Island Time 1,211 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Dont you already have a GPS on the boat? If so, it likely has an NMEA 0183 output, you can easily use that for the PC. The boat one likely has a decent antenna - the USB puck ones often don't work well, especially inside you boat - dependent on construction... Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 have an old (1998) non-mapping garmin 128 which is now successfully outputting nmea location information to the DSC VHF but wouldn't the laptop need a serial port to accept the nmea? if the garmin gps antenna works better than a puck i guess it would be worth getting a serial-usb converter cable............but don't the newest dongles have faster, lower power sirif? gps chipsets? if i'm skimming all this stuff right it looks like this http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-ph ... 787907.htm could be convinced to act as an AIS receiver to an opencpn laptop/plotter Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 nah, cheaper than that! http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/cables-adaptors/usb/auction-787801887.htm but thats only suitable for 32bit versions of windows for 64 bit http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/cables-adaptors/usb/auction-786112196.htm Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Oh, and AIS - personally I wouldnt buy an AIS receiver - only a bit more for a transponder. I have them from $630 NZD. With the usb adapter above, that would give you the GPS and AIS for your PC...or a backup GPS for the boat as well... Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 cracked it following for techos and google searches to get the handheld garmin colorado to provide data to opencpn on on laptop needed the colorado to output usb data in 'garmin spanner' and in opencpn needed options/connections/add connection/garmin-usb Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 thanks mind is boggling a bit too fast now to keep up need to sit down to drink + think a bit Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 all good and no money! Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 and you can tell the gps is refusing to talk to the map software now obviously needs more fettling and a better fettler Link to post Share on other sites
rossd 16 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Why do they sell all the extra drama with the USB GPS receiver? Is there not something cheaper than $70.00, non waterproof to just stick up under a glassed wooden cabin top to do the job? Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 all that other stuff seems to be free stuff just to fill up a dvd rom and 'add value' if you want a cheaper usb gps, ebay usa has plenty of traders in taiwan would will send you one for about 1/2 price http://www.ebay.com/itm/UB-353-USB-GPS- ... 1e8f072edd on to other things for all you people using laptops as plotters how are you powering them? most laptops need about 20volts dc so are you using 12volt inverters to kick the ships power up to 230vac and then the laptops power adapter to knock it back down to 20vdc? if so what sized inverters are you using? 300w? 600w? 1000w? modified sine wave-cheap /pure sine wave- expensive? anyone using 2 ships batteries in series (24v) then knocking the extra few volts off? Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Nah, dont do that, it's really inefficent. Buy a good 12v laptop power supply. Here is an example on trademe, but I''m not saying it's any good! I'd look for a belkin or known brand. http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/laptops/power-adaptors/universal/auction-788851595.htm Link to post Share on other sites
snippys_dad 0 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I used cpn Wat a piece of crap , iv sail ed au , with navionic s and no drama s Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Snippy, everyone I talk to that has tried OCPN, especially in the last few years, really likes it, and it is by far the most common nav software on offshore cruisers. With the plugins, has a LOT more functionality than Navionics. So I find your comment interesting. OCPN does require a bit more setup than Navionics though.... I actually have both (Navionics on my Phone, and Android tablet). My primary Nav platform is OCPN, and I see no change on the horizon for me. Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,568 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Matt just helped me load the GE plug in on OPen CPN , It is blowing my socks off. (Another day wasted daydreaming) Link to post Share on other sites
Clipper 343 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I used cpn Wat a piece of crap , iv sail ed au , with navionic s and no drama s Huh? Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Motorbike, Yes, absolutely. Download from here; http://opencpn.org/ocpn/download Link to post Share on other sites
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