| Home |
| Search |
| Today's Posts |
|
|
|
#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
New VHF
"Marty" wrote in message
... Capt. JG wrote: I don't have a chartplotter (and an AIS), sadly. It's not in my budget until 2011 at least. You've got a laptop; there's no reason not to have a chartplotter. You can get Bluetooth GPS puck, or even a USB puck for about 40 bucks, SeaClear II is free, raster charts (BSB) are free from NOAA. I have an articulated monitor arm bolted to the inside of the aft saloon bulkhead beside the companionway that lets me extend a slave LCD display into the companionway visible from the cockpit. I also I a Bluetooth trackball that I can use from the cockpit, so the lap stays inside high and dry. If things start to get wet it's simple to push the slave screen back into the cockpit out of the weather. Cheers Martin I know, I know. I have a laptop, but it's a beast... 17" monitor, which I use for work-stuff and another laptop, also for work. I would actually have to buy another laptop, which would put me in the techno-geek-nerd category (well, higher up in the category). (I also have three base systems, one of which is a Mac.) I already have SeaClear on the 17" laptop, along with a bunch of rasters. I'm just loath to haul it around and can't leave it on the boat. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
|
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
Capt. JG wrote:
"Marty" wrote in message ... Capt. JG wrote: I don't have a chartplotter (and an AIS), sadly. It's not in my budget until 2011 at least. You've got a laptop; there's no reason not to have a chartplotter. You can get Bluetooth GPS puck, or even a USB puck for about 40 bucks, SeaClear II is free, raster charts (BSB) are free from NOAA. I have an articulated monitor arm bolted to the inside of the aft saloon bulkhead beside the companionway that lets me extend a slave LCD display into the companionway visible from the cockpit. I also I a Bluetooth trackball that I can use from the cockpit, so the lap stays inside high and dry. If things start to get wet it's simple to push the slave screen back into the cockpit out of the weather. Cheers Martin I know, I know. I have a laptop, but it's a beast... 17" monitor, which I use for work-stuff and another laptop, also for work. I would actually have to buy another laptop, which would put me in the techno-geek-nerd category (well, higher up in the category). (I also have three base systems, one of which is a Mac.) I already have SeaClear on the 17" laptop, along with a bunch of rasters. I'm just loath to haul it around and can't leave it on the boat. Something wrong with being a techno-geek-nerd? Thank God for Obama, maybe it'll be good to be smart rather than a close minded jerk who thinks pro wrestling is real. I've got much the same, less the Mac. I haul one of my laptops around all the time, that's the idea behind them, portability, computing anywhere.... I'm really bad, I have a good enough antenna system on my wireless router that I can get a connection in the boat before I get to my dock... gotta love it. Remember, the next time you think you're a techno geek, Ham operators make us look normal... Cheers Martin |
|
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
"Marty" wrote in message
... Capt. JG wrote: "Marty" wrote in message ... Capt. JG wrote: I don't have a chartplotter (and an AIS), sadly. It's not in my budget until 2011 at least. You've got a laptop; there's no reason not to have a chartplotter. You can get Bluetooth GPS puck, or even a USB puck for about 40 bucks, SeaClear II is free, raster charts (BSB) are free from NOAA. I have an articulated monitor arm bolted to the inside of the aft saloon bulkhead beside the companionway that lets me extend a slave LCD display into the companionway visible from the cockpit. I also I a Bluetooth trackball that I can use from the cockpit, so the lap stays inside high and dry. If things start to get wet it's simple to push the slave screen back into the cockpit out of the weather. Cheers Martin I know, I know. I have a laptop, but it's a beast... 17" monitor, which I use for work-stuff and another laptop, also for work. I would actually have to buy another laptop, which would put me in the techno-geek-nerd category (well, higher up in the category). (I also have three base systems, one of which is a Mac.) I already have SeaClear on the 17" laptop, along with a bunch of rasters. I'm just loath to haul it around and can't leave it on the boat. Something wrong with being a techno-geek-nerd? Thank God for Obama, maybe it'll be good to be smart rather than a close minded jerk who thinks pro wrestling is real. I've got much the same, less the Mac. I haul one of my laptops around all the time, that's the idea behind them, portability, computing anywhere.... I'm really bad, I have a good enough antenna system on my wireless router that I can get a connection in the boat before I get to my dock... gotta love it. Remember, the next time you think you're a techno geek, Ham operators make us look normal... Cheers Martin I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements. I'm going to get an iPhone or a Crackberry in the next month or so (probably iPhone). Do you know if something similar is available for either of those? That would be cool. Yeah, Obama insisted they let him use the Blackberry... the White House was, apparently, stuck in the dark ages for the last eight. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
