Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

I think the early Yeomans were only plotters of GPS data. They had no
NMEA output data.

This can easily be corrected by buying the $75 replacement computer
board from B&G, like we did to replace our fried one. Call B&G
support and give them your model/serial number. I bet the new
computer board will plug right in. Make sure you tell the man you
need the board sent with the full new EPROM which is the master
program and a new data cable with these wires on it.

Changing the board is simply pulling the plastic box apart on the
bottom left side of the plotter, unplugging the cables from 2
connectors MARKING HOW THE PUCK PLUGS IN, PLEASE. Unscrew the
computer board from the main big board's pins pulling straight out
while wiggling it around to get it loose, then carefully plugging the
new board onto the pins sticking out of the main plotting board. Plug
the puck and the new interface cable in and you have a new yeoman with
the latest firmware, a $600 gadget.



On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 23:12:11 -0800, "Steve" wrote:


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Only 4 wires?? They must have cut some off for a specific GPS-only,
Data In ONLY connection. Ok, let's look at the Yeoman connections on:
http://www.yeomanuk.co.uk/tech/yds062.doc
Open it with Wordpad so you can see the graphics.


I already had that link and think that is the connector pin out for a later
version..

The data cable I have is labeled Yeoman, is virgin (never modified) four pin
plug that mates with a data connector on the back.. There is also a power
connector and a power switch. No fuse (manual says the fuse is internal). I
don't think anything has ever been modified since the connector and switch
layout are just as shown in the manual..

I think I may have to open the case to see where each of the remaining data
connector pins go to.. Might be easier than trial and error..

I might follow up on your links to BandGusa and see if my mother board and
firmware needs upgrading..

Thanks

Steve
s/v Good Intentions




Larry W4CSC

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
I think the early Yeomans were only plotters of GPS data. They had no
NMEA output data.


Then why would the manual state that the way points are uploaded to the
Loran/GPS??

I found a authorized dealer in FL and noticed that the data/power cables
were $55 so maybe Yeoman offered a cheaper input cable option in the early
days.

I will call BandG on monday and see what they have to say.. I spent the
better part of Friday talking to the guys at Maptech trying to figure out
who was now handling the Yeoman.. Nice people but in the end "Not Our
Y'ob"!!

The mother board upgrade may be the solution if it is compatable with the
rest of the system..

Hey! I was reading the current tech manual on the BandG site and I found a
procedure for installing the unit upside down under the chart table (this is
in addition the rightside up method). The upside down method has some
advantages but requires the software to be made aware of the reversed
position.. My problem is, my chart table is already 7/8 total thickness.

Thanks for your response Larry.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
I think the early Yeomans were only plotters of GPS data. They had no
NMEA output data.


Then why would the manual state that the way points are uploaded to the
Loran/GPS??

I found a authorized dealer in FL and noticed that the data/power cables
were $55 so maybe Yeoman offered a cheaper input cable option in the early
days.

I will call BandG on monday and see what they have to say.. I spent the
better part of Friday talking to the guys at Maptech trying to figure out
who was now handling the Yeoman.. Nice people but in the end "Not Our
Y'ob"!!

The mother board upgrade may be the solution if it is compatable with the
rest of the system..

Hey! I was reading the current tech manual on the BandG site and I found a
procedure for installing the unit upside down under the chart table (this is
in addition the rightside up method). The upside down method has some
advantages but requires the software to be made aware of the reversed
position.. My problem is, my chart table is already 7/8 total thickness.

Thanks for your response Larry.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 11:09:21 -0800, "Steve" wrote:


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
I think the early Yeomans were only plotters of GPS data. They had no
NMEA output data.


Then why would the manual state that the way points are uploaded to the
Loran/GPS??

Not sure. Never saw one with just 4 wires.

I found a authorized dealer in FL and noticed that the data/power cables
were $55 so maybe Yeoman offered a cheaper input cable option in the early
days.

"Boat Owner Pricing".......same as Lexus.

I will call BandG on monday and see what they have to say.. I spent the
better part of Friday talking to the guys at Maptech trying to figure out
who was now handling the Yeoman.. Nice people but in the end "Not Our
Y'ob"!!

The mother board upgrade may be the solution if it is compatable with the
rest of the system..

Hey! I was reading the current tech manual on the BandG site and I found a
procedure for installing the unit upside down under the chart table (this is
in addition the rightside up method). The upside down method has some
advantages but requires the software to be made aware of the reversed
position.. My problem is, my chart table is already 7/8 total thickness.

