Many believe ECDIS has changed the way we navigate our ships. Rightly so, after all we see our ship all the times on the chart. No more worries of plotting the ship's position manually and no chances of human error in plotting the positions on paper chart.
But there are many of us, who do not still agree with this. They argue that shrinking the width and height of paper chart to a 21 inch screen can bring too many confusions. They also argue that ECDIS should not be primary means of navigation till the time all ambiguities are eliminated and procedures streamlined.
Which side do you see yourself ?
In this post I am trying to streamline some of the procedures related to ECDIS.
The correct approach is comparison with the paper chart. After all that is what ECDIS is replacing. I believe if everyone deal with ECDIS with that approach, it will just be a cake walk.
So What all things we can do on paper charts? If we know how to do each of this on ECDIS, we know most about ECDIS.
We keep the charts corrected upto latest notices to mariners.
Do you know how to do all this on ECDIS and with ENCs ? If yes, you can consider yourself trained in the practical use of ECDIS. But as the ECDIS is still evolving, you should keep your arms open for new updates and not be complacent.
There are hundreds of makers for ECDIS, each having different procedures, menu and layouts. However the basics of the operations are same with all of these. I will demonstrate using JRC ECDIS and Chartco but the basic procedures will be same for other makes of ECDIS.
In ECDIS the charts are called ENCs or cells and the charts number as cell number. In paper chart we receive charts, in ECDIS we receive cell permit. It is important to note that there is no co-relation between chart number and cell permit. I mean the boundaries or the area covered in paper chart do not necessarily correspond to a particular cell number or ENC.
I am sure almost all ships use some of the chart management system. These have become a kind of norms nowdays. The most common chart management system are ChartCo and Digitrace. I will use chartco and JRC ECDIS to discuss the cell ordering procedure and chart corrections for ECDIS.
If you have been working with chartco for ordering/managing your paper charts folios, you would most likely know how to do this for ENCs.
Let's say you are at Al-Jubail in Saudi and next voyage is to Mumbai (India). How to know what all charts you have and what all you need to order. To do this in the chartco, go to Start-Main Menu and click on Route and Passage.
Enter your departure port and Destination ports and click on calculate Route/Distance. This would give you the route from departure port to your destination.
Now on the right hand column, under ENC/AVCS, check all type of charts one by one starting from Berthing, harbour and so on.
Just in case you don't know, charts on ECDIS are divided into five categories depending upon the scales. These categories are Berthing, Harbor, Coastal, General and overview.
After checking each category, select the charts required in that category and which falls in your voyage. The chart can be selected by clicking on the chart area in the map. The selected chart will have yellow diagonal lines.
But Why do i ask to start with berthing cells first. There is a reason for that. Below is the Image in which I have checked berthing, harbor and coastal charts at once. In the picture below can you guess how many charts I have selected ?
Well while it might look like I have selected three charts but actually I have only selected one chart. The one covering bigger area. So if you don't select first the berthing and then harbour charts in that order, there is a chance of you missing some charts.
And then You will see an option of "Create order" at the bottom. Click on that. Follow the messages on the screen and create order. Finally you will see the below screen, which will give you the files to send to the chart provider.
After you locate the order as per the message in above screen, you need to send these files to your chart provider. It all depends upon your company, if you can send the request directly or you need to send it to your company.
Within a day, the chart provider will send the permit as an attachment for the ENCs you requested. The email and zipped attachment would look something like below.
If you open this zipped attachment and then open permit folder located in this, you will find the files which need to be imported in the ECDIS. If you have two ECDIS and you had requested ENC for both, you will see two folder inside permit folder. These folder will be "MASTER" and "BACKUP". You need to copy and import the files into corresponding ECDIS one by one. That is if you copy files from "Master" folder, you need to import these files in Master ECDIS. Then delete the files from the USB Drive and do same for Backup ECDIS.
After you copy the cell permit in USB Drive, go to Application window on JRC ECDIS. Application window is displayed automatically when ECDIS is switched on. Otherwise you can access the application window by clicking exit on the top menu.
In the application Window, click on the "ENC and ARCS chart portfolio". Plug in the USB drive containing the cell permits.
In the application Window, click on the "ENC and ARCS chart portfolio". Go to Tools –> Options –> S63/AVCS and click on import cell permit. In the find file window that would be displayed, point to USB drive and select Permit.txt file and click OK.
After importing the cell permits, you will get a window displaying "Completed" message. After importing the cell permit, The ENC of the desired voyage would be available in the ECDIS.
Do you know how to correct your charts on ECDIS (ENCs) for these corrections. If you know, well you have covered the correction part too.
Just in case you don't know, with Chartco and JRC ECDIS lets see how it is done.
From start up-Menu (on the left bottom section in chartco), click on Corrections. Click on ENC (top bar) and corrections (Right side bar). This list will show you the pending corrections to your active cells.
Click on the "Collect and transfer to ECDIS" at the bottom of the screen. On the pop up, ensure that both Master as well as Back up is selected and then click on "Write to Media".
This will write all the corrections in a pre-specified folder. This folder is usually located in C:/Chartco/Corrections but could be specified differently during chartco set up. In any case, on clicking the 'Write to media" chartco will give the destination of the folder where corrections are transferred.
If you see in above image there is an option of "Confirm as applied". After you have applied to the correction to ENCs on ECDIS, which we will discuss below, you need to come to this screen again and click "Confirm as applied".
To apply these corrections to ECDIS, Copy these corrections onto USB drive (or CD). Again if you have two ECDIS you will see different folder for both ECDIS named Master and back up. You need to copy content of one folder at a time and apply the corrections to the corresponding ECDIS.
In the application Window, click on the "ENC and ARCS chart portfolio". Plug in the USB drive containing the corrections. Click Auto Detect. With this You will see all the pending corrections. On clicking Auto detect you may get a message "Please select media type". In this case go to tools -> options -> Advanced options and then select the location of USB drive (or CD drive) depending upon the media on which you have copied the corrections. Then again click the Auto detect tab. This will show you the corrections.
Now to apply the corrections, click on the "Import/Update" tab. This will apply all the permanent corrections to ENCs on your ECDIS. You need to repeat this procedure on other ECDIS. But for that you need to delete the data from the USB Drive and copy the data from the corresponding folder of chartco.
After applying the corrections, you need to click on log to see if there was any error while importing the corrections. Or if all the corrections were imported into the ECDIS.
Any error in the log must be dealt with. In dealing with any error, you must exploit the tons of resources available to you. These resources can be support from chartco, chart provider, ECDIS manual, UKHO website or your company's marine department.
After you have applied these correction, you need to go to Chartco and click on "Confirm as applied" as discussed earlier in this post.
It is important that you collect the correction, apply the corrections to ECDIS and confirm same in Chartco within few minutes of one another. This will ensure that when you confirm in chartco of the correction applied, you do not inadvertently confirm the new correction received which were not actually collected and applied.
Apart from getting corrections from Chartco or digitrace every week, you will also get AVCS CDs or DVDs (or both) from your chart supplier. If you receive only CDs, you would most likely have 9 Base CDs and one or two update CDs. If you receive only DVDs, you would most likely have two DVDs. DVDs contains all the base cells as well as the update for those base cells. There is no different DVD for base cells.
If your ECDIS has only CD drive, off course you only can use CDs for correction. But if your ECDIS have DVD drive, you can use either CD set or DVD sets for corrections but not both.
If using CDs you need to insert first base cells CD starting from base cell 1 and so on. After updating the base cells, you need to insert the updates CD to update the corrections.
These corrections are cumulative. That mean if you have two sets one for week 04/2016 and other for week 07/2016. In this case you only need to update with the latest one only.
But why do we need to update these DVDs if we are correcting our ENCs through weekly corrections from Chartco or Digitrace.
There are two reasons. First base cells needs to be updated continuously. These updates are heavy and cannot get in entirety from chartco, though we can download the base cell for a particular ENC if required. This off course would be only possible if your Chartco computer has direct access to internet.
Second reason for using these CD or DVD for correction is as a reset point for the correction. Your ECDIS may have skipped importing some corrections for any reason. As we already discussed you will get the error in the ECDIS log but nonetheless there can be some cells which refuse to accept corrections.
Moreover you or previous staff might have inadvertently confirm some corrections as applied in Chartco which were not actually applied. Updates from these CDs or DVDs acts as a reset point for all the corrections.
Procedure of applying the correction from AVCS CD/DVD is same as with USB drive. After the corrections are applied, you need to tell chartco also about the updates.
For this, insert the CD or DVD in chartco computer. Then on the Home page of chartco, go to ENC and then click set up. Under "ENC Suppliers" click on "Set" for AVCS and follow the screen messages to confirm that you applied the latest CD/DVD on your ECDIS.
