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Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse ups.com... Flemming, I can see that your boat is very well equipped... I suggest strongly that you give a visit to the web page of another sailor very well equipped and very well documented ... It has a excellent home page with interesting information about his experience with AIS and specially with SOB... See the link below: http://www.svsarah.com/Sarah/Upgrades/AIS.htm Pascal Hi Pascal, Thank you very much for your link to a very useful and interesting homepage. From the introductory text, I can see that long range planning is one of Johns top priorities: "I am in the process of a massive equipment upgrade to prepare Sarah as a live-aboard vessel in 2003 and as a trans-Atlantic cruiser in 20054." I wonder, what the marine technology will look like in 20054 ... ;o) ... odd thought by the way ... Sorry ... - but seriously, it is a most relevant homepage for me ... may be not only for me? ... anyway, thanks! -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
Do not worry about waht he says in the begining, because he writes as
a diary, he do not updates/re-writes the text, but if you folow the articels along the time, you will see that his information is updated or not so outdated as you think. Pascal |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse ups.com... Do not worry about waht he says in the begining, because he writes as a diary, he do not updates/re-writes the text, but if you folow the articels along the time, you will see that his information is updated or not so outdated as you think. Pascal Sorry if my comment was interpreted as some kind of critique ..., I was just trying to make a joke about the misspelling in the introduction of the year John was planning "the big tour": Year 20.054 ... that is a pretty solid time frame ... ;o) ... I have now spent several hours following his thoughts, ideas, decisions, and implementations (jumping around - following the different links), and I am learning a lot ... Not that I can or will do all the things myself, but I do get a lot of inspiration and insight in a world, that is pretty new to me. So I find the many pages most useful! I'm really impressed with the way he has illustrated and documented the whole proces. It must have taken *a lot* of time - and I can sit in front of my PC and get the results of several years of thinking, trying, testing, experimenting, and experience in a matter of a few hours ... amazing ... I'm very happy with this link! Unfortunately, I've been told, that my chartplotter (Raymarine C530+) cannot handle AIS input like his Raymarine multi-instrument-monitor, (the Raymarine C120 using Navionics cards) - and there should be no plans to develop an "AIS-interface" to my model. Therefore, I can not do what John has done integration wise ... may be there will be an interface one day who knows? ... In the meantime, I will continue my learning proces with the SOB-package, find a suitable AIS engine, and a VHF splitter, (that will not destroy my AIS engine (SIC!)) and play with the system on my notebook PC ... Today, I use the only seriel port on the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, but it would be nice, if the SOB application on the PC could "read" the charts from the chartplotter via the hsb2 interface between the chartplotter and the PC. In that way, I would have a full functioning/integrated "Raymarine SeaTalk-system" plus a separate AIS application using the SOB package with the monitor showing the C-map charts and the AIS data - visible from the helm ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that .... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
... Today, I use the only seriel port on
the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Flemming, If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. The Milltech Marine site where I have buy my AIS unit sell a already made special cable, (I have buy one, becase I do not like to made this type of work too) but they have an diagram in PDF of the cable so tht you can made one yourself. Pascal |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse ups.com... ... Today, I use the only seriel port on the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Flemming, If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. The Milltech Marine site where I have buy my AIS unit sell a already made special cable, (I have buy one, becase I do not like to made this type of work too) but they have an diagram in PDF of the cable so tht you can made one yourself. Pascal |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse ups.com... ... Today, I use the only seriel port on the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Flemming, If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. The Milltech Marine site where I have buy my AIS unit sell a already made special cable, (I have buy one, becase I do not like to made this type of work too) but they have an diagram in PDF of the cable so tht you can made one yourself. Pascal Hello Pascal, I have just finished reading some of the last updates John has implemented in Sarah ... impressive and fascinating report, I must say. I have learned more in the last five hours about problems in integrating navigational instruments from different manufacturers and the way to tackle these issues, than I ever dreamed/dreamt(?) of ... As to your comment about cabling: Thank you for pointing this out to me. I had not seen that, but I have so far not studied the SR161/162 in detail, but this piece of information is certainly of great importance to me. Now, there should hopefully be no more obstacles for me? ... So, what I understand is, that now I just need an "AIS engine" i.e. SR161 or SR162 (?), an antenna splitter and the special cable you mention, that I - also - would rather purchase ready made than make myself ... ;o) ... and then I should be ready to test the system on my PC running SOB and the C-Map card reader connected to an USB port. As I live a few miles from Øresund - the water between Sweden and Denmark with pretty heavy trafic, I hope, I can do the testing from here ... I'll give it a try .... When it gets warmer, I will go to the boat and see, if the SOB application is able to "read" the C-maps from the Raymarine chartplotter when the hsb2 is activated between the chartplotter and the PC ... In that way, I will get the best of two worlds ... You know: One wants the cake *and* eat it ... Thank you again for your helpful and useful comments ... I'm an "enthusiastic amateur in this game" ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" wrote in message
ups.com... If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. Pascal, does the SR161 pass all the incoming GPS sentences or just the RMC sentence? I haven't tried that myself yet.... Meindert |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote in message
