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+--- Thread: PolarCom Blank, GPS Gone? (/thread-1579.html)
- BrianH - October 3, 2011
Hi all.
I just downloaded the demo version of PolarView (Mac) and PolarCom. I am using a serial (USB) GPS antenna connected to my Macbook, running OSX 10.5.8 with 2 GB of RAM.
PolarCom boots to a small, blank screen in the upper left of my monitor. PolarView looks interesting, but I have no current location indicator. I also cannot find any way to see if the program is reading my GPS antenna.
Do I have the "wrong" software or something?
thanks
-BH
.
- brak - October 6, 2011
1. PolarCOM defaults to a single instrument panel which you can resize - this is likely what you see (it should not be blank, but I can't tell for sure without seeing your screen).
You can define an arbitrary number of additional instrument panels as necessary.
2. PolarCOM is pre-configured to autodetec an NMEA 0183 GPS device. This works for most USB (really, serial) GPS devices. If it does not - you can always configure GPS manually as described here:
http://support.polarnavy.com/knowledgebase.php?article=21
3. Once PolarCOM has instrument data, PolarView needs to be connected to PolarCOM by using menu option Ship->Connect to PolarCOM
Additional documentation can be found here:
http://www.polarnavy.com/help/pvhelp_m.html
- BrianH - October 7, 2011
Thanks for your reply.
The problem appears to be PolarCom. Just so you know I am not a newbie to the Mac. I was selling macs and developing custom databases and networks with macs starting in 1984. My experience at this point is that PolarCom simply does not work. When I open PolarCom, all I see is:
- A small, blank white square in the upper left of my screen, with no borders (just a blank white square, an empty window, no window definition features)
- The apple menu,
- The PolarCom menu, and
- The "Help" menu.
The PolarCom menu contains Quit, show, hide and services menus. The only thing I can get PolarCom to do is quit.
My OS is not unique or modified in any way. The GPS I am using is the GlobalStar (I think that is the name), unit recommended on the PolarCom website.
I don't want to be a pain, but it seems to me that PolarCom simply does not work on a Mac.
-BH
.
- Jade - October 7, 2011
Cap'n Bri,
If you control-click in the white square, do you see a pop-up menu? If so, choose "Configure" and setup the NMEA inputs you want.
- brak - October 7, 2011
Capn Bri Wrote:I don't want to be a pain, but it seems to me that PolarCom simply does not work on a Mac.
.
Perhaps so. A few thousand users seem to be somewhat successful in running PolarCOM on a Mac. So - it must work, if only occasionally. What happens when you:
1. Launch PolarCOM
2. With PolarCOM running, Ctrl+click (i.e. hold the Ctrl key and click the touch pad or mouse button) on the PolarCOM icon in the launcher?
- BrianH - October 10, 2011
Sorry for the delay and thanks again for your attention. I was at the Annapolis Sailboat show over the last several days and my WiFi antenna on my boat stopped working.
To answer your questions, when I launch PolarCom, A small, blank white square appears in the upper left of my screen, with no borders (just a blank white square, an empty window, no window definition features).
When I control-click (or command-click, or command-control-click) the square what happens is ...nothing.
PolarCom appears to be running as there is a PolarCom menu next to the Apple menu. The PolarCom menu includes the following commands:
- Services (the usual Unix services appear here)
-Hide PolarCom
-Hide Other
-Show All (grayed out), and
-Quit PolarCom
I also downloaded it onto another Mac and tried to use it with the same results.
Otherwise the program is entirely unresponsive to any poking or prodding. Again, I am running OS X, v. 10.5.8 on both Macs.
thanks again for helping me deal with this problem. I REALLY like what I can see of PolarView, and the interface is absolutely superior. I just cannot get it to read any GPS or other data.
-BH
.
- BrianH - October 11, 2011
This seems to at least get me somewhere.
Control-clicking on the window did nothing. But control-clicking on the Icon in the applications bar brought up a menu that let me configure PolarCom for use with the GPS antenna.
I am unable to use this on the laptop because I left it on my boat 180 miles from home. I will try it this weekend and let you know how it works out.
thanks again
-BH
.
- Roschana - February 3, 2012
Hi There, Just to add some weight to your topic I am having the very same problem. I have taken a screen shot which depicts pretty much exactly that which you describe.
After uploading the PolarCom to my Macbook air running Lion 10.7.2 with 1.8 intel core i7 and 4 GB memory I get a blank white box appearing top left of screen. The PolarCom menu choice is in the Menu bar and when we click on that we do get a couple of choices which I copied on the image. The image is over on twitter photo.
I really need to get this sorted out and would very much appreciate any help out there. Thanks.
Oh, how can I load an image from my desktop here?
I added the image to twitter photo hope thats OK
http://twitpic.com/8fef5k
- Roschana - February 5, 2012
HI There, Just a note to explain that the PolarNavy help desk has resolved this problem for me. Actually the white screen issues remained but the program was active and using Shift + Alt + 'C' we were able to access and use the configuration screen. After I configured I switched off and when switched back on again the blank white was gone.
Now working fine.
Thank you.
- psngray - February 22, 2012
I had the same problem. It happens the first time you start Polarcom if you haven't configured any instruments. What you see is a blank instrument panel. Just Control click the Polarcom icon on the task bar and set-up some instruments and you'll be good to go.
- jimh - February 29, 2012
Quote:I don't want to be a pain, but it seems to me that PolarCom simply does not work on a Mac.
POLAR COM works quite well on the MacOS. I have made extensive use of its features to configure various connections for AIS data to be displayed on POLAR VIEW NS. I show a few screen shots of the various configurations and explain the method in
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/AIS_ShipSpotter.html
particular under the sub-heading
PolarCOM Input-Output Features
- jhastie - May 1, 2013
I downloaded Polarcom and Polarview to my Mac Powerbook G4 Aluminum running OSX 10.5.8 (Leopard) at a CPU speed of 133 mhz.
I use a serial cable connector to mu usb port for my Magellan 300 GPS. From the outset both pieces of softeware worked perfectly.
I highly recommend it and will purchase it soon.
John