Friday, 3 October 2008
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| Rugged Mobile Tablet PCs... Larry 05:18:38 |
| | Someone was looking for rugged mobile laptops for their boats not long ago.
I stumbled, as I do a lot, onto this article about ruggedized mobile TABLET
PC's you may find more interesting than the foldup laptop for NAV and
control applications.
http://www.wirelessworkforceonline.com/IndustrySearch/SearchResults.aspx?
keyword=mobiletabletpc&TabIndex=0&image1.x=28&image1.y=17
These tablets are designed for workforce use, such as sales force on the
road, warehouse uses, etc.
Some with touchscreens instead of the usual touchpad or mouse, would be
great for waypointing directly in the charts themselves.
If you're looking for on-the-cheap, don't even click it. Nothing is free.
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| |  2 answer | Add comment |
Thursday, 2 October 2008
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| Re: Wholesale Marine Electronics Larry 20:55:35 |
| | "Howi@Pafini" <howard.barne@gmail.com> wrote in news:b4a99225-13e7-476b-
8e8a-1e01d3de95d3@u26g2000hsd.googlegroups.com:
Hey Guys, Check out my website for your wholesale marine electronics including marine gps, marine radar, chartplotter, vhf, single side band, fishfinders, anchors, marine electrical and much more! Thanks guys. Call me on the 888-393-0002 number if you have any questions. I am available 24/7.
I have the wholesale price lists. Will you sell it to me at that price?
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| | 1 answer | Add comment |
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| NOAA RESPONDS! Larry 19:16:02 |
| | I got this back from my query about NOAA providing compatible map tile
products to xml mapping programs.....
=====================================================
Inquiry: Is there any chance you'll put these raster charts on a server
as
map tiles like Google Earth, Virtual Earth, Runway Finder (aeronautical
charts, and a host of others use from live servers I can use with map
tile
software such as Maemo Mapper on my Linux internet tablets?
https://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/maemo-mapper/ This free
software, coupled with the WAAS-enabled Bluetooth GPS put my boat dead
in
the channel of any of these satellite photo servers, a very valuable
tool
in any waterway inland. To have the latest official NOAA charting, not
some vendor's 3-year-old proprietary chart plug, would be simply a
fantastic service to the marine community. The standardized map tiles
are
stored on SDHC large memory cards in the device, or downloaded fresh
from
the servers via Bluetooth tethering to my cellular phone.
Please investigate the possiblity of providing NOAA chartography on such
a
system, the new standard for the online charting industry.
Thank you.
Larry Butler
S/V "Lionheart"
Charleston, SC
Resolution/Response
Dear Larry,
We're looking at different options for serving up our data. We have a
Beta server at: http://www.charts.noaa.gov/RNCs/RNCs.shtml
We have a network of distributors who are starting to use thse charts in
unique ways. For example, there is a charting program called iNavX that
works on an Iphone. Basically charts are downloaded from the beta
server
on the fly. In the short term, we're going to be keeping with RNCs in
the
.bsb format--all 1000+ charts. There are at least a half dozen
electronic
charting applications that use NOAA RNCs--which can be downloaded for
free--completely updated. From our perspective, we make the data
available for free--and now via the Beta server---more easily accessible
for the private sector to build unique applications around. This iNavX
system is an example of what can be done.
I would say in the longer term--we are looking at providing RNCs in a
geotiff format--somewhat a more standard format that people might be
able
to work with.
All that being said--I'll make sure our technical people and managers
read
your comment.
Best Regards,
Thank you for your interest in NOAA's Nautical Chart Products.
We appreciate you taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.
==================================================================
Everyone needs just a little push in the OPEN SOURCE direction, instead
of all this proprietary Maptech nonsense they've always had.