. .. .....the system on my notebook PC ... Today, I use the only seriel port on the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, but it would be nice, if the SOB application on the PC could "read" the charts from the chartplotter via the hsb2 interface between the chartplotter and the PC. In that way, I would have a full functioning/integrated "Raymarine SeaTalk-system" plus a separate AIS application using the SOB package with the monitor showing the C-map charts and the AIS data - visible from the helm ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that :-) Well, I can offer you the MiniPlex-41USB-AIS, that will allow you to feed the AIS data to your computer and also translate Seatalk into NMEA. And our virtual com port driver blocks any PnP request from Windows so you'll never get the nasty "jumping cursor" when windows thinks GPS data is a mouse.... Meindert |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
On 27 fev, 04:47, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote: "Pascal" wrote in message ups.com... If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. Pascal, does the SR161 pass all the incoming GPS sentences or just the RMC sentence? I haven't tried that myself yet.... Meindert Hi Meindert, It pass all messages, see a sample below.. If anybody wish I can send offline by e-mail the Milltech Marine Pdf file wih the combined Gps/ Ais cable diagram for the SR161/162 Best regards Pascal S 13 00/W 038 27 Sample Gps/Ais mesages taken with Hyperterminal. Not that the boat was not moving (marina docked) and the ships was docked at several nearby ports. There was few ships (about 4 or 5) so the little quantity of AIS mesages. My portable antena is at deck level ... inside the cabin. If anybody wants, I can send a more extensive txt file with more the messages. $GPRMB,A,0.04,R,BA01,AIC,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,0. 080,316.9,,V,A*28 $GPGGA,200951,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,1,10,0.8,12.2 ,M,-10.5,M,,*5D $GPGLL,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,200951,A,A*49 $GPBOD,165.6,T,188.6,M,AIC,BA01*0D $GPBWC,200951,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,316.9,T,340.0 ,M,0.080,N,AIC,A*23 $GPVTG,359.6,T,22.7,M,0.0,N,0.0,K,A*1D $GPXTE,A,A,0.04,R,N,A*19 $GPAPB,A,A,0.04,R,N,V,A,188.6,M,AIC,340.0,M,340.0, M,A*17 $GPRMC,200953,A,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,0.0,359.6,1 80207,23.0,W,A*31 !AIVDM,1,1,,B,34VTj85001M?hG9pd@43w5?`0000,0*5C $GPRMB,A,0.04,R,BA01,AIC,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,0. 080,316.9,,V,A*28 !AIVDM,1,1,,B,1:UeJL0P01M?hhWpcp6GcOwb08O?,0*0F $GPGGA,200953,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,1,10,0.8,12.0 ,M,-10.5,M,,*5D $GPGLL,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,200953,A,A*4B $GPBOD,165.6,T,188.6,M,AIC,BA01*0D $GPBWC,200953,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,316.9,T,340.0 ,M,0.080,N,AIC,A*21 $GPVTG,359.6,T,22.7,M,0.0,N,0.0,K,A*1D $GPXTE,A,A,0.04,R,N,A*19 $GPAPB,A,A,0.04,R,N,V,A,188.6,M,AIC,340.0,M,340.0, M,A*17 $GPRMC,200955,A,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,0.0,359.6,1 80207,23.0,W,A*37 $GPRMB,A,0.04,R,BA01,AIC,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,0. 080,316.9,,V,A*28 $GPGGA,200955,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,1,10,0.8,12.0 ,M,-10.5,M,,*5B $GPGLL,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,200955,A,A*4D $GPBOD,165.6,T,188.6,M,AIC,BA01*0D $GPBWC,200955,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,316.9,T,340.0 ,M,0.080,N,AIC,A*27 $GPVTG,359.6,T,22.7,M,0.0,N,0.0,K,A*1D $GPXTE,A,A,0.04,R,N,A*19 $GPAPB,A,A,0.04,R,N,V,A,188.6,M,AIC,340.0,M,340.0, M,A*17 $GPRMC,201001,A,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,0.0,359.6,1 80207,23.0,W,A*3E $GPRMB,A,0.04,R,BA01,AIC,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,0. 080,316.9,,V,A*28 $GPGGA,201001,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,1,10,0.7,12.1 ,M,-10.5,M,,*5C $GPGLL,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,201001,A,A*44 $GPBOD,165.6,T,188.6,M,AIC,BA01*0D $GPBWC,201001,1248.645,S,03827.637,W,316.9,T,340.0 ,M,0.080,N,AIC,A*2E $GPVTG,359.6,T,22.7,M,0.0,N,0.0,K,A*1D $GPXTE,A,A,0.04,R,N,A*19 $GPAPB,A,A,0.04,R,N,V,A,188.6,M,AIC,340.0,M,340.0, M,A*17 !AIVDM,1,1,,B,19NS9aEP00M?iAApckS72?v0081Q,0*59 $GPRMC,201003,A,1248.704,S,03827.581,W,0.0,359.6,1 80207,23.0,W,A*3C |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
On 26 fev, 23:44, "Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote:
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelsenews:1172535312.637404.34540@j27g2000cwj .googlegroups.com... ... Today, I use the only seriel port on the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Flemming, If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. The Milltech Marine site where I have buy my AIS unit sell a already made special cable, (I have buy one, becase I do not like to made this type of work too) but they have an diagram in PDF of the cable so tht you can made one yourself. Pascal Hello Pascal, I have just finished reading some of the last updates John has implemented in Sarah ... impressive and fascinating report, I must say. I have learned more in the last five hours about problems in integrating navigational instruments from different manufacturers and the way to tackle these issues, than I ever dreamed/dreamt(?) of ... As to your comment about cabling: Thank you for pointing this out to me. I had not seen that, but I have so far not studied the SR161/162 in detail, but this piece of information is certainly of great importance to me. Now, there should hopefully be no more obstacles for me? ... So, what I understand is, that now I just need an "AIS engine" i.e. SR161 or SR162 (?), an antenna splitter and the special cable you mention, that I - also - would rather purchase ready made than make myself ... ;o) ... and then I should be ready to test the system on my PC running SOB and the C-Map card reader connected to an USB port. As I live a few miles from Øresund - the water between Sweden and Denmark with pretty heavy trafic, I hope, I can do the testing from here ... I'll give it a try ... When it gets warmer, I will go to the boat and see, if the SOB application is able to "read" the C-maps from the Raymarine chartplotter when the hsb2 is activated between the chartplotter and the PC ... In that way, I will get the best of two worlds ... You know: One wants the cake *and* eat it ... Thank you again for your helpful and useful comments ... I'm an "enthusiastic amateur in this game" ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61- Ocultar texto entire aspas - - Mostrar texto entre aspas - Flemming, If you wish to test AIS at Home, the antenna splitter will be useless... for now, just buy a small portable antenna (like the antennas of portable vhf radios) with BNC adapter which would give you a good reception up to 5 nm or if you decide to have a separate antenna instead of a antenna splitter, to mount on your arch or over the bimini top, them buy a standard VHF antenna which at this level is good to about 10 nm. Off course, if your house is near the sea at high level, the reception would be much better. Here at my home wich is in water front at about 3 or 4 meters high I can get ships up to 15 nm using my small portable antenna. By the way, for use at home I prefer to use AIS with the ShipPlotter software, wich costs very little, about 25 euros, and it is very good, it has many interesting features, like a data base of ships wich you build along the use, internet connection, so you can share the AIS info with others users in your area, access to IMO ships data base to get more ships info and access to Google to get the ships picture etc... At home you not need to use a gps, since you are at a fixed location ... But it uses only Raster charts.. You can scn a local map/chart and uses it, since there is no need to more than one ... |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
