Apple Macs on board

Saguday

Saguday

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I've been using an Apple Macbook Pro at work for the past 4-5 months and I love it. I've become increasingly disillusioned with PC's and Windows over the last couple of years and Vista was the great anticlimax that made me finally try a Mac. I'm now about to get an iMac for the family and basically ditch the PC's as they fall apart (which they are doing).

Now I'm thinking about navigation and the boat. I used a PC with Fugawi and Raychart (free version) for passage planning and interfacing with the old E80. I don't believe there's any native Mac navigation software out there so I'm assuming I'll have to run an XP version of something on the Mac using Leopard (which I haven't upgraded to on the work Mac yet so haven't any experience of it).

Is anyone else out there doing something like this? Anyone using Macs for nav on board? Any comments on which nav software runs OK on OS X or Leopard?

Thanks

Neil
 
Take a look at GPSnavX. They have a version called MACenc, that will run BSB up to version 4 plus S57 encs as well as encoded S63 official ENCs.
I have taken a look at the website and it looks good.
I wish I had a Mac, so I could try it out.

Michael
 
Thanks Michael - I've been stumbling around googling stuff and found a couple of other Mac packages (and also GPSnavX, just before I read your post!). I've also found a web forum called Mac Sailing which seems to have a load of stuff related to this. I'd still be interested in people's experiences though - I'd like to try some of these things out, after all that's what British winters are for /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Neil
 
We use GPSnavX on an iBook G4 running Tiger. The iBook is loaded with the maximum RAM it can accommodate (4GB, I think).

We use Maptech charts loaded onto the iBook from CD.

This combination is *excellent*. It runs great and *never* crashes.

We have it hooked up to our Garmin plotter and (new this season) the NASA AIS engine.

We will be looking at migrating over to an Intel MacBook with MacENC when we have exhausted our current set-up.

Would thoroughly recommend what we have.
 
I use MacENC. Excellent support - the developer regularly issues updates for free, replies to emails promptly (often within the hour) and the associated forum mentioned by Kioni is also a good source of info. I don't use my computer on board but transfer waypoints, routes and tracks to and from a Garmin 60 (not the map version).
I use a Navionics s57 ENC chart, but I'm not sure it's the best chart available. One slight problem with the latest Mac laptops on board is the power supply - I think it involves a Kensington power 'converter' and a cannibalised power lead because of the Magsafe connector - some info here.
 
Thanks for that. I want to find a way to use Navionics Gold (or Platinum) charts to try and maintain compatibility with my Raymarine chartplotter. With our current PC setup I use different charts to the chartplotter (US ENC, since that's where we were) but of course these are free in the US so no financial heartache. I don't really want to invest in multiple versions of the same electronic charts if I can avoid it.

How do you interface to the plotter? Can you upload waypoints etc directly?

Any problems interfacing the AIS engine? How did you do it?

Cheers

Neil
 
Thanks - good link on the power supply. Hadn't thought about that.

I'll look at MacENC. Same question - what is your interface to the plotter from the Mac? How do you upload waypoints to/from it?

Neil
 
Not sure about interfacing to a plotter - my Garmin is just a handheld gps. To connect I use a Keyspan usb-to-RS232 adaptor and the standard Garmin cable. Here is a screen shot showing some tracks downloaded from the gps:
853311.jpg

The menus are simple - just go to Waypoints> Transfer> To GPS (and similarly for routes and tracks) to copy data from one to the other.
http://www.macsailing.net/bbs/ will have the answers to any questions you have on connecting other gear such as plotters and AIS engines. You may need a 4 port usb-to-serial adaptor (again from Keyspan).
 
I have an RL70C and it has an HSB2 interface and there is no slot on a Mac to take the card nor software to run it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Hi Kioni, welcome to the Mac world. You will love it. I have been 'Windows Free' now for about three years and it is a great relief. As you can see above, there are lots of nav software for the Mac so that is not a limitation.

Among the many benefits of Mac's, can I just mention one that has relevance to boat life; you will eventually want to connect to the internet via your mobile phone (cell for you North Americans) when you are out of wifi range (=usually for a cruiser). Then you will connect to either a GPRS service or 3G through your mobile phone via Bluetooth. I am not a PC geek, so that usually did take me a day on a Windows PC to set up and really get to work, even after the lessons learned having to do it several times after Windows crashes. When I first got my new Mac, I opened the 'Internet Connect' menu, clicked on 'Connect to GPRS via Bluetooth'. It connected first time within 10 seconds. I will kiss the feet of Steve Jobs when I meet him.

Summary: I love my Mac on my boat. You will too!
 
I think there has been, to date, very little Mac-compatible charting Australia, apart from those areas covered by s-57 (mainly the Barrier Reef). Does anybody on the forum know if this is correct or if it is changing?
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have an RL70C and it has an HSB2 interface and there is no slot on a Mac to take the card nor software to run it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
If the Raymarine can output NMEA data you can connect that to your Mac via a Keyspan adapter or you can run the Raymarine into a multiplexer..... possibly. Have a look on the macsailing link given above.
 
I use parallels (works on tiger) to run a virtual instance of xp which runs neptune tides / passage planner and garmin's bluechart software

Simon
 
I was thinking about doing this but decided to hold out for Leopard. However, I didn't realise there were nav packages just for the Mac so I will be looking at those more closely. I would much rather use software with a native Mac interface than have to switch between OS X and XP.
 
I don't need convincing, Christer, I'm already a convert /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Just need the finance to replace all the PC's the rest of the family use.

I tried getting my Mac to talk to my works Blackberry but with no success, but I find the Blackberry a singularly frustrating piece of stuff to deal with. I'll try it with my own phone and see if I can connect (although that runs Windows Mobile!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif)

Neil
 
Yes, I think the Blackberry is an unnecessarily complicating thing in between. Much easier to get email/internet straight into your Mac from your ISP via a normal Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. Keep it simple! Disable Windows Mobile!
 
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