Our chart table top is about 1/2" thick mahogany and the Yeoman
scanner board is 1/4" below the bottom of that because it is stuck to
the chart table top with 5 pound per inch double sided industrial foam
tape (two full width strips near the 1/3 to 2/3 distance). On top of
that sits the thickness of the entire Maptech chart book folded back
with the chart we want on top. (There's no place to put the rest of
it any other way. On top of the chart book's thickness is a 1/4"
plexiglass cover to grease pencil on. The Yeoman signal warning
blinks all 4 arrows at once about 2" ABOVE the surface of the
plexiglass. Works great this way! 7/8" isn't a problem. Just make
SURE there is nothing METAL under the Yeoman in the drawer to distort
the scanning signals. A paper clip will make it way off. We store
nothing but charts under it and nothing on top of it while in use.

The Yeoman cares NOT whether the chart is right side up, upside down
or sideways. As you teach it the three points along the L of
lat/long, it scales to those points, no matter what the chart scale or
position is. The orientation on our chart table is with the computer
daughterboard pointed down (away from the chart), and the
daughterboard is on the left side of the chart table with the cables
coming out the back of its protective little box.

I've even fooled around with a 7-11 roadmap that had some cursory
lat/long markings on it. I made a user-programmed 3-point memory file
for the road map. Worked great if you only needed airline miles, not
road miles around curves.

Thanks for your response Larry.

No problem! I spent all afternoon into the evening pulling in more
cables. Lionheart now has a remotely controlled 1KW inverter with
permanent outlets behind the microwave and over on the chart table to
run the computer and printer from. The little remote control panel
has a power mini switch that simply parallels the inverter's power
switch and a neon indicator lamp that lights when the inverter is
putting out 120VAC to the outlets I installed.

We beez Yachting! Hear that drill motor?...(c;

One of the neighbors was motoring out of his slip and came around the
corner. I had my drill in my hand and yelled out, "Where you goin'?
Get back here and GET TO WORK!".....hee hee....

He laughed and gave me the finger as he motored out of the
marina...(c;



Larry W4CSC

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 11:09:21 -0800, "Steve" wrote:


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
I think the early Yeomans were only plotters of GPS data. They had no
NMEA output data.


Then why would the manual state that the way points are uploaded to the
Loran/GPS??

Not sure. Never saw one with just 4 wires.

I found a authorized dealer in FL and noticed that the data/power cables
were $55 so maybe Yeoman offered a cheaper input cable option in the early
days.

"Boat Owner Pricing".......same as Lexus.

I will call BandG on monday and see what they have to say.. I spent the
better part of Friday talking to the guys at Maptech trying to figure out
who was now handling the Yeoman.. Nice people but in the end "Not Our
Y'ob"!!

The mother board upgrade may be the solution if it is compatable with the
rest of the system..

Hey! I was reading the current tech manual on the BandG site and I found a
procedure for installing the unit upside down under the chart table (this is
in addition the rightside up method). The upside down method has some
advantages but requires the software to be made aware of the reversed
position.. My problem is, my chart table is already 7/8 total thickness.

Our chart table top is about 1/2" thick mahogany and the Yeoman
scanner board is 1/4" below the bottom of that because it is stuck to
the chart table top with 5 pound per inch double sided industrial foam
tape (two full width strips near the 1/3 to 2/3 distance). On top of
that sits the thickness of the entire Maptech chart book folded back
with the chart we want on top. (There's no place to put the rest of
it any other way. On top of the chart book's thickness is a 1/4"
plexiglass cover to grease pencil on. The Yeoman signal warning
blinks all 4 arrows at once about 2" ABOVE the surface of the
plexiglass. Works great this way! 7/8" isn't a problem. Just make
SURE there is nothing METAL under the Yeoman in the drawer to distort
the scanning signals. A paper clip will make it way off. We store
nothing but charts under it and nothing on top of it while in use.

The Yeoman cares NOT whether the chart is right side up, upside down
or sideways. As you teach it the three points along the L of
lat/long, it scales to those points, no matter what the chart scale or
position is. The orientation on our chart table is with the computer
daughterboard pointed down (away from the chart), and the
daughterboard is on the left side of the chart table with the cables
coming out the back of its protective little box.

I've even fooled around with a 7-11 roadmap that had some cursory
lat/long markings on it. I made a user-programmed 3-point memory file
for the road map. Worked great if you only needed airline miles, not
road miles around curves.

Thanks for your response Larry.

No problem! I spent all afternoon into the evening pulling in more
cables. Lionheart now has a remotely controlled 1KW inverter with
permanent outlets behind the microwave and over on the chart table to
run the computer and printer from. The little remote control panel
has a power mini switch that simply parallels the inverter's power
switch and a neon indicator lamp that lights when the inverter is
putting out 120VAC to the outlets I installed.

We beez Yachting! Hear that drill motor?...(c;

One of the neighbors was motoring out of his slip and came around the
corner. I had my drill in my hand and yelled out, "Where you goin'?
Get back here and GET TO WORK!".....hee hee....

He laughed and gave me the finger as he motored out of the
marina...(c;



Larry W4CSC

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Ask me anytime for more help on this thread. Text out your email
address if you want to take this to email....