On 27 fev, 10:00, "Pascal" wrote:
On 26 fev, 23:44, "Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote: "Pascal" skrev i en meddelelsenews:1172535312..637404.34540@j27g2000cw j.googlegroups.com... ... Today, I use the only seriel port on the PC to get the NMEA stream of data from the GPSvia RS232 ... The C-map chart reader is using a USB interface, ... I will then have to figure out how also to get the seriel input from the AIS engine into the PC ... May be via USB? Or a multiplexor? If I'm not mistaken, Meindert will have an answer to that ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Flemming, If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. The Milltech Marine site where I have buy my AIS unit sell a already made special cable, (I have buy one, becase I do not like to made this type of work too) but they have an diagram in PDF of the cable so tht you can made one yourself. Pascal Hello Pascal, I have just finished reading some of the last updates John has implemented in Sarah ... impressive and fascinating report, I must say. I have learned more in the last five hours about problems in integrating navigational instruments from different manufacturers and the way to tackle these issues, than I ever dreamed/dreamt(?) of ... As to your comment about cabling: Thank you for pointing this out to me. I had not seen that, but I have so far not studied the SR161/162 in detail, but this piece of information is certainly of great importance to me. Now, there should hopefully be no more obstacles for me? ... So, what I understand is, that now I just need an "AIS engine" i.e. SR161 or SR162 (?), an antenna splitter and the special cable you mention, that I - also - would rather purchase ready made than make myself ... ;o) ... and then I should be ready to test the system on my PC running SOB and the C-Map card reader connected to an USB port. As I live a few miles from Øresund - the water between Sweden and Denmark with pretty heavy trafic, I hope, I can do the testing from here ... I'll give it a try ... When it gets warmer, I will go to the boat and see, if the SOB application is able to "read" the C-maps from the Raymarine chartplotter when the hsb2 is activated between the chartplotter and the PC ... In that way, I will get the best of two worlds ... You know: One wants the cake *and* eat it ... Thank you again for your helpful and useful comments ... I'm an "enthusiastic amateur in this game" ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61- Ocultar texto entire aspas - - Mostrar texto entre aspas - Flemming, If you wish to test AIS at Home, the antenna splitter will be useless... for now, just buy a small portable antenna (like the antennas of portable vhf radios) with BNC adapter which would give you a good reception up to 5 nm or if you decide to have a separate antenna instead of a antenna splitter, to mount on your arch or over the bimini top, them buy a standard VHF antenna which at this level is good to about 10 nm. Off course, if your house is near the sea at high level, the reception would be much better. Here at my home wich is in water front at about 3 or 4 meters high I can get ships up to 15 nm using my small portable antenna. By the way, for use at home I prefer to use AIS with the ShipPlotter software, wich costs very little, about 25 euros, and it is very good, it has many interesting features, like a data base of ships wich you build along the use, internet connection, so you can share the AIS info with others users in your area, access to IMO ships data base to get more ships info and access to Google to get the ships picture etc... At home you not need to use a gps, since you are at a fixed location ... But it uses only Raster charts.. You can scn a local map/chart and uses it, since there is no need to more than one ...- Ocultar texto entre aspas - - Mostrar texto entre aspas - Here are others very usefull links I recomend: http://www.milltechmarine.com/products.htm http://www.sping.com/seaclear/ http://www.shipplotter.com/ Pascal |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" wrote in message
ps.com... On 27 fev, 04:47, "Meindert Sprang" Pascal, does the SR161 pass all the incoming GPS sentences or just the RMC sentence? I haven't tried that myself yet.... Meindert Hi Meindert, It pass all messages, see a sample below.. Thanks! Meindert |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Meindert Sprang" skrev i en meddelelse ll.nl... "Pascal" wrote in message ps.com... On 27 fev, 04:47, "Meindert Sprang" Pascal, does the SR161 pass all the incoming GPS sentences or just the RMC sentence? I haven't tried that myself yet.... Meindert Hi Meindert, It pass all messages, see a sample below.. Thanks! Meindert Hi again, I'm not able to read these GPS sentences, but does Pascals answer to your question mean, that I can just use my actual VHF antenna, a "splitter" and let the AIS engine receive AIS-messages at 38400B and GPS-messages at 4800B, and it will somehow be readable and applicable when transferred to my PC application (for example SOB og Seaclear or Winchart) via a single ordinary cable to the serial port on my notebook? - Or do you have other concerns about this solution? If you - with your background and expertise ... say: Go ahead, I will do it ... TIA! Sorry if I don't need a 'mux' this time ... but my installation will most certainly grow ... so ... who knows ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
Hi Pascal,
Thank you again, I will just add a few comments to your message ... "Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse oups.com... Flemming, If you wish to test AIS at Home, the antenna splitter will be useless... for now, just buy a small portable antenna (like the antennas of portable vhf radios) ... SNIP That is exactly, what I intend to do in the first phase ... I could also go to the boat, even if it is on land, and play with SOB, the GPS a new AIS engine, and the PC with a primitive antenna ... but it is pretty cold these days ... Thank yuo also for your links. I will take the time to take a closer look ... By the way, for use at home I prefer to use AIS with the ShipPlotter software, wich costs very little, about 25 euros, and it is very good, it has many interesting features, like a data base of ships wich you build along the use, internet connection, so you can share the AIS info with others users in your area, access to IMO ships data base to get more ships info and access to Google to get the ships picture etc... At home you not need to use a gps, since you are at a fixed location ... But it uses only Raster charts.. You can scn a local map/chart and uses it, since there is no need to more than one ... Good advice. I do have quite a few digital BSB charts from Maptech on a CD and the HDD - also one covering the area, in which, I'm living. As far as I understand (I have just had a quick view at the ShipPlotter - 'very yellow' - homepage), I should be able to use Maptechs charts in ShipPlotter - right? ... Do you think, I could use SOB without the GPS attached, or must the GPS be connected and active in order for SOB/ShipPlotter to work on my PC? It seems that all my "worries are solved now" ... thank you for your "education" and help, Pascal ... As you can see in my comment to Meindert, I am not in a position to read and understand all the different messages - it's chinese for me. Until a few years back, my sailing took place in a boat with one compas, a set of paper sea charts, a log, the binoculars, my watch, foot pump etc. The major worry was whether our battery could "survive" two nights with the (one bulb) toplantern put on ... and then we bought one of the early AP navigators .... then an early Garmin ... In my new (to me boat) there is a lot of modern electronic devices, and I must admit, that I find the new technology on board most fascinating ... but so far, I'm on the very early part of the learning curve ... thank you again ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote in message
. .. I'm not able to read these GPS sentences, but does Pascals answer to your question mean, that I can just use my actual VHF antenna, a "splitter" and let the AIS engine receive AIS-messages at 38400B and GPS-messages at 4800B, and it will somehow be readable and applicable when transferred to my PC application (for example SOB og Seaclear or Winchart) via a single ordinary cable to the serial port on my notebook? Precisely. The AIS receiver merges the GPS sentences coming in on its serial port with the AIS sentences. No multiplexer needed for this. - Or do you have other concerns about this solution? If you - with your background and expertise ... say: Go ahead, I will do it ... TIA! Go ahead! Sorry if I don't need a 'mux' this time ... but my installation will most certainly grow ... so ... who knows ... No problem at all ;-) I don't want to sell someone something he doesn't need. And if you eventually do need, I suppose you know where and how to find me :-) Regards, Meindert |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Meindert Sprang" skrev i en meddelelse ll.nl... SNIP Go ahead! Sorry if I don't need a 'mux' this time ... but my installation will most certainly grow ... so ... who knows ... No problem at all ;-) I don't want to sell someone something he doesn't need. And if you eventually do need, I suppose you know where and how to find me :-) Based on several years of being a daily reader of (and very modest contributor to) this news group, you do learn, who you can trust and rely on ... "The guy" running www.shipmodul.com is definitely one of them! Thank you for your constructive way of handling "electronic novices" like me, within the fascinating world of marine electronics ... I certainly know whom to turn to, if the "complexity of the future number of cables and interfaces exceeds my ability" or my "wishes/hunger for new tech" on the boat exceeds my know how ... Best regards -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:37:18 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote: "Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote in message ... I'm not able to read these GPS sentences, but does Pascals answer to your question mean, that I can just use my actual VHF antenna, a "splitter" and let the AIS engine receive AIS-messages at 38400B and GPS-messages at 4800B, and it will somehow be readable and applicable when transferred to my PC application (for example SOB og Seaclear or Winchart) via a single ordinary cable to the serial port on my notebook? Precisely. The AIS receiver merges the GPS sentences coming in on its serial port with the AIS sentences. No multiplexer needed for this. Just to clarify: The AIS receiver receives the GPS NMEA data at 4800 baud, and sends it, mixed with the AIS data, at 38,400 baud. That is, all data output by the AIS receiver is sent at 38,400, regardless of its source. -- Peter Bennett, VE7CEI Vancouver BC, Canada peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca 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 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse ps.com... On 27 fev, 04:47, "Meindert Sprang" wrote: "Pascal" wrote in message ups.com... If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. Pascal, does the SR161 pass all the incoming GPS sentences or just the RMC sentence? I haven't tried that myself yet.... Meindert Hi Meindert, It pass all messages, see a sample below.. If anybody wish I can send offline by e-mail the Milltech Marine Pdf file wih the combined Gps/ Ais cable diagram for the SR161/162 Best regards Pascal Hello Pascal and Meindert, Thank you again for your advice and assistance. For your information, I have today ordered a SR161 AIS receiver with antenna-splitter, the special AIS-GPS cable and a small antenna from MillTechMarine ... Without your support, I would still be surfing the Internet for a solution ... As I will need more battery capacity in the future, I have today installed an extra generator on my Volvo Penta ... preparing for the "electronics in sailing future" ... i.e.: Doubling the output to some 110A ... it's not a big boat ... but the "ampere appetite" is increasing .... year after year ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
On 28 fev, 14:52, "Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote:
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelsenews:1172578317.338242.247410@8g2000cwh. googlegroups.com... On 27 fev, 04:47, "Meindert Sprang" wrote: "Pascal" wrote in message roups.com... If you buy the SR161 (I have one of these) it alows you to connect the serial output cable (DB9 end) of your Gps (my gps is a Garmin and the serial cable is standard) to the "serial input/output" DB9 on the AIS receiver SR 161, so, the SR161 act as a Multiplexor, joinining the Gps NMEA outputed at 4800 bps from the gps with his own generated AIS NMEA data and sending to the serial port of the PC (DB9) a "correctly combined Gps/Ais mixed NMEA Messages" at 38400 bps ... In this way, I do not need another serial port on the laptop/Pc. Pascal, does the SR161 pass all the incoming GPS sentences or just the RMC sentence? I haven't tried that myself yet.... Meindert Hi Meindert, It pass all messages, see a sample below.. If anybody wish I can send offline by e-mail the Milltech Marine Pdf file wih the combined Gps/ Ais cable diagram for the SR161/162 Best regards Pascal Hello Pascal and Meindert, Thank you again for your advice and assistance. For your information, I have today ordered a SR161 AIS receiver with antenna-splitter, the special AIS-GPS cable and a small antenna from MillTechMarine ... Without your support, I would still be surfing the Internet for a solution ... As I will need more battery capacity in the future, I have today installed an extra generator on my Volvo Penta ... preparing for the "electronics in sailing future" ... i.e.: Doubling the output to some 110A ... it's not a big boat ... but the "ampere appetite" is increasing ... year after year ... -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61- Ocultar texto entre aspas - - Mostrar texto entre aspas - Congratulations amd good luck Pascal |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse oups.com... SNIP Congratulations amd good luck Pascal Thank you - I'm afraid I will need it ... Then I will come back with more questions ... What does: "- Mostrar texto entre aspas -" mean ... best regards -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
Flemming Torp wrote:
"Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse oups.com... Congratulations amd good luck Pascal - Ocultar texto entre aspas - - Mostrar texto entre aspas - What does: "- Mostrar texto entre aspas -" mean ... Guess he'll only tell'ya if you tell him what *skrev i en meddelelse* means ;-) -- Kees "Zeilen is briefjes van honderd verscheuren terwijl je met je kleren aan onder de douche staat..." |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
*skrev i en meddelelse* = 'Wrote in a mesage'
Whats the problem ?? smile Bjarke "Kees Verruijt" wrote in message ... Flemming Torp wrote: "Pascal" skrev i en meddelelse oups.com... Congratulations amd good luck Pascal - Ocultar texto entre aspas - - Mostrar texto entre aspas - What does: "- Mostrar texto entre aspas -" mean ... Guess he'll only tell'ya if you tell him what *skrev i en meddelelse* means ;-) -- Kees "Zeilen is briefjes van honderd verscheuren terwijl je met je kleren aan onder de douche staat..." |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Paul" skrev i en meddelelse ... SNIP I am displaying the AIS targets on my PocketPC, which is usually velcro'd to the navstation next to the chartplotter. I have a Bluetooth link from the AIS receiver and the NMEA mux which carries the rest of the nav-data. My Raymarine RL70 and RL80 chartplotters (now obsolete) don't support AIS, thus the PocketPC. The PPC, running a program I wrote, has a display (for AIS) that looks more or less like the NASA "AIS Radar", with no chart overlay. It still gets pretty crowded, but I can turn off ship name display and then it is usable during crowded conditions. The PPC calculates CPA, TCPA, sounds an alarm if appropriate, etc -- all the stuff that I expect my new chartplotters to do well, on a much larger screen. The PPC program also shows other nav data, using dials, numeric displays, etc. I mainly use it as a "black box" to log filtered nav and AIS data, so I can postprocess it later and remind myself (when I am programming) of how much I enjoy sailing. I have some interesting (to me, at least) Google-Earth tracks created from the PPC logfiles, posted on the VALIS blog: http://www.sailvalis.com/wordpress_1/ . The most recent posting has the tracks for VALIS and the AIS-equipped ships heard during the Queen Mary 2 excursion. I use the PPC rather than a laptop for this in order to keep the power consumption under control. -Paul Hi Paul, I'm still most enthusiastic about your set up. Being an absolute "electronic novice", unfortunately, I'll have to buy products in the market, as I cannot programme or build the components myself. I'm not sure, I can make myself clear in the following, but I do hope that you get an idea of what I want (it's close to what you have implemented yourself ...), but unfortunately I need products available "from the shelf" ... as my experience in programming is pretty "rusty" and primarily based on Cobol, Basic and Fortran programming on an IBM 7090 .... if you get the picture ... I do have a PPC (Win-based), and I would like to add the functionality, as you have described above ... As I have recently decided to install an AIS receiver (SR161), and my chartplotter (Raymarine c530+) does not support AIS, I would like to know whether you know of any software and hardware products, that can be bought on the market, that will give the same features and functionality, as you have described above. My AIS system is not up and running yet, but I'we been adviced to connect the AIS receiver to my notebook (WinXP) and use the SOB package on my PC (I have downloaded and tried the SOB package on my laptop, and it runs fine when using the USB C-Map chart reader, but I don't know yet whether it will run the same, when the PC is connected to the chartplotter via the hsb2 interface, i.e. when the charts are put into the slots of the chartplotter and the PC connected to the c530+). Is there a way to send - wireless - the content of the PC screen to the PPC or do I need an application on the PPC as well? I suppose so ... I understand, you have a blue tooth connection between the AIS receiver and your PPC. As I'we never played with that, I would need a little help he What type of equipment - at the AIS receiver and at the PPC - are you using to make this work? I also understand you are using your own programme. As this is completely outside my ability my next question is: Is there a software package for the PPC available on the market I could use? Is there any possibility to use/transmit my C-Map charts running on the PC and/or on the chartplotter (c530+) onto my PPC? I do also have quite a few electronic BSB compatible charts from Maptech, but I also understand, that the Maptech applications do not support AIS ... right? Do you know of an application that runs on the PC and the PPC, that can use BSB compatible charts *and* use the AIS data send from the SR161? Sorry for all these questions, but I'm in the very early phase of my learning curve, and I did find your approach most interesting ... Best regards -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote in message k... "Paul" skrev i en meddelelse ... SNIP I am displaying the AIS targets on my PocketPC, which is usually velcro'd to the navstation next to the chartplotter. I have a Bluetooth link from the AIS receiver and the NMEA mux which carries the rest of the nav-data. My Raymarine RL70 and RL80 chartplotters (now obsolete) don't support AIS, thus the PocketPC. The PPC, running a program I wrote, has a display (for AIS) that looks more or less like the NASA "AIS Radar", with no chart overlay. It still gets pretty crowded, but I can turn off ship name display and then it is usable during crowded conditions. The PPC calculates CPA, TCPA, sounds an alarm if appropriate, etc -- all the stuff that I expect my new chartplotters to do well, on a much larger screen. The PPC program also shows other nav data, using dials, numeric displays, etc. I mainly use it as a "black box" to log filtered nav and AIS data, so I can postprocess it later and remind myself (when I am programming) of how much I enjoy sailing. I have some interesting (to me, at least) Google-Earth tracks created from the PPC logfiles, posted on the VALIS blog: http://www.sailvalis.com/wordpress_1/ . The most recent posting has the tracks for VALIS and the AIS-equipped ships heard during the Queen Mary 2 excursion. I use the PPC rather than a laptop for this in order to keep the power consumption under control. -Paul Hi Paul, I'm still most enthusiastic about your set up. Being an absolute "electronic novice", unfortunately, I'll have to buy products in the market, as I cannot programme or build the components myself. I'm not sure, I can make myself clear in the following, but I do hope that you get an idea of what I want (it's close to what you have implemented yourself ...), but unfortunately I need products available "from the shelf" ... as my experience in programming is pretty "rusty" and primarily based on Cobol, Basic and Fortran programming on an IBM 7090 ... if you get the picture ... I do have a PPC (Win-based), and I would like to add the functionality, as you have described above ... As I have recently decided to install an AIS receiver (SR161), and my chartplotter (Raymarine c530+) does not support AIS, I would like to know whether you know of any software and hardware products, that can be bought on the market, that will give the same features and functionality, as you have described above. My AIS system is not up and running yet, but I'we been adviced to connect the AIS receiver to my notebook (WinXP) and use the SOB package on my PC (I have downloaded and tried the SOB package on my laptop, and it runs fine when using the USB C-Map chart reader, but I don't know yet whether it will run the same, when the PC is connected to the chartplotter via the hsb2 interface, i.e. when the charts are put into the slots of the chartplotter and the PC connected to the c530+). Is there a way to send - wireless - the content of the PC screen to the PPC or do I need an application on the PPC as well? I suppose so ... I understand, you have a blue tooth connection between the AIS receiver and your PPC. As I'we never played with that, I would need a little help he What type of equipment - at the AIS receiver and at the PPC - are you using to make this work? I also understand you are using your own programme. As this is completely outside my ability my next question is: Is there a software package for the PPC available on the market I could use? Is there any possibility to use/transmit my C-Map charts running on the PC and/or on the chartplotter (c530+) onto my PPC? I do also have quite a few electronic BSB compatible charts from Maptech, but I also understand, that the Maptech applications do not support AIS ... right? Do you know of an application that runs on the PC and the PPC, that can use BSB compatible charts *and* use the AIS data send from the SR161? Sorry for all these questions, but I'm in the very early phase of my learning curve, and I did find your approach most interesting ... Best regards -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Flemming, For PPC nav-software, you might look at Fugawi (http://www.fugawi.com/web/products/f...marine_enc.htm) -- They appear to have good AIS support, but I can't tell if the PDA version is full-featured. They can use BSB charts. I will look through my files and links, and report back, but I recall there being several PDA nav-programs with AIS capability. I have played with lots of PC and PPC nav programs, but since I have my chartplotter running 24/7 I haven't had to choose one to actually use. I do use the RayTech navigation software for planning and weather routing, but neither this or my older Raymarine chartplotter support AIS. My PPC program started with my desire to have an always-on "black box" data recorder that I could use to look at long-term performance data. I'm not a serious racer, but this is fun stuff to play with. As the program evolved, I of course added bells and whistles (mostly display dials and massaging data into formats that I prefer). When AIS started to be seriously deployed I added the AIS features to the PPC program. I would actually prefer that the AIS capabilities be supported by the chartplotter, and eventually I will install a new chartplotter which will speak AIS. Bluetooth is pretty easy. My NMEA data runs through a Shipmodul MiniPlex42BT (which includes a Bluetooth port), and the PPC has built-in BT, so the link looks like a serial-port connection. I have an "AirCable" BT-to-RS232 adaptor plugged into an SR161 AIS receiver, and this connects to the second BT channel on the PPC. The newest revision of the Miniplex42BT (which I have just ordered) will let me run everything through the mux, so I will need to only run one BT link. Meindert has promised to update the firmware on my old mux, so I will send it in when the new one arrives. I have another AIS receiver at home, as part of my development / test system (this is just a hobby), and the extra mux will go there. I don't know if there is a good way to use the PPC as a remote screen for a PC-based application. That would be nice, if you wanted to run the PC full-time. I'm not sure if a BT link could handle the graphics-intensive applications, but WiFi connection might work well. I haven't tried to run the chartplotter Cmap charts into the PC via the HSB connection. I didn't like the mechanics of the HSB adaptor, and I didn't really need the full cababilities of this, so I am just using the slower SeaTalk connection. I've got all the serial ports (Seatalk, Pactor Modem, Iridium Satphone, MiniPlex) running through a four-port Serial-to-USB adaptor hidden behind the navstation panel, with a single USB connector for hooking up the laptop. As I have mentioned, the PC is only powered-up for specific tasks, but spends most of the time shut off. I swore I wouldn't do this, but if you would like a copy of my PPC program, I would be happy to send it to you. You just have to promise to not whine when it crashes, or puts the boat on the rocks, or doesn't have some silly feature -- oh yeah, and it only speaks english. I encourage you to find an actual, supported, product, though. I am curious -- what type of PPC do you have, and what is the screen size (in pixels)? Regards, -Paul |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
Flemming,
I just looked back at your first posting in this thread, and see that you want to use a laptop to suppliment the chartplotter's features. You will find many programs that will read a good variety of charts and handle AIS. You can also use a software "serial port splitter" to send the NMEA data to multiple programs, so if you can't find one program that does everything you like, you can run another one simultaneously. As I mentioned, I haven't done any serious evaluation of the PC programs. In case you haven't seen me previously rant on the subject of power consumption, I will suggest that you do a serious energy audit. This is important if you plan to be away from shore-power for more than a few days (unless you have a big power boat with lots of excess power-generating capability). Look at all your gear -- it's power drain and duty-cycle. Be realistic about your charging sources, and your battery-bank's ability to ride through periods of cloud-cover (if using solar panels), etc, etc. A laptop typically uses a lot of power, so try not to be surprised by what it takes to keep your boat's electrical system running well. I'm not saying that a laptop is a bad solution (it may very well be your best solution, depending on what you want to do), but for me, the power drain of a continuously-running laptop was enough to push me to my current PocketPC / laptop / chartplotter hybrid system. Regards, Paul |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Paul" skrev i en meddelelse ... SNIP I swore I wouldn't do this, but if you would like a copy of my PPC program, I would be happy to send it to you. You just have to promise to not whine when it crashes, or puts the boat on the rocks, or doesn't have some silly feature -- oh yeah, and it only speaks english. I encourage you to find an actual, supported, product, though. I am curious -- what type of PPC do you have, and what is the screen size (in pixels)? Regards, -Paul Hi Paul, It is very kind of you, but I don't think it is an good idea. My level within this field ("IT-IQ"100) is not sufficient, I'm afraid, and I would hate bombarding you with silly questions about the installation and use of your programme. As much as I'm keen on getting an application like the one you have developped, I would prefer to purchase a documented system available on the market with hot line supporters, that are paid to provide service to the customers ... Might be my English is pretty primitive ... but I do not have severe problems reading English .... As to my PPC: Geee ...err ... I don-t know! It is a pretty old and inexpensive model, and in the beginning I used it in my car running Navigator. On the back it says: Medion MD2910 ... Model MDPPC 100. The screen size is 5,5 cm by 7 cm ... ;o) ... In pixels: Sorry, I don't have the faintest idea, and I don't know where to find this information. The following is a response to your other mail regarding PPC/laptop/AIS: So far I have been thinking about using my PC and the flatscreen visible from the cockpit, only when I "needed" help with the navigation at the tiller (could be under difficult weather conditions, difficult navigation, heavy trafic, in fog, at night or the like) ... Normally, I just use the chartplotter at the navigation table in the cabin and the paper charts in the cockpit, plus I can alway get my position from the GPS - may be, I have entered a route, so I can get more information from the ST60 instruments (XTE, DTW, BTW etc.) visible from the tiller ... When I was reading about your applicationon and use of the PPC, I was very inspired, and began to think, whether I could get the same advantages in my situation ... I know, that the PC and the monitor are very "hungry for amperes", and they are limited on my boat - even if I plan to increase the battery capacity (it's a 34' sailboat) ... I fully agree, with your comment in your other helpful mail about power consumption: "but for me, the power drain of a continuously-running laptop was enough to push me to my current PocketPC / laptop / chartplotter hybrid system." This is exactly my thinking ... The Laptop is mainly for special situations, but the chartplotter and other instruments will run most - if not all - of the time when I'm sailing .... If I could have the image of the chartplotter - preferably supplemented by the AIS information right at my hand in the cockpit - I feel that is something "nice to have" ... I know, the PPC display is not good in daylight, I know it is very smal, I know it does not like water at all, I know I may loose it ... but still: I think it could be usefull as a second source of information, now, that my chartplotter does not support AIS ... and there is an AIS engine in the mail ... Unfortunately (in this context), my charts are C-Map and Maptech and none of my existing applications support AIS: RNS and Offshore Navigator and the Danish software package. Then Pacal recommended SOB, that I have tried on my notebook - and it is OK with my C-map charts ... Time will show, how it will run the AIS application, when I get the gear .... But SOB does not run on the PPC, as far as I know ... Maptech has an PPC application ... but no AIS support ... And I'm afraid, I do not have enough energy to learn one more navigation application ...;o) ... You could argue, that then I'm not motivated enough ... and that would be a fair statement ... I do have so many other projects on my boat, that I would give higher priority ... As far as I can see, the challenge is to find at package, that will use my existing charts and support AIS on a windows based PPC ... I have already spent quite a lot of money on charts, and I find it prohibitive to invest in one more set of charts only for the PPC for the waters in which I am sailing ... So, I think, I'm back to square one ... Thank you so much for your help, Paul. It has been most interesting, and I have learned a lot about this subject ... and I certainly liked your report on AIS observations with illustrations from the SF area ... This is exactly he information, I would like to be able to see from my place at the tiller ... I will continue to follow this newsgroup. One day, I hope, there will be a solution, that does not cost a new cockpit monitor/chartplotter ... Best regards, -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote in message . .. "Paul" skrev i en meddelelse ... SNIP I swore I wouldn't do this, but if you would like a copy of my PPC program, I would be happy to send it to you It is very kind of you, but I don't think it is an good idea. My level within this field ("IT-IQ"100) is not sufficient, I'm afraid, and I would hate bombarding you with silly questions about the installation and use of your programme. As much as I'm keen on getting an application like the one you have developped, I would prefer to purchase a documented system available on the market with hot line supporters, that are paid to provide service to the customers ... Might be my English is pretty primitive ... but I do not have severe problems reading English I have to think that you've made the proper decision here. As