installation

NotamPlot now ships in the form of an Install Anywhere executable. Simply run the installer to begin installation. Follow the instructions onscreen, noting the software licence (you will need to scroll the text to read it all).

Note: For NotamPlot to run successfully, it requires write permissions to the directory it is installed into for all users that intend to use it.

configuration

Avbrief user configuration

Before NotamPlot can download bulletins it must be configured with your Avbrief user name and password. If you don't yet have one, visit http://www.avbrief.com to register. To configure your username and password:

1. Start NotamPlot and click OK on the intro/splash screen.
2. Select the Options menu, then Configuration.
3. Fill in your Avbrief user name and password.

If you are an Avbrief subscriber, the additional subscriber-only features of NotamPlot will automatically be enabled as follows:

internet proxy configuration

If you connect to the internet via a proxy server, you need to configure its settings as follows:

1. From the Configuration dialog, select the Internet Connection tab.
2. Click the "Connect to the internet via a proxy" checkbox to enable it.
3. Fill out the required fields (host and port will be required as a minimum). Your system administrator will know the values you need to enter. (The following picture shows example values only!)

interface configuration

Please do not change the setting under this tab, unless asked to do so by the author of NotamPlot or Avbrief. It should be set to: http://www.avbrief.com/cgi-bin

downloading bulletins

To download bulletins, select the File menu then select Download Bulletins (or select the first toolbar button). The download "wizard" will be displayed:

Select "Next ->". NotamPlot will now connect the server to test your Avbrief account details, then display the FIR selection page:

Note that the list of FIRs displayed will depend on your level of Avbrief subscription. NOTAMs will be downloaded for FIRs in the right hand list. When you have selected the FIRs you are interested in, select "Next ->"

(Note that your selections for all pages are stored so the next time you select "Download Bulletins" the selection will be set to the same values. Therefore if you want to keep the same selections for this next download, simply press "Download" to skip to starting the download.)

Clicking "Next ->" displays the following page:

Select the airfields for which you would like the Airfield NOTAMs.

IMPORTANT!: It is strongly recommended that you download NOTAMs for ALL airfields. This is because occasionally airfield NOTAMs affect enroute traffic and are not necessarily included in the FIR briefing.

Note that the list of airfields displayed will depend on your level of Avbrief subscription. NOTAMs will be downloaded for airfields in the right hand list. When you have selected the airfields you are interested in proceed as follows:

If you are a guest user, select "Download" to start the download ("Next->" will be disabled) and skip to the "Download Progress" picture below.

If you are an Avbrief subscriber, select "Next ->".

Select the airfields for which you would like TAFs and METARs. When you have selected the airfields you are interested in, select "Next ->"

Select the airfields for which you would like airfield information (runways, frequencies, elevation, sunset, sunrise times etc.). When you have selected the airfields you are interested in, select "Download" to start the download.

You will see a progress dialog for the download, like this:

Note that the more items you selected, the longer the download will take. If you have a dial-up (standard modem) internet connection, selecting large numbers of airfields will result in a long download time.

If the download completed successfully you will see the following dialog:

Select "OK".

reloading the last download

In order to be able to display the downloaded bulletins after shutting down the NotamPlot application (and without reconnecting to the internet), NotamPlot automatically saves the downloaded bulletins each time they are downloaded. To reload the last downloaded bulletins select the menu "File" - "Reload Last Download".

Note that this means the displayed data may be out of date. Double check the bulletin date in the top level folders of the tree view (see below).

Also note that this feature is not designed for long term storage of bulletins. Downloads saved with one release of NotamPlot are almost certainly not going to be loadable into another release.

examining the bulletins

The downloaded bulletins are displayed in tabs on the left side of the application, one per downloaded bulletin. Each tab has a tree control to organise the bulletin. At the top level the tree is split into two folders, "Not Plotted" and "Plotted". (If there are no NOTAMs under a folder, the folder will not be displayed).

IMPORTANT!: Plotted vs Not Plotted

The "Not Plotted" folder contains NOTAMs that:

• Have a radius of influence greater than 100nm, or
• Have no plotting information, or
• Have been filtered out of the plot by the application of a filter.

Note: It is very important to read all the NOTAMs in the "Not Plotted" section before consulting the map and/or applying a filter to ensure your are aware of all relevant NOTAMs to your flight.

