"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Paul" wrote in
:

At the moment I am using a second bluetooth channel to connect
the AIS receiver to the PocketPC, but I hope that I with the upgrade I
can run everything through the MiniPlex.



Oh, oh....WARNING WARNING....HE'S BYPASSING NMEA ALTOGETHER!

Next thing you know he'll insist all instruments in the whole boat be
Bluetooth....negating needing multiplexers or even wires to make it all
talk to each other!

What a pleasure THAT will be to install! I'm all for it!

I can hear it in the Bluetooth headset telling the helmsman, "Come left to
course 085. May I energize the autopilot for you? Say 'yes' or 'no'."

"Radar, how far is that ship just off the port bow?"...."Eight point four
nautical miles. I'm tracking it for collision avoidance, sir. Please
slack the sheet on the Genoa. I'm detecting it stalling at this relative
wind setting, slowing us down."

No knobs at all at the helm. You just tell it what you want through your
Bluetooth headset.....(c;


Well, technically I was still using NMEA -- the BT connection was just
substituting for the serial cable.

I agree with the sentiment though, NMEA 0183 is old and slow. I would
prefer WiFi. BT networking is pretty primitive and the port-count
limitations on most devices make a it difficult to create a flexible
multiport system. BT still has the power advantage though, and I hate
wasting Amp-Hours (thus the Pocket PC for my logging application instead of
an always-on laptop).

-Paul