I replied trying to get them to contact Google Earth like USGS and NWS
have about putting layers of nautical charts on Google Earth, and Google
providing the coding and server expertise NOAA seems to lack (everything
downloads and there are no "live servers"). If NOAA and Google or
Virtual Earth can get together, live on-demand charting over a cellphone
tethered laptop...or....downloaded xml tiles for offshore, would be a
great leap forward in marine charting.....putting near-realtime chart
upgrades right at your fingertips for peanuts instead of $100/chart,
which is nonsense.
That department and the data it produces is PUBLIC DOMAIN, not Garmin's.
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| | 7 answers | Add comment |
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| Re: NOAA Downloadable Raster (BSB) Charts back Larry 18:00:51 |
| | "claus" <vogelius@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:GNudnRobH77fen7VnZ2dnUVZ_jydnZ2d@comcast.com:
NOAA's Raster Charts (BSB) are (finally) available again - the free downloads are here:
Thank you, Claus! I've sent this message to NOAA to try to get them
interested in providing a more "modern", shall we say, live data server
where charts can be downloaded, even on the fly from cellular tethered
laptops and cellphones to tethered devices such as my Nokia N800 Linux
internet tablet.
"Is there any chance you'll put these raster charts on a server as map
tiles like Google Earth, Virtual Earth, Runway Finder (aeronautical
charts, and a host of others use from live servers I can use with map
tile software such as Maemo Mapper on my Linux internet tablets?
https://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/maemo-mapper/ This free
software, coupled with the WAAS-enabled Bluetooth GPS put my boat dead
in the channel of any of these satellite photo servers, a very valuable
tool in any waterway inland. To have the latest official NOAA charting,
not some vendor's 3-year-old proprietary chart plug, would be simply a
fantastic service to the marine community. The standardized map tiles
are stored on SDHC large memory cards in the device, or downloaded fresh
from the servers via Bluetooth tethering to my cellular phone. Please
investigate the possiblity of providing NOAA chartography on such a
system, the new standard for the online charting industry. Thank you."
If NOAA simply interfaced with Google Earth and Google put it on their
massive server farms, we'd all have live, up-to-date nautical charts
available online on Google Earth as an overlay or through programs like
the FREE Maemo Mapper on my little tablet:
https://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/maemo-mapper/
Maemo Mapper, running off data from the Nokia 12-channel WAAS-corrected
Bluetooth GPS receiver you can hide in your hand, will place its current
position blue dot in the exact parking space your car is parked in at
the mall on any of the many supported satellite map tile servers such as
Google Earth or Virtual Earth. We already have aeronautical charting
from the map tile server at runwayfinder.com for the entire US airspace.
See how it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=698iql3B824
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3uV8cSMhI
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| | 10 answers | Add comment |
|
| 30-35' cruising sailboat w/ drop-able mast Chuck Cox 07:18:48 |
| | Does anyone know of any coastal cruising sailboats in the 30-35 foot
range with masts that can be easily lowered & raised? I've looked at
trailerable boats, particularly the Mac 26, but they are too small and
I don't need trailerability, just the ability to fit under low
bridges. This would be for cruising the US east coast.
Chuck Cox
SynchroSystems - embedded computer design - http://synchro.com
mailto:chuckPORK@synchro.com mailto:cccoxPORK@fas.harvard.edu
my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK
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| | 9 answers | Add comment |
|
| Re: Skip's underway! Jere Lull 02:46:51 |
| | On 2008-10-01 19:46:51 -0400, Marty <baxterm@kos.net> said:
Looks like Skip and Lydia are about to leave the Sandy Hook Channel! Cheers Marty
Agreement.
Now that I can actually see their Spot listings, it seems they've been
under way for the past 3 hours, starting at dark o'clock.
They have been able to go the right direction for 2 hours.
Considering the weather we're experiencing between where they are and
where they want to be, that's not particularly where I would want to be
nor where I'd want to point to from there right now.
Tonight is a great night to crawl into the berth with my lovely lady
and ignore everything else as we warm the "V" up.
--
Jere Lull
Xan- -Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/
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| | 6 answers | Add comment |
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
|
| Looking for Brian Cleverly 22:34:59 |
| | Garmin mini-G Charts.
