Notams (at least Dutch Notams) contain a lot of coordinates, such as 52491811N 005172691E. Obviously we all learned how to plot these on our maps, but sometimes it just feels like a lot of work, with very little reward (since 99% of the time you won't come close to the point mentioned anyway). I tried to do some quick workarounds to mapping them by hand, but unfortunately Google Maps doesn't recognise coordinates in this format (it wants you to rewrite them as: 52 49' 18.11"N 005 17' 26.91"E, which is about as much work as just locating them by hand).
I just wanted something easier. After some experimenting, I got to write a bookmarklet that displays the points directly on a map, and insert these maps in the notams for easy reference. So even high up in the air, I can now quickly see whether I'm entering a notam controlled area. Below a screenshot from the homebriefing site after the notamap bookmarklet was run.
A bookmarklet is a bookmark (like any other bookmark it can be put in several places in your browser; a toolbar, in the menu, or even under a hotkey). However where a normal bookmark takes you to another site, a bookmarklet runs some code on the current page you're viewing. As you will see in the rest of the description, after you've installed the bookmarklet, all you have to do is generate the notams the way you're used to, and then click the bookmarklet, and voila, the maps appear! This works in most browsers, and was tested in recent versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome.
Please note that although the bookmarklet does its best to map the notams, it's not perfect, nor a replacement for reading the notams or common sense. Don't use the maps as your only source of information, and always doublecheck that the maps are accurate and indeed indicate all information that was contained in the notam, and read the notams before running Notamap, to make sure that Notamap didn't hide any information! See an example of where the map gives misleading information and the notam needs to be read!
Okay, so here we go, this is the bookmarklet: Notamap. Note that clicking this link will not do anything on this page (or perhaps mess up the page if you're unlucky; you can however always reload the page). To install the bookmarklet, drag the link (<--- the blue link called "Notamap" earlier) to your bookmark toolbar. If your bookmark toolbar is not visible, see here how to make it visible. After you have dragged the link to your toolbar, you should see "Notamap" in the toolbar, and you're done installing.
After installing the bookmarklet, getting your maps with the notams is as easy as requesting the notams on the ais website, and choosing "display in browser (HTML)". Now when you see the notams, click the "Notamap" bookmarklet in your bookmarks toolbar. An extra header is added to the notams, and each notam with coordinates in it will get an accompanying map (if you have Internet Explorer, you might be served a note about secure and insecure page parts; in this case you'll have to click "No" for Notamap to work). Note that to print the notams, you'll have to use the link to the printable format in the Notamap box, or a new page without the maps will be generated.
Good luck, and let me know how it works for you
The bookmarklet was written and is (hopefully) being maintained by Reinoud Elhorst. Obviously it comes without any guarantee about its correct workings; it may stop working if the homebriefing site is changed or notams are being displayed in some other format; all I can guarantee is that I will most likely try to get it working whenever I need it myself. Having said that, please let me know if you run into a problem with it (or want to share something else with me): (messages may be either in Dutch or English). I fly myself at Hilversum, in SEP-planes.
The name Notamap is obviously a contraction of Notam and Map, however, the pronounciacion is as "not-a-map". This should remind everybody that the information displayed in the maps is not authoritive, and the maps are only for convenience.
