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Currently toying with the idea of buying a MacBook to replace my trusty Powerbook, and I was looking at some of the interesting software gadgets that have been written for the built-in motion sensor.

I'm sure there'd be some relevant marine applications of this technology. For example:

- Graphical Heal indicator... record the heal of your vessel while sailing. If you logged this over time, you could even include it with your other NMEA instrument data to work out how much you heal on a specific heading to the wind, at a certain speed.

- Sea State... record the sea state.

- Accelerometer.. more for the powerboaters, this one, but see how may G's you can pull as you accelerate

Anyone got any other suggestions?

I'm thinking of using a BT trackball with my iBook for navigation.
1. I'm not a fan of the trackpad of laptops
2. a mouse needs place on the chart table to move and perhaps a valuable USB port
3. probably the BT trackball can be used on deck with a foldable BT keyboard and an external touchscreen 8" TFT

I'm interested in this device The Ball Bluetooth Wireless Trackball reviewed here http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/the_..._trackball

So has any of you guys/girls experience with trackball on boats?

Thx.

Manou

My Pismo running OS X (10.4.7) started to act up while on our boat. First the USB mouse froze, then the BU-353 GPS stop receiving signals and finally GPXNavX froze. I thought this was a USB fault, power issue or maybe a corrupt program. Took Pismo into get checked and the tech thinks it's the harddrive. Sure I know harddrives fail, but know I'm thinking could it have been damaged during a rough run in the boat. I checked on the internet about shock proof hard drives, some are available, however has anyone done something to their iBook/Powerbook to help shock proof their unit? When my Pismo is working again I'd like to help prevent this from happening again, as best as possible. Any thoughts?

Thanks all.

Patrick

I'm happy to announce that my website is online for french GPSNavX and Mac users.
A page to download release notes and french localization folder, several pages about the use of GPSNavX, hardware, cartography, and so on.
Hope it will help :wink:
[url=http://www.francis-fustier.fr/gpsnavx.html]C'est ici !

Francis

While I am not in the UK I am paticulary interested in the RS Vareo..

http://www.rssailing.com/fleets.asp?fleet=RS%20Vareo

So if any of you Mac sailors have insight on this boat please pass along. Looking for a one person dinghy for local lake sailing. Probably won't install a Mac Mini on this one.

I'm having some difficulty getting this thing up and running. I've got a couple of instruments working together on the listerner ports, but it doesn't seem to be outputing anything to the talker port. I hook up an Epirb or VHF radio or .... anything to that port and I get nothing. Is there someway I can test that port with a multimeter to determine if there's anything there? Anybody else have any problems with this thing? Looks simple enough .....

Pat

This is a bit related to my previous post. Have a new acquaintance in our marina who is a live-aboard on a small boat with a ibook. He’s concerned about how to protect his laptop when not using it, primarily from the humid conditions. Pelican case is one answer (though I find them both bulky and pricey), and a heavy duty ziploc might be another (with a silica gel packet)

I'm interested in the response as well as I'll eventually be heading out on a very extended cruise. I usually don’t leave my ibooks onboard when I’m not there, but have taken it on a multi-week trip. However the conditions on that trip we’re generally quite (unusually) dry, as is my boat in general. While onboard and not using it I kept my ibook in a neoprene slipcase and had not problems with it.

QUESTIONS:
What do others do?
Has anyone had problems with the salt air damaging or killing their laptop? Basically how reliable are the macs in a marine environment?

Scot

note - I gave him the forum address so he can eventually join us, and introduced him to MacENC.

Is there any merit in producing MacDNC? .....grin.....

Look at the DNC chart site at

<http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/dnc/>

Digital Nautical Chart (DNC®)

The Digital Nautical Chart® is produced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and is an unclassified, vector-based, digital database containing maritime significant features essential for safe marine navigation.

Initial data collection of the database is from a portfolio of approximately 5,000 nautical charts that will ultimately provide global marine navigation between 84° North latitude and 81° South latitude and support a variety of Geographic Information System applications.

There is a DNC FAQ page which might help clarify some issues, particularly about cost and availability:

<http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/dnc/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&beanID=171498598&viewID=detail_view>

Apple has filed a patent for a hand-held device, which could include: mobile phone, GPS, PDA, ipod ... any other portable device, with just one big touchscreen. By selecting a menu the display shows keys relevant to the used device: mobile phone, PDA, ipod etc.

Read about this patent here:
http://www.macnn.com/blogs/?p=98

This would really be the ideal portable Mac navigation system!!!

Dear All

I haven't posted here for a while. Thought I should let you know I've just released Version 1.3 of PassagePlus. It's available for download via http://www.windvector.com

The two main new features since v 1.1 are: (1) The 'Related Charts' panel allows one-click access to other charts that intersect your current position. The panel shows thumbnails of each such chart and is continually updated as the boat moves. Clicking a thumbnail opens that chart. (2) If you have entered tidal diamond data, tidal vectors are shown on the chart indicating the tide rate and direction at each diamond. The display is updated each minute. Also, automatic tide calculations using the tidal diamond data are now available for dead reckoning and estimated position functions (previously only available for course-to-steer). And you can set an artificial time so you can see the impact of tides at some point in the future (or the past if you want).

This screenshot gives an idea of both features:



A number of more minor improvements have also been made and several bugs fixed. Specifics are in the Version History file.

I continue to work on other potential improvements. In the meantime, constructive feedback is welcome, as always.

Regards
Jon