basic intruments speed & water depth ??

walt · May 11, 2013

You still lose me on this.. some people like to use way points and if the convenience is important to you to be able to load them from an external computer, the two way Nema is important. Other than that one particular case (which I will never use), it doesn’t matter. If you just want good quality maps and to go by and only use way points occasionally (as said, they are easy to enter manually), the output only Nema that sends your location to the radio DSC is all you need - and that is what the Lowrance models have. All of the Garmin chart plotters have more advanced and featured Nema, if this is important to you, get the Garmin (and if power consumption is important, check this spec also, huge differences between models)

Hope this is no problem to discuss, I plan to take my limited Nema GPS map/fish finder to new big unknown waters and have plenty of experience to tell me I am somehow going to survive..

walt · May 11, 2013

Just an FYI, there are actually plenty of other reasons to need a two way Nema communication - example - displaying a wind instrument reading on your chart plotter or possibly the location of another boat if your radio were to receive its GPS location.

It was just this statement

but there again if you never plan on going to new water then it isn't needed.

that I had an input on.

vizwhiz · May 11, 2013

Walt, i think you may have also missed Summer's point that they like to plan things out days in advance and have their routing prepared before they start sailing. They sail for weeks at a time, and Sum is a pretty "safe" sailor, not just out sailing for a quick day-sail usually. That's why his emphasis on the pre-plotting and loading of maps...he does things more like a cruiser than a daysailer. I would agree that some of that pre-planning could be excessive for day sails and overnights, especially when trailering to/from and when you won't be going far (can't get too far in a day). But if you read Sum's trip reports, it makes a lot of sense why he would want that two-way communication.

Sumner · May 11, 2013

vizwhiz said:
Walt, i think you may have also missed Summer's point that they like to plan things out days in advance and have their routing prepared before they start sailing.

I do like to have a general idea where we want to go on an extended trip and doing that on a large screen sure helps. Once on the water I like to have the day's trip in the chart plotter and ready to go if it is into new water for us. It makes life a lot easier and if something happened to me Ruth just needs to follow the route and she knows how to do that.

I feel there are a number of people who are hesitant to take trips like what we have taken because of the unknowns. Not everyone, but some. With the navigational aids available now that shouldn't be an obstacle.

I know I keep preaching about OpenCPN and SeaClearII and the free NOAA charts, but they really make trip planning easy.

Also OpenCPN displays instruments like what Walt mentioned plus much more like AIS (shows commercial ship's location), GRIBS, radar (if you have it), celestial navigation, tides, currents, weatherfax, depth, Google Earth overlays and much more if you have the right equipment connected for some of those....

http://opencpn.org/ocpn/downloadplugins

We don't use most of those, but the tide/current data is big and we will probably be in a few places where the AIS info would also really help.

I have all of the charts loaded from Mexico to Canada on the east coast loaded and often people will mention locals that sound interesting and I'll pull OpenCPN up at home or on the boat and look at what they are talking about and see if it might interest us in the future.

Since it is all free I'd encourage anyone who would like to take trips now or in the future to download it and spend a couple evenings with it. Pick a location like say Marco Island, FL and plan a trip to Everglades City with it and then do the same on their chart plotter for comparison. Since it runs on the computer you can do this anyplace you have the computer, not just at the boat.

It for sure isn't needed by everyone, but for some it will open up new horizons. SeaClear and now OpenCPN did for us. Development on SeaClear is pretty much dead, but new plugins are constantly being developed for OpenCPN as it is an open source program and the latest NOAA charts are always available for download at any time free. OpenCPN will run on a computer with a $35 GPS puck and now also tablets I believe,

Sum

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katana750 · May 11, 2013

Walt

Have you every downloaded maps for the elite four... I just bought mine and haven't used it yet...I had a Lowrance map/s or something before, that came with the boat. I thought I lost it so a bought the elite...I thought it would be kind of neat if I went to the coast I could down load some charts....however I was kind of shocked by how expensive navionics was. Unless you use it from a smart phone....then you get killed with data charges. Sum has mentioned using an ipad, but then I would have to buy that. Are there cheaper places to get charts?
In the big picture I guess it doesn't matter....as long as I have two feet of water under the boat I am pretty happy.

katana750 · May 11, 2013

Sumner said:

I do like to have a general idea where we want to go on an extended trip and doing that on a large screen sure helps. Once on the water I like to have the day's trip in the chart plotter and ready to go if it is into new water for us. It makes life a lot easier and if something happened to me Ruth just needs to follow the route and she knows how to do that.

I feel there are a number of people who are hesitant to take trips like what we have taken because of the unknowns. Not everyone, but some. With the navigational aids available now that shouldn't be an obstacle.

I know I keep preaching about OpenCPN and SeaClearII and the free NOAA charts, but they really make trip planning easy.

Also OpenCPN displays instruments like what Walt mentioned plus much more like AIS (shows commercial ship's location), GRIBS, radar (if you have it), celestial navigation, tides, currents, weatherfax, depth, Google Earth overlays and much more if you have the right equipment connected for some of those....

http://opencpn.org/ocpn/downloadplugins

We don't use most of those, but the tide/current data is big and we will probably be in a few places where the AIS info would also really help.

I have all of the charts loaded from Mexico to Canada on the east coast loaded and often people will mention locals that sound interesting and I'll pull OpenCPN up at home or on the boat and look at what they are talking about and see if it might interest us in the future.

Since it is all free I'd encourage anyone who would like to take trips now or in the future to download it and spend a couple evenings with it. Pick a location like say Marco Island, FL and plan a trip to Everglades City with it and then do the same on their chart plotter for comparison. Since it runs on the computer you can do this anyplace you have the computer, not just at the boat.

It for sure isn't needed by everyone, but for some it will open up new horizons. SeaClear and now OpenCPN did for us. Development on SeaClear is pretty much dead, but new plugins are constantly being developed for OpenCPN as it is an open source program and the latest NOAA charts are always available for download at any time free. OpenCPN will run on a computer with a $35 GPS puck and now also tablets I believe,

Click to expand

Sumner said:
Sum

I guess this is the same question as my other post, but I am kind of hazzy on the subject

what you are saying is I can buy a laptop/tablet. Download opencpn. plug in a GPS puck (I will goggle this) and I am good to go. I can use this on the boat with no data connection? No monthly fees, I don't need navionics. Sorry if this is a silly assumption, but some time a few years ago technology left me far behind...My elite 4 has a spot for a card, can I link this information to it.

the output only Nema that sends your location to the radio DSC is all you need - and that is what the Lowrance models have

I may be on a verge of an epiphany, this last string has had a few too many acronyms that I don't quite understand, but I think I am close.

Sumner · May 11, 2013

katana750 said:
....what you are saying is I can buy a laptop/tablet. Download opencpn. plug in a GPS puck (I will goggle this) and I am good to go. I can use this on the boat with no data connection? No monthly fees, I don't need navionics. Sorry if this is a silly assumption, but some time a few years ago technology left me far behind...My elite 4 has a spot for a card, can I link this information to it. ...

NOAA charts are free...

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/NOAAChartViewer.html

...and are what most of the major chart plotters use to some extent with sometimes additional data. You can't use them in the Elite or most chart plotters that I know of because the chart plotter makers put them into a different file format so you have to buy from them.

OpenCPN and SeaClear II (both free) will work directly with the NOAA charts which come in two different types (SeaClear only works with the raster type).

You load OpenCPN...

http://opencpn.org/ocpn/

...on your computer or tablet (only use what you already have if possible). Download the charts you want from NOAA into a folder and point OpenCPN at the directory and you are ready to use it.

Buy a USB GPS....

http://www.amazon.com/GlobalSat-BU-...ceiver/dp/B000PKX2KA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

...for $35 and install the drivers and that will give OpenCPN your location. You need to also point OpenCPN to the virtual serial port it is on.

Now you are all set. At some point I'll try and put all of that on our web site with some screen dumps, but it is pretty straight forward and both programs have manuals and help you can download.

We went further and link the ship's computer...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-navigation/Compter-Nav-index.html

...to....

.... a cheap handheld Garmin 76 in the cockpit we bought off e-bay. The computer has a serial port, but if you are using a laptop you can get a USB to serial adapter for under $20 and connect the two all the time or to just download your route into it. This is the step that I would love the Cuda to have but it doesn't have a serial "in" input like the Garmin does. If you leave the Garmin tied to the computer all of the time you don't need the GPS puck as OpenCPN can then get location via the Garmin.

We usually have the handheld by whoever is at the helm and they can see if they are on course or not. When we get to one waypoint we punch in the key sequence to have it show us the way to the next waypoint and it will show heading and distance constantly to that waypoint and you can visually see if you are off course. Ruth really likes that and it sure makes it easy to know you aren't wandering into shallow water that even a Mac can run aground in rudder or CB wise at least.

You can download a route in a matter of seconds to the Garmin or change the route during the day and erase the old waypoints and send the new ones in a matter of seconds.

In addition to the ship's computer we have two netbooks and Ruth's laptop loaded with OpenCPN and all the NOAA charts for where we are for backup and also the large paper charts. Hopefully we will never need any of this but we have it.

I also came up with a fairly cheap daylight display...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/FL-fall-2010/12-7-10-156-fl 2010.jpg

...to see what is on the computer screen below but have only tried it at home. I keep forgetting to try it here in the yard. With the Mac and Endeavour the computer screen is just inside the companionway where I can see it and talk Ruth through tricky spots.

katana750 said:
.......the output only Nema that sends your location to the radio DSC is all you need - and that is what the Lowrance models have

I may be on a verge of an epiphany, this last string has had a few too many acronyms that I don't quite understand, but I think I am close.

Not sure if the above is a question or not, but you do need to physically wire the chartplotter to the radio for the radio to have position for the DSC,

Sum

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katana750 · May 11, 2013

Thanks I am going to save this info so I can dissect it a bit further but it sounds exactly what I am looking for.....when I bought my elite I looked at chart plotters, but for what I do it seemed kind of expensive for a dedicated item. A laptop/ipad is multifunctional so I can justify the expense....Thanks. It does seem they way to go....descent fish finder for speed,depth,water temp and then the other system for navigation....obviously moisture might be a bit of an problem, but realistically if the weather is that bad I am not navigating any where any way.

Thanks again....and I am off to educate myself a bit further.

Dave

katana750 · May 11, 2013

.... a cheap handheld Garmin 76 in the cockpit we bought off e-bay. The computer has a serial port, but if you are using a laptop you can get a USB to serial adapter for under $20 and connect the two all the time or to just download your route into it

Sorry this basic computer knowledge but one more time....a lap top doesn't have a serial port, just a usb port. So I buy a usb to serial adapter. Plug the usb end into the laptop and the serial adapter into the hand held garmin....I looked up images of usb to serial adapter and the serial adapter end looked rather large with multiple pins inside, in your picture the cord plugged into the garmin looks quite slender

The elite has a slot for an SD card Can this be used as an alternate input or like you said earlier its file format is different so it can't communicate in this way. I assume your Cuda doesn't have this input slot so this is why you cant link it to your garmin???....Last question and then I think I will have enough information to delve a bit deeper.

Thanks again

Sumner · May 11, 2013

katana750 said:
.... a cheap handheld Garmin 76 in the cockpit we bought off e-bay. The computer has a serial port, but if you are using a laptop you can get a USB to serial adapter for under $20 and connect the two all the time or to just download your route into it

Sorry this basic computer knowledge but one more time....a lap top doesn't have a serial port, just a usb port. So I buy a usb to serial adapter. Plug the usb end into the laptop and the serial adapter into the hand held garmin....I looked up images of usb to serial adapter and the serial adapter end looked rather large with multiple pins inside, in your picture the cord plugged into the garmin looks quite slender

The elite has a slot for an SD card Can this be used as an alternate input or like you said earlier its file format is different so it can't communicate in this way. I assume your Cuda doesn't have this input slot so this is why you cant link it to your garmin???....Last question and then I think I will have enough information to delve a bit deeper.

Thanks again

The Cuda doesn't have the slot for the SD card so that is a plus for the newer model as long as the charts don't cost a lot. You can't communicate with the SD slot and you can't use NOAA charts in it.

Now for the connections to the handheld that we use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMBO-CABLE...US_GPS_Chargers_Batteries&hash=item53ddc5fef5

We use a cable like above. The round connector plugs into the Garmin Map 76S and sends and receives data through the 9 pin connector show that attaches to the USP to Serial converter. It can also power the Garmin with the power plug so you don't have to use batteries. You can get extension cables for both which we did to reach out to the back of the cockpit. If you buy an extension cable make sure it is called a "null cable" so that it is straight through and doesn't swap the send and receive pins. Also we run the Garmin all night as an anchor alarm so not needing the internal batteries is a plus. It doesn't consume much elect.

The ship's computer has Serial ports that will handle the 9 pin direct. With a laptop or other computer with a USB port only get a USB to Serial adapter. One I like but that is more expensive is ....

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=eFIzT8zwMKaBsgLayISoAg&ved=0CKEBEPMCMAI

....the one above but there are other ones that are much less. I've used the one above for years for data logging info on Hooley's race car. I've never heard of that model not working with an application. Here is a...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-to-RS23...rial_PS_2_Cables_Adapters&hash=item45fa6e1011

...cheaper one. I bought a couple of these to use with the netbooks but I can't remember which supplier or if they are exactly like the one above, but they did work. At $4.00 you don't have much to loose

.

We have been using the Garmin Map78S...

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Garmin-GPSMAP-76-GPS-Receiver-/48465249

...and now have 3-4 and the most we paid other than the new one 4 years or so ago has been around $60-$70. None of the ones we bought had anything but the base internal map but there was one on e-bay with an hour left with the bid at $61 and it was suppose to of come with the Blue Chart maps on CD. The Map 76 also has a color model and I'm seeing some of them for less also now on e-bay and they have even gone for about $150 retail a couple times. I think they might be now replaced with a newer model. We don't really use the crude map on the one in the cockpit, but by going to a waypoint that is in it you will be within a few feet of where you inputted from OpenCPN if that makes sense. All of the ones we bought have worked perfect and a couple I think had never been used,

Sum

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Sumner · May 11, 2013

Roadking Larry said:
My primary lake will be Oologah Lake in Oklahoma, probably some of the other local lakes. Mostly I want speed and depth, on the lakes I'll be on mapping is pretty secondary. I grew up fishing Oologah, I don't think I could get lost on that lake if I tried.
I don't anticiapte any "big water" trips in less than a couple years at the soonest but, I do have my wife actually thinking a trip down to Pensacola might be a good idea (we have friends there).

Sumner, you had mentioned a visit to Hooley this summer, If you do let me know and if you have time I'll show you the boat and Oologah lake if you haven't already seen it.

You are probably good with anything you want to use or pay for

.

We will probably be at Hooley's the first part of June on the way home. I'd love to see the lake, but I think time will be tight. Ruth is getting antsy to get home and we have a lot to do on the car. Hope you can come by. We will be back to that area at some point. I haven't seen that lake, but it is very close to Hooley,

Sum

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katana750 · May 11, 2013

Sum

Thanks very much....it all makes sense and it is definitely the way to go....obviously spending a bunch of money on a quality chart plotter is another, but I am not sailing to Hawaii. Back to Road kings original question....I think I am even more happy I bought the elite 4. Initially I was disappointed on how much it cost to down load maps but after what Sum said I like the option of chart plotting off a lap top with a nice big screen inside the cabin and having a GPS in the cock pit....This year I am just sticking to the lakes in the kootenays so the elite will be more than sufficient, but I would like to try the coast next year

walt · May 12, 2013

I think this ended up being a good discussion about GPS speed/ depth and chart plotters. The issue that got me involved with the discussion was that the Lowrance fish finder/ chart plotters can talk only on the NMEA bus. I knew about this when I bought it and it was a reasonable trade off (feature I probably won’t use) for price and lower power consumption but it is a deal breaker for Sumner. So why the difference?

For Sumner, he wants to be able to download way points to the chart plotter maybe on a daily basis and the reason given is so that the spouse navigating can just go by way points rather than look at charts. I think for this case, you would down load the way points into both the chart plotter and the hand held GPS just as back up.

We have the same boat (as well as the OP) and I tend to use my 26S more for sailing where I want to be able to see the speed and depth while sailing – and of course motoring. But I like that the unit displays a good quality map in the background as this is sometimes all I need for finding a cove for example and it also ends up being a backup for a device you would actually navigate with. Where you mount something like this on a tiller 26S never is perfect (the companionway mount can get bumped, Sumners side mount is behind your back half the time sailing) but no matter where, at least with the Lowrance I have, it is difficult to see detail in bright light. I can see the large numbers of speed and depth but rarely map detail and the brighter the sun, the worse the detail. I don’t know about the Garmin, it may be better as it uses a fair amount more power (on the order to 5X to 7X the one I showed in previous pictures).

I want to note that even without the ability to send data to the Lowrance (because the NMEA is output only), you can still have an onboard computer with the Seaclear and Open CPN programs and do all the planning you want. And you can still write way points to a hand held GPS like Sumner does (and has a good description of how to do this). You just can’t write the waypoints to the Lowrance chart plotter. But you can easily enter them manually.

When I have navigated in the past, I used a hand held GPS under a bimini along with paper charts. If I were to do a trip again where I needed to navigate, that is all I would do again if I didnt have a lot of time to work something else out (the case now) – have paper charts and a hand held GPS with my Lowrance fish finder / maps / speed instrument as backup. If I wanted to, I could easily add way points to the hand held GPS – similar to what Sumner did the last time they took the Mac on a big trip several years ago. This would work just fine for me – and why the tradeoff on the NMEA “transmit only” is just not that important to me.

For detailed Navigation, I think we are all in agreement that as large of screen possible and as bright as possible is best. In my opinion, the best way to implement this is a hand held device that you can use under a bimini for shade (detail is just hard to see in bright sunlight). Except for the reliability aspect in the marine environment, what actually looks like the best option for this at the moment is iNavx software for the iPad. I don’t have this but understand iNavx lets you download raster NOAA charts directly to your iPad and will also support Navonics charts.

Sumner · May 12, 2013

That is a pretty good overview Walt but I would like to comment on a couple things.....

walt said:
....For Sumner, he wants to be able to download way points to the chart plotter maybe on a daily basis and the reason given is so that the spouse navigating can just go by way points rather than look at charts. I think for this case, you would down load the way points into both the chart plotter and the hand held GPS just as back up. ......

It is also easier for me not just Ruth. If we are going to a new local I like to have thought about a couple different places that might work for anchoring and the waypoints work very for getting to them as well as places like the ICW. On the ICW and in other channels where it looks like you are going to the next channel marker, as it is ahead of the boat but the current has taken you off to one side, it is nice to quickly see that you are off course. If you can still see the channel marker behind you then you can see if you have stayed in the channel but looking at the handheld (in our case) lets you know right away if you are out of the channel. It is hard to visualize some of this until you see the situation and are dealing with it.

In the picture above you can see the spoil banks from dredging but sometimes they are just below the water that close to the channel and you can quickly run aground. You also can't see 1 foot into the water on the Gulf side. It isn't to you get into the Keys that you get that clear water.

Now if we go back to some of the same places with the Endeavour a second or third time then some of my anal route planning becomes less necessary.

Our chart plotter is the computer below and is running all of the time so the waypoints are in it and the handheld and I can see the screen on the computer through the companionway. OpenCPN or SeaClear keeps the boats location pretty well center on the screen as you are moving and keeps loading the chart as needed. You can zoom in and out, but you don't do that near as much as you do with a small screen.

walt said:
...... Sumners side mount is behind your back half the time sailing)....

That isn't quite true with the mount since it slides on the lifeline ....

In the picture you can see the mount slid ahead where I was sitting and keeping an eye on depth (we don't use it for the route). If I went below I'd slide the depth finder back and it would be just ahead and to the right of her shoulder in easy view not behind her back. Also note here the handheld isn't by Ruth but forward out of the picture were I was sitting. There again if I went below I'd slide it back to her on the cushion.

We like our setup and have duplicated it on the Endeavour. I realize that what we are doing is not for everyone and I'm just throwing what we do out there for those that it might apply too.

You mentioned our last trip being 2 years ago and that is accurate due to Ruth having numerous operations and of course the purchase of the Endeavour. We are on her now in the yard and have spent 5 good months on her in the last 2 years even though it hasn't been in the water. We do hope to finally get the Mac out again this fall to Lake Powell to continue our trip there

. I've mentioned it before but we aren't sailors in love with sailing per se but really enjoy being on the boat and going to new places and hopefully we will soon be doing that again with both boats,

Sum

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walt · May 13, 2013

Sumner, I think you and Ruth are doing a great job enjoying being retired. I would enjoy doing exactly what you are doing now.

Here is a little more on the NMEA bus stuff related to the chart plotters we might put in these trailer sailboats. I’m not a bus expert at all so keep that in mind.

The Lowrance Elite 4 that I have has a limited NMEA 0183 bus. NMEA 0183 in general is a device to device serial communication. You connect the output “talk” or Tx signal of one device to the input “listen” or Rx of the second device. Then the talk output of the second device is connected to the listen input of the first device so that one device talks on one wire and the other device talks on the second wire. The two wires are not interchangeable (can’t connect talk to talk for example) and only two devices are ever involved. The minor exception to the above is that a single talker can “talk” to multiple “listeners”. But the two way communication is only between two devices.

Since the NMEA 0183 bus requires somewhat careful hookup (i.e., Tx only connected to Rx), you pretty much always have to build a custom cable to support this. Connectors are all over the place also. Unfortunately you rarely can just go buy the cable and hook things up.

