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Hi

yesterday I did show at our sailing club a larger Keynote (Powerpoint) presentation concerning electronic navigation with computers and Macs in general.
After the theoretical part I did demonstrate GPSNavX and MacENC with all their flavors.
Then a friend showed MaxSea 12 and MaxSea Time Zero.
Though MaxSea is very impressive I have to say that MacEnc is only missing 3-4 parts which were already very often discussed in these forii (or is that forums?):

* a very powerful logbook which includes only data for a setup time interval
* optimal routing using GRIB, tidal data and tidal streams
* split windows, which do show the same map with routes / boat position on different maps (ENC, Raster and photographic charts)

But MaxSea and MacENC compared all together, I have to say that MacENC is very powerful, especially if one looks at the price.

MaxSea with Tidal Streams, GRIB, AIS module costs about 1800€ (1500 USD) without charts!

For that price one gets MacENC, charts, a GPS, the new mac mini with SSD HD, waterproof keyboard and 12 V 10" TFT touchscreen in one package.

People were impressed by the Mac Mini as small fast reliable computer as it doesn't draw so much power! (idle 15,8 Watt, load 28,3 Watt, 3-5 times less than a comparable PC).
more on that here http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/apple-m...g=txt;page

What I liked about MaxSea Time Zero (less expensive, but still a lot of money is the scrolling and zooming of charts, very much like Google Earth. Very very fast.

(check this video for more info http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=FR&hl=fr&v=pxi-SFiUCRc)

MaxSea Time Zero is very easy to use, only the chart and needed infos are displayed, all other menus fade away after some seconds.

Though many of our club members do use PC, I think some will buy MacENC soon. Had a long discussion with a dozen of people after the demo.

MaxSea is really very impressive, but being the leader in marine navigation, they do invent many new features.

MacENC works very reliable and one isn't catched with the failures of Windows or its virii.

But I still would like to see some improvements in MacENC:

+ the ability to save trackdata not every minute, but being able to set up another time like 20 minutes or 30 minutes so that one does have a logbook. I think an Applescript should do that.

+ in MaxSea one can click the Barbs in the GRIB data and one does get Meteo data for that specific arrow. (Aparently it's inside the GRIB data)

+ instead of colored arrows in overlayed GRIB data I would like to see color gradients between isobars
see here: http://www.maxsea.fr/TimeZero/DesktopMod...149&id=703


+ a feature I really would like to see, is the ability to setup the draught (draft?) of the boat. this way all regions below this draught could be overlayed as light red, so the one notices at once where one can't sail.

+ MaxSea shows at the tide station positions little yellow vertical animated bars, showing the actual tide height. clicking on these bars pops up a tide curve much like Mr. Tides

and I did notice that bridges or towers heights are shown in feet in MacENC. Is this information inside the charts or is it possible to have this set up in units so that they do show in meters?

BTW is there any update/upgrade of MacENC at the horizon soon ? What features will it include?

Thx.

regards,

Manou

Hi I've been trying to find polar diagrams for my C&C 24, trying to get an idea of target boat speeds for racing but it seems like all relevant data and performance packages etc start at the C&C 27 and up. Can't find too much info on a C&C 24 but I stumbled across this website (www.oceanpilot.com) that lets you upload your GPS track data from MacENC to the website as a .GPX file and it will generate a track plot, VMG plot, Polar speed plot and speed acceleration/deceleration plot. This might help create an overall polar plot if I track and log all my races for a season in different wind speed conditions. Does anyone know of any other similar programs or websites??? Or anyone have a polar diagram for a C&C 24?

cheers

Darren

We are working as quickly as possible to add more chart and map content to iNavX. The latest release of iNavX adds TRAK Maps Canadian Lakes..

Fugawi Touratel Maps Fishing Lake Maps for use with PC, Mac, and iPhone

The maps can be used with iNavX and MacENC/GPSNavX. More charts and maps coming soon to iNavX!

While our software is primarily designed for marine navigation, however Fugawi is now offering BSB raster format 1:500K scale TOPO maps:

Africa TOPO Maps
Europe TOPO Maps
Mexico TOPO Maps

The TOPO maps can be purchased at https://www.x-traverse.com/

Then download and run the X-Traverse App to activate and download the TOPO maps to a folder on your Mac. From there you can open the TOPO maps in GPSNavX or MacENC. The TOPO maps have no expiration. Note: Requires OS X 10.4 or later.

Screen Shot

I am planning to power my Mac notebook and MacENC with a Xantrex prowatt inverter of 300 watts. My question is - will this "modified sine wave" inverter work with the Mac or would I be better off buying a "pure sine wave" inverter?

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Navionics new Mobile Charts are real, genuine Navionics marine charts, providing iPhone users with the very same detail as our Gold+ XL9 Charts. They make an excellent backup tool to your fixed mount chartplotter, or an excellent reference tool when not on your boat.

Take a test cruise... try the free App, 'Navionics Viewer' available on the App Store, which includes sample marine charts of Southeastern Florida (Miami/Ft Lauderdale) with all the same features and functionality of the full version Apps. This sample App, along with several of our Apps for purchase, have recently been updated with some additional new features which include point-to-point distance measuring (viewable in Kilometers, Miles or Nautical Miles), an enhanced search feature, and tide & current data with graphic display and forecasting.

Watch for additional updates coming soon which will add even more features and functionality, and are free to existing users.

Just to warn future purchasers of Raymarine products with mail-in rebates. I recently purchased a Raymarine A60 with a $200.00 mail-in rebate October of last year. The form stated, "Please allow up to 8 weeks for check". I am on week 22. I have called and e-mailed Raymarine about this issue around 15-20 times to no avail. I am currently filing fraud and false advertisement charges on the company. Just a fair warning on these guys. They lie, cheat, and steal. Customer service is awful.

Hello,

I'm looking into buying a multiplexer to connect MacENC to my Raymarine electronics. My supplier has suggested a Miniplex 41BT rather than the 42BT. Unfortunately, the Shipmodul website just identifies a Miniplex BT, which I presume is the successor product.

I'm not terribly savvy about electronics so I just want something simple to run.

What is the difference between the 41BT and the 42BT?
Is the 41BT sufficient to the requirements of a non-power user?

Many thanks!

It seems that more and more smaller boats are getting AIS transmitters, and the screen is getting quite cluttered when sailing in restricted waters such as San Francisco Bay. The only filter offered is to suppress displaying stationary vessels.

Inasmuch as what I really care about in restricted waters are ships that cannot maneuver to avoid me, would it be possible to implement a filter to, for example, suppress displaying vessels less than a certain length?

JoeS.

Aye, Aye iPhone