On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 00:17:45 GMT, (Larry W4CSC)
tempted fate with:

Aha....Here we have a common interest!......

I'm toying with the idea of creating a WIRELESS network aboard the
boat (802.11b, probably). Integration to the NMEA network will be via
a converter, such as:
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?s...ltsku=ethernet

This type of device should work well. An issue I have with this
approach is that the device requires drivers. I hate installing
drivers. They either work or they don't, and if something breaks,
you're never quite sure what it was. You have to make sure to keep up
with them just in case you find yourself rebuilding a crashed
harddrive or Windows falls on its sword or something. Plus, you never
know when the latest Windows service pack is going to break the
driver. It happens more often than one might think. Also, since I
have an obvious bias toward programmability, this approach is a little
hard-wired for my taste.

My approach is to use the existing tcp/ip stack. I take all the data
I get from serial ports and virtual serial ports and do a UDP
broadcast. This automatically goes to anybody on the subnet that
wants to listen on the right port. So you can add any listener
anytime you want by the expedient of plugging in a cat5 or a wireless
card. Any PC running anywhere on the subnet with my program on it can
receive the data, add it to whatever is coming in over the local
serial ports, display, it, log it, and ship it out over a serial port
or virtual port to any device or program not-network-aware. But I do
still need some NMEA wiring to get the data to the computer. Note
that my license covers as many copies as you want to run on one boat.
I probably need to change that if that cruise ship contract comes
in...

I've actually been doing a little work on this feature this week.
This version is not on the site yet, but I've added the capability to
talk to a specific address instead of broadcasting. This let's you
get off the subnet if you want to. Theoretically, you could even ship
your data over the internet to your home PC. I've added it because a
couple of prospects think they can use it for remote tracking. There
are some more improvements too, but they are fairly subtle.

It's not "boat programs" so it's GPL freeware....(c;

Hey, I represent that stattement!

__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/