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Apple Computer is 30 years old. I started with an Apple ][ back in 1979 in high school. It was an amazing machine running BASIC and 6502 machine language in only 48K RAM. Those were exciting days when just drawing 2D graphics in a few colors was all the rage. I still have my very worn spiral Apple hardware reference manual.

http://apple2history.org/history/ah03.html

OK, a friend just got back from the Bahamas, says all the marinas there and on the E Coast are going wifi, mostly for free (no password, or easy to find out password). However, he says all the sailors are putting antennas on their boats, as they receive a wifi signal that is too weak to work with while at anchor. So I tried to find an antenna that will work with my iMac G5 or my iBook G4 but the good antennas connect to cards, and I don't think either mac has the proper slot. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good exterior wifi antenna for a mac?

Also, I have installed an SSB for SailMail, known as snailmail because it is so slow, have been advised to get a PC-simulator program to run the sailmail software. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? And if I run a windows simulator to do sailmail with, does that help the antenna issue? Thanks. Kathy[color:darkblue][/color]

While I am no fan of Raymarine instrumentation, use this box combined with a Keyspan Adapter and Raymarine E86001 serial cable to connect to your Mac...

http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/Produ...ct_id=2976


Prefer the Comnav as they speak NMEA..

http://www.comnavmarine.com/html/cmnv_NX2_intro.htm

I have track, route, and waypoint information from a friend that he gave me in GPX format. It doesn't appear that MacEnc or GPSNavX will read this file type. If I use a program like GPSBable, what format should I choose for the output to get a compatible file?

Just before I spend some money, can anyone confirm that all raster charts from Maptech will play on my G4PB with GPSNavX

thanks

Does anyone know of any race planning software for the Mac (or even the PC under VirtualPC)?

I'm taking part in the Round the Island race (Isle of Wight, UK) this year, and need to be able to course plan with tidal flows and weather files.

Can GPSNavX calculate and display the closest point of approach (CPA) for a particular AIS or radar target?

This is particularly useful if you're sailing through shipping lanes, such as the mid-English channel traffic separation scheme.

More and more marinas are offering wifi. There are also other wireless solutions. Personally I use a Blackberry phone because of the volume of emails I get. I can quickly get off a response.

Here are some other links..

http://danallen46.homeunix.org/Motorola.htm
http://www.hintz.org/iridium/

Luis at Globalmarine net tells me he has Mac customers using their email solution (with VPC)..

http://www.globalmarinenet.com/index.htm

Hopefully a Mac OS sat/HF solution will be available soon.

If you have links to other Mac wireless solutions please post.

I just found this site... great idea.

I have a G4 Powerbook. I have really liked the computer. It is only about 1.5 years old. We use the G4 while living on board for internet access, we play lots of music (itunes) on the G4 and use it to manage our photos. Problem is, we are getting ready to go on an extended cruise and I am concerned about my ability to use the Mac for more cruising-related functions, such as SSB-linked email and weather gathering, as well as navigation. Until I found this site, I was unaware that it was even possible to get weather information or send emails via the HAM-SSB/Pactor w/ the Mac. From this site, it sounds like it is possible. My questions are...
1) Is it reliable?
2) Is it relatively easy (compared to PC-based communications, which I find sufficiently complex)?
3) Are we limited when using the Mac to having to utilize sites which charge $$$ for email & weather (my understanding (correct me if I am wrong... i may be) is that w/ a General Class Ham license & a PC we can use Winlink for email and numerous free sources for weatherfax & grib???)?
4) Are we limited when using the Mac in terms of the types of electronic charts that are supported? This is a real grey area for me... I understand rastor vs vector, but it sounds like there are many types of charts out there that cruisers regularly trade as they migrate from one charting area to another. By having a Mac, are we limiting ourselves in our ability to utilize different charting formats?
5) Will the Mac work w/ AIS? What navigation program that works w/ the Mac also will work w/ AIS?

For me, these are all important issues that I am grappling w/ as I decide which system I would like to cruise w/. I do really like the Mac, but I am willing to go to a PC if it offers some real advantages in these areas.

I would appreciate any comments or ideas you folks may have.

Thanks!
Brian.

Does anyone have any experience using one of the portable battery capable printers onboard, such as the Canon IP90 or HP mobile printers? Being able to print out a small 'maplet' on the fly of a unfamilar or difficult entrance to have in the cockpit could be quite useful. I've done it from MacENC at home, but not onboard.

Thanks,
Scot
Ingrid 38 "Jaga"
Port Hadlock, WA