Login at MacSailing.net

Don't know if any of you have seen this nice bit of Mac evangelism on the GPScity.com site:

http://www.gpscity.com/macsignup.htm

If they really are "approaching 10,000 names" maybe we can help spread the word.

Are there other hardware or chartmakers (C-Map) out there we ought to be talking to?

Tried out rusalka instruments this weekend, and I can't get it to recognise NMEA data from the USB port when GPSNavX is running. It gives me an error along the lines of "An error occurred while trying to access port usbserial0"

How can I get the two applications to run using the same NMEA port?

Finally got round to trying out the Lilliput screen I bought. Results were satisfactory, although not brilliant (forgive the pun)..

I mounted it under the transom hatch, and the picture was visable although not very bright. The weather was sunny with patchy intervals.

I will keep the screen, as it's useful for night-sailing, and poor visability and for £140.... However it's certainly no substitute to a proper marine monitor. :?

I've copied the BSBCharts folder from the MapTech CD to my "Charts" folder where other charts reside and the GPSNavX 3.2 program doesn't see any charts in the BSBCharts folder. Is there something special that needs to be done to view these charts?

Thanks,
Mark

I have installed two AIS receivers on different boats using Macs and GPSNavX.
A friend , who is a PC Nobeltec user, saw the AIS picture on my Mac and wanted me to install a receiver on her boat. Time was short as they were heading for an Alaska cruise. We looked her copy of Nobeltec over to find the help files for AIS. Not finding any, she called tech support. The person there told her that if the program had it, it would be mentioned in the help files... As time was short she made the decision to go ahead and order the unit (they come from England and take some time). Knowing that Nobeltec supported AIS I ordered up another unit.
My friend's son works for Nobeltec so I gave him a call. unfortunately, he wasn't able to get back to me until after the order. "Yes , we do support AIS, but you must have the Admiral version." OK... how much is that upgrade..." it's $1200.
Wow... needless to say, when my friend heard that, that was the end of AIS.
When I talked to her last, she was considering a Mac Mini and GPSNavX.

Soon GPSNavX will support S-57 format charts. This has become the standard for vector marine charts. We do not have a fixed release date at this point or pricing details. We will send out a press release when these details are set.

I've bought a mini with plans to use it aboard our Bristol 40, and am wondering if anyone else is looking at using a mini.

So far my idea is just to use the right size MSW inverter for power. The mini will tuck nicely into the shelf space next to the nav station. Also planning to mount an 8-10" monitor (like the Lilliput) on an arm to swing it out of the way into the bookshelf space.

I'd really love to monitor to a sunlight-viewable monitor to the helm, but as far as I can see they are just too pricey so far, especially in the development stages I am in right now. The helm is too far from the companionway to see a swing-out monitor.

None of this will happen till I get to the boat in late July, as it is in Maine, and I am in Switzerland ( ! ) but I'll be able to get everything configured before I arrive at least.

What other ideas and suggestions do folks have?

With the cheapest sun-light viewable, waterproof monitors costing about £1000 / $1700, you'd imagine there'd be a real gap in the market for smaller / cheaper units.

Even the best priced monitors on the market wouldn't be suitable for me, as they're too large to mount in the cockpit, and too expensive. The resolution's not that much of an issue.. it's more of a case of seeing the damn picture!!

The appropriate TFT panels obviously exist, because they're being used in the latest Navman / Lowrance chart plotters... but why hasn't anyone developed a marine monitor using them?

Suggested specification:

7" TFT sun-light viewable screen
Resolution: 640 x 480 or 800 x 600
Waterproof casing
Removable mounting
12/24v supply
15-pin D type input

Sell at around £550 / $950... I'd buy one... would you?

A few weeks ago Sunlight viewable displays for the Mac were introduced on the GPSNavX website (http://www.gpsnavx.com), with a special introductory price for the DIBMac-15 High Bright display. This is a reminder that the special ends on May 15.
Check out this special, and find out about all the other sunlight viewable monitors available at...
http://homepage.mac.com/tamacn3/sunlight_special

Next weekend's a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, meaning we get an extra day off. I'll be down in the Solent, and will probably sail off to Cowes on Saturday and maybe Beuilieu in Sunday...

I want to get the Lilliput screen fitted (initial review on news page), and I'll aim to get some photos of that, as well as some shots of the interior, and of course, the all important Mac to upload next week as part of a "users boats" section. I also want to test Rusalka's virtual instruments software which was delivered last week (http://www.rusalka.net)

But, of course, it's all about the sailing. So, let's hope that the weather's half decent.. plenty of sun and plenty of wind!