If you don't already know, you will be surprised that for many ENCs you still need to do T&P corrections manually. Displaying T&P corrections on ECDIS was a challenge for UKHO and they managed this with AIO. AIO refer to Admiralty Information overlay. In simple terms, it is an ENC layer which contains T&P corrections of all the charts (ENCs). This layer is super imposed on the ENCs to display the T&Ps.
Irony is, that not all countries has yet mirrored their T&P correction in ENCs. So for the countries that do not issue ENC T&Ps in AIO, you need to plot the T&Ps manually on the ENCs issued by these countries. To know which countries issue or do not issue the T&Ps for ENC as AIO, you can click here.
If you see the list, India does not issue T&Ps for ENCs. So for any ENC issued by Indian Hydrographic office, you need to plot the T&Ps manually from paper T&Ps. Which country has issued a particular ENC can be identified by two prefixed letters of the ENC number. For example the ENC number of the ENC issued by India would start with letters IN.
To check, go to AVCS in UKHO website and click on "ECDIS & AIO".
Check if Make / Model / Version of your ECDIS appears there. If it does, your ECDIS is compatible to show AIO.
To check this on JRC ECIDS, exit the navigation window and go to application window. click on the "ENC and ARCS chart portfolio". From top menu go to Sort -> AIO. Look in AIO Source charts and system charts, if any cells are available. If not, then the ECDIS has not been loaded with initial AIO data. Again you need to exploit the resources, in this case your chart provider. See below communication for example.
On chartco, you can check if AIO information is being provided in the weekly corrections. To check this, on the Home page go to ENC and then click set up. Under "ENC Suppliers" check if AVCS (AIO) is set up.
If it is not set up, you need to do so with the CD received from the ENC supplier.
To understand why you can get this, lets first discuss what are base cells.
In simple words base cells are the actual electronic charts (ENCs). When we receive permit for ENCs, the permit contains key to open ENCs (base cell) which are locked. But the ENCs are already there in your ECDIS as base cells. A base cell becomes an ENC when some security features (IHO system key) are added to it. And that is the main difference too.
Again lets understand this by comparing ENCs with paper charts. Paper charts gets new editions. Similarly ENCs can get new editions where old ENCs are repleced by same ENCs but with new editions.
Also as we sometimes get new paper charts, there can be new ENCs which are produced. How do we get these new ENCs or new edition of ENCs.
We get these from the updates to base cells. We can get the updates via CDs or DVDs.
We need to apply these base CDs to the ECDIS to update the base cells to the latest one.
Do we need to apply the base cell CD each time a new permit is received ?
Absolutely not. If you were able to import a permit successfully, you do not need to apply base CD again. Similar is the case while applying the weekly updates from the chartco.
In this case, run latest base CDs or the base DVD even if you had previously run it on receipt. Try to import the permit again. If you still cannot import the permit, you can get this particular base cell from the chartco. To get this from chartco, from the start menu click on chart manager or from home page click on ENC.
You can choose the cell required and click on "Download Base Cells". Next import from the charts, you will receive the base cell.
Alternatively in the chartco you can set the automatic downloads of the new base cells. This can be done by going to the SET UP section of ENC in chartco.
Even when you download the base cells from the chartco, we need to run the base cell CDs or DVD in the ECDIS. This is because this acts as the reset point in case we have missed a base cell update.
Someone somewhere said, it is easier to find answers than finding questions. With regard to ECDIS, if we know our questions, the answers just need you finding it. In order to find what we are looking in ECDIS, the approach of comparing it with procedures adopted for paper charts could be the best approach.
For example our approach to enable us to perform each activity of paper chart like permanent and T&P correction on ECDIS can leave less areas unexplored.
With ECDIS already mandatory on many ships, it is the time that we understand every aspect of implementation of ECDIS onboard.
Info was helpful to a great extent.
Thank you for reading Tema..
Capt. Rajeev small update to post , i suggest after explaining of importing Cell Permits into ECDIS should be immediately explained loading of BaseCD into ECDIS and importing charts for required permits. Thanks.
I think that is required in Furuno ecdis and not on JRC.. In JRC ECDIS if any base cell is missing, it will show in the log when uploading the permit.
Happy to hear that AMIT..
Very good knowledge in ur website.
Hi! I was looking for GMDSS test procedures and found your amazing article. Good job, Cap! All other info is also great. But regarding ENC permits I'm not sure about: "After importing the cell permit, The ENC of the desired voyage would be available in the ECDIS." From my experience and particularly with JRC after installing all required permits you have to install all ENC again so that ECDIS could activate new ENCs.
Hi Igor..Glad you liked the content.. Regarding Importing ENC on ECDIS.. I never faced the requirement to import it twice to have it viewed. Can it be because of old software version of ECDIS that you might have ? May be other readers can highlight if they are facing similar thing.
Very good information Sir. Thank you so much for sharing.
I am Happy to help Imran... Let me know if you have any question.
Hello Sir, very Much informative and i put a printed copy for other officers reference too. Sir could you please elaborate Regarding Base Cd's which contains Base cells as i understand. I want to know what are those Base Cells and why do we need to run these Base Cds. Second Sir,Once i have uploaded new permits for the voayge and do i need to run the Base Cds too thereafter. Thanks And Regards.
Glad that it helped you Rana.. To answer your query would have been a long comment so I have included that now in the post itself (before conclusion in the post). I hope that answers your query..
Happy that it helped you Clive. Let me know if you have any question at any time.
No Ashwani we cannot because each permit has the ID of the ECDIS to which it will be applicable. This is set by the ENC provider so that no one can use the same permit key multiple times. To certain extent it also brings some security in handling the ENC data.
How can we find EN Charts from a given BA Chart No. for example I have BA Chart 2888 & 2889 how can I find equivalent EN Chart. Please advise.
The simple answer is..We cannot find. Also the boundaries of a BA paper chart and EN chart (Cell) will in most cases be not same. That is if you find ENC that cover common area that of a BA chart, the ENC would most likely will not cover the exactly same area as the BA chart. ENCs are totally different from the BA paper charts.
We are receiving permit file every week via email by UKHO. I want to know if we have to apply this permit every week to ECDIS before we apply the weekly update which we generate from chart correction software.Please advise.
This file will be from your ENC provider and not from UKHO. This is the permits of all the ENC that are valid. So after applying this permit all your expired permits will be removed and only valid ENCs permit will be there in your ECDIS. Applying this permit has one advantage. When you apply weekly corrections from chart (after applying the permit), you will not get errors of ENC expired. Even if you do not apply this permit, the Valid ENC permit list is automatically updated when you ask for new permit and apply them upon receiving. Don't forget to delete the old permit before applying this permit.
thanks for your above reply.So there is no harm if we do not apply permit every week is that correct? We will apply only once we order new ENC cell.will it be ok?
On the contrary I would say, there is no harm in applying these. If you do not apply you have to waste your time in sorting out the errors that you will get when you apply weekly corrections from chartco. Applying the weekly permit you receive takes only few seconds and will save your time. Needless to say it will keep your ENC licenses update. But even if you do not apply, there is no issue.
Second thing i want to know suppose for example at sea we are updating ECDIS weekly through chart correction software and the latest weekly update we applied is 30/2016 .After applying this correction vessel arrives in port where we receive AVCS DVD for 29/2016.So in this case do we need to update our base cells or not.If yes , then after applying this DVD do we need to update again the correction for 30/2016?
No.. after updating with the DVD, it will not remove the latest correction so no need to apply again.
Thanks for your above reply.As per the things u discussed above about the ECDIS , you mentioned that DVD(Base cells) is used to update base cells same like as we receive any new edition of paper chart.So in the case of paper chart, we apply all weekly corrections after new edition of that chart was issued.What about in case of ECDIS then?
Mukesh, we can keep it simple. We apply the DVD on ECDIS. Then we apply the DVD on chartco. Then we go to pending corrections in chartco. If chartco shows any pending corrections, we will collect these and apply to ECIDS. If it does not show any pending corrections, we do not apply.
Thanks for your above reply. I have one doubt sir , suppose we update our ecdis weekly by applying permit and then weekly update and it is updated till 32/16 and the latest DVD which was inserted was of 26/16. After applying weekly update of 32/16 , vessel arrives in port and we receive DVD for 31/16. So now we will insert the DVD without putting the permit or first permit for 31/16 and then DVD.
Hello Mukesh...DVD has corrections for all the cells (for the one you have permit and also for the one you do not have permit) and all the base cells, not only for the cells for which you have permit. So DVD has nothing to do with the permit. In short, DVD has all the corrections to that date and all the base cells to that date. When applying the DVD, you do not need to apply the weekly permit file that you receive every week. Weekly permit only required when you apply corrections to only the cells for which you have valid permits (collected through chartco).
Bart.. As I said after applying the base DVD to the ECDIS and then to the chartco, If chartco shows some pending corrections, we need to apply that. If not, then there is nothing to be applied. Regarding applying the base DVD, it is very very important to apply the base DVD. If someone from UKHO told not to apply, he may have misunderstood your question. If you have the content of that email, grateful if you can email me that.
