Rose Point Navigation Systems Coastal Explorer™ is a sophisticated and full-featured, yet very easy to use navigation software package designed specifically for the pleasure boater.

With support for official raster and vector charts from almost every major hydrographic agency in the world, route planning features with multi-level undo capability, integrated gazetteer and Coast Pilot™ books, virtual instrument display, and obstacle alerts, Rose Point Coastal Explorer will help you make your next cruise safer and more enjoyable.

"Stable, well-crafted, and loaded with fresh ideas."
-- Ben Ellison, Power & Motoryacht

Click here for the Specification Sheet

Click here for a What's New overview

RSTMarine Price:  $369.00     Buy Online

What's New in Coastal Explorer 2.0

Coastal Explorer 2.0 includes many improvements to Coastal Explorer's already legendary usability, performance and reliability as well as some very exciting and exclusive new features.

Coastal Explorer Network

The Coastal Explorer Network is a new on-line service that provides users with their own space on the Internet that includes:

• A "Blog Book" for sharing their experiences with friends, family, and other Coastal Explorer Network users
• A community provided Cruising Guide and Vessel Registry which is tightly integrated with the Coastal Explorer software
• An automatic US chart update service

Coastal Explorer 2.0 also includes a new Synchronization Tool which make makes it easy to get program, data, and chart updates to your computers that do not have direct access to the Internet. This tool is also used to retrieve tracks and log entries from your boat computer in order to save them on your home computer or send them to the Coastal Explorer Network.

Route Timeline Planning Tool

Coastal Explorer 2.0 includes a new way of planning routes that makes it easy to plan a departure time based on a desired arrival time. The new Route Timeline Planning Tool even takes tidal current predictions into account when estimating your cruising time!

The timeline tool plots your route on a time scale, lets you move any waypoint to the time you want to be at its location, and automatically adjusts the times of all the other waypoints in the route. It has never been easier to determine the right time to start cruising!

More Customization

Coastal Explorer 2.0 provides many more customization options including the ability to create new operational modes which are customized arrangements of different types of views (such as charts, radar, and video) and instrument panels. These operational modes can be used to provide exactly the information you want, in the format you want, for various tasks such as cruising, entering a harbor, fishing, docking, or anchoring.

Video Cameras

Coastal Explorer 2.0 can display video from any Windows® compatible video camera. Now you can monitor your engine room, swim platform, or aft view on the same display you use for your charts.

Radar

Rose Point offers a variety of radar sensors that work with Coastal Explorer 2.0 to provide radar images overlaid on the chart as well as in a side-by-side radar and chart display.

 More about Coastal Explorer Radar Sensors.

World Wide Chart Coverage

We are also working on providing world-wide chart coverage by adding support for Navionics® charts. This functionality will be made available later this year as an update to Coastal Explorer 2.0.

Pricing and Availability

The final pricing of Coastal Explorer 2.0 has not been determined yet, but it will be provided as a free upgrade to all registered Coastal Explorer 1.1 users!

All information on this page is preliminary and subject to change!

 

Key Features

Superior Charting

• Includes a Complete Set of US Charts
• Fast and Clear Raster Chart Drawing
• Elegant Vector Chart Presentation
• Integrated Gazetteer, Coast Pilot® and Sailing Directions
• Compatible with Many Electronic Chart Formats
• Quilt Vector, Raster, and Photo Charts Together Seamlessly
  
  More About Charts

Superior Planning

• Multi-level Undo and Redo
• Powerful Searching
• ETA Calculator
• Route Obstacle Checking
• Integrated Weather Forecasts (version 1.1)
• Tide Level and Tidal Current Predictions
• Import Routes Created with Other Programs
  
  More About Planning

Superior Navigation

• Compatible with most GPS Receivers and Auto Pilots
• Full-Screen Cruising Mode
• Virtual Instrument Displays
• Voice Alerts
• Charted Obstacle Detection
• AIS and MARPA Target Display
• Day, Twilight, and Night Modes
  
  More About Navigation

Click here for the Reviewer's Guide

Click here for Screen Shots (large file, loads slowly)

Click here for the Minimum System Requirements

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Charts

Coastal Explorer lets you choose the types of charts you want to use. You can even quilt several types of charts together!

