires us to either provide free data access or implement application licensing as well. Nice though it may be, free data access and free application is clearly not financially feasible.

So, not without some reservations, but also with hope for a more sustainable outlook, PolarView NS will, again, require a subscription to use. PolarView NS subscription will be included, along with data access, as part of either US or UK chart subscription.

We expect the updated version of PolarView to be available for download in the next few days.

It is too bad that they don't disclose which licensed product incorporated into PolarView NS is requiring the subscription, or make that feature a subscription based option.

Continuing;

$19.99 as of today for either US or UK subscription.

and

Subscription is annual. Users should renew their subscription to continue accessing online services AND using the program. As far as "lock out" is concerned - when shopping at a brick and mortar business, customers are expected to pay for goods and services rendered regardless of whether armed guards are posted at the door PolarView security measures will be adjusted based on user compliance.

When shopping at brick and mortar business, customers pay for, and leave with a product. If a product price changes, then subsequent customers pay the increased price.

It woulld seem that the most viable option at this point is to: DON'T UPGRADE BEYOND Version 2.0.7, and to start learning and using OpenCPN.

 

[Stu Jackson]

eh, you're so, so right.

Alienating your very customers is not a very good business model.

 

[tschmidty]

They do give you several years of free subscription if you recently bought it. FWIW, I really like the software, not as crazy about the licensing but still pretty inexpensive. And yes, you can just stick with 2/07 which works fine.

- From licensing article
INFO Users who purchased PolarView NS product activation code, receive complimentary subscription to PolarView NS, US charts, GRIB and POI downloads for 3 years from the date of original order, or until August 31, 2017, whichever comes last.

 

[Rachael Conner]

Thank you for sharing the information.I want to search for a coupon code but I don't know where to get it. Anyone know where have coupon codes not just me with.

 

[eherlihy]

Polar Navy went belly up in 2019.

Next best charting program is Aqua Maps. Aqua Maps does not run under windows, but does run under iOS, or Android.