Thank You for response Cpt. Rajeev, I share your opinion that Base DVD should be loaded. Maybe as you said I did not make myself clear enough when sending my query. Unfortunately I have no access to this correspondence anymore. Thanks again for all the information in the article.
Glad you found it useful Vijeesh..
Harvey.. I have not worked on Furuno ECDIS but you should not hesitate to send emails to your ENC provider, correction provider (Chartco) or even Furuno through company about any error you may not be able to resolve. We sometimes hesitate to use these resources but there is no reason to hesitate.
You have license or permit but you don't have ENC.. Insert your latest based DVD and check if your public key is the latest public key.
Good Day Capt : Thanks for the value information. I still have some issue which confuse me and I really need your assistance. . I use JRC ECDIS and Voyger planning station .. I have sent a requesion for the expired cell permits and I received as you mentioned above on a zipped file and tkt No. .. I've installed the permit but the matter is that the log shows that the license will be expired in less than 30 days whole I am doing the requestiion I put a period for six months and which confirm that is the schedule A . and do you have idea how can I update this permits on the planning station in order to keep my chart updates ?or it will be updated automatically via the usual weekly update ?and what about the tkt key for what shall I use it? pls can I keep in touch with via Email ..Thanks a lot for you cooperation .
I could make out these queries raised by you Eyad. 1) You ordered for 6 month license and ENC shows validity as 30 days. 2) How to update permits on voyage planning station. The issue of validity can easily be sorted out from your ENC provider by email but looks like either the permit was not installed correctly or the permit for this ENC was not included. Check the error log for the time you had installed this permit. Also you need to delete the previous permit before installing new one. Regarding voyage planning station, you need to tell it what all ENCs you have so as to give you the corrections for the ENCs. For that you need to apply the permit on this station too.
GD, Capt. Jassal! Thank you for the most comprehensive post about updating ECDIS and ordering ENCs permits which can be found in the web! Maybe you can also give advice on procedure how to make ECDIS charts spot check, for instance ENC versus RNC?
Thank you Vitaly. Spot checks on ECDIS will be a very good topic to write upon and I will very soon write on that.
good day cptain. sir, i have been following your blogs and it has helped me in many ways. i have a request. so far i have worked on ships with short routes, i have not experienced any long ocean voyages yet. it would be really helpful if you write on a topic that discusses passage plan including ocean voyages; that includes GC track and explain how to plan a route on the ecdis. also do we have to consider weather routeing while procuring charts? thank you in advance.
Glad you are liking the articles Paromita.. I will write on planning a passage from scratch.
Glad you found it useful Babu..
Though I never had my hands on full automatic system but I guess there is no human intervention required on these.
thank u sir. this article was always in ma mind, meaning, such article prepared by comparing the paper chart and ENC. its really an illustrative. as im a 2ndmate i have got clear view which i had some ambiguity.
Glad you liked it Tsegay..
A grea easy to follow tutorial. I am going for my Chief Mates soon and this has been very helpful as I haven't sailed as Chart Maintenance Officer. Many thanks!
Glad this could be of some help to you James..
Sir its a great online help for those looking in detailed information regarding ecdis. Sir i hve new ecdis installed onboard. i hve understood that how to order chart permits but i dont know about the Base CDs .when we require to install base cds. Please explain Sir . Hope it would also be helpful for others.
You will be receiving base CDs every month or so. Whenever we receive this CD we need to apply this to ECDIS. Also if you have many pending base CDs you need to apply only the latest one.
Good day captain. We receive on board new version passage manager 6.0. After instalation louse all previous data, and our outfit is empty. How to make settings, insert valid permits in pass manager, and make in that way that we receive direct update throw the Internet? Thnks in advance..
You have to refer to the passage manager's set up instructions for setting it up. They have a very prompt customer support and you should make full use of it if you get stuck somewhere. Once it is set up, you need to import the latest permit file to the passage manager to let it know which all permits you have. After that we need to apply the last correction and base CD/DVD we received to the passage manager.
Thanks Kartik for this wonderful insight. I want to add one point to this.. We have to look into the SMS manual to ensure that corrections collected manually through UKHO websites are allowed. Many company does not allow the ship staff to collect these corrections. Even when these are requires, these need to be collected by the marine superintendent, who will pass this to the vessel.
Prasad.. I have not worked with Navtor. You will not find this information in Furuno manual. You should email Navtor about this for the procedure to order permits. I know there are two ways to order permit. One is "route based" and second by cell number. I am not sure what plan your company has taken for your ship. But email Navtor will solve your problem.
Thank you for reading Joseph..
Good day sir. I have question about my JRC ECDIS onboard and this is my first time to use this kind of Ecdis. First question is, I have my ENC charts expired from Ecdis and i already deleted those expired charts but if I click Tool then Option then s-63/AVCS, I found a message saying " You have 2500 chart(s). 1120 chart(s) license has (have) expired". But I delete already those expired charts. Please advise.
I think you need to update the cell inventory in the ECDIS. Your ENC provider most likely send this as a permit file by email every week. Let me know if this helped.
Thank you for the reply sir. One more thing sir, Do i need a base CD for installing a new permits on JRC ECDIS? For info. i used to order ENC chart with Navtor online.
No..Base CD is not required for installing a new permit..
Amazing explanation Capt., fantastic narratives, like an intriguing presentation. I'm a 3rd mate about to take on the next roll, I've read the 'using AVCS with JRC ECDIS' guide, generated some doubts: 1. ECDIS itself contains cells initially? If a brand new ECDIS, after loading the latest base CDs, all locked cells are loaded into ECDIS? or should I say, after loading the latest base CDs, all locked cells are 'floating' inside ECDIS which means they doesn't occupy capacity of the disk, only after loading the permits for desired route, corresponding cells 'fall into places' and occupy the disk capacity. 2. what's the difference between 'deleting ENC data' and 'ENC permits', ENC and permit can only come and go together or they can survive without each other? 3. what exactly is public key-IHO.CRT? it should be installed every time before chart correction or AIO correction or else? 4. what is S-57 and S-63 in plain words? and what's the difference between 'S-57 source/system chart' and 'S-63 source/system chart' ? 5. can you elaborate AIO update procedures as well?
1. You are right. We can say that all the charts (base cells) are already there in the ECDIS. It just require permit file to unlock it. 2) Deleting ENC permit just deletes the permit and not the base cells. It takes base cell + permit file to show the ENC on ECDIS 3) Public key-IHO CRT is for security. In simple language it detects if you are using the approved ENCs only and not some copied version which may not be good for navigation. It only need to be installed whenever a new version is released 4) S-57 and S-63 are the standard formats in which ENCs are built. Some ENCs may be built with S-57 standard and some with S-63 standard but both are IHO standards. All ECDIS equipments are made to read these ENCs made on these common standards 5) AIO update procedure is there in this blog but I will try to elaborate that in some future blog.
hello sir.we have voyager software for chart maintenance.latest weekly permit received onboard is 03/2017.Latest DVD received was 51/2016.I extracted weekly update from voyager from 52/2016 to 03/2017.Weekly update is not getting updated in ECDIS. then i deleted all permits and cells from ECDIS and put latest permit and then i inserted DVD for 51/2016 , there were 51 cells that need updation.Then after that I applied weekly update from 52/2016 to 03/2017.But ECDIS is still showing that 51 cells need updation.When I put this weekly update from voyager in ECDIS it shows me that "insert base media 3 or browse for this date exchange set".can you please help me out.thanks.
What is the make of ECDIS ? When you apply the weekly correction, do it show some error ? Check the progress log. If any error, send the message to voyager mentioning that error.
Good Day Capt.Rajeev Recently incountered with problem regarding ECDIS.after normaly updating enc and quiting chart handler the ecdis screen become frozen along with audio alarm.after restarting the system with power button appear message "An unhandle error ocured and system will shutdown" "system hulted fatal error".
ECDIS maker is Sperry Vision Master FT.Any solution from you will be very welcome.thanks in advance. Best regards.
Hi Aleks, I have not worked on Sperry but in any case looks to be some equipment fault. You should get in touch with the maker of ECDIS.
how came, you would see on chartco update preview, one base cell waiting to apply, while you have already collected the newly edited cell through internet.
I am not sure how it works when we have ECDIS connected with internet but in any case for chartco to show same information that is in ECDIS, both need to be synchronised.
Chartco need to have same inventory as in ECDIS. If there are some expired ENC showing in chartco, these will be removed when you apply the latest permit file to the ECDIS and chartco. The permit file is usually received weekly from the ENC provider via email. As due ENC cells are still valid, these will not (& should not be removed). If for some reason this is required to be removed, we can get in touch ENC provider and ask them to update the inventory by removing these cells. They will remove these cells and send the updated permit file. This permit file when applied to chartco and ECDIS will not have the due ENC. Let me know if you find any other information on this.
Good day Sir. Do you know what is the name of the number in cell. ex GB302887. I know the first 2 letters is country code.