VECTOR CHARTS Coastal Explorer uses S-57 ENC vector charts which are the only official vector charts produced by NOAA and the hydrographic offices in most of the rest of the world. Charts for most US waters are available free of charge from the NOAA and US Army Corps of Engineers websites and Coastal Explorer makes it very easy to download and install these charts.
RASTER CHARTS If you prefer to use the older "raster" charts, or vector charts are not yet available for some of your favorite cruising spots, Coastal Explorer will also let you use raster charts in most popular formats, including the new BSB4 format from Maptech and NDI. Coastal Explorer includes Chart Kit / MAPTECH Region 1 - United States Planning Charts - a $199.95 value!
PHOTO CHARTS Photo charts are not intended for navigation, but can be a very handy to supplement your charts. Coastal Explorer supports photo charts from Maptech, SoftChart International, and even GeoTIFF format images you can download from the Internet.
TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS Topographic maps are not suitable for navigation either, but are very handy for hiking around that island you just anchored near! Coastal Explorer can use the topographic maps that are included in many of Maptech's ChartKits as well as the original USGS DRG files which are found in the GeoTIFF format.

Electronic Chart Manufacturers
Coastal Explorer can use charts and maps from these agencies and manufacturers:

NOAA ENC® These vector charts are available for free and cover much of the US coast.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Inland ENC These vector charts are available for free and cover major U.S. rivers.
U.S. Geological Survey The USGS produces "DRG" topographic maps as well as "DOQ" photo charts the the GeoTIFF format which may be used with Coastal Explorer.
Maptech Digital Charts Maptech is the official distributor for NOAA raster charts. They also offer raster charts for many other parts of the world, including the Carribean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Mediterranian.
Nautical Data International, Inc. NDI distributes the official charts of the Canadian Hydrographic Offices under the digital ocean® brand name. Both raster and vector charts are available from NDI.

Planning Mode

Coastal Explorer makes it easy to plan your next cruising adventure with features like chart quilting, multi-level undo, a super-integrated gazetteer, a completly geo-referenced Coast Pilot, and route obstacle detection. With chart quilting, there's no need to figure out which charts to open. Just zoom in and out and scroll around and the right charts will appear seamlessly quilted together. Don't worry about making mistakes as you modify your route plan since you can always undo! The gazetteer includes millions of places in the US, Canada, and Mexico and more countries are available. You can find any of these places by simply entering a name in the box on the toolbar! The US Coast Pilot is tightly integrated into Coastal Explorer's charts. Just click somewhere and find out what the Coast Pilot has to say! Obstacles along your route are pointed out to you as you are planning to help you plan a safe trip. You can also maintain a separate collection of waypoints, routes, tracks, and boundaries for each trip (if you like). Coastal Explorer uses documents instead of a hidden database to keep track of all of your Navigation Objects so you can organize them however you want. You can even share them with your friends using e-mail, floppy disks, or USB Flash Drives!

Navigation & Cruising Mode

Cruising is made easier with Coastal Explorer's full-screen Cruise Mode which replaces the standard Windows menus and toolbars with big fat buttons that are much easier to use while underway. Choose from the usual automatic scrolling modes such as Follow Boat and Look Ahead, or use Coastal Explorer's exclusive Follow Leg-Line mode which will fill the screen with your boat and the active leg-line automatically scrolling and zooming as necessary. Split the screen into two or three charts with a single key or button press. There's no need to resize or rearrange windows; Coastal Explorer takes care of it for you! Orient the chart with North Up, Heading Up, or Course Up. Voice Alerts are used to warn you of waypoint arrivals, depths out of range, and even charted obstacles along your path! Virtual Instrument Panels show you information from your instruments in large, easy to see displays. Coastal Explorer includes an analog compass with waypoint arrow, analog wind, cross track error, and rudder angle displays, depth and temperature graphs, and many digital display options. Coatal Explorer can use and display information from your GPS, heading sensor, depth sounder, autopilot, water speed and temperature sensors, wind speed and direction instruments, RADAR, and AIS receiver.