Specifically West Coast, Nth Pacific, Alaska, British Columbia.
Anyone have any they want to sell to this poor soul ?
Thanks,
Brian C (to reply direct, and an "le" after the "c" in the above address).
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| | 1 answer | Add comment |
|
| OT - Some mentioned Sinclair Computers? Larry 20:03:46 |
| | I think someone said something about the Sinclair computers of old a few
threads back.....
Just to let you know we haven't forgotten it.....
http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/speccy/
We have an emulator for the little Maemo Linux tablets....(c;
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| | Add comment |
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
|
| simple NMEA display Daniele Fua 22:46:44 |
| | Is there an easy way to build a display that will show some chosen NMEA
data?
I have seen on the market programmable units that sell for several
hundred $ and I know that a computer is easily interfaced but what I
need is just a simple, cheap and weatherproof repeater at the helm to
display only few of the zillion data available at the underdeck main
navigation station. For example decoding just part of BWC and VTG and
displaying, say, four lines would be enough (COG, heading, bearing to
waypoint, and distance to waypoint).
Daniel
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| | 21 answer | Add comment |
|
| Island Time PC Re: wifi Skip Gundlach 17:57:15 |
| | "David Marchand" <djmarchand@cox.net> wrote in message
news:2AyBk.7470$tp1.4889@newsfe06.iad...
I am leaning to a system assembled by a cruiser from commercial Ubiquiti Litestation2 board. It is powered by 12V DC injected into the Ethernet cable and is a 400 mw amplifier. The amplifier specs indicate good sensitivity. Bob sells a package with cables, POE injector, the Ubiquiti board mounted in a waterproof NMEA aluminum box and an 8 dB antenna for $329. Skip Grundlach a cruiser on this board swears by the system. David
I second that motion, heartily.
I have yet to go up the mast to change out my Linksys 48V POE, but his
is boat power, as the LiteStation2 can take anything between 5 and
some ridiculous amount of power, the #1 ethernet port on the board
takes the power from the POE directly, and it's what I connect on,
everywhere. However, unless it's been modified since my purchase, I
think it's only 250mw. That's been plenty for me, in any case.
Nuff said on that. Save yourself a bundle of time and aggravation
(see my posts beginning about 3 years ago on the subject, here and in
a couple of electronics/wifi groups) and buy the package unless you're
a serious networking geek and really enjoy that sort of bashing to
arrive at something similar...
--
L8R
Skip
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog
"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)
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| | Add comment |
|
| LION laptop batteries Roger Long 04:55:48 |
| | What is the best way to maximize Lithium Ion battery life in laptop
computers? Should the computer just be plugged in whenever possible while
it is used or should it be run on the batteries down to some optimum battery
level and then recharged? How does deep discharge effect these batteries?
Morning Larry.
--
Roger Long
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| | 6 answers | Add comment |
|
| Re: What to do, fixin the MiniCup Wayne . B 03:44:12 |
| | On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:01:06 -0700 (PDT), ohara5.0@mindspring.com
wrote:
Finally got round to trying to fix MiniCup #1. What a mess. When I built her I followed the directions and used mild steel screws. Of course they have all rusted and rotted the wood around them. Any advice on getting them out? Even worse, the cheapo 3 mm bathroom underlayment I used has rotted in places and although I can put in some better wood, I am not sure it is worth it. Can anybody suggest a 3 mm material to replace the original top decking that I can coat with 4 ounce glass?
Brunzeel okume is widely regarded as one of the best. I built a
bow/anchor pulpit out of it for my old boat and it turned out very
nicely. I'm still using scraps from the original sheet for odds and
ends.
http://www.boat-links.com/plyfaq.html
http://aircraftspruce.com/catalog/wppages/okume.php
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| | Add comment |
|
| Possible cooperative project Jere Lull 00:00:46 |
| | I was considering the march of technology and the computing power many
of us have on our boats, then considered the byzantine methods the
various mapping agencies use to create our nautical charts and how
out-of-date they really are.
