What are the differences between the releases of Endeavour®?

Endeavour® was first released in 1995 to the general public as Endeavour Navigator 3.0, to coincide with the release of the Seafarer© Raster Nautical Charts (RNC).

Since then, it has gone through several generations. In trying to make the best product for our clients, we have incorporated a lot of feedback. From a general purpose navigational product (3.0), we created separate editions for “Professional” use (in Versions 3 and 4), then revamped Endeavour for our ECDIS compliant release (Version 5.0). This brought in a controversial new look to Endeavour. As technology has changed we have incorporated USB dongles, new chart formats, upgrading to changing International standards, different versions of Windows™, adapted to new hardware on the market, responded to user needs and have discovered the great variety of ways our product is used!

Below is a list of the versions of Endeavour. To find out what has changed – especially if you are considering upgrading – You can read forward from the version you have (i.e. if you have Version 4.0, start reading from 4.1).

 

Endeavour Navigator 3.0 (first release)

Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 3.1

Endeavour® Navigator 4.0

Endeavour® Navigator 4.1

Endeavour® Navigator 5.0 (not for general release)

Endeavour® Navigator 5.1 (not for general release)

Endeavour® Navigator 5.2

Endeavour® Navigator 5.3

Endeavour® Navigator 5.4

Endeavour® Navigator 5.5

 

Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 3.1

Release Date: March 1998, with patch versions released periodically until March 1999

Endeavour Navigator version 3.1.1 Enhancements

Endeavour Navigator version 3.1.5 Enhancements

Endeavour Navigator version 3.1.6 Enhancements

  • Enter position changes according to format preference
  • The vessel symbol drawn as an outline of the vessel’s dimensions. The required values can be assigned in the Vessel dialog Characteristics tab.
  • SOG and COG now allow decimals (one decimal place)
  • Past track smoothing, which plots a straight course following the overall trend of the (scattered) GPS signal
  • True Heading: a vector representing the vessel’s true heading is now drawn (in addition to the vessel’s COG vector)
  • GPS aerial position is now set on the GPS Settings tab of the Vessel dialog. A vessel’s beam, length and bridge position from the centre of the vessel can be set in the Vessel dialog Characteristics tab
  • When entering waypoints for a planned route, display of the relative bearing from the previous leg to the current cursor’s position will appear in the General status bar at the bottom of the screen along with the range and bearing of the new leg
  • Magnetic Bearing Display for Bearings Not Relative to the Vessel

Endeavour® Navigator version 3.1.7 Enhancements

  • Allows planned speed for a leg and default planned speed to be entered to one decimal place precision 

Endeavour® Navigator version 3.1.8 Enhancements

  • Deletion of Old Past Tracks: If past tracks are not deleted and Navigator is left running for extended periods of time, past tracks can accumulate and the system will eventually run out of disk space

Endeavour® Navigator version 3.1.9 Enhancements

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Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 4.0

Release Date: May 1999

Offered three editions: “Mariner” edition, “Professional” edition and “Dual Fuel” (raster/vector) edition. The Professional and Dual Fuel editions provide more functionality and higher levels of support than the Mariner version.

  • Large display of critical information
  • Full screen mode for maximum chart area
  • Plotting sheet when no chart available
  • Supports multiple datums
  • Chart installation wizard for ease of installing charts, permits and chart updates
  • Display of IHO S-57 Edition 3 Vector Data (Dual Fuel only)
  • Input of gyro, echo sounder and water temperature sensors
  • Linking past track colour to depth and temperature sensors (Professional and Dual Fuel only)
  • Demonstration mode that does not require a dongle
  • Simulator mode that simulates real GPS input so the user can practice with the application without a GPS
  • Draws the vessel outline when zoomed in
  • Allows the entering of objects by typing in the position instead as well as graphically
  • Year 2000 Compliancy

Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 4.0.1

Release Date: April 2000

  • The Warning dialog now comes up in the top right hand corner and flashes. Also the user can still use the system functionality while the warning is being displayed
  • Added Wind Speed (WSP), Wind Course (WCR), ETA to Destination (ETA Dest), Time to Go (TTG) and Time to Destination (TTD) to the Large Display bar
  • A bar with large text opens when adding or dragging chart objects to give the user an easier readout of the range, bearing and relative angle which previously were displayed only on the General status bar in small text font
  • Changed the name of the Waypoint status bar to Tracking status bar. Replaced ETA waypoint and ETA destination with Time to Go (TTG) and Time to Destination (TTD) respectively.
  • Added the Wind Speed, Wind Course and Wind Average to the Vessel dialog Sensor Data tab
  • Moved the bearings True or Magnetic from the Vessel dialog Characteristics tab to the Settings dialog Coordinates tab
  • At the Manage Charts and Permits dialog is added the option to allow the user to manually type in a permit code
  • Options of installing Chart and Update CD’s have been combined into one option I want to add or update charts on my computer
  • Display of bearings on a route leg has been changed to show the reverse bearing as well. For example in Endeavour ™ 4.0.0 a leg has a bearing readout of 45 while in readout in Endeavour ™ 4.0.1 is 45/225
  • Changed the position of the Group Control menu item in the CHART WORK menu. This is because it was too close to the Calibrate Display Scale option and users were accidentally selecting this option instead of the Group Control
  • New buttons added to the Start Up screen to simplify the selection of the mode in which the application is run
  • Added the ability to read in and display target(s) on the chart. Target information can be received by the system as a TTM or TLL NMEA 0183 string (Dual Fuel edition only)

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Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 4.1

Release Date: May 2000

  • Added reading of TLL and TTM NMEA sentences for target tracking
  • Fixed reading of DBT NMEA sentence
  • Playback options to replay previously recorded ships logs Playback menu

Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 5.0 & 5.1

Release Date: July 2002

These were the versions that underwent Type Approval for ECDIS certification. These were not released to the general public, but the benefit of all these enhancements were incorporated into general release 5.2.

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Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 5.2

Release Date: March 2003

Enhancements in Endeavour® Navigator version 5.2.1

  • Improved user interface – larger buttons – shortcuts to the frequently accessed functionality, designated Warnings (Alarms and Indications) area
  • Support for NZ Mariner and Maptech / BSB raster format data. This includes both Chart and Update CDs
  • Support for IHO S-57 Version 3.0 and 3.1 ENC data
  • Reports showing information about the loaded data
  • IHO S-57 ENC data displayed using the IHO S-52 Presentation Library
  • Ability to display or hide different IHO S-57 ENC object categories
  • Chart area can be displayed in either North Up, Head Up or Track Up mode
  • In EP (Estimated Position) control mode – the Dead Reckoned position is corrected for the effects of the wind, tidal stream, current and surface drift
  • Display of the location of the sensors in use
  • Assigning priorities to the sensors when more then one sensor of the same type is used
  • Improved Route management
  • Reporting of the dangers along planned routes when the route’s area is covered by IHO S-57 ENC data
  • Ability to associate critical point, planned position, predicted current and visual limit of light to a leg of a route
  • Improved Ship’s log handling – 12 hour and 3 months
  • Line of position now can be transferred
  • Chart corrections can be applied using the IHO S-52 Presentation Library symbols
  • Allows the loading of additional digital data in HSA’s proprietary NDX format

Enhancements in Endeavour® Navigator version 5.2.2.422

  • Endeavour® Navigator v5.2.2.422 has been updated to include one Western Australian RNC chart as part of the data available in Demonstration mode

Enhancements in Endeavour® Navigator version 5.2.2.425

  • Updated to remove the ambiguities in reporting the raster data permit’s type. Raster data permits will not make reference to the data product name; they will only identify the type of service, i.e. HCRF Chart or HCRF Update

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Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 5.3.0