|
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
Capt. JG wrote:
.... I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements.... A ham test prep book: a little application with the practice tests on-line and you are good to go. You CAN rip through several tests on a test day - to hop from Technician to Extra in one bound. Brian W |
|
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
... Capt. JG wrote: ... I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements.... A ham test prep book: a little application with the practice tests on-line and you are good to go. You CAN rip through several tests on a test day - to hop from Technician to Extra in one bound. Brian W Last I looked it seemed straight up. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
|
#6
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
Brian Whatcott wrote:
Capt. JG wrote: .... I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements.... A ham test prep book: a little application with the practice tests on-line and you are good to go. You CAN rip through several tests on a test day - to hop from Technician to Extra in one bound. Brian W Are you referring to Ham TestOnline http://www.hamtestonline.com/ or to a different one? |
|
#7
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
"Boeland" wrote in message
... Brian Whatcott wrote: Capt. JG wrote: .... I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements.... A ham test prep book: a little application with the practice tests on-line and you are good to go. You CAN rip through several tests on a test day - to hop from Technician to Extra in one bound. Brian W Are you referring to Ham TestOnline http://www.hamtestonline.com/ or to a different one? I did the free series a while ago... easy. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
|
#8
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
Boeland wrote:
Brian Whatcott wrote: Capt. JG wrote: .... I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements.... A ham test prep book: a little application with the practice tests on-line and you are good to go. You CAN rip through several tests on a test day - to hop from Technician to Extra in one bound. Brian W Are you referring to Ham TestOnline http://www.hamtestonline.com/ or to a different one? That one seems to be fee-based. Here are two good freebies: http://www.qrz.com http://www.eham.net/exams/ This one is also useful, if I recall... http://ae9pw.com It does the commercial too.... Brian Whatcott Altus OK |
|
#9
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
Brian Whatcott wrote:
Boeland wrote: Brian Whatcott wrote: Capt. JG wrote: .... I've been thinking about getting a HAM... no time lately. It looks pretty simple, especially since they've dropped the morse requirements.... A ham test prep book: a little application with the practice tests on-line and you are good to go. You CAN rip through several tests on a test day - to hop from Technician to Extra in one bound. Brian W Are you referring to Ham TestOnline http://www.hamtestonline.com/ or to a different one? That one seems to be fee-based. Here are two good freebies: http://www.qrz.com http://www.eham.net/exams/ This one is also useful, if I recall... http://ae9pw.com It does the commercial too.... Brian Whatcott Altus OK Thanks for your suggestions. |
|
#10
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
|
New VHF
"Dave" wrote in message
... On Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:22:12 -0800, "Capt. JG" said: I know, I know. I have a laptop, but it's a beast... 17" monitor, which I use for work-stuff and another laptop, also for work. I would actually have to buy another laptop, which would put me in the techno-geek-nerd category (well, higher up in the category). (I also have three base systems, one of which is a Mac.) I already have SeaClear on the 17" laptop, along with a bunch of rasters. I'm just loath to haul it around and can't leave it on the boat. My trusty but ancient Toshiba Libretto finally gave up the ghost last year. Picked up another one on Craig's list for next to nothing, and it works fine with SeaClear. It's just a little bit bigger than a paperback. You picked up another Toshiba Libretto or another model? What OS does it run? -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
Hybrid Mode