The "Plotted" folder contains all the NOTAMs that are currently plotted on the map. (Note that this may occasionally include NOTAMs that are off the edge of the map and so not actually visible)

Note: It is very important to read the text associated with a plotted NOTAM to confirm that the sites and areas shown are correct. The source text for the NOTAM is hand-compiled and thus prone to errors both at source and in the interpretation by NotamPlot.

enroute NOTAMs

NOTAMs are organised by FIR. Selecting a NOTAM in the tree will display its details in the window below the tree and highlight the NOTAM on the map in blue,with a label (if it's listed under the "Plotted" folder).

airfield NOTAMs

NOTAMs are organised by the airfield's ICAO code. Selecting a NOTAM in the tree will display its details in the window below the tree and highlight the NOTAM on the map in blue,with a label (if it's listed under the "Plotted" folder).

airfield weather

TAFs and METARs are organised by the associated airfield's ICAO code. Selecting a TAF/METAR in the tree will display its details in the window below the tree and highlight the associated airfield on the map in blue,with a label. Airfields that have weather downloads associated with them are highlighted with a ring around them (e.g. Cranfield below) which is filled when selected (e.g. Cambridge below).

airfield information

Airfield information entries are organised by the airfield's name. Under each airfield is a folder for frequencies and a folder for runways.

Selecting a frequency or runway will display its details in the window below the tree and highlight the associated airfield on the map in blue,with a label. e.g. runway details include TORA, width and bearing and frequency details include type and whether the service is 24hrs.

Selecting the airfield folder entry will display the airfield information (elevation and sunset & sunrise times etc.) in the window below the tree and highlight the associated airfield on the map in blue,with a label. Airfields that have airfield information downloads associated with them are highlighted with a ring around them which is filled when selected as for airfield weather above.

using the map

The map can be configured to show a variety of information. All the options are listed under the "Show" menu, with some selectable by tolbar buttons. They are hopefully self-explanatory. Enabling the Route Corridor option will draw a zone around the currently displayed route to aid checking nearby NOTAMs (there is currently no route briefing or filtering function). The size of the route corridor can be configured under the "Options" - "Configuration" - "Display" menu.

Hovering the mouse over an airfield, navaid or user waypoint will display a tooltip showing the airfield's name.

NOTAMs are drawn on the map as pale circles as shown below. The circle defines the centre and radius of influence of the NOTAM. The currently selected NOTAM is drawn in blue and highlighted with its reference next to each area/site). Within the circle, any specific sites or areas given in the NOTAM text that can be understood by NotamPlot are drawn in red (if the NOTAM is unselected) or blue if the NOTAM is the selected one.

Some example NOTAMs:

The above NOTAMs with H8122/03 selected:

scrolling and zooming

The + and - keys on the keypad can be used to zoom in/out of the map as well as the "Zoom" menu options and associated toolbar icons.

The map can be scrolled in the conventional manner with the scrollbars, or by holding down the right mouse button on the map and dragging it.

bulletin display on the map

Selecting each bulletin tab causes the map to be redrawn with the plotted items relevant to the bulletin. e.g. Upon selection of the Enroute NOTAMs tab, the enroute NOTAMs are displayed on the map.

IMPORTANT!: map selection of NOTAMs

When enroute or airfield NOTAMs are displayed on the map, they can be selected by clicking them directly on the map. The NOTAM is then also selected in the bulletin tree and displayed in the details windows below the tree. If NOTAMs overlap, repeated clicking will result in selecting and highlighting each NOTAM in turn (bringing each one to the "top" of the map).

Note: Sometimes multiple NOTAMs exist of the same size and position on the map, so it is important to click several times to ensure you see any NOTAMs hidden by the currently selected one.

applying a filter

Often there will be a large number of NOTAMs displayed on the map, many of which may not be relevant to your flight on a particular day. In order to cut down the amount of displayed data you can configure and apply a filter to the display. Select "Filter" - "Configure NOTAM Filter ..." from the menu.