Has anyone seen a project to collect position and depth data
automatically and periodically upload the data to a central server? I
vaguely recall someone who mapped one or more anchorages automatically
like that, and there's another project where large and commercial ships
sample and analyze the waters they're passing through.
I would love to participate, in exchange for charts that accurately
show what's ahead of our keel.
Yeah, yeah, it's a project that would in some way require the
cooperation of the various national agencies ... Or one of the map
sellers might be interested, as it would give them an incredible edge
over the other suppliers.
--
Jere Lull
Xan- -Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/
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| | 14 answers | Add comment |
Monday, 29 September 2008
|
| Re: Aluminum boat seats Gordon 03:24:57 |
| | julienfmills@yahoo.com wrote:
Hi all, I have an old Starcraft 14' aluminum rowboat with three flat wooden seats. The seats are old, rotting out, I need to replace them. They are just pieces of 1"x12". I'm wondering what type of wood to use, the guy I bought it from said he had replaced them years ago with teak. Anyone know what type of wood to use? Teak a good idea? Maybe just a piece of pine? Thanks, Julien
The teak would cost more then the boat is worth.
Doug fir would be fine.
Gordon
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| | 1 answer | Add comment |
|
| Go Lehman GO! Larry 01:59:30 |
| | I did it AGAIN! Love the ride.
Friday, just as she started a little pop off 10c/share on the pink sheets,
I held my breath and punched [RETURN], dumping the $1800 balance in my
Ameritrade account into Lehman Brothers at 11c/share. It got to 40c/share
but has slacked off to about 30c today, tripling my money before the tax
bureaucrats show up for their half....(c;
It worked this way with Enron. It also worked with Worldcom!
Now some Asians are gonna buy up some assets they like. Might make
50c/share on MONDAY after the idiots in DC bail out the billionaire
bankers.
This is more fun than a roller coaster!....(c;
"Those shares are useless! SELL them to me cheap!"
What a country!.....(c;
Las Vegas is nowhere near as much fun as the Pink Sheets....
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| | 26 answers | Add comment |
|
| Silencio Larry 01:02:37 |
| | Stopped by one of my fav thrift shops, today. Found these:
http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0027561226688a.shtml
in black for 99 cents. They work SO well, I can't even hear my Blue and
Gold Macaw's long range echolocation SONAR, a deafening flock call I'm sure
can be heard at 20 miles in open country.
Sometimes you wanna little "quiet time" where you just can't hear anything.
These are great. I have no data but I'd bet 50db of attenuation would be
conservative. They fit nice without touching your ears inside the cups.
My only complaint is, to get a good seal, the cups are softly padded vinyl
which, of course, makes you sweat. With the intensive internal foam
attenuators, they'd make your ears warm at -50C...(c;
Well, you don't feel it when you're napping in your favorite computer
chair....as life goes clanking and screaming around you....
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| | 1 answer | Add comment |
Sunday, 28 September 2008
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| Re: Maltese Falcon sailing into SF Bay Gogarty 21:42:46 |
| | In article
<1879875c-69e0-413d-b66a-1ff5b2f4dade@i20g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
tsmwebb@gmail.com says...
Not much of a story and pretty rude video but nevertheless worth a look: --Tom.
Subject of a Sixty Minutes segment (twice) then promptly put up for
sale. What a great free ad the owner got.
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| | 2 answer | Add comment |
Saturday, 27 September 2008
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| Re: OT - do you have the solution? Capt. JG 05:49:26 |
| | "Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9B25E8B3CDBF9noonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
I found this moving conversation going on over in sci.math.research and knew you boys would want to have a go at it. Go easy on them. Most of them probably can't tie a bowline or sew that rip in the genoa. I bet none of them can get a Yanmar 3GM running on a cold day when the battery's dead.....though it might be interesting to watch them try.... One must admit, however, it's amazing to watch the genius mind running at full throttle, though some of the results can result in armagheddon for all of us.