Larry, can you come to me off-group? I'd like to talk a bit with you about
Ham and the only address I have for you didn't bounce, but I didn't get a
reply, either...

skipgundlach at earthlink dot net

Thanks.

L8R

Skip



--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Ask me anytime for more help on this thread. Text out your email
address if you want to take this to email....

Larry, can you come to me off-group? I'd like to talk a bit with you about
Ham and the only address I have for you didn't bounce, but I didn't get a
reply, either...

skipgundlach at earthlink dot net

Thanks.

L8R

Skip



--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

Earthlink has Knology Cable blacklisted because some jerk spammed them
from Knology's domain. I can't even send an email to my girlfriend
from Knology......dammit.

I got a new email account, today, so I could email her when she goes
to her other home in Costa Rica. Let's email me on that disposable
address:
w4csc at yahoo dot com Give that a try and let's see how it works. I
never had a yahoo before, well, at least one with email service...(c;

Do you know the guys over at the UGA ham club station? I think I
remember the university having a nice one many years back. I suppose
it's still there. Email me your connection with UGA....See you on
email.

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 02:41:14 GMT, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Ask me anytime for more help on this thread. Text out your email
address if you want to take this to email....

Larry, can you come to me off-group? I'd like to talk a bit with you about
Ham and the only address I have for you didn't bounce, but I didn't get a
reply, either...

skipgundlach at earthlink dot net

Thanks.

L8R

Skip



--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin




Larry W4CSC

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

Earthlink has Knology Cable blacklisted because some jerk spammed them
from Knology's domain. I can't even send an email to my girlfriend
from Knology......dammit.

I got a new email account, today, so I could email her when she goes
to her other home in Costa Rica. Let's email me on that disposable
address:
w4csc at yahoo dot com Give that a try and let's see how it works. I
never had a yahoo before, well, at least one with email service...(c;

Do you know the guys over at the UGA ham club station? I think I
remember the university having a nice one many years back. I suppose
it's still there. Email me your connection with UGA....See you on
email.

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 02:41:14 GMT, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Ask me anytime for more help on this thread. Text out your email
address if you want to take this to email....

Larry, can you come to me off-group? I'd like to talk a bit with you about
Ham and the only address I have for you didn't bounce, but I didn't get a
reply, either...

skipgundlach at earthlink dot net

Thanks.

L8R

Skip



--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin




Larry W4CSC

Yeoman Plotter questions:
 

Ok! Since I haven't gotten any helpful info from Yeoman or otherwise to
determine the pin out of the 4 pin data connector, I took things into my own
hands..

I opened up the plotter bed for access to the computer and the
interconnections..

Sure is a simple thing.. But that's another story..

To my immediate relief, there are 4 wires going from the circuit board to
the 4 pin connnector.. The colors don't exactly match those given for the 5
pin plug discribed on the web site. However Data IN is correct and there is
Green wire that 'may' correspond to the Data OUT. Signal Gnd should be the
same for both but there just happens to be two more wires of different
colors left over, one of which I'm using for Data IN signal gnd. I didn't
have any test equipment on board and most likely will do a trial and error
once I install a 4 conductor cable on the OEM plug.. (problem there-- it's
molded and not intended to be opened. I'll have to cut away the mold strain
relief and epoxy it back with the new wires.)

While I was in there poking around, I open the shield cover on the main
circuit board, to look for markings where the harness plugged in. None.. I
noted that the EPROM was marked with YM-22 Copy Right 1992. No other circuit
board ID but I wasn't able to inspect the solder side if the board..

I have ask BandGUS tech support about a full new circuit board with new
firmware to upgrade the unit.. Still waiting for a reply..

I know, that to some, this Yeoman may seem like "old tech" and not worth
messing with.. There does seem to be some 'die-hard' Yeoman devotees and as
I look at the simplicity of the whole scheme, I'm think seriously about
building the thin matrix mat into my chart table (as Larry has discribed). I
don't have the room for the whole plotting table to mount under the chart
table but I did check today and the mat and circuit board box assembly will
fit nicely.. The other cable are provided with connectors..

To justify my scheme, I can maintain my paper chart plot at all times and
put the laptop away once the more complex route planning has been completed
and the waypoints uploaded to the GPS.. The Yeoman only draws .5 amps and
can be used to solve near time nav problems and to update the plot.. If all
systems crash, the plot is still there on the Yeoman chart cover..

BTW.. I just tried pencil and ball point ink on the plastic cover.. The
pencil was hardly visiable and I suspect would eventually start smearing and
scratching.. With the ball point and only light pressure the ink transfered
to make a nice clean line. The plastic chart protector is made of a rather
hard plastic and there didn't seem to be any impression from the ball point.
To clean it off I just used a damp tissue.

I'll provide an update when I have more revelation or results.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions