On 13 Jul 2006 15:14:14 -0700, wrote:

I'm a newbie to boat electronics, so I'll apologize up front for some
basic questions.
snip

Here's my real dilemma. I want to put the new GPS/sounder unit on the
flybridge and use my laptop on the lower station when the weather is
nasty.

1) Can I direct cable from the GPS/sounder to the laptop, or will I
need a multiplexer? I'm going to use an old IBM laptop that has two USB
and one 9-pin serial connections. Even if I can direct cable, will the
use of a multiplexer improve the ease of installation and/or the
stability of the connection?

If you have a single talker (the GPS), there is no need for a
multiplexer. A multiplexer is used when you need to combine NMEA data
from two or more sources.

2) Can the setup be configured for the laptop to function as a second
screen replicating the GPS/sounder screen (similar to adding a second
monitor to a computer)?

No, if "replicate" means "show an exact copy".

3) If the answer above to 2) is no, which PC-based chartplotting
program(s) will display the depth and speed from the sounder as an
overlay on the GPS navigation map on the laptop screen - or must I
toggle between two seperate screens on the laptop?

There are a number of chart display programs available, from free to
very expensive. Two listed on my GPS/NMEA site below are Ozi Explorer
and Sea Clear - Sea Clear is free, and will display the BSB-format
charts that are used by most other marine chart programs. Ozi is
inexpensive, and will display BSB charts, or maps in many other
formats - you can even scan and calibrate your own paper maps for use
with Ozi. Ozi will show depth sounder readings, but only as a digital
reading, not as a graphic chart.


Thanks in advance for your help.

--
Peter Bennett VE7CEI
email: peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info and programs: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter/index.html
Newsgroup new user info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq

Thanks for the help - your website has lots of useful info. OziExplorer
looks like what I need.