TIKI does not currently display vector charts in S-57, S-63, or proprietary formats such as Navionics or C-Map. However it does display raster topographic maps and aerial and satellite image files if you have them.
All our BSB raster charts, GEO/NOS raster charts, aerial and satellite image files, and raster topographic maps load automatically when we first opened the application. In fact, since our extensive Maptech chart library was already on our hard drive, TIKI immediately located all these assets by looking in the default chart folder location.
Program start-up has a slick user interface: a striking graphic of a hand holding a glass globe with your chart titles scrolling by like movie credits. Unfortunately, our chart folder included over a thousand files so this cool feature lost some of its glamour after several minutes of loading. This installation display occurred every time we started the application–an eternity in our spoiled sense of computer time (see photo).
The chart loading display is a great idea, but a wise compromise may be to display only the first 10 or 20 chart titles, beginning with charts closest to last location, then promptly open the application for the user. The remaining charts could be loaded in the background while the user began their navigation tasks.
We had no trouble connecting our GPS sensor. Although TIKI does not include a Port Wizard to locate the appropriate communications port, a series of feedback windows easily guide you through the process.
The first three times TIKI is opened, it prompts you to begin a tutorial. Take the time to do it! The tutorial is excellent and consists of only 20 short windows. Without the tutorial, you won't find all the menus, which are intentionally hidden to keep the screen clear for the chart.
To use all the available features of TIKI Navigator Pro, you should consider a few additional software plug-ins and accessories. If you want to upload waypoints and routes to your GPS, you need a freeware package called EasyGPS. To use TIKI's BuddyTracking feature, you must have a general-purpose GPS utility called GpsGate ($39.95). If you want to print chart images, you need a screen capture application such as SnagIt ($39.95). Links for all of these are displayed below.
To use the navigation features, you must connect either a USB GPS sensor, available for less than $100, or your onboard GPS. If you use a USB GPS sensor, be sure to download the latest driver from the manufacturer's website. Connecting an onboard GPS may also require a 9-pin serial plug.
Finally, TIKI Navigator intentionally has a cursor-based, rather than a keyboard-based, user interface. In fact, most operations are accessed through contextual, mouse-based menus that require a mouse with both a right and left-click button.
LOOK AND FEEL
When Jenssen began the TIKI project, he sought to create an intuitive user interface that broke away from a traditional PC Windows format. But why re-invent an established interface that much of the world already uses? Jenssen points out there are many reasons, including rough sea conditions that make keyboarding and traditional mousing difficult; chart displays on laptop screens that are too small; type so small it is illegible on a moving vessel; and graphical user interfaces with insufficient contrast for a marine environment.
TIKITIKI Frameset customization: Tutorial overview (left), customizable data and color options (center), and Frameset 8 (right).
TIKI's user interface is different–but it works. Gone are the tiny pull-down menus that consume screen real estate and are too small to read underway. Gone are the small icons and graphics that clutter the screen. In fact, TIKI's screen at first appears to be all chart display. Where are the menus and choices?
There are a lot of menus–including a Main Menu, a Chart Select pop-up window, a Quick Buttons pop-up window and several contextual mouse menus–but you only see them when you need them. Menu objects are large enough to read and to target with your mouse cursor in a seaway. TIKI's menus can be displayed in large format since they automatically disappear when not in use.
The Main Menu opens as a strip window along the right edge of the screen when the cursor is moved to this edge. When the cursor is brought back onto the chart, the Main Menu panel disappears. The Main Menu shows a series of "rolling" displays, accessed by left-clicking on the menu's title bar. For example, you can scroll between customizable strips of data for waypoints, routes, autopilot, sailing or racing. Each of the eight framesets contains a collection of Databoxes, which you customize with your choice of instruments or data (see photo).