The 302887 is the cell number by which the cell is identified along with the country code GB.
In chartco computer, go to My computer -> C drive -> Chartco -> archive -> Passage Manager -> ENC -> Processed. These are the previous updates and one or more of these are not applied. Copy and shift the ones you think may not have been applied to the folder where you get the updated after collecting from Chartco. Collect these in USB and apply to ECDIS. Let me know if this worked.
Thank you Sir though i didnt get the part copy and shifting. . ..
Sorry for being unclear there. If you have located the files under "Processed" as per my above comment, you would note that these are the previous updates. So say if you were getting non sequential update error when applying week 15, then from the above folder, copy week 14 updates and apply to ECDIS. IF still you have same error. Copy week 13 and so on until you do not get non sequential update error. After that apply each week update by copying the update file from this folder. I hope I was able to lay it down clearly this time. If not, do not hesitate to comment here.
Good day Sir, thank you very much for elaborating things. Follow.up question Sir.. As per ur above example, where wud i get the previous wk 13 updates if it has been already 'confirmed and applied' on chartco and with regards to the files in 'processed' the files there are '.upd' files...is that what i need to copy and apply into the ecdis, Sir? Thank you Sir.
Yes, we can skip these but If I am not wrong, the new version of Chartco does not allow now to proceed for corrections without downloading the base cells.
Can you tell me how i can find all list for t&p corr in ecdis c map software as we can find that in paper chart by list and enforce and canceled ?
Hello sir , I hope you are doing good. I had one doubt , we have Chartco software & Kelvin hughes ECDIS onboard.Latest available DVD is 05/2017 which was applied on ECDIS & chartco as well.Now there are some permits expired end of april.Ecdis was updated till 15/2017.Latest permit received is of 18/2017.now if i remove the old permits from chartco & insert the latest permit(i.e , 18/2017) the pending corrections in chartco will be cumulative or not.will it update the ECDIS upto date ? awaiting your response.thanks in advance.
Hello Capt. i have an urgent situation. Its about Sperry Marine Visionmaster. After installing the latest chart update dvd, we have lost data for 1 port. Permits are fine and no errors. However, my question, is it possible to override with an dvd older chart update. Namely, before the very last update were all charts fine.
Sir, what is the difference between ENC and AVCS.
Good day Captain, really appreciate all the efforts you have taken for assisting the seafaring community. Kindly care to clarify this doubt of mine. As mentioned earlier in one the replies you have mentioned that before applying a new permit the old permit has to be deleted. Later in another one of the replies it has been mentioned that on application of weekly permit file the old expired permits get removed automatically. Could you please clarify if this removal of expired permits needs to be done manually or happens automatically on applying the weekly permit file.
Actually it depends on ECDIS make. In JRC we have to delete the permit before installing a new one. On Furnuo, it gets deleted automatically. The newer version of JRC ECDIS may not require it to be deleted. So we must check if it is required to be deleted on your ECDIS or not.
I found your blog to be very informative and interesting. On similar lines you can also check out http://crbtech.in/Testing/guide-manual-support-testing/ which is also a very good blog on this very topic. Request you to continue writing on varied topics as we would like to read.
very useful article sir ......... i have a request to make ....... pls if you can blog about the performance standards of Ecdis and Radar.
SIR, pls write a blog on Passage planning in ecdis, step wise..
If there are any official requirement that T&P have to be applied manually on ENC in case you dont have AIO support on ECDIS?
The charts are required to be updated for permanent as well as T&P corrections. If T&P are not updated with AIO, we need to find a way to update these. I cannot think of any other way than updating it manually.
Good day sir! I would like to ask that i have regarding permanent warning on our furuno 3000 ecdis - not up to date (sse 27). Weekly updates has been applied and yet all charts showing not up to date? What shall i do? Many thanks in advance.
Dear Sir, AVC'S ENC have 5 category of charts. I want to know if I miss approch chart but that area already covered with another chart.In that case what problem I will face?I using the large covered area one and don't have the charts in between that chart. I don't face any problem. As I got zooming is not a problem in AVC'S ENC.Is it okay.If not please suggest me.
Zooming may look OK but it may be missing with some vital information. We need to use large scale ENCs to navigate. For overview of the area, we need to have small scale ENCs too.
Dear Sir, I can't locate GB301387, GB3013321, GB503306,GB303433 and GB303434 in Chart World Program. Rest of the charts i can search them but could not able to locate these. Please advise.
Thank you very much Captain,,, God bless you!!!
Hello sir ... Very good blogs .. how we will come to know that our ENC on ECIDS are updated ? What are the errors in Ecdis??
We need to check the log. If there is no errors, then the ENCs are update. Apart from that we need to randomly cross-check the ENC update number of few ENCs.
information was very helpfull thanku.
Capt sir, when we receive weekly permits, do we have to delete the permit in the jrc ecdis before loading the new permit file? In furuno, deleting is not necessary. Do i have to delete the previous permit in jrc? Can i not go directly to load permit?
Yes. I have noticed on JRC ECDIS that if you do not delete the permit first, changes from new permits will not show up. So we need to delete the old permit from JRC ECDIS and then install new permit.
Sir, information was worth a ton , can u shed some light on graphical testing of ecdis ? What it is meant for and how to do it?
Dear sir, Thanks a lot for nice explanation on ecdis ins and out. Learn many thing from this topic.
Thanks sir great help for freshers to work on ecdis we got many answers for our confusions but i have one question what about raster charts updation we have to do manually Or same will update with enc updation ?
Wonderful blog sir, just to confirm. I have received permits for new ENC. What is exactly the correct procedure to apply them? (JRC JAN-901B). Do I have to: 1. delete old permit 2. Import new permit 3. Apply latest base CD 4. Apply latest weekly corrections OR 1. Just to import new permit? Sir Please confirm which procedure is correct becouse now I am little bit confused. Thank you in advance!
Very well explained information sir.
Good day Captain, Thank you for this very helpful article of yours. I have a question regarding how to find the t&p corrections on ecdis for countries that t&p's are included in their enc's. Thank you in advance sir.
Sir, it is very informative thank you for sharing this. .
Hello sir I m having on-board transas navisailor 4000 . And sea passage software.. sir after I m updating weekly updates m still getting error chart information not upto date. Enc permits expired.but when I m checking in sea passage my enc permits are showing valid.


Q & A with Stacy Bardo, founder of Bardo Law, P.C., answering common questions from consumers in need of legal help.
Spring cleaning and home buying — it's that time of year again. The sun is shining longer, flowers are starting to bloom, and many of us are emerging from our winter hibernation wanting a fresh start. It's no coincidence that this is the busiest time of year for new home purchases and there are some important things you should do before you start looking.
Before you apply for a mortgage, it's important to examine your credit report. Go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action and request copies of your report from each of the three major credit bureaus. If you see data that doesn't look right, initiate a dispute but be sure to support your dispute with written proof of the mistake. If you dispute prior to applying, you can avoid delays or even lost purchase opportunities should something erroneous be listed on your report.
Consider the ratio of your available credit to used credit.
Do you have open credit cards or home equity lines of credit with high balances? Don't close credit lines but instead, think about paying down debt on revolving accounts so that you have a good ratio of used credit to available credit.
Verify any liens that may be on your current home.
If you currently own a home you're thinking of putting on the market, visit your local recorder of deeds' office and verify no liens exist. Working to remove or pay off liens after you've started the buy/sell process may be too late.
Beware of re-finance offers that appear to good to be true.
Banks and mortgage companies (online or "brick and mortar") frequently send solicitations promising certain rates. But these offers have fine print and usually require an appraisal to qualify. Don't wait for a denial letter because your home isn't worth what you thought it was — check local listings, speak with a qualified home appraiser, and have the data before you respond to a credit solicitation.
Make your home buying (or selling) experience a bit easier and be armed with the knowledge you need about home values, your credit, and your overall finances. Happy Spring!
With the election behind us, there are many questions about what consumer protection role the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will have going forward. Today's edition of The Consumerist notes: "Even before the CFPB launched in 2011, it's been opposed by many in the financial industries, and by the lawmakers they back." Many banks, debt collectors, and payday loan lenders have already paid back millions to consumers as a result of the CFPB's work and investigations so a diminished role could have a negative consumer impact.
In the six months covered by this report, our supervisory actions resulted in financial institutions providing more than $44 million in redress to over 177,000 consumers. During that timeframe we also announced orders through enforcement actions for approximately $82 million in total relief for consumers who fell victim to various violations of consumer financial protection laws.
So, what can you do to ensure the continued viability of the CFPB?
Talk to your U.S. Representatives and Senators. Contact my office if you would like specific information on your district's representatives and who to call or write.
File a consumer complaint online with the CFPB at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/.
Learn more about other advocacy organizations, such as the National Association of Consumer Advocates and National Consumer Law Center.
