On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 21:55:47 +0000, Ian Malcolm wrote:

I can recommend the Yeoman plotter. It is a specialised digitising
tablet with
a NMEA0183 interface designed for marine charts that lets you quickly
and
easily read off the current position directly on any normal paper chart
using
your GPS, (you just move the puck in the direction of the illuminated
arrow or
arrowson it, and your position is under the hole in the crosshair for
the tip of
a pencil when all the arrows have gone out. It also reads off range and
bearing
to any feature on the chart, and SENDS WAYPOINTS DIRECT FROM IT TO YOUR
GPS with
only a few button clicks.


"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote

Oh, good grief: Technology Gone Mad. You mean you can't read lat/long off
a
chart? And if you can err reading the chart, you can err even worse
setting it
up.

Having nearly put the boat up on a beach somewhere in Costa Rica because I
mistakenly entered 77 deg instead of 76 deg or something equally foolish as
a waypoint on the GPS, I can really appreciate the value of eliminating the
human element where possible.

The only thing that saved us was that we had drawn a course line joining
waypoints. A quick eyeball check of our course being steered v.s. the
chartered one tipped me off.


--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 20:44:04 -0500, "Wim" wrote:

Hi Chuck,
Not knowing anything about GPS's, but I'm looking/shopping at the moment for
one. I noticed several with a MOB(red button) on the keypad. Would not a
series of MOB's give you a running score of waypoints? I assume they can be
re-entered or moved with a proper description?
Just a thought FWIW--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html



"MOB" is a special function - you would rarely want to use it to
create "normal" waypoints. The MOB function creates a waypoint
(called "MOB") at the current location _and_ sets that waypoint as the
"target" of a "GoTo". This is fine if you really want to return to
the marked location (as you would to pick up a person overboard), but
not so great if you are already following a route or goto at the time,
and just want to mark a location.

I think most GPS receivers also have a "mark" or "quick waypoint"
function (my Garmin 12XL does) which allows you to create a waypoint
at the current location without upsetting any active navigation. My
12XL provides a default numeric name for such waypoints, but the name
can be changed as you store the waypoint or at any later time.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 20:44:04 -0500, "Wim" wrote:

Hi Chuck,
Not knowing anything about GPS's, but I'm looking/shopping at the moment for
one. I noticed several with a MOB(red button) on the keypad. Would not a
series of MOB's give you a running score of waypoints? I assume they can be
re-entered or moved with a proper description?
Just a thought FWIW--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html



"MOB" is a special function - you would rarely want to use it to
create "normal" waypoints. The MOB function creates a waypoint
(called "MOB") at the current location _and_ sets that waypoint as the
"target" of a "GoTo". This is fine if you really want to return to
the marked location (as you would to pick up a person overboard), but
not so great if you are already following a route or goto at the time,
and just want to mark a location.

I think most GPS receivers also have a "mark" or "quick waypoint"
function (my Garmin 12XL does) which allows you to create a waypoint
at the current location without upsetting any active navigation. My
12XL provides a default numeric name for such waypoints, but the name
can be changed as you store the waypoint or at any later time.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca