http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showforum.php?fid/7/Marine electronics and hardware, and its Mac compatibilitynoneTue, 02 Mar 2010 03:16:27 GMTTue, 02 Mar 2010 03:16:27 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssFusionBB 3.0 FINAL (www.fusionbb.com)http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/972http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/972 I'm new here and wondering if anyone have suggestions on which GPS receiver would be best USB or bluetooth?
I'm willing to take my MacbookPro with GPSNavX onboard but will need the GPS receiver and not sure whether should go for the simple USB or bluetooth?
Any ideias?
Cheers ]]>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:05:22 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/965http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/965 I have been looking at Brookhouse a New Zealand company NMEA 0183 multiplexer for the Raymarine C/E series Chartplotters with the SeaTalk and USB options added,
cost $307 plus shipping.

Have anyone used this multiplexer before?

http://brookhouseonline.com/

Regards
Derek
Ocean Dove
]]>Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:59:09 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/959http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/959Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:08:02 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/958http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/958
Please be kind if this has been covered before, but at the moment I just can't spend hours trolling through hundreds of posts hoping that I stumble across what I need.

I am a Canadian living in NZ, refitting a big cruising boat, with two kids under 4, a to do list a hundred miles long and a time line for our first 1000 mile passage that is getting shorter by the day. Here goes.

I have:

Iridium 9505 with serial adapter on the bottom
Passage Plus (free NZ charts)
MacBook OS X 10.5.8
Furuno GP 32 with data feed to MacBook that works!
Mac ENC (bought today)
Mac Wx ditto
500 prepaid minutes on Iridium
a serial USB adapter that works well with the GPS (ATEN UC 232A)

ICOM M802
Pactor II Pro

almost no usable time on my hands

no experience with or understanding of boot camp

much of this hardware came with the boat. They ran windoze, so i have a mitt full of useless Serial adapters etc and a bunch of other things that are no good to me or my mac or both

Questions:

what do i need to do in order to get the Iridium to talk to my macbook? what parts and pieces are required?

How important is it that i get XGate (more subscription $)?

how can i make this process easy (or easier)?

any help will be deeply appreciated.

thanks

scott ]]>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:29:17 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/950http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/950
Iridium 9555 satphone w/ data kit $1495.00 US
One time activation fee $49.94 US
500 prepaid minutes (1yr exp) $725.00
x-gate software download $59.00 US
x-gate 1yr email subscription $240.00 US

Advantages:
No propagation issues (solar flares)
No install/quick install on boat
Easy to call home/other phones

Disadvantages:
Per use charges
Can't talk to yachtie friends for free
Will need to add all band receiver and multimode software
to read weatherfax. Receiver $150 US, Multimode $89 US

Grand total: $2807.94 USD

ICOM M-802 $1800.00 US (approx)
AT-140 Tuner $490.00 US
Tuner control cable $69.99 US or make your own for less
Coax from transceiver to tuner Approx $40.00 US (diy)
GTO-15 wire $30.00 US
Insulated backstay or long HF antenna $150.00 US
Copper ground plane 50' $69.00 US
Pactor 3 Modem $1400 US
VMware Fusion to run Airmail on mac $79.99 US
Sailmail Annual membership $250.00 US
Multimode software for reading weatherfax $89 US

Advantages:
No per use charges
Free communications with yachtie friends
Free communications with weather routers

Disadvantages:
Propagation issues
Installation time/expense
Have to use Windoze to run Pactor/sailmail

Grand total: $4467.98 USD

This is the first time I've ever compared the two systems. I'm sure the SSB/ham route could be made cheaper by buying some used/older equipment. Or using winlink, but in that case you would have to get a HAM licence to use the service. No commercial/business based emails are allowed on winlink to my knowledge. I haven't included the licence fee for the SSB, because I don't know what it is.

Hope others can add to this comparison.

Brennan ]]>Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:41:40 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/930http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/930Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:09:55 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/918http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/918
I have a friend who recently purchased a dell mini 10v for $270. I watched him installed Snow Leopard rather simply (just google hackentosh and dell mini 10v). I was extremely impressed, and I borrowed it for a day of sailing. To my surprise GPSNavX & my usb gps all worked fine.

Now I am tempted to purchase my own dell mini 10v mac system for the boat. The mini 10v with 6 hr battery & 12 VDC adapter is now going for under $300. This seems too practical to pass by. Has anyone had experience with the mini 10v or the likes? ]]>Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:06:41 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/904http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/904 javascript:void(0) ]]>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:10:56 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/900http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/900
I am looking for a possibility to install an apple computer on a sailing yacht for some blue water cruising.

My first intention was a mac mini as it has been used a lot as onboard computers in cars. But after some research I noticed that nearly all setups worked with an inverter.

This solution is not really satisfying on a boat. First converting the voltage from 12 volt to 110/220V and then back to the 19V a mac mini needs is very inefficient.

Does any one of you have experience with direct conversion from 12V to 19V? Any thoughts on the topic? Recommended setups/hardware?

Thanks in adnavced!

Regards,

Patrick ]]>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:39:23 GMThttp://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/887http://www.macsailing.net/fbb/showtopic.php?tid/887
AMEC CYPHO-101 AIS Receiver ]]>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:54:30 GMT