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I am using MacENC for some weeks. Looking to the beacon function, this feature is just timely sending an email in a specific format containing the last position to a contact. Is there a way to send the position report directly to the Winlink system ? It would be great, no ? (the idea is to permit our contact to directly look the position on a map) Regards. Laurent

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OK, the short of it is my original Macbook is no more - I don't want to discuss... However, the good news I had just backed it with Time Machine and the 'restore' worked perfectly - almost. My new Macbook looked and worked identically to my old one, including passwords, secure stuff, etc. The only exception I've come across is the registration of my Canadian BSB charts, which MacENC or GPSNavX won't recognize. I assume I need to run the 'Register' program again, but the first thing it does is prompt for the cds, which are in storage a hundred miles from me. That was an error on my part - that cd case was supposed to be onboard...

Question - is it possible to register the charts without the cd? The com.maptech.certificates.plist did copy over, but I assume it has some sort of code identifying it to the specific computer.

Moral - make sure you have the orginal cds onboard as backup...

Scot

The Novatel S720 CDMA Modem and SPRINT EVDO-Rev A network are very MacOS friendly. SPRINT provides a special package of drivers and utilities for MacOS compatibility.

While previously there have been some CDMA modem cards which had MacOS drivers, the SPRINT S720 card also allows activation on the network under the MacOS. Previously most cards had to be activated using Windows-based software.

Using MacOS 10.4, the CDMA modem card is configured and controlled using the MacOS built-in handlers. A modem script for EVDO SUPPORT is installed and works well with the Novatel card.

The Novatel S720 is a PCMCIA slot device, so it is not suitable for the latest generation of Apple laptops. I believe the U720 is a similar device with a USB connection arrangement. The S720 card has diversity reception (two antennas) and includes a flip-up antenna. Some models also allow connection of external antennas, which might be helpful on a boat to increase range.

The SPRINT EVDO-RevA network in my area (SE Michigan) offers connection rates of up to 3-Mbps--yes, faster than a T-1 line. The transfer rates depend on network congestion and use, as well as being in the prime coverage area. Service is about $60 per month. EVDO-RevA is consistently faster, often by double, compared to the EVDO network.

A CDMA modem may be useful for boaters who want to stay connected to the internet and cannot find any WiFi coverage at their marina.

It is great to see that both hardware and network providers are supporting the MacOS. In laptops Apple has a very strong market share. Novatel and SPRINT seem to be aware of it.

Disclaimer--I am not affiliated with Novatel or SPRINT. I do manage about 20 laptop computers with CDMA modems, and just switched the majority of them to the Novatel S720 and SPRINT.

Is there a solution to incorporate XM WX Weather info into MacENC? I want to build a portable navigation / weather system and I am considering the Garmin GPSMAP 478 with the GXM 30 XM antenna. It would be great to to view the XM data on my Mac instead of the 3" X 2.2" display on the Garmin.

Any idea if I can use the GPS in my 8310 and connect it to my mac running GPSnavX (which I think uses NMEA data) to track live location?

Other option is for me to get a USB antenna, but I'm hoping I can work with what I've got and minimize the need for device-iv-ness

Hi

I wanted to check the www.chartworld.com site, but neither Safari nor FireFox can load the page.
Has chartworld.com gone bust? Has it been renamed or bought by another chart seller? Or is there another site where I can access my ENC chart account?

The last time I got chart updates from them was on 3rd January 2008.

Any help is appreciated.

Regards,

Manou

Are there any software applications for the MacOS which can emulate a NMEA-0183 listener and sender?

I have seen some free-ware or open source applications for DOS or Windows which can listen to NMEA-0183 data and interpret it, and some of these applications can also create and send NMEA-0183 sentences. This sort of application would be useful for testing or snooping around a NMEA-0183 network.

If I have overlooked something obvious, I ask for your pardon.

The Raymarine A60 and A65 are dual function instruments which have a GPS receiver, an electronic display, and a SONAR. Their operating system allows for the capture of the screen display to a file which is stored on a Compact Flash (CF) memory card. The display image is saved to a BMP file (device-independent bitmap format) on the root directory of the CF memory card. This feature is useful for capturing the SONAR echogram display, for example, or for any other screen display.

The CF memory card can be removed from the A60 or A65 instrument and inserted in a memory card reader. Using a ScanDisk CF memory card reader with USB interface, I was able to mount the memory card onto the MacOS (Mac OS V10.4.11) and access the stored BMP files.

A further enhancement in the Raymarine A60 and A65 is the recording of meta-data about the screen image file. When the screen image is recorded, a second file containing meta-data (data about the data) is also written. The file contains the following data:

--date
--time
--position
--course over ground
--speed over ground
--depth
--temperature of the water
--frequency of SONAR
--gain of SONAR
--battery voltage
--internal temperature of the instrument

The meta-data file is written in plain ASCII text and is easily read by any Mac application which can open and read a text file. The meta-data file is very useful as it relieves the operator of having to make copious notes about each screen image that has been saved.

In addition to the screen image and the meta-data, a third file is written which creates a simple HTML page that combines the image and the meta-data into a graphic and a tabular presentation. The HTML also includes a link to GOOGLE MAPS which will display the location. This file may be useful for those who are not familiar with creating HTML.

The Raymarine device keeps track of the file naming. The first screen capture file sequence is named DUMP0001.BMP, DUMP0001.TXT, and DUMP001.HTM. If you make subsequent captures they are named DUMP0002, DUMP0003, and so on.

The screen capture is written to the CF memory card. On the Raymarine A60 and A65 there is only one CF memory card slot. The digital cartography for the instrument is stored on and provided by a Navionics Silver CF memory card. This means that if you want to make a screen capture of a screen image which contains cartography you will have to record the image onto the same CF memory card that contains the cartography. The manual cautions against doing this, but I was able to grab a few images and record them onto the Navionics card with no apparent harm to it. If you wanted to grab only SONAR echogram images, it might be prudent to insert a different CF memory card. I used a 256-MB CF memory card which I had been using with my Nikon digital camera, and I was able to make recordings to it with the A60. So there apparently is no special formating or file structure needed for the CF memory card to be used in the A60.

Raymarine has done a good job here in providing a useful function in their A60 and A65 instrument which is completely compatible with the MacOS (or any other OS for that matter whcih can mount the CF memory card's file system). While there are other SONAR devices which allow for capture of the screen, most of them provide the captured data in formats which need a Windows binary executable program to view them.

I have written a brief review of the Raymarine A60 and included some examples of the screen captures. See

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/A60.html

got my copy of GPSNavX this wee, ordered the maptech charts I wanted, which arrived this morning....

stuck the dvd in, went through the activation routine, and got them activated all tickety boo.

Then I realised, possibly too late, after I'd installed them at home on my desktop machine, that I've maybe dropped a clanger

when I use the charts in anger so to speak, its going to be on atotally differnt machine, ie the one on the boat. but I wanted to be able to play at home, sort out routes, wapoints etc

now... whe I come to copy the charts over to the machien on the boat... none of the activation codes are valid.. shades of Quark xpress and machine specific Installation ID's perhaps??

does this mean I'm now totally screwed, as I've installed the charts one machine, so won't be able to use them on another?