Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. I'm sure there are others on this route. I would like to hear from anybody else with 50ish eyes who has moved on to a better display. How much is enough? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a big screen? Or should I keep a pair of half glasses at the helm? (which might not help the rain issue) Thanks, Ryk |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
Ryk,
I have same problem, except worse - I need reading glasses at home computer and I can't read my iPaq display - I use the iPaq along with Fugawi as a chart display - It has a zoom function that helps, but I am still juggling sunglasses and reading glasses just at the worst moments. What I am considering and will order tonight, seeing you jogged my memory, is one of these: http://www.gpscity.ca/item-ram-mount...er/rammag1.htm We will see if it helps! There are larger screen portable - Ultra-Mobiles. Need to wait for price to come down! http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.... P=rdr0000276 Good Luck! "Ryk" wrote in message ... I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. I'm sure there are others on this route. I would like to hear from anybody else with 50ish eyes who has moved on to a better display. How much is enough? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a big screen? Or should I keep a pair of half glasses at the helm? (which might not help the rain issue) Thanks, Ryk |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
"
"Ryk" wrote in message .. . I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. I'm way past you in that I have been wearing bifocals since I was in my mid 40s. My oldest daughter (now 45) is having to wear reading glasses. My husband who is almost 70 just wears reading glasses. His problem with them is losing the glasses and case out of his pocket into the water. Now he has buttoned or zipped pockets to put them in. I have not heard that he had any problem reading the computer screen (which is a regular laptop, but we are running Cap'n) at the helm, although he makes me zoom in somewhat more than I would do if it were up to me. He can't read the GPS through his sunglasses anyway because they are polarized. Basically his solution is to leave the reading to me. I do the charting and waypoints and radio work and all that stuff. I read the GPS and record what it says. I put those scrunchy things (can't remember what they are called) on the legs of my glasses so they don't blow off my face and into the water. I've done that ever since someone on the dock threw me a rope (which I didn't need thrown) and it hit me on the nose and knocked my prescription glasses into Nassau harbour. After I screamed at Bob that we weren't leaving after all and got my backup glasses and the current died down a bit, we retrieved them with the pool net. The water was clear and the glasses had lenses that darkened in bright light, so we could see where they were. I'm sure there are others on this route. I would like to hear from anybody else with 50ish eyes who has moved on to a better display. How much is enough? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a big screen? Or should I keep a pair of half glasses at the helm? (which might not help the rain issue) We have an enclosed cockpit, and have all the lines led back there so all the sail handling can be done without going on deck, unless we are anchoring or coming into a dock or something. In that case, we are just trying to avoid bumping into large objects that Bob can see without reading glasses. If anchoring, I'm driving and he's directing from the bow. |
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
"Ryk" wrote in message
.. . I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. About 6 or 7 years ago I was watching TV and ran across a show (maybe on the History Channel ?) that described in part how the Army before the start of W.W.II was woefully short on qualified candidates for flight training. One reason for the shortage was due to a large number of otherwise qualified potential candidates having poor eyesight, so the Army hired a bunch of opthamologists to train the candidates to regain good eyesight from refractive errors like myopia and presbyopia. They showed films from the period where they were using all sorts of strange machines to retrain the eyes. Some time after seeing that show I read a description of the eye exercises for retraining refractive errors that the Army opthamologists gave their candidates. Now I see a number of *new* training systems for vision improvement for sale like the "See Clearly Method" and others that base their methods on the original Army/opthamologist methods, or the Bates method, or a combination of the two. The Army method has been successful for a lot of people, and the Bates system has also been successful for a lot of people. Some need one, others need the other. Still other people may need a combo of the two to be effective. Bottom line is, if you are willing to spend the time and effort, you can get a lot of correction. If though like me most of your refractive error is from astigmatisms, be prepared to spend some serious work to correct it. I started using the original Army methods when I first saw them and stopped cold the progression of worsening, (which up till that time meant about 1/4 diopter per year worsening on average) and have since improved one whole diopter. If I had dedicated enough time and energy to it I believe I would have improved my eyesight a lot more. I hate wearing glasses so the time I spent working on my eyes has enabled me to see good enough again to read without them. BTW, if you have become farsighted, you will get pretty rapid improvement using the Army methods - that seems to be by far the easiest to correct. But thanks for reminding me. Passing the CG OUPV test means having no more than 20/200 uncorrected, so now I'm going to dust off that document and get back to working on my vision. |
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
Sailaway wrote:
It has just occurred to me that you could have lasiks done on just one eye. That way you could read with one eye and see distance with the other. Sailors that we know where she had always worn contacts, she got that done, and doesn't have to wear glasses at all now. "Ryk" wrote in message .. . I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. About 6 or 7 years ago I was watching TV and ran across a show (maybe on the History Channel ?) that described in part how the Army before the start of W.W.II was woefully short on qualified candidates for flight training. One reason for the shortage was due to a large number of otherwise qualified potential candidates having poor eyesight, so the Army hired a bunch of opthamologists to train the candidates to regain good eyesight from refractive errors like myopia and presbyopia. They showed films from the period where they were using all sorts of strange machines to retrain the eyes. Some time after seeing that show I read a description of the eye exercises for retraining refractive errors that the Army opthamologists gave their candidates. Now I see a number of *new* training systems for vision improvement for sale like the "See Clearly Method" and others that base their methods on the original Army/opthamologist methods, or the Bates method, or a combination of the two. The Army method has been successful for a lot of people, and the Bates system has also been successful for a lot of people. Some need one, others need the other. Still other people may need a combo of the two to be effective. Bottom line is, if you are willing to spend the time and effort, you can get a lot of correction. If though like me most of your refractive error is from astigmatisms, be prepared to spend some serious work to correct it. I started using the original Army methods when I first saw them and stopped cold the progression of worsening, (which up till that time meant about 1/4 diopter per year worsening on average) and have since improved one whole diopter. If I had dedicated enough time and energy to it I believe I would have improved my eyesight a lot more. I hate wearing glasses so the time I spent working on my eyes has enabled me to see good enough again to read without them. BTW, if you have become farsighted, you will get pretty rapid improvement using the Army methods - that seems to be by far the easiest to correct. But thanks for reminding me. Passing the CG OUPV test means having no more than 20/200 uncorrected, so now I'm going to dust off that document and get back to working on my vision. |
#6
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
Rosalie B. wrote:
" "Ryk" wrote in message ... I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. I'm way past you in that I have been wearing bifocals since I was in my mid 40s. My oldest daughter (now 45) is having to wear reading glasses. My husband who is almost 70 just wears reading glasses. His problem with them is losing the glasses and case out of his pocket into the water. Now he has buttoned or zipped pockets to put them in. I have not heard that he had any problem reading the computer screen (which is a regular laptop, but we are running Cap'n) at the helm, although he makes me zoom in somewhat more than I would do if it were up to me. He can't read the GPS through his sunglasses anyway because they are polarized. Basically his solution is to leave the reading to me. I do the charting and waypoints and radio work and all that stuff. I read the GPS and record what it says. I put those scrunchy things (can't remember what they are called) on the legs of my glasses so they don't blow off my face and into the water. I've done that ever since someone on the dock threw me a rope (which I didn't need thrown) and it hit me on the nose and knocked my prescription glasses into Nassau harbour. After I screamed at Bob that we weren't leaving after all and got my backup glasses and the current died down a bit, we retrieved them with the pool net. The water was clear and the glasses had lenses that darkened in bright light, so we could see where they were. I'm sure there are others on this route. I would like to hear from anybody else with 50ish eyes who has moved on to a better display. How much is enough? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a big screen? Or should I keep a pair of half glasses at the helm? (which might not help the rain issue) We have an enclosed cockpit, and have all the lines led back there so all the sail handling can be done without going on deck, unless we are anchoring or coming into a dock or something. In that case, we are just trying to avoid bumping into large objects that Bob can see without reading glasses. If anchoring, I'm driving and he's directing from the bow. This seems to be the best, (and cheapest) solution. Get yourself a blonde nympho who has younger eyes than yours (no disrespect to Rosalie!). It may cost you more than a big screen in the long run, but will last longer, and keep you looking younger! |
#7
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
"Dennis Pogson" wrote This seems to be the best, (and cheapest) solution. Get yourself a blonde nympho who has younger eyes than yours (no disrespect to Rosalie!). If she has good eyes, it might be hard to get her interested |
#8
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 09:54:41 -0400, in message
"OldSailor" wrote: "Dennis Pogson" wrote This seems to be the best, (and cheapest) solution. Get yourself a blonde nympho who has younger eyes than yours (no disrespect to Rosalie!). If she has good eyes, it might be hard to get her interested My race partner is blonde and she does have younger eyes than I do, but that doesn't do me a bit of good in the rain, in the middle of the night, when I'm on watch and can't read the GPS well enough to know how much I'm missing the island by. Ryk |
#9
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
Rosalie B. wrote:
" "Ryk" wrote in message . .. I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. I'm way past you in that I have been wearing bifocals since I was in my mid 40s. My oldest daughter (now 45) is having to wear reading glasses. My husband who is almost 70 just wears reading glasses. His problem with them is losing the glasses and case out of his pocket into the water. Now he has buttoned or zipped pockets to put them in. I have not heard that he had any problem reading the computer screen (which is a regular laptop, but we are running Cap'n) at the helm, although he makes me zoom in somewhat more than I would do if it were up to me. He can't read the GPS through his sunglasses anyway because they are polarized. Basically his solution is to leave the reading to me. I do the charting and waypoints and radio work and all that stuff. I read the GPS and record what it says. I put those scrunchy things (can't remember what they are called) on the legs of my glasses so they don't blow off my face and into the water. I've done that ever since someone on the dock threw me a rope (which I didn't need thrown) and it hit me on the nose and knocked my prescription glasses into Nassau harbour. After I screamed at Bob that we weren't leaving after all and got my backup glasses and the current died down a bit, we retrieved them with the pool net. The water was clear and the glasses had lenses that darkened in bright light, so we could see where they were. I'm sure there are others on this route. I would like to hear from anybody else with 50ish eyes who has moved on to a better display. How much is enough? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a big screen? Or should I keep a pair of half glasses at the helm? (which might not help the rain issue) We have an enclosed cockpit, and have all the lines led back there so all the sail handling can be done without going on deck, unless we are anchoring or coming into a dock or something. In that case, we are just trying to avoid bumping into large objects that Bob can see without reading glasses. If anchoring, I'm driving and he's directing from the bow. My optometrist said the mid-forties was the magic time when many people start needing reading glasses.If you were near sighted before, you now need bi-folds or most likely progressive lenses (especially if your job is in front of a computer) The good news is... there are some nice looking eyeglasses out there.I have almost a 'wire rim' style titanium frame. |
#10
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
GPS / Chartplotter solution?
Rosalie B. wrote:
"Ryk" wrote in message . .. I've got a Garmin GPS76 at the helm that provides all the functionality I really need, backed up with a direct connection to the PC running Fugawi at the nav station. One thing that I do for my husband that you might do for yourself is to put a route or previous track on the computer. The routing is a big blue line, and it is pretty easy to whether the ship is on the route or not. If it is in the ICW or someplace where we have been before, and where the route twists and turns a lot, I put the previous track (which I have saved) up on the computer. These are camera shots of the computer screen with anchorages where the boat track has been marked green http://p.vtourist.com/953705-Chart_o...ille_Beach.jpg http://p.vtourist.com/1295370-chart_...ed-Footman.jpg http://p.vtourist.com/952031-Chart_o...-Reedville.jpg http://p.vtourist.com/953094-Chart_s...Deltaville.jpg This one shows our track to a marina http://p.vtourist.com/953621-ICW_cha...k-Oriental.jpg And to a new marina that isn't on the charts. http://p.vtourist.com/953149-Chart_s...-Hampstead.jpg I can't find any shots of the blue route lines, but these are older tracks from a previous version and are in red - the first one of our home marina http://p.vtourist.com/951996-Chart_o...reek-Ridge.jpg http://p.vtourist.com/2071745-Chart_...elby_Beach.jpg (We went in to get fuel and had to wait off the dock for someone else to finish) And this one has both the anchorage and the marina http://p.vtourist.com/1295474-Chart_...ort_Pierce.jpg (I put the marina and anchorages marks on the charts) Unfortunately, I no longer have teenaged eyes and the combination of small size, lack of contrast, rain, darkness, etc. can make it hard to read at the most important moments. I'm at the point where I can still read the phone book, but only in good light and probably getting a little worse. I wear 1.75 dime store glasses to read in bed and nothing at the computer screen. snip Basically his solution is to leave the reading to me. I do the charting and waypoints and radio work and all that stuff. I read the GPS and record what it says. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
A wireless (no wires to the computer) wifi solution? (very long) | Cruising | |||
A wireless (no wires to the computer) wifi solution? (very long) | Electronics | |||
Boating solution | General | |||
OT Europe's Solution | General | |||
best chartplotter for budget "round the worlder" | Electronics |