Login at MacSailing.net

Hi there.

I am looking for a possibility to install an apple computer on a sailing yacht for some blue water cruising.

My first intention was a mac mini as it has been used a lot as onboard computers in cars. But after some research I noticed that nearly all setups worked with an inverter.

This solution is not really satisfying on a boat. First converting the voltage from 12 volt to 110/220V and then back to the 19V a mac mini needs is very inefficient.

Does any one of you have experience with direct conversion from 12V to 19V? Any thoughts on the topic? Recommended setups/hardware?

Thanks in adnavced!

Regards,

Patrick

I would add the request for mouse scroll allowing for zoom functionality.

I'm "playing" with PV on Mac (snow leopard) and enjoying the functionality. I've loaded by raster and vector maps.

I'm rather confused since I currently have both the raster directory and the vector directory active in Chart Manager. Since the maps I am using are of the same area (for the most part) I see the raster has priority over the vector. I was wondering if they could combine or you could "toggle" between the types in a given view as each has its benefits in differnt areas.

an overview window would also be appricated. I noted this in a "for fee" software solution and it was great for moving around the map as well as getting your bearing w/o having to change your current view.

Also, I have not hooked up to GPS and got on my boat but I am curious to how user is sure the maps are sync'd to the GPS system properly. I see when looking at some maps as they connect to smaller maps (cells?) that there seems to be some conflict in how they line up (noted vector). They seem to match at the shoreline but not at the first color contours, maybe I'm just not understanding the science.

[image]http://img.skitch.com/20091126-dx6j4315m86s4u182pk7e8iyaa.jpg[/image]

Also, I'm curious to the "!" in the triangle and what it means. I don't note this on raster maps, so i'm not sure if it refers to the map or a problem with the map in the software.

I"m going to add to my post (EDIT). I'd love to see a graduated scale on the maps to help an amateur like me! I know there is the 1:xxx,xxx scale but it doesn't give me the right perspective (yet).

thanks.
shawn

The easiest way to update the NOAA ENCs is to download a new set by following this link (Using Safari) ..

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/ENCs/All_ENCs.zip

Once downloaded an ENC_ROOT folder will be created.

Quit MacENC.

In Finder, drag new ENC_ROOT folder to the location of the previous ENC_ROOT folder replacing it.

Restart MacENC.

I finally had a decent wifi connection so downloaded a complete set of NOAA charts. The ENCs installed well, but am having problems with the raster charts. I downloaded a zip file for each CG district but when unzipped each chart is in a separate folder. I tried adding the root folder but MacENC wouldn't allow it, saying something like there are no charts in the folder. There were but they were all in sub-folders.

Does all this mean I need to copy all the charts to a single folder? This seems exceedingly tedious, or is there a simple way or a workaround? I DID read the documentation but didn't find anything clearly about this.

Scot

Wow, this new feature in 7.30 is a great thing!

Quote:- "Add To Route..." on the Chart context menu will work with the selected annotation in addition to a selected waypoint. When an annotation is selected by selecting the annotation mode in the toolbar and moving the cursor over the desired annotation (annotation turns dashed), waypoints that follow the selected annotation are created an added to the selected route.

To insure you have the latest version of iNavX on your device select "App Store", then select "Updates"

Changes include:
"+" and "-" buttons on the Chart view will present a menu of the larger or smaller scale charts that intersect with the currently viewed chart.
GRIBs will be on 6 hour intervals out to 72 hours.
"<C>" and "<T>" objects on the Navionics charts can be selected to open AyeTides.
Scale and Distance Legend update when zooming.
When a GRIB forecast is selected, a [<<] and [>>] buttons will appear at the top of the chart allowing the forecast date to be selected.
AIS Target names stored for quick recall upon startup.

http://www.inavx.com

MacENC 7.30 adds the ability to create a route from an annotation.

1) Select "Open" on the "Routes" menu.

2) Create a "New" route or select an existing route.

3) Select the Annotation mode on the Toolbar.

4) Drag to create an annotation segment.

5) If not content with annotation, hover mouse over annotation (it will turn dashed), then press [delete] key to erase.

6) Once content with annotation, hover mouse over annotation (it will turn dashed), then [control] click to show context menu.

7) Select "Add To Route" to create waypoints along the annotation that will get added to the selected route.

http://gpscradle.dualav.com/cradle.html

I just had an idea. It would be nice if you could overlay tidal graphs from two stations with the secondary one translucent (or just a line) over the primary one. I realize that this produces all kinds of interface problems, but if you limit text/calendar screens to the primary station only i think it would work. The clock screen could also display a transparent outline for the secondary station. It would also be interesting to overlay a current station on a tide station.

I've been experimenting with MacENC and macbook with Navionics Gold charts via the x-traverse system. I liked it and decided to build a boat computer based on a Mac min, and touch-screen and an automotive 12V supply. OK got all that up and running but now I find that I can't just transfer over my charts as the license from x-traverse is tied to hardware.

Now this sucks big time. We are told that when we download charts from x-traverse there is not time limit on them... rubbish it's about 2-years max due to the average live expectancy of computer hardware.

I can't see a way to add a second machine or transfer the license completely over to my new hardware advertised on the x-traverse site.

Does anybody know how to achieve this transfer?

Most suppliers of commercial ENC charts will supply new hardware license keys but you pay big bucks for those charts too !

Any ideas anybody?

Cheers
Chris