Most of all, stay informed and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Don't ignore collection letters, be sure to monitor your credit report, and feel free to report bad acts to the Better Business Bureau and your local Attorney General. The more we let our political leaders know consumers need assistance, the harder it will be to chip away at those protections. It's a long road ahead but together, we can continue to battle injustice.


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Changes in COVID-19 laboratory testing starting from August 1
Published: 03.08.2021.
At the end of the transition period set by the Cabinet of Ministers, there will be changes in COVID-19 laboratory testing for adults taking effect from 1 August 2021, stipulating that from here on out testing for the purposes of attending events and receiving various services will be done only for a fee, as per the National Health Service (NHS). Payment for the laboratory test will have to be made according to the price list of paid laboratory services.
In case a patient exhibits COVID-19 symptoms, laboratory testing for epidemiological investigation will continue to be paid from the state budget.* Outside the GP's working hours, patients with symptoms characteristic of COVID-19 infection will be able to do so without a doctor's referral. The NHS draws attention to the fact that from here on out in such cases it will not be possible to create a digital Covid-19 certificate after testing and the individual will only receive a laboratory statement of the results, so that, if necessary, the general practitioner could monitor or treat the patient.
It will be possible to create and use a digital COVID-19 certificate if the individual is:
vaccinated against COVID-19;
recovered from COVID-19;
undergone paid laboratory testing.
The digital COVID-19 certificate will also be created if an individual without COVID-19 symptoms has undergone paid laboratory testing for the purpose of traveling outside the Republic of Latvia.
For children under the age of 18, COVID-19 laboratory testing for attending events and receiving services will be paid from the state budget until September 1.
As reported before, from 10 June to 1 August 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers had set a transitional period during which laboratory tests for attending events, receiving services and in other cases with the aim of creating a COVID-19 laboratory testing certificate were paid from the state budget. The transition period was set to allow the population to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and then use their vaccination certificates.
At the same time, the NHS reminds that the COVID-19 test is not an alternative to vaccination! A tested person can also become infectious at any time and pose a risk of infection to others. Gatherings between vaccinated or recovered people and non-vaccinated individuals pose a greater risk of the virus being transmitted and circulating than in case of gatherings between solely vaccinated and recovered people. In addition, a vaccinated person is protected against Covid-19 for a long time, while a tested person can only confirm their status at that time.
* Screening testing will continue to be paid from the state budget: for a person accompanying a child, if it is necessary to stay with the child in a hospital; hospitalized patients who undergo long-term care and are not infected with COVID-19 (including patients with mental and psychiatric disorders); in other cases in accordance with the national testing algorithm.
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text:
Q: jQuery returns 'undefined' for .val() when one absolutely exists I am trying to obtain the .val() of a input field within an AJAX loaded box. I absolutely know a value exists, however when I try to access the value using jQuery's .val(), it always returns undefined.
(Both these console.logs are fired right after each other.)
console.log(this.content);

console.log($('#sa', this.content).val());

or
console.log(this.content.find('#sa').val());

Returns 'undefined'

Just doing a log on the element shows no value either:
console.log($('#sa', this.content));

I'm at a loss on why I cannot access this value.
There's a million of these types of questions, so feel free to mark as duplicate if you know of one that asks exactly what I'm asking.

A: jQuery.find looks for descendants, but the element you're looking for isn't a descendant (it's actually part of the collection.)
Try filter instead:
this.content.filter('#sa').val()

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Here below some of the most fascinating photos from China. Together with the photogallery, you will find a funny and interesting trip report full of info and anecdotes describing the whole travel itinerary. If you haven't read them yet, check out all travel info and precise itinerary here: www.wildtrips.net/china.htm.
Chinese signs - Hardly understandable to me.
In 2008 I was sent to China for a conference that was the ideal opportunity to visit the country. It was the year of the Beijing Olympics, that my girlfriend and I, travelling in July, missed just by a few days… no medals for us, unfortunately.
Organizing the trip wasn't easy. In fact, on the internet everyone was talking about guided tours, but we really wanted to travel as independently as possible and it was difficult to get much travel info. We did our best and in the end we booked a London-Amsterdam-Beijing KLM flight and some internal flights with China Eastern Airlines. We managed to plan trips to some of the most attractive destinations in China, but we had to miss many others.
For the visa, we sent our passports to an agency collaborating with the consulate. Luckily our passports came back with all the right things attached.
We landed in Beijing in the morning of the 20th of July. The airport was all new and shiny. When we got out of the hall, we were surrounded by thousands of crazy taxis buzzing around like flies. We hailed one, we showed the address of our Bamboo Garden Hotel (that we previously printed in Chinese ideograms) to the driver and we entered the chaotic traffic of Beijing. Taxis were almost the only vehicles on the roads, but they were billions! Drivers didn't care about safety distance, half a metre was enough for them, even at 70 kph.
The hotel was nice, with the bamboos and the red lamps. It really looked like China. We left our luggage and we took the underground to start our visit of the town.
Beijing - The 'hutongs' quarter is very picturesque.
It was hot and humid and we were sleepy because of the jet lag, but we were brave and we stuck to our (random) Beijing travel itinerary.
We began our walk from the Lama Temple, fascinating Buddhist complex full of decorations and incense. The Confucius Temple was not bad either.
Buddhist Temple - Lama Temple (in the photo) and Confucius Temple are must-see.
Then we walked through the Hutongs, traditional quarters made of small alleys, shacks and old one storey buildings. It was all very Chinese.
The other parts of Beijing were very Chinese too, but in a different way: they were modern, with big, anonymous buildings built by the communist party after having destroyed the hutongs.
Our walk in the old center brought us to the Drum and Bell Towers, very simple but with a nice view on part of the city.
We had dinner in the hotel and we went to bed early in order to recover from the jet lag. In hotel we asked some info and we booked a day trip to the Great Wall for the following day.
We left in the early morning on a small van. An English-speaking guide explained interesting Chinese habits and other cultural stuff, that we soon forgot, but for a moment we felt really smart and knowledgeable.
Along the road we stopped at the Changling tombs. To reach them we walked along the Sacred Way (a grand avenue with big animal statues - I don't know why they put them but they surely represented something really important).
Ming Tombs - The sacred way to Ming Tombs.
We stopped also at a jada fabric and shop. It was a big place with lots of shiny decorated sculptures, with all the smallest details well-carved into the stone. Many costed more than 10000 euros, so we didn't even think about buying something (there was also cheap stuff, but it didn't look good compared to the other beautiful pieces).
We reached the Great Wall in the Mutyaniu section, less touristic than the more famous Badaling that is usually included in any China travel itinerary. The van left us in a wooden village that lived on souvenirs. There were green mountains around. When I finished drinking from a plastic bottle of water, an old, wrinkled woman came to me and asked me (by gestures) if she could take my bottle. "I will throw it away, don't worry", I said. Of course she didn't understand and kept on asking. Maybe she loved me. Then, with the guide's help, I understood that the old woman's "job" was to collect bottles and sell them to some company that would give her a little money to survive. Just to remember that a salary of 1 euro per day was pretty common, in China.
A chairlift (yes, it sounds weird) brought us to the Great Wall, on which we began to walk up and down, up and down, up and down. Maybe I am a little bit crazy, but I really desired to start my trekking and never stop again, following all 8850 km of the longest human construction of the world. In Mutyaniu the Great Wall of China stood on the top of green mountains, climbing up and down among the trees, but in other regions the Wall would probably cross steppe and deserts. I didn't care. I wanted to walk and go on and on and explore everything.
Great Wall - The Chinese Great Wall (Mutyanu section in this photo) is very impressive and crazily long... it would be nice to cover its thousands of miles and miles.
After a while my girlfriend helped me to come to my senses and we got back to the start of our walk. To descend from the mountain we could take the chairlift or a long slide (yes, weird). Of course we opted for the slide, which in a few minutes brought us through the wood to the village and our van.
Back from the trip we stopped in Beijing city center. We noticed a food market. The stuff in there didn't look edible, but in theory it was (there were smoking green beverages and fresh meat hung under the sun, surrounded by flies and gnats: it was scary, but very Chinese). For dinner we went to a Tibetan restaurant, which we reached by taxi. Luckily the menu translated long lines of ideograms with some English word. Probably it was a random, incorrect translation, but still it was English.
I pondered for a while, then I ordered yak stew and a delicious soursweet salad. I could have ordered also a dog, if I wanted. My girlfriend was rather disgusted by the food. However, we both enjoyed the atmosphere. The walls were decorated by typical Tibetan handicrafts. Then music started and two dancers, wearing fur hats, began waving among the tables. The dancers were very typical Tibetan girls, I think, and also quite pretty. The customers joined the balls. It was a funny, strange little adventure, if you consider that there were no tourists and that no-one spoke English (not even the waiters, of course).
Our last day in Beijing we visited some of the most beautiful and famous places of the city. We began from the huge Tiananmen Square.
Tienanmen Square - This huge square also features the entrance to the Forbidden City.
and the Then, the Forbidden City, the big complex of golden buildings that was the Emperor's residence.
Forbidden City - Temples, buildings, squares and much more... just for the Emperor.
We also visited the relaxing Temple of Heaven.
The hot weather joined the Tibetan food in the battle against my girlfriend's stomach. They were winning and my girlfriend succumbing. She looked pretty pissed by the idea of dying on Chinese soil. Then we relaxed in a park under the shadow of the trees and she got better.
It was Beihai Park, a beautiful green area in the middle of the city, full of small lakes, trees, hills and panoramic pagodas, which I recommend for your travel itinerary in the Chinese capital.
Beijing Beihai Park - A nice walk in Beihai Park is relaxing and fascinating.
We had dinner in the hotel, mainly because my girlfriend didn't trust Beijing restaurants anymore. I really wanted to try some other crazy place, but the Chinese food in the hotel was not bad anyway.
The following morning we flew to Shanghai on a China Eastern Airlines plane. We landed safely as we had planned.
The weather was even hotter and damper than in Beijing. We could barely see the sun through the dense, polluted air.
In a day and a half we visited Shanghai touristy places. We began our tour by walking on the Bund along Huangpu River, that crosses the city center. The Bund is a large, lively road with beautiful colonial buildings on one side and the brown water of the river on the other.
Shanghai Bund - From the Bund (the colonial promenade along Shanghai Huangpu river) it is possible to enjoy this amazing skiline.
The opposite shore of the Huangpu, instead, is home to some of the most futuristic skyscrapers of the world. We reached it by the efficient underground, then we took an elevator to the top terrace on the Oriental Pearl Tower. The view got as far as Shanghai's grey suburbs. I would be happy to live in those suburbs, if the only alternative was to live in an igloo at the North Pole wearing just a thong. It's likely that Chinese people who live there really don't have an alternative: the communist dictatorship is quite dictatorial, for certain aspects.
We crossed the river again and we walked to the old Shanghai, with nice wooden houses, very typical and very well kept, small alleys and water channels. We got to the beautiful Yuyuan gardens. The Chinese definition of "garden" is quite weird, with all those mirrors, corners, small spaces and strange shapes. The result, however, was charming.
Shanghai Old Town - These characteristic buildings are very well-kept.
In the evening we walked through Nanjing Road, the most commercial road of Shanghai, with its shops, restaurants, stores and bars. Walking together with thousands of people we arrived at People's Square. Around us, big buildings and shiny skyscrapers. Later, we were rapt by the beauty of Shanghai skyline seen by the Bund.
Shanghai center - The city center is modern, full of shops and people and skyscrapers.
We slept in a 4-star hotel (40 euros for a double room). We didn't spend much time in Shanghai, but it was enough: there are more fascinating places in China. We happily flew to Guilin, in the Southern part of China.
At the airport, my girlfriend and I were met by a guide that we had contacted through a website. We were going to have a 3-day tour with him and a driver. Total cost, 300 euros each, not much considering hotels, car, fuel, tickets, meals, etc.
My girlfriend and I were feeling weak due to the climate and the food, but the clean air of Guilin and especially of the countryside made us immediately feel better. Compared to the chaotic Beijing and Shanghai, it was almost cool. Guilin was a paradise surrounded by wonderful mountains that looked like Rio de Janeiro's loafs.
Guilin - Amazing, absurd mountains along the Li River.
From the mountains our tour began. By car first and by feet then, we arrived at Longji, a village made of small wooden houses and mule tracks, positioned on the slope of a hill full of terraced fields. We really liked that village, even if our hotel room had been last cleaned in 1732, I think. We had dinner in a panoramic restaurant where we ate some delicious rice cooked in the bamboo and a tofu salad.
Guilin - Longji - Longji, in the hills near Guilin, is a very quaint village inhabited by farmers.
The following morning our guide led us to the mountains that stood over Longji while giving us some interesting cultural info. There were spectacular terraced rice fields and bamboo woods. Thanks to the natural landscapes and to the interesting farmer life it was a beautiful, relaxing day (well, apart from the moment when a snake jumped in front of us and the guide quietly said that it was very poisonous).
Rice terraces - Its rice terraces offer incredible views.
Longji Seven Dragons - And amazing shapes.
In the afternoon we left the mountains and we arrived at Guilin, on Li River. We were shown a cliff with a natural arch that looked like an elephant (in China they have great fantasy for these things), then we visited the Reed Flute Cave, a calcareous cave with stalagmites, stalactites and columns made even more spectacular by some well-studied artificial lights.
Reed Flute Cave - Colourful lights make this cave near Guilin even more special.
In the evening we were left at the hotel. Then we went out and walked in the town center, where we noticed the Sun and the Moon pagodas, artificially lit in yellow and white respectively, thus creating nice reflections on the water.
On the 27th of July we lived one of the highlights of our holiday: the cruise on Li river.
Li River cruise - A cruise is the best way to enjoy the views... but also some trekking or any other adventurous activity would be a good idea.
We could admire one of the most spectacular and original landscapes of the world, a fundamental destination for any China travel itinerary. The wide river run through steep, suppository-shaped mountains (I could find a more poetic metaphore, I know). On the shores and on the mountains there were trees and bamboos and some water buffalos, while on the water there were several simple wooden boats that "attacked" our ship and tried to sell cheap souvenirs to the tourists.
When we arrived in Yangshuo we were enthusiastic. The guide suggested for the night to go to a "theater" show. Luckily we trusted him, because it was an amazing performance. The "stage" of the open-air theater was a large natural lake surrounded by beautiful green mountains. Hundreds of actors played while standing on a boat or on a moving footbridge. Of course we didn't understand a word, but I don't think it was important. The music and the dance of artificial lights made the show incredible. Chinese spectators were even happier than us, as the combination of music, water and lights makes them crazy.
The day after we had a bike ride in Yangshuo countryside. There were cultivated fields, farmers and the "usual" mountains shaped as a suppository – the kind of suppository you wouldn't really like to use. It was beautiful and intense.
Yangshuo - A Li River cruise ends at Yangshuo, which boasts a beautiful country, ideal for a bike ride.
Yangshuo fields - More amazing views.
In the afternoon we were driven back to the airport. We said goodbye to Jay and we flew to Xian where our travel itinerary continued. Here I had to attend a 5-day conference that was the reason I had come to China, even if what really interested me was to travel around. Xian, the old Chinese capital, maybe doesn't deserve a 5-day stay and we would have preferred to go to Tibet or somewhere else. Still, we had a good time in Xian with an extraordinary highlight.
For start, we were accomodated in a nice 5-star hotel with free bowling and swimming pool – not bad. Moreover, I didn't really have to attend all conference sessions, so we had time to visit the city.
Xian city center was nice with its big market. We also visited a typically Chinese amusement park. I liked the fact that there were no foreigners. The park was full of gardens, small lakes, water channels and reconstructions of old, historical buildings. The main attractions were paddle boats on the lakes and music and dance shows, plus the usual water/lights/sounds plays in the evening. We were impressed especially by the acrobatic moves of a small Chinese dragon (under which two young boys were hidden) that did martial arts and somersaults on the top of some 3-meter high poles.
Xian Dragon Show - Xian is China old capital and is rich of unusual shows for a foreigner.
We also attended some activities organised by the conference committee. The main one was the trip to Xian Terracotta Army. It is such a famous attraction that cannot leave you satisfied. The hundreds of natural-sized statues of warriors, each different from the others, are impressive, but they are placed in a big dull depot (which is necessary to preserve the statues). From a cultural and historical point of view, anyway, it is extraordinary.
Xian Terracotta Army - So famous it can't be missed, despite the unattractive building that preserve the statues.
Always at the conference expenses, that night we had dinner in a nice restaurant in front of typical music and dance shows.
Another night my girlfriend and I got lost in Xian modern town center and we arrived in a big square where we could watch a nice show with – try and guess – lights, sounds and water. In fact, there were fireworks and fountains with high spurts all rhythmed by a background music.
The last bang of the holiday – not just a bang, actually, but a true atomic explosion – was the visit to Xian ancient city walls. Well, the merit was not of the walls (still very impressive being between 10 and 20 metres wide), but of the total solar eclipse that we could admire.
The conference had in fact been organized in the right dates to let participants enjoy this rare and amazing phenomenon. In the afternoon the sun began being partially covered by the moon. By looking directly at it it was impossible to notice it, as we were blinded by the sunlight, but with a darkened glass we could see that a portion of the sun had a "bite" on one side.
Just before sunset, the eclipse became total. To the naked eye, it all happened very quickly. In a few seconds, the sky became darker and darker, then in a moment it got night and the temperature suddenly fell. The sun was a tiny black ball in the dark sky surrounded by a subtle, almost invisible yellow line. We were shocked.
Solar Eclipse in Xian - An impressive way to end a holiday, a very original and slightly terrifying show. The night suddenly came, few moments later the sun rised again, and then it was time for another sunset.