You can specify the lower and upper flight levels (0-999) for the filter. Only NOTAMs that affect the levels between these two values will be displayed. You must pick a single date for the filter. There are buttons to pick the common options of today or tomorrow to save typing them. You can also select to include only NOTAMs applicable to VFR and/or IFR. Note that these options all work together in the AND sense. i.e. The above example means "show only NOTAMs that affect flights between FL0 and FL999 and on 20/11/03 and affect VFR flight".

Selecting OK will set the filter and apply it. To turn on and off the filter, select the "Apply NOTAM Filter ?" menu option under the "Filter" menu. A tick next to the menu item indicates the filter is applied.

Applying a filter will give a warning message and flash the status bar at the bottom of the application to remind you you are viewing a subset of the full list of NOTAMs.

defining user waypoints

You can define your own waypoints in NotamPlot for use in user defined routes (see the next section). There are two ways of defining user waypoints:

Select the menu "User" - "Browse User Waypoints...". This displays the currently defined user waypoints. From here you can add, edit or delete them. Clicking "Add..." displays the following dialog:

Enter the name, description (optional) and coordinates of your waypoint. The waypoint will be added to the list. In order to see the waypoint on the map, enable them with the menu "Show" - "All User Waypoints ?". If you have trouble spotting it on the map, try selecting "Show" - "All User Waypoint Names ?".

The second way of adding a user waypoint is by right clicking on the map and selecting "Add user waypoint here...". This will display the above dialog with the coordinate information filled in with the location of the right mouse click on the map.

If you need a good source of waypoint coordinate information you may want to find a copy of the book "Pooleys UK GPS Companion" by JMH Publishing, ISBN 0 9520744 4 3, which has coordinates for over 21000 towns and villages in the UK.

defining routes

NotamPlot allows you to define routes that can be displayed over the map. This allows you to see whether your intended track coincides with any plotted NOTAMs.

Note: There is currently no route briefing facility or filtering based on route. The route feature simply plots the selected route on the map.

There are two ways to add, edit and delete routes:

Select the menu "User" - "Browse Routes". This will display all the currently defined routes. You can create a new one or edit or delete existing ones from here.

Click "New ..." to create a new route. Enter a name and optionally a description for the route. You can then click "Add Airfield", "Add Navaid" or "Add Waypoint" to add points to the route. For example, clicking "Add Airfield" displays the following dialog:

You can sort the airfields displayed by Name, ICAO Code, Military and Coordinate (latitude, lowest first), by clicking on the column headings. Selecting an airfield and then "OK" or double clicking an airfield will close the dialog and add it to the route. The "Add Navaid" and "Add User Waypoint" options work in a similar way.

Once added, route points can be moved up and down within the list or removed.

The route can then be seen on the map on green. e.g.:

Enabling the Route Corridor function (under the "Show" menu") displays a corridor around the displayed route. e.g.:

The corridor width (in nm) is specified under the following menu: "Options" - "Configuration" - "Display".

The second way of handling routes is to use the map and the toolbar buttons:

Routes can be selected via the drop down list on the toolbar. Clicking the leftmost icon above, will initiate a new route being created and display the following dialog:

Enter the name and (optional) a description and click "OK". A floating dialog will be shown with the current route's points in. When this dialog is shown, the map is in route editing mode. When in this mode, clicking airfields, navaids and user waypoints will add them to the route currently being edited as shown in the floating dialog.

Hovering the mouse over an airfield, navaid or user waypoint will display a tooltip showing the airfield's name to make identification easier.

Note that route points are added after the highlighted route point in the list. (To add to the beginning of the list unselected all route points by holding the CTRL key and clicking all selected points to unselect them all).

By clicking the arrow buttons on the floating dialog you can move points up and down the route. By clicking the cross button you can delete the selected route points.

Closing the floating dialog will revert to normal mode. To edit the current route again, select the second route toolbar button shown above. To delete the current route select the third route toolbar button shown above.

An example route via airfields and a user waypoint:

uninstallation

NotamPlot installs an uninstall application in its install directory, under the folder "UninstallerData". It can be uninstalled using this program or by using your operating system's uninstall mechanism (e.g. Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs in Windows). The NotamPlot installation folder will remain behind with configuration files after uninstall. If you do not wish to retain your configuration settings, simply delete the NotamPlot installation directory completely.

contact details

Contact the author, check for updates and download NotamPlot for other operating systems from the NotamPlot website: