Google Drive

[petem]

Apropros nothing really, but reading some recent threads it would appear that some forumites don't have their manual 'to hand'.

I know that RTFM is a bit of a last resort but I recently spent an afternoon downloading as many electronic copies of manuals that I could find for my boat (engines, nav gear, etc).

I have all of these saved on Google Drive so that I can access them wherever I am (particularly from my phone).

I also use it to keep a backup of all the boats documentation, service history, receipts, surveys, insurance, marina maps, brochure pics, etc.

Might be worth something that others may consider on a rainy afternoon.

 

[bluetooth]

Apropros nothing really, but reading some recent threads it would appear that some forumites don't have their manual 'to hand'.

I know that RTFM is a bit of a last resort but I recently spent an afternoon downloading as many electronic copies of manuals that I could find for my boat (engines, nav gear, etc).

I have all of these saved on Google Drive so that I can access them wherever I am (particularly from my phone).

I also use it to keep a backup of all the boats documentation, service history, receipts, surveys, insurance, marina maps, brochure pics, etc.

Might be worth something that others may consider on a rainy afternoon.

Great idea
I have basics saved as pdf's on tablet which i have on boat for long journeys away

 

[elton]

Google Drive is handy, no doubt, but documents are so small, and cheap USB memory sticks so big and cheap, I find it easier to carry them around on a stick. And I don't have internet access unless I pay for it, and even then, only when receiving a signal.

 

[markc]

I do the same, albeit with OneDrive. It means I can call up a manual on my phone, laptop, tablet etc, without physically having the files on me, wherever I am. With manuals that I only have paper copies of, I just photograph them with my phone and they end up in Google photos, again easily referenced from anywhere. It's the future don't you know!

 

[petem]

Google Drive is handy, no doubt, but documents are so small, and cheap USB memory sticks so big and cheap, I find it easier to carry them around on a stick. And I don't have internet access unless I pay for it, and even then, only when receiving a signal.

If memory sticks work well for you then great. But note that Google Drive allows you to keep an offline copy of selected (or all) file. That would well for you if you're "off grid".

 

[julians]

i keep various manuals in an email(s) which is synced on my phone so available off line.

 

[PEJ]

Not a bad idea to have a photo of your passport photo page on there as well.

 

[petem]

Not a bad idea to have a photo of your passport photo page on there as well.

Good idea.

Incidentally, I still have an old green paper driving license and no photo job. On a recent trip, the hire car company rep was at pains to tell me that I MUST keep my driving license and passport with me at all times or face a large fine in the event that I had an accident or got pulled over by the Spanish rozzers.

Before we go again I'll be getting a photo license (if just to shut him up).

 

[bluetooth]

One additional idea. I have maps and photos, as obviously jpgs, on a stick on the TV in saloon (as a bit of different decoration!)

I also have most south coast marina info and berthing details as pdfs loaded in chart plotter so I can find berth on approach to marina to avoid any confusion.

I might therefore load the files PeteM references onto these devices as additional forms of access and retrieval.

 

[Hurricane]

Don't forget that it isn't just a drive.
Google have a policy of integrating absolutely everything.

Google Docs for example - a full Office Suite - have you tried working on a document (Wordprocessing/Spreadsheets etc) on your desktop PC - then stopping work on the PC and picking it up on the phone - then later on the Tablet or Laptop - it all synchronises your work as you go along.

Then there is the Google Calendar - syncs with everything - all stored in the Google Cloud - Google Drive is just one small element.

And here is a scary one.
How many of you use Google Maps to navigate in the car etc?
Last week, I needed to get to a friends house in Essex that I had only been to once before - last January.
I couldn't find his postcode to navigate.
I looked through all my emails - and I don't delete anything.
His postcode wasn't there.
In frustration, I typed into the standard Google search - "Where have I been"
Like a flash, Google's Timeline appeared showing me exactly where I had visited my friend.
Not only where his house is - but the route that I took to it last January.
And then where I went afterwards.
This is a BIG scary world.

 

[petem]

Don't forget that it isn't just a drive.
Google have a policy of integrating absolutely everything.

Google Docs for example - a full Office Suite - have you tried working on a document (Wordprocessing/Spreadsheets etc) on your desktop PC - then stopping work on the PC and picking it up on the phone - then later on the Tablet or Laptop - it all synchronises your work as you go along.

Then there is the Google Calendar - syncs with everything - all stored in the Google Cloud - Google Drive is just one small element.

And here is a scary one.
How many of you use Google Maps to navigate in the car etc?
Last week, I needed to get to a friends house in Essex that I had only been to once before - last January.
I couldn't find his postcode to navigate.
I looked through all my emails - and I don't delete anything.
His postcode wasn't there.
In frustration, I typed into the standard Google search - "Where have I been"
Like a flash, Google's Timeline appeared showing me exactly where I had visited my friend.
Not only where his house is - but the route that I took to it last January.
And then where I went afterwards.
This is a BIG scary world.

Good point Mike, I do use Google Calendar to share the boat calendar with my partners and also use Google Docs to amend Spreadies, etc on my phone.

Regarding Timeline, it should in theory record ones boating track but I find that it imagines occasional incursions inland, not all of which can be edited out. Also, it doesn't really understand the concept of boating / sailing as it records the passages as 'driving'. I've done some searching on what's causing this and it would appear that on Android, the Timeline function doesn't in itself do location lookups (via GPS and/or mobile networks). It needs another app like Maps (or Navionics) to trigger the location lookups that it then records in your timeline. It also seems to favour mobile networks over GPS in building your timeline. So I wonder if for boating the timeline could be made more accurate by 1) switching off mobile networks for location determination and 2) installing some app that forces a location lookup every x number of minutes.

Note that I have "Improve Location Accuracy" enabled and was using Android 8 when observing this issue. I've subsequently upgraded to Android 9.1.

 

[Hurricane]

Good point Mike, I do use Google Calendar to share the boat calendar with my partners and also use Google Docs to amend Spreadies, etc on my phone.

Regarding Timeline, it should in theory record ones boating track but I find that it imagines occasional incursions inland, not all of which can be edited out. Also, it doesn't really understand the concept of boating / sailing as it records the passages as 'driving'. I've done some searching on what's causing this and it would appear that on Android, the Timeline function doesn't in itself do location lookups (via GPS and/or mobile networks). It needs another app like Maps (or Navionics) to trigger the location lookups that it then records in your timeline. It also seems to favour mobile networks over GPS in building your timeline. So I wonder if for boating the timeline could be made more accurate by 1) switching off mobile networks for location determination and 2) installing some app that forces a location lookup every x number of minutes.

Note that I have "Improve Location Accuracy" enabled and was using Android 8 when observing this issue. I've subsequently upgraded to Android 9.1.

IMO, there is a better way.
You are using Android so OpenCPN from the Play Store (the paid app not the free one).
Developed by Dave Register - the author of the main OpenCPN for the PC.
It uses all the same charts as the PC version so you could use some of my own georeferenced charts.

Then just switch tracking on and there you have it.
IMO, OpenCPN isn't as easy to use on mobile devices as (say) Navionics but OpenCPN does have loads more functionality.
OpenCPN really comes into its own on the PC - hence my enthusiasm for the integrated ship's PC.

I've installed Kplex to JW's PC this year so using the ships, WiFi routers, AIS and other NMEA data can be sent to mobile devices over WiFi.
For example AIS on OpenCPN using an Android Tablet.
Kplex is software that multiplexes NMEA data onto an IP network.

Here's a new one - SignalK
I've been playing with SignalK which is supposed to be the next generation to NMEA but I can't find a good enough reason to use it.
Kplex could be used to feed NMEA data into SignalK but I don't see the need to make the whole thing even more complicated,
Digital Yacht are starting to use SignalK - see here https://digitalyacht.co.uk/product/ikommunicate-nmea-signal-k-gateway/
I'm not sure but I think Navionics on the iPad use SignalK when it is available.

Sorry - thread drift.