Release Date: July 2004

  • Provides support for USB dongles
  • Australian State electronic raster chart products are supported
  • Western Australia Raster Nautical Chart (WARNC) - digital charts based on the Western Australian Government Department for Planning and Infrastructure series of nautical charts
  • Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Marine Park Zone maps in an electronic raster chart format (GBRMPA RZC)
  • Loads ENC (S-57) data encrypted in accordance with the S-63 standard (S63 module)
  • Loading of all types of data is managed using a single dialog
  • Supports AIS (Automatic Identification System) data in accordance with NMEA 0183 v 3.01 standard (AIS Module)
  • Added new “Go to Waypoint” functionality that does not require the creation of route to go to a single location
  • Added “Fish” symbol
  • Shortcuts have been added for a number of frequently used functionality
  • ENC (S-57) cells when opened through the “Open Chart” dialog will always display areas covered with data
  • “Check Route” is now optional. Route is automatically checked when selected for first time.
  • Checking route process has been optimised to improve performance
  • The “Check Route” dialog has been rearranged to improve readability
  • Route name is automatically assigned as the file name when the route is saved
  • A warning message is displayed when the waypoint’s turning radius is automatically set to 0
  • A leg’s attributes (critical point, planned position, etc.) can be deleted or moved
  • When a MOB (Man Over Board) is initiated, the application automatically starts tracking towards the MOB location. In this case sending Autopilot data is ceased.
  • The time limit to start automatically deleting past track can be set to less then a day
  • A “Save to a file” option is provided before deleting past tracks using the “Object Manager” dialog
  • Look Ahead value default can be set to be less then 3 minutes
  • DR (Dead Reckoning) is the default navigation mode when a valid GPS signal is not received
  • “GPS Quality” can be added to the Large Toolbar display. This includes indication for the Fix type, Number of Satellites acquired, HDOP, Base Station ID.
  • The “12 hour Ships Logs” naming and rollover time now is based on the UTC midday and midnight time. The local time of log file creation is recorded in the file.
  • EBL & VRM values are displayed along side the EBL & VRM symbols
  • General NtMs distributed with ARCS & Seafarer products can be displayed on request

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Enhancements in Endeavour®5 Navigator Version 5.4.0

Release Date: March 2005

  • Professional capabilities now accessed as modules (access code only required)
  • Improved layout of the “Targets” dialog to facilitate the display of the additional information related to AIS targets
  • “Go To Target” function (Go To Target button from the “Targets” dialog) will automatically set the application to track the selected target, i.e. keep the target displayed as it moves on. This function uses the settings that control the tracking of Own vessel
  • Improved layout of the AIS report produced using the Make Report button from the “Targets” dialog or through VIEW menu Information option
  • Easy (quicker) access to AIS / ARPA targets information through the new Target Information option on the “Right Mouse Button Menu”
  • Additional information transmitted by the AIS is included in both “Targets” and “Information” dialogs, for example: Age of signal for all types of AIS messages, ETA, Navigation status, AIS positional accuracy, ROT
  • The symbol for target’s past track has been changed from solid line to a line of equally spaced dots
  • The display of the entire past track for individual target can be set on/off
  • Target’s past track can be displayed either for the last 10 min or 30 min or 1 hour or 12 hours
  • Past tracks for individual targets can be drawn in a different colour
  • The name of the vessel that created the queried past track and the time at the closest vertex the past track was created are displayed in the past track’s detailed description at the "Information" window
  • The currently monitored leg is drawn as a red dashed line to be distinguished from the entire Monitored route which is drawn in equally spaced red dots
  • For a computer using two or more monitors for display, it is possible to specify on which monitor Endeavour can be displayed
  • The "Password" dialog which was available during a number of settings has been removed
  • The EP (Estimated Positioning) navigation mode was removed. When a valid GPS signal is not received by the application the system will revert to DR (Dead Reckoning) Mode
  • Track Smoothing setting in the “Ownship Settings” dialog Past Track tab is set to Min by default
  • The Rename Route option from the “Route Manager” dialog provides the name of the route to ease the name modification
  • Zoom Area function on World map now works consistently every time a zoom to the desired size area is attempted
  • Tracking a route, especially at the turning curve has been improved to facilitate a smooth transition when autopilot is used

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Enhancements in Endeavour® 5 Navigator Version 5.5.1

Release Date: September 2007

  • Support for Windows™ VISTA
  • Real time capture and display of sounds from depth sounder
  • ENC S-57 data zoom limit is now to 1:1000
  • Improved handling of sensors connected via USB port or USB hub
  • Handling of route names and comments that contain “&” symbol
  • UTC / Local time offset can be set to 0.1 hour
  • Targets which do not have ID are automatically assigned a name
  • DR (Dead Reckoned) and EP (Estimated Position) fixes can be symbolised
  • General NtMs can be updated via the Update CD
  • Size of Diff GPS imaginary past track smoothing box minimum changed to 0m from 4m
  • Removed support for MapTech BSB data
  • Available support for AIS class B transponder message 18 and 19

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