We didn't have time to get used to the idea that the sun could suddenly disappear like that, without warning and not even making a call, that the sun quickly reappeared on the other side of the moon. It was like a second dawn. Fifteen minutes later it was time for a second sunset, the real one, after which the darkness would last not just for one minute, but for a whole night.
This experience, the Li river, Chinese lifestyle and our stomach-aches are all memories of one of the best trips you could have. The stomach-aches were light and they shouldn't dishearten the traveler, so I hope you you'll use tris travel info and travel itinerary. Actually, they were nothing compared to the real problem: the trip ended and from adventurous travelling we went back to normal life. It was like changing Angelina Jolie for an orangutan. (Or, for the girls, changing Brad Pitt for an orangutan). (Or, for the orangutans, changing a beautiful specimen of orangutan for Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt).


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Oregon Tax Trouble: A pricey property tax fix
By The Oregonian Editorial Board
View full size The late Don McIntire (left) and Bill Sizemore shake hands after a 1997 debate on Measure 50, the Legislature's rewrite of Sizemore's Measure 47. McIntire, who created 1990's Measure 5, disliked Measure 50, which based property taxes on a home's assessed value rather than its market value. Roger Jensen/The Oregonian
Because subjects such as property
tax compression
just aren't confusing enough, Oregonians will soon have to bone up on a concept known as reset at sale. Those who've lived in California, where reset is established practice, can skip this assignment and head to study hall. As for everyone else, read on if you care about your tax bill.
Lawmakers will take up reset legislation next year on behalf of the
League of Oregon Cities
. The result would increase the fairness of Oregon's tax system, which is a good thing, and also the money it generates, which may not be.
Fairness first. In Oregon, each property has both a real market value and an assessed value. The former is what the property presumably is worth, and the latter is a generally lower number used to calculate property taxes. On average, assessed property values statewide were 74 percent of real market values in the 2011-2012 tax year, according to the Legislative Revenue Office.
Buried within that average are innumerable inequities. Even in the same city, houses with comparable real market values can have widely divergent assessed values -- and, as a result, very different tax bills.
How could such a thing occur?
Oregon Tax Trouble
More from the editorial board's occasional series about the need to reform the state's tax system.
Consider a scenario in which two newly built houses come onto the market. To begin with, both might have similar real market and assessed values. Imagine that one is in a trendy neighborhood, where property values soar, and the other is in a suddenly unfashionable neighborhood, where values stagnate. The real market values will vary accordingly, but the assessed values for each will creep upward at a predictable 3 percent per year.
The result: inequity that is both rampant and persistent. Assessed value isn't adjusted when a property changes hands.
This would change under the League of Oregon Cities' proposal, which would reset a property's assessed value to its real market value when the owner sells it. At that point, assessed value would, once again, escalate at 3 percent per year while real market value fluctuated along with the housing market.
If you're thinking, "Holy cow. That's a tax hike," you're correct. Boosting assessed value to real market value would swell the flow of moolah to local governments and schools. If assessed values were reset at sale, according to the Legislative Revenue Office, cumulative local tax revenue would jump by more than $92 million in the first year alone. By year 10, the yearly increase would exceed $1.1 billion.
Before calling your real estate agent and ordering up a moving van, consider a couple of things. Reset at sale would require a constitutional change, and therefore a statewide vote. And voters aren't likely to support this. Just last month, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment
prohibiting real estate transfer taxes
, which are prohibited already under state law. There are big differences between transfer taxes and a reset-on-sale tax hike, but the league's proposal, as currently structured, would be a tough sell.
Reset on sale in some form is a good idea, however. Here's one alternative: Treat residential properties upon sale as if they were new. Assessed values for new homes are calculated using something called the changed property ratio, or CPR, which is just a fancy way of saying county average. The CPR is a ratio of assessed value to real market value, which is expected to be about 73 percent for 2012 in Multnomah County, according to the League of Oregon Cities. Using this method, a home with a real market value of $300,000 would have an assessed value of $219,000.
Resetting assessed value in this fashion would even out inequities to an extent. Some properties would see assessed values go down, and others would see them go up. Of course, resetting values to an average wouldn't raise much -- if any -- money, and for that reason is probably less appealing to local governments and schools than a full reset. But it's also likely to be more appealing to voters, which is to say it has at least a remote chance of passage.
Proposing a mechanism to iron out property tax inequities would be worth doing as a stand-alone effort. But reset on sale is also an important complement to the League of Oregon Cities' other legislative priority next year: exempting temporary funding measures from property tax caps, to which we've devoted abundant editorial space
Here, too, it makes better sense to reset assessed value to the county average when a property's sold. Local voters won't be eager to approve funding measures that exceed tax caps unless the system's inequities are addressed. Neither are they likely to approve such funding measures if inequities are addressed in a way that creates a significant tax hike every time a property's sold, as the League of Oregon Cities has proposed. Nor should they.


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391 adventures found
The Night of Dissolution
Following the threads of a hidden conspiracy in this adventure, the PCs find themselves up against insane cultists, wild chaos magic, and horrors from the primordial days of the world. The quest culminates in their attempt to stave off the Night of Dissolution: a dark time long foretold when the slumbering Galchutt will awaken in their hidden lairs deep below the city and bring catastrophe and woe to the world. The Night of Dissolution is an adventure for 4th-level player characters that most likely will take them to 9th level. The events in this book involve investigation, intrigue, action, and dungeon exploration. This adventure was written as a companion to Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire, a d20 campaign sourcebook describing the fantasy city of Ptolus. It is designed to pick up right where the adventures in Chapter 33 of that book left off, although the story arc of The Night of Dissolution deals with a different focus. This book is a collection of six linked scenarios, each of which could be used separately.
Howl From the North
Barbarian legends tell of five magical blades of measureless power. The more civilized cultures of warmer climes believe these tales to be nothing more than delirious dreams of frost-bitten brains. "Those frozen louts- they're trying to scare respect out of us!" At least that's what they want to believe. Three of the legendary blades of Corusk have been unearthed, and their powers have proven to be all that the tales claimed. You have been given these to use in the quest for the remaining two blades. However, word has spread to the peoples of the neighboring areas, and two groups are working against you to prevent your securing these swords. Beware the Hold of the Stonefist and the Rovers of the Barren! Only so much time remains for you to locate the last two Blades of Corusk ... and your enemies are on the horizon. Find the blades, and reclaim your birthright of honor and respect; fail, and be outcast from your tribes for life. The choice is yours..
The Cursed Chateau
The dead are all mad in this place. Jaume made the most unfortunate mistake of seducing Ysabel and taking her virginity — a sacrilege for which the sentence was death. Enraged upon finding this out, Joudain cleaved Jaume's head in two with an axe and then raised him from the dead to continue his duties. Not long afterward, Joudain decided that, because the twin footmen no longer "matched," he had no choice but to inflict the same fate on Miqèl — who now looks exactly like his older brother. Join them. This heavily revised and greatly expanded deluxe edition of The Cursed Chateau is an adventure for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing and other traditional role-playing games. Death is just the beginning.
The Shrieking Caverns
Deep in these caverns overrun with all sorts of foul creatures are two sister hags. Once of the same coven, they now have a bitter rivalry but both refuse to the leave these caverns they call home. The cave received its name thanks to the terrifying sounds that echo through it. Some say it is just the wind brushing against the stone but the rumors all speak of two horrifying sisters casting curses and performing diabolic rituals with human sacrifices in a never-ending hatred. Heroes will face goblin, hag, bat, hook horror, and other terrifying monstrosities deep within the tunnels of The Shrieking Caverns. This dungeon does not contain any of the puzzles from the puzzle section, though there are a few situations the players will find themselves in that will require more than phsyical strength. That being said, this dungeon contains many combat encounters and is expected to take multiple nights to complete.
Into the Belly of the Beast
Take the adventuring party on a journey through a nasty, smelly swamp as they follow an exotic map which (they hope) leads to a grand treasure. Unknown hazards, NPCs, adventure, and creatures stand between them and the X that 'marks the spot' on the map. This adventure includes: •Custom art •8 hand-drawn maps (color and black & white included) •3 new creatures •1 new magic item •Includes a printer-friendly version of the adventure. Into the Belly of the Beast runs smoothly as-is, but an additional 8 encounters are included. These encounters can be used to lengthen the adventure, or they could used separately and added to your own campaign. Into the Belly of the Beast is a swamp adventure for four to five characters of level 5 - 8 with an approximate play time of 6 to 8-hours.
Cult of the Hungry Eye
Akeni was born a servant to a powerful drow family deep underground, but her personality was anything but servile. When she was caught in an affair with the house matron's mate, she killed the matron and her own paramour and fled, eventually stumbling into the lair of a powerful beholder mage named Ormathulak. Akeni knew immediately that the creature was just the ally she needed to wipe out her hated family.
