FAQ Some of these questions are frequently asked, the others should be!

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How much does ENCX cost?

The price depends on how many licences and which licence you need. Reductions are available for large quantities. Please contact us with your requirements and we will discuss the pricing.

What is the difference between S-57 and ENC?

ENC (Electronic Navigational Chart) is an application of the wider S-57 vector standard. There are other S-57 'products' (e.g. IENC) but ENC is the most common one. This has led to the terms 'S-57' and 'ENC' being used interchangeably. See Vector and Raster for more information. Some organisations have started using the term ENC only if the charts are official data.

What's S-63?

S-63 is an encryption standard that is applied to commercial S-57 ENC charts. To decrypt a chart encrypted with S-63 both a chart permit and a user permit is required. See Chart Purchasing and Licensing.

How does the licensing of charts work? Why do I need a dongle?

Where can I get unlicensed (free) ENC data?

There is a lot of unlicensed ENC data about though much of it is for demonstration purposes and not for navigation. But NOAA publish a lot of ENC data free of charge. See NOAA ENC Data.

How do I use the sample applications?

What projection does ENCX use?

For ENC charts, please see this. For raster charts, the projection is the same as the equivalent paper chart.

Why don't my overlays line up with the chart?

When overlaying information onto charts drawn by ENCX you need to use the GeoPix class to convert geographical (lat lon) coordinates into pixel coordinates. There are different methods for points, lines and areas (polygons).

Can we use both ENCX for licensed chart data and ENCXUDE for unlicensed data?

Yes. This is quite easily done. If you have customers with access to unlicensed charts for the waters in which they operate (e.g. the US market) you could ship them software without a dongle. The software uses ENCXUDE. Later, if they needed to use licensed charts in other parts of the world they could upgrade by buying a dongle and the software would switch to using ENCX to display the charts.

How is ENCX pronounced?

It is up to you. We tend to say 'Enks'.

Do you design any other products?

We design high quality software solutions for the marine navigation industry and have a variety of products. These range from off-the-shelf systems to complex data management solutions. You can find more information on the product pages of the Chersoft website.

Can I purchase charts from Chersoft?

Our parent company, Weilbach, can supply you with charts. Please contact them and they will be happy to help.

Do I have to use charts from Chersoft or Weilbach?

No. To purchase commercial chart data you need to contact an authorised chart distributor. You can use ENCX with appropriate charts purchased from any chart distributor. Weilbach is a distributor authorised by UKHO and NOAA so we can supply all your requirements. You are free to go elsewhere but we will always strive to give our ENCX clients a great deal and priority attention.