So the Lowrance Elite NMEA0183 connector ONLY has a talk output – no listen input. This is the basic functionality you need to send the GPS coordinates to a DSC equipped radio. If you get in trouble and have gone through all the other stuff associated with DSC, someone else such as the coast guard can pick up your distress and know where you are. This is about the only feature supported by the Lowrance Elite (and I don’t even have this hooked up - no one to "hear" where I sail).

The Garmin chart plotters such as the GPS Map 54 actually has two full functional NMEA 0183 connections plus the more powerful (and bus like) NMEA 2000. If you’re into network communication with the chart plotter, this model (and I think also the 400 series but didn’t check) are a much better choice than the low end Lowrance like I have.

The immediate thing the full function NMEA 0183 adds is AIS support from the radio. This allows the radio to receive GPS coordinates from other boats and now since your chart plotter has an “input” or listen Rx port, it can receive this information from the radio and display for example the boat location on the screen.

And, since the NMEA 0183 is from device to device only, in Sumners case, he could use the second NMEA 0183 bus that typically comes with the Garmin’s to talk to his computer and load in the way points.

The Garmin’s also come with the NMEA 2000 bus and Ill just paste a snip from Wikipedia
NMEA 2000 (IEC 61162-3) can be considered a successor to the NMEA 0183 (IEC 61162-1) serial data bus standard. It has a significantly higher data rate (250k bits/second vs. 4800 bits/second for NMEA 0183). It uses a compact binary message format as opposed to the ASCII serial communications protocol used by NMEA 0183. Another improvement is that NMEA 2000 supports a disciplined multiple-talker, multiple-listener data network whereas NMEA 0183 requires a single-talker, multiple-listener (simplex) serial communications protocol.

So instead of just a device to device communication like the NMEA 0183 implements (for example, only talking between the chart plotter and the radio) , the NMEA 2000 allows multiple users to talk on the bus backbone ands at a higher data rate..

I would bet that in 10 years, all this wired bus stuff has been replaced with inexpensive wireless networks.. maybe that is already happening.

Sumner · May 13, 2013

walt said:
..... If you get in trouble and have gone through all the other stuff associated with DSC, someone else such as the coast guard can pick up your distress and know where you are. This is about the only feature supported by the Lowrance Elite (and I don’t even have this hooked up - no one to "hear" where I sail). ......

Anyone else with a radio that is on that has DSC will receive your distress call not just the Coast Guard. I'll bet other boats at Havasu had DSC radios and even power boats out there probably also have it. The mountain lakes you sail on or probably a different story.

I think about all of the radios being sold now have it and even some of the handhelds that have internal GPS. Some radios now also have the internal GPS so you don't have to go through the wiring mess you mentioned and with GPS hardware so cheap now they should all have it that way.

You can also use the DSC not as a distress call but in a mode where you can send your position to others. If two are three people want to meet up out on the water that could be handy finding each other. Also say 4-5 boats go across to Bimini together and loose sight of each other they can broadcast their location to others. We haven't used it for anything like that but want it there in case of an emergency. Nice then as you can handle the emergency and the radio will keep sending out a distress signal without you attending the radio until someone responds.

walt said:
.......I would bet that in 10 years, all this wired bus stuff has been replaced with inexpensive wireless networks.. maybe that is already happening.

That is happening now but like you said as it gets less expensive I'm sure it will be the norm. For what we do NEMA 183 handles things well, but the NEMA 2000 has advantages for people sending a lot of different data over the network.

All boats over a certain tonnage have to transmit AIS but now there are a number of non-commercial boats also doing that. Anyone can add the transmit if they want as far as I know. Our radio on the Endeavour receives AIS and has DSC. By being built into the radio the AIS doesn't need a separate antenna or a splitter on an antenna and it wasn't that much. The complete radio sold for what just AIS receivers have been selling for.

It might not be a good thing if everyone starts sending out AIS locaion as then the screen in some areas could be a mess with hundreds of targets on it. The commercial vessels are the major threat out on the water as they move so fast they can close on you really fast and are of course big. I've read of a number of people in areas like NYC and crossing to Bimini with the cruise ships that like the AIS over even their radar,

Sum

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Kestle · May 13, 2013

What was not stated in the thread on waypoints, is they will keep you alive when there are currents and lateral hazards. More are better, as the coreections for current are more frequent.

Lots of early users got into trouble using only a few waypoints on long sails, including those who died recently in the Ensenada race.

Jeff