Five Shall Be One
Powerful forces are set in motion as your party searches for the legendary Blades of Corusk. Take them on the perilous journey from Rookroost to the Lair of the Shadow Dragon in the frozen northlands. Will they survive the ramifications of events that they have initiated? Those who hold the magical blades will not easily give them up. Plucking them from the grasp of a jealous dragon or stealing them from the center of the subterranean City of the Ore Horde will strain your adventurers to their limits!
The House of Deros
The isolated tower of the wizard Deros Frist is an example of a typical tsochari incursion into the human world. This short adventure site describes the lair of a tsochar noble that has successfully replaced Frist, a local wizard of some renown. The tsochar Yikk Tasst now pores through the wizard's libraries and spell books, eagerly absorbing all the arcane lore it can.
Shadowfell Schism
The Raven Queen's servants often seek out mighty allies. One of these is the black dragon Quetzallus, who resides in a deep cavern on the Shadowfell guarding a stream of souls flowing into the Raven Queen's realm. But a death knight named Raxikarthus, betrayed by the Raven Queen in life, now seeks to enslave this dragon for his own purposes. He madly believes that he can stand against the Raven Queen, and seeks allies of all stripes—even her own servants—to do so. The death knight has found a pathway into the Shadowfell thought closed by mortals. Beneath a decayed keep, the undead dragonborn has reopened this portal and led his forces into the Shadowfell itself. The PCs are called in to beard the death knight in his lair. They find it abandoned, but discover a strange passage in the lower reaches.
Journey Through the Center of the Underdark
Are your player's moving out of Velkenvelve? Enjoying a stroll along the shores of the Darklake? On a day trip from Gracklstugh to Neverlight Grove? Sightseeing near Blingdenstone? Then Journey Through the Center of the Underdark is for you. Journey Through the Center of the Underdark contains several detailed encounters ideal for fleshing out traveling days between locations in Out of the Abyss. Furthermore, these encounters could be readily inserted into any 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Underdark oriented Forgotten Realms or home campaign setting. Designed for a party of 4-6 fourth through sixth level characters, with easy notes for adjusting encounter difficulties for lower or higher level groups, Journey Through the Center of the Underdark should provide 8-10 hours of exciting in game adventure. Written for your Rage of Demons Out of the Abyss campaign, Journey Through the Center of the Underdark is ideal for any descent into the depths your characters might take. Enjoy!
DDAL 05-03 Uninvited Guests
The Shrine of the Axes has been restored and Raggnar Redtooth, who previously conspired with dragon cultists, is trying to restore his reputation in Parnast by sponsoring a feast. There is just one thing he needs, meat for his feast. Game is supposed to be plentiful in the Weathercote Wood, but the townsfolk are all busy with their own work, and the minions of Bad Fruul are still out there causing trouble. What can go wrong on a simple hunt? A Two-Hour Adventure for 1st-4th Level Characters
Marauders of the Dune Sea
A Dungeons & Dragons® adventure set in the world of Athas or your own campaign world. Now that Tyr is free of Kalak the Sorcerer-King, opportunity abounds in the city and the surrounding wastes. But some see Kalak's fall as the beginning of Tyr's end, and the unpatrolled deserts nearby are rife with danger. Outlaws openly defy the city's Revolutionary Council and threaten outlying holdings. If Tyr is to thrive, heroes must arise to tame the lawlessness and evil that threatens the free city. This stand-alone D&D® adventure is designed to take characters from 2nd to 5th level. Although nominally set in the Dark Sun® campaign setting, Dungeon Masters can easily incorporate it into their "homebrew" D&D campaigns.
Fires of Dis
In the Outer Planes, a holy sword can be a fiend's best friend, especially when the owner wants it back? Sneaking into the second layer of foul Bagtor ain't easy, but with a little help from the right high-up men, it can be done. 'Course, exactly who the right high-up men are can give a basher pause, so it's often best not to ask. But there's a sword to be found, and bloods needed to find it. Truth is, those who don't end up lost are sure to find out that no good deed goes unpunished! Fires of Dis is a Planescape adventure for four to six characters of 5th to 9th levels. From Sigil, the City of Doors, the heroes plunge head-first into a dangerous journey across the Outer Planes. Their quest for a stolen sword leads them to the hostile gate-town or Ribcage, the treacherous plane of Baator, and the disciplined burg of Fortitiude - a gate-town teetering between two planes, just waiting for something to tip the scales. Your player characters need wits as keen as their steel to brave the fires of Dis and survive!
Lochfell's Secret
Stories of misfortune are often exaggerated, especially when they have been retold many times. For that reason, most people aren't taking seriously the claim that a sea monster living along the coast is eating whole ships full of sailors and swallowing entire families. But there's no denying a few facts -- the town of Lochfell is losing its citizens to a sea monster (one that walks on water no less), someone is stealing that same town's dead, and ships are beginning to choose other ports for unloading their goods. Such a scenario could doom the residents of the small port town to either a monster's gullet or the poorhouse. No one seems to know whether the town's two ongoing problems are connected, but the sea monster never leaves behind a corpse to bury. Is it collecting bodies for some dark purpose? Or did some more powerful evil creature create the sea monster to do its dirty work? Someone in Lochfell knows the answer, and it's up to the PCs to find it out. Lochfell's Secret is a short D&D adventure for four 15th level player characters (PCs). The story is set in and around the port town of Lochfell. You can place the action in any section of your campaign world where a coastal town on a bay might exist. If there is a small town that the PCs visited in a past adventure but haven't returned to in quite a while, so much the better. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
Cassomir's Locker
Part 2 of the "The Devil We Know" campaign arc. Cassomir's Locker is a Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 7th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 3–4, and 6–7). The Pathfinder Society dispatches you to the catacombs called Cassomir's Locker to find the source of a rat cult breeding monstrous vermin. After clearing Cassomir's dank sewers and delving into the dirty dungeons below, will you find the artifact that powers Cassomir's Locker or bring about the destruction of Taldor's most important port?
The Slaying Stone
In the ruins of Kiris Dahn, a human town, lies a 'Slaying Stone'. The stone is said to have the power to kill any foe, though the stone is consumed in the process. The party will venture into the ruins which are the home to an assortment of goblins, hobgoblins, and kobolds. However, a mercenary band of orcs have been hired (by a benefactor who is not met in the module) to search the ruins for the Stone, and the party must find it first. The party must use caution and stealth to move through the town without alerting the denizens or the mercenaries while searching strategic points around the abandoned town to find the Stone. Eventually, the party should find the stone under the protection of an indifferent Brass Dragon.
Blood of the Gorgon
Men always seek the blood of monsters. Some spill it to avenge their massacred families. Others swim through an ocean of gore to find treasures worth the envy of kings. A few know blood can be a priceless treasure in and of itself. Alchemy has long used the lifeblood of monstrosities as arcane fuel, and of all the legendary beasts, the blood of the gorgon holds the most secrets. Few know the blood's darkest lore, its ability to draw out the monster within every soul. Those who drink gorgon's blood are forever changed, and the darkest horrors of their mind unleashed. The heroes hunt a deadly murderer who stalks the streets of the Free City of Zobeck after nightfall, and cross blades with a guild of monsters who rule the city from below. Lucky heroes might risk no more than their lives. Unlucky heroes must wager their souls in a game where monsters and men dance close enough to share their blood and their fate.
The Mad Manor of Astabar
You have few complaints this night as you rest in the common room of the Crooked Crow Inn. While winter has passed, the night air carries enough of a chill to make any hearth a welcome sight. The village of Havehollow is typical for this part of the realm. Livelihoods made from farming and livestock with a few merchants and the Inn catering to travelers along the kingsroad. Good folk who know that hard work is what's needed to make it through harsh times. As you finish your meal you notice a fellow traveler, a rave haired woman, walk to the front of the common room with lyre in hand. She plucks a few practice cords then breaks into song. Seasons come and go Moons wax and wane Time seems so slow To the spirits of Havehollow... This is an introductory adventure for 3-5 characters levels 1-3 but can easily be adjusted upward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am not the original creator! The original can be found here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1011 As a note, for Astabar himself I found he was an underwhelming boss for 1st level characters, reccomend making him have Flesh Golem stats
The Gold Knife Bandits
Ever been on a long running campaign and in one of the sessions one or a few players couldn't make it? This adventure was made to be used as sort of a filler episode to fix that. Made for a small party of 1st-4th lvl characters and to be played in a single session. Story summary - The Gold Knife Bandits, a gang formed by a former army squadron that deserted. They are remarkably loyal to each other and are known in the area for attacking army caravans and camps. However, after several months of unfortunate loots. They decided to house a cultist of Beshaba and do what he asks to take away the curse of misfortune the gang is obviously under. Unfortunately, that includes using some members of the party as a sacrifice. The party will find the bandits cavernous hideout, clear through it, face the cultist, the Bandit's old boss, or both! All in a day's worth of adventuring.