 

Virtual Instrument Panels

Coastal Explorer can be configured to show you the information that you want to see in the way that you want to see it! Here are just some of the Virtual Instrument Panels that are available:

Some of these panels require additional hardware; Coastal Explorer can only tell you the depth if a depth sounder is connected to the PC!

 

AIS

If you have an AIS Transponder or Receiver connected to your PC, Coastal Explorer will use it to display other vessels right on the chart and track their progress in real-time! It will even calculate whether or not you are on a collision course and tell you (on the screen and with a voice alert) how much time you have to change course.

Other AIS features include: Graphical display of AIS vessel orientation and past track Dynamic sortable list of all known AIS vessels including their MMSI number, name, position, closest point of approach (CPA) and the time to CPA, speed, course, heading, range, bearing, destination, ETA, and navigational status Each vessel may be assigned its own icon and track colors Search for other vessels by name

Coastal Explorer Radar Sensor Options

These products have not yet been released. All information is preliminary and subject to change without notice.

Add a Radar Sensor to your Coastal Explorer system for unsurpassed situational awareness and the enhanced safety provided by high definition radar displays and chart overlay capabilities.

With antenna options ranging from a two-foot radome to a nine-foot open array, Rose Point has a radar that will fit your needs.

Features

• Radar-only Display Mode
• Combined Radar and Chart Display Mode
• Standard Radar Tools, including Range Rings, two Variable Range Markers, two Electronic Bearing Lines, two Guard Zones, Parallel Lines, Waypoint Lollypop, Heading and Stern Lines
• Standard Radar Controls, including Range, Gain, Sea, Rain, Tuning, Pulse Width, Target Expansion, Interference Rejection
• Automatic Tuning, Gain, Sea, and Rain Controls
• Automatic Range Selection when radar is combined with a chart
• Use North Up, Heading Up, or Course Up orientation
• AIS Target Display
• Mini Advanced Radar Plotting Aid (MARPA) option
• Easy to use controls with mouse, touch pad, touch screen, keyboard, or keypad
• Optional High-Speed Mode
• Dual Range Capability

Radar Sensor Configurations

Requires Rose Point Navigation Coastal Explorer Version 2.0 or above, sold separately

     (specifications and prices subject to change without notice)

Model	Maximum Range	Horizontal Beam Width	Vertical Beam Width
4kW, 25" Radome	36 NM	3.9°	25°	$3,195.00 Buy Online
4kW, 3.5' Open Array	48 NM	2.5°	22°	$4,595.00 Buy Online
4kW, 4.5' Open Array	48 NM	1.8°	22°	$4,795.00 Buy Online
6kW, 4.5' Open Array	64 NM	1.8°	22°	$6,695.00 Buy Online
6kW, 6.5' Open Array	64 NM	1.2°	22°	$6,995.00 Buy Online
12kW, 4.5' Open Array	72 NM	1.8°	22°	$7,595.00 Buy Online
12kW, 6.5' Open Array	72 NM	1.2°	22°	$7,995.00 Buy Online

Screen Shots

Click an image for a full-size view.

Side-by-Side Display Mode

Combined Chart and Radar Display Mode

Radar Display Mode

 

Minimum System Requirements

In order to load Coastal Explorer on your PC, your computer must meet the following minimum system requirements.

Minimum System Requirements
     • A PC with Pentium 350 MHz or higher processor, Pentium III or higher
        recommended
     • Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or higher operating system
     • 128 MB of RAM or above. More is recommended, especially when using
        raster charts
     • 500 MB of available hard-disk space (requirements depend on installation
        options)
     • Super VGA (800x600) or higher resolution monitor. 1024x768 or higher is
        recommended
     • A GPS with appropriate PC interface
     • Available serial port or USB for GPS connection*
     • 12x or higher CD-ROM drive
     • Mouse or other pointing device

     * If you do not have an available serial port, a USB
        to serial adapter may be purchased separately,
        requiring only an available USB port.

© 2005- RST Unlimited, Inc.