to my PPC: Geee ...err ... I don-t know! It is a pretty old and inexpensive model, and in the beginning I used it in my car running Navigator. On the back it says: Medion MD2910 ... Model MDPPC 100. The screen size is 5,5 cm by 7 cm ... ;o) ... In pixels: Sorry, I don't have the faintest idea, and I don't know where to find this information. No big deal here, I'm just curious as to what is out there in the real world. I will look your unit up and see what I can find. My PPC has a 640x480 pixel display, and even this is smaller than I would want to use for viewing charts. It's better than the typical hand-held GPS, though. The following is a response to your other mail regarding PPC/laptop/AIS: So far I have been thinking about using my PC and the flatscreen visible from the cockpit, only when I "needed" help with the navigation at the tiller (could be under difficult weather conditions, difficult navigation, heavy trafic, in fog, at night or the like) ... Normally, I just use the chartplotter at the navigation table in the cabin and the paper charts in the cockpit, plus I can alway get my position from the GPS - may be, I have entered a route, so I can get more information from the ST60 instruments (XTE, DTW, BTW etc.) visible from the tiller ... What I find really useful at the helm is a compass, a chartplotter display for harbor and other close work, and the radar (displayed on the chartplotter screen), the autopilot controller, and the depthsounder display. The rest (speed, and wind) are also good to have at the helm, but less critical. If I had only one chartplotter I would probably keep it at the navstation, though, and being visible at the helm through the companionway would then be a great idea. When I was reading about your applicationon and use of the PPC, I was very inspired, and began to think, whether I could get the same advantages in my situation ... I know, that the PC and the monitor are very "hungry for amperes", and they are limited on my boat - even if I plan to increase the battery capacity (it's a 34' sailboat) ... I fully agree, with your comment in your other helpful mail about power consumption: "but for me, the power drain of a continuously-running laptop was enough to push me to my current PocketPC / laptop / chartplotter hybrid system." This is exactly my thinking ... The Laptop is mainly for special situations, but the chartplotter and other instruments will run most - if not all - of the time when I'm sailing I feel that we are beginning a transition in our nav instruments. I really prefer the user interface of a dedicated chartplotter (for the chartplotter and radar functions), like the stability of the chartplotter software (but the PC stuff keeps improving here), and appreciate the lower power consumption. The capability, flexibility and upgradability of the PC solutions are make them extremely attractive, though. If I could have the image of the chartplotter - preferably supplemented by the AIS information right at my hand in the cockpit - I feel that is something "nice to have" ... I know, the PPC display is not good in daylight, I know it is very smal, I know it does not like water at all, I know I may loose it ... but still: I think it could be usefull as a second source of information, now, that my chartplotter does not support AIS ... and there is an AIS engine in the mail ... Unfortunately (in this context), my charts are C-Map and Maptech and none of my existing applications support AIS: RNS and Offshore Navigator and the Danish software package. Then Pacal recommended SOB, that I have tried on my notebook - and it is OK with my C-map charts ... Time will show, how it will run the AIS application, when I get the gear ... But SOB does not run on the PPC, as far as I know ... Maptech has an PPC application ... but no AIS support ... And I'm afraid, I do not have enough energy to learn one more navigation application ...;o) ... You could argue, that then I'm not motivated enough ... and that would be a fair statement ... I do have so many other projects on my boat, that I would give higher priority ... As far as I can see, the challenge is to find at package, that will use my existing charts and support AIS on a windows based PPC ... I have already spent quite a lot of money on charts, and I find it prohibitive to invest in one more set of charts only for the PPC for the waters in which I am sailing ... So, I think, I'm back to square one ... Thank you so much for your help, Paul. It has been most interesting, and I have learned a lot about this subject ... and I certainly liked your report on AIS observations with illustrations from the SF area ... This is exactly he information, I would like to be able to see from my place at the tiller ... To quote an ex-president, "I feel your pain." We've got so many options, and very few "obviously correct" answers. I often become trapped in "analysis paralysis" -- only to be forced to finally make a decision before I think I'm ready. In hindsight, it usually works out fine. There is a saying I like: "Good Enough is Perfect" -- meaning don't waste your time searching for the ever-elusive perfection. Pick something that works for you and get on with your life. Occasionally I even follow this advice. I will continue to follow this newsgroup. One day, I hope, there will be a solution, that does not cost a new cockpit monitor/chartplotter ... I hope you keep us informed about your progress. I quite enjoy these discussions, as I usually learn something, and they help me clarify my own thinking. Regards, Paul |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark skrev i en meddelelse . .. Hello Pascal and Meindert, Thank you again for your advice and assistance. For your information, I have today ordered a SR161 AIS receiver with antenna-splitter, the special AIS-GPS cable and a small antenna from MillTechMarine ... Without your support, I would still be surfing the Internet for a solution ... SNIP -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 Hello again - mainly to Pascal, Meindert, and Paul! This is just a kind of "thank you for your support message". The equipment ordered from Milltech arrived in good order. It did not work from my home. Anyway, I got the mast back in place a couple of weeks ago - and downloaded the Australian SW package - SOB and followed the installation procedure from Milltech ... Everything works fine ... From my boat (in its place in the marina close to the old castle - 'Kronborg'), I can spot between 20 and 30 ships - including the ferries "racing" East-West between Sweden and Denmark. I'm impressed. Thank you guys for your help. Highly appreciated! -- Flemming Torp Gimle/DEN-61 |
Portable Gps/Plotter with AIS-Receiver Support
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote in message
. .. Hello again - mainly to Pascal, Meindert, and Paul! This is just a kind of "thank you for your support message". You're welcome! Meindert |
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