I hope to GOD they stay away from the Large Hadron Collider! LOL
--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com
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| | 8 answers | Add comment |
Friday, 26 September 2008
|
| 1963 Bantam runabout Brian 20:55:59 |
| | Hi everybody,
I am selling my '63 Bantam. It is a plywood boat that was built in Tacoma
WA in '63 with lots of mahagony trim. It has a low hour 28 horse Evenrude
and a Hondex sounder. It is on a trailer that is relatively new and in
decent condition.
I got a new boat (1949 Monk) and really don't need the extra maintenance.
The boat is in decent condition but like any wood boat would like a little
TLC. It is usable right now though. What TLC you ask, well the canvas top
needs some clean and repair. The deck could use sanding and revarnishing.
New paint.
It is available in the Gig Harbor, WA area and both the boat and trailer
have current tags.
Feel free to e-mail me at bcombs at harbornet.com
Brian
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| | Add comment |
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| Re: Chesapeake Bay Jere Lull 12:07:02 |
| | On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:50:10 -0400, "Roger Long"
<Strider@maine.rr.com> wrote:
The real efficiency for a boat running around doing research in a shallow bay is being able plow through an oyster bar if there is a navigational error and still being operational as opposed to needing to be towed immediately to a shipyard where they would spend the better part of a year's fuel bill. The additional shallow areas they can operate in safely also greatly increase her scientific value.
Breaking this out for emphasis:
There are hundreds of square miles open to her that would be closed to a prop version.
It seems you don't know the Chesapeake Bay well.
The Bay stretches 200 nm, covers 64,000 square miles, and has 12,000
miles of shoreline. Its average depth is 21'. More than 24% of it is
less than 6 feet deep. No, that is not a typo.
The jets extend your baby's working area by tens of thousands of square
miles of the most environmentally "interesting" areas.
And you don't "plow" through an oyster bar, you *hit* one and stop
very, very quickly. Your hazard is the junk suspended in the foot or
two of soft mud on the usual bottom. Though we draw 4', we often anchor
in 4.5' at high tide, sometimes see stretches of <3' as we gunkhole
(cautiously) through skinny water to get to a good anchorage, sometimes
see the knotmeter reading higher than the depth sounder -- and feel no
need to tack.
Yup, it's different than you're used to.
The Bay is unique, the world's largest estuary. We've explored it for
25 years and still haven't gotten to some of the places on our list.
Enjoy discovering the Bay on your sea trials.
--
Jere Lull
Xan- -Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/
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| | 12 answers | Add comment |
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| Re: Cool boat & travel computer Silver K 08:02:29 |
| |
"Roger Long" <strider@maine.rr.com> wrote in message
news:gbfpea$9tc$1@registered.motzarella.org...
I've wanted a small computer to take on my upcomming trip but reluctant to get into Vista or switch to Apple. I also don't want to be carrying anything very expensive or delicate on this trip which will involve a long boat trip. All these considerations apply on the sailboat as well. I've been taking a laptop on longer cruises for track planning and in case I need to reload charts in the GPS. It doesn't stow anywhere easily though and I'd hate to have it go adrift given its cost and all the stuff on it. I'm typing this on an ASUS Eee PC I bought yesterday at Best Buy. It's about the size and weight of a thin hardback book, uses Window XP (Probably the last XP machine available), and has solid state memory instead of a hard disk. No drives or card slot but three USB ports and MMC/SD card slot as well as Ethernet & video connectors. Nice screen with some cool zooming and panning features that make it's more than adequate size and clarity even easier to use. Built in webcam. Not terribly fast but just about perfect for a small cruising boat and traveling light. A under $475 it won't be a major disaster if anything happens to it. Worth owning even if you have a larger laptop, I think. -- Roger Long Does it have wireless ethernet ? What is the capacity ?
Sterling
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| | 90 answers | Add comment |
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