These control how your vessel and other vessels (AIS targets) are depicted on the Navigation display. Most settings apply equally to your vessel and to AIS targets. Note that your vessel will only be depicted if its location is known from the devices integrated GPS or from GPS information supplied from external NMEA.
Show Swept Path (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When enabled, shows swept path of Own-Ship. The swept path is indicated by lines that begin from the current outermost extremities of the vessel to port and starboard from the current course of the vessel. This is useful primarily when the vessel is drifting due to current or wind and the effective beam may be significantly higher than the beam. The length of the swept path is same as the predicted course length, but at most 6 minutes.
When Swept Path is enabled, the vertical status bar includes a panel with Own-Ship's beam width, drift (crab) angle, and effective beam width at the current time.
Finally, when n Electronic Bearing Line (EBL) is selected which is between Own-Ship beam and length, the EBL panel in the status bar is shown the maximum drift possible for Own-Ship's effective beam to be at-most the length of the EBL. This is the maximum angle and assumes the vessels COG approaching the EBL is a right angle.
Please keep the following caveats in mind:
Trial Rate-of-Turn (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When enabled, a slider appears below the main navigation panel. You can use this to set a Trial ROT of up to 30°/m in either direction. An orange-colored course vector is then displayed (in addition to the normal black one) that shows the vessel's predicted course at that rate-of-turn. The Trial ROT is displayed above the slider along with the turning radius at the current SOG (if the vessel speed is moving at least 1kn).
Similarly, if following a route, the goal waypoint is shown with an additional turning radius corresponding to the current SOG.
You can zero the Trial ROT by pressing the O button above the slider. You can disable it by pressing the X button.
A switch labeled CHL (Curved Heading Line) is available to control the behavior of the course vector when approaching waypoints/turns. When CHL is enabled and Own-Ship is within 3NM of a turn, the predicted course straightens when it reaches the bearing for the next course leg. CHL is automatically disabled when Use Drift in Course Predictions is enabled.
A switch labeled RAD (Radius) is provided to allow selecting by radius-of-turn instead of ROT. The display will be updated to show the rate of turn required at the current Own-Ship speed to maintain the selected radius of turn.
Trial Speed (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When enabled, a slider appears below the main navigation panel. You can use this to set a Trial SOG of up to 25kn. The slider value is used for all calculations related to Own-Ship speed. Because of the pervasive effect of this setting, the panel for the slider has a magenta background.
Example uses include testing for effects of changing on ETA, CPA, or meeting points with other vessels.
As opposed to Trial ROT, this does not create a new predicted course vector. However, the Trial SOG is used in both the normal predicted course vector and in the Trial ROT course vector (if enabled).
This mode is disabled by pressing the X button in the panel.
Show Own-Ship Wind & Drift : When enabled (and appropriate sensor data is available from NMEA), vectors are shown for apparent wind, true wind, and drift. The vectors originate from the center of Own-Ship. The apparent wind has one set of "tails"; the true wind has two sets of tails. The drift has an arrow head pointing away from Own-Ship. The vectors only indicate direction, not speed. In some cases, not all vectors may be shown.
Important: normally the sensor data required for this feature is not available from the AIS Pilot Plug that pilots use, so turning this on has no effect.
Flag AIS Targets by Type : When enabled, each AIS target with is shown with a flag that has color according to its type:
Show AIS CPA : When you select an AIS target, an information box appears with information about the Closest Point of Approach (CPA) with Own-Ship. This information is also displayed on the vertical status bar. You can also enable Show AIS CPA in order to have the CPA positions displayed visually. The positions of the AIS target and Own-Ship when they are at the estimated CPA are marked with magenta circles. Dotted magenta lines show the path of vessels to the CPA and connect the positions. This can be helpful to understand the relative positions of the vessels when they are at the CPA.
CPA gives distances based on center of Own-Ship and target. They vessels maintain course (COG & SOG), regardless of current ROT.
CPA Alarm (Only SEAiq Pilot) : Alarm fires when new vessels with CPA at most 1nm within 15 minutes.
Strictly speaking, an alarm is generated for any vessel which will approach within the range and time.
Estimates are based on center of Own-Ship and target. They assume vessels maintain course (COG & SOG), regardless of current ROT.
Show AIS BCR (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When you select an AIS target, an information box appears with information about the Bow Crossing Range (BCR) with Own-Ship. This information is also displayed on the vertical status bar. You can also enable Show AIS BCR in order to have the BCR positions displayed visually. The positions of the AIS target and Own-Ship at the estimated point are marked with orange circles. Dotted orange lines show the path of vessels to the BCR and connect the positions. This can be helpful to understand the relative positions of the vessels.
BCR gives distances for centers of Own-Ship and target, not their bow or stern. The calculation assumes vessels maintain (COG & SOG), regardless of the current ROT.
Hide Recreational Vessels (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When enabled, AIS targets identified as recreational vessels are not displayed. This capability relies on the vessel type information reported by AIS. Recreational vessels include the following types (again, as identified by AIS): Diving, Sailing, and Pleasure vessels.
Recreational vessels at least Settings / Meeting Points / Small Vessel Length are displayed, regardless of this setting.
Hide Fishing Vessels (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When enabled, AIS targets identified as fishing vessels are not displayed. This capability relies on the vessel type information reported by AIS.
Fishing vessels at least Settings / Meeting Points / Small Vessel Length are displayed, regardless of this settings.
Show AIS Target Routes (Only SEAiq Pilot) : When enabled, routes reported for AIS targets are shown. When disabled, only the route for the selected target is displayed.
These are transmitted as AIS Binary Broadcast (code=8, DAC=265, FID=1/2, or similar) and are primarily in use only in Northern Europe.
When zoomed in sufficiently far, SEAiq will display vessels (both Own-Ship and AIS targets) scaled and positioned to their approximate shape. This can be useful in many situations, such as when navigating in small areas.
In order for True-scale display to be used for a given vessel, the following conditions must all be met.
The size of Own-Ship may come from the local AIS feed (in "AIVDO" sentences) or may be set manually by the user. The settings in the AIS feed are given preference, unless Settings / Own-Ship / Size / Source is set to Manual, in which case your manual settings will be used.
For AIS targets, the size information is reported less frequently than the vessel's position so there may be a delay after a vessel is first displayed before the shape is available. SEAiq saves this information to prevent the delay when the same vessel is encountered again.