altendorff.co.uk

Iridium 9555 mounting for a fiver

Russ — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:52:31 +0000

I have installed a new sat phone in readiness for the ocean passages that my wife and I are planning. The phone I chose, after much deliberation, was the Iridium 9555. I will be posting my impressions of this phone and the real experiences and costs of using it soon, but this post is simply about the fact that Iridium sell you a £1,000 phone – but they do not supply a mounting bracket so you can actually mount it securely!

I think this is a really disappointing omission. I realise they want to sell the mounting

.......Click Iridium 9555 mounting for a fiver .... to continue reading

2.4 GHz 8.5 dBi Omnidirectional Wireless LAN Marine Antenna

Navionics Chart Updates

Russ — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:42:20 +0000

I must be getting slow..those senior moments are becoming my normal state!

I recently bought two Navionics charts for my brand new Raymarine hybrid touch e125 chart plotter (…more posts on that to come…)

Somehow I didn’t realise that I am eligible for chart updates for 1 year. There is an app to install on your PC that gives you access to your charts on the PC as well as on the chart plotter – duh.

Navionics have cleverly wrapped this offer up within the requirement to open an “account” in their online store. Once you download

.......Click Navionics Chart Updates .... to continue reading

Virtual Comm Port …pitfalls, and crazy mouse

Russ — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:54:02 +0000

Well here we are in 2012, and navigation equipment manufacturers still don’t know that laptops don’t have serial ports anymore. If you want NMEA data fed from your instruments into your chart plotting software you are forced to use USB/serial port converters. This means that you will need to create what’s called a virtual comm port and that in turn needs a special software driver. This is when the fun starts.

Whatever you do don’t but any USB / Serial converters that use Prolific software drivers. Don’t do what I did and ask for or shop for “Windows

.......Click Virtual Comm Port …pitfalls, and crazy mouse .... to continue reading

New laptop…final verdict

Russ — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:26:42 +0000

Well I have been using the Acer Aspire 5750 for 3 months now and apart from MS Office and all the usual other bits of software have loaded quite a bit of sailing software to connect up with the new set up on my boat.

The laptop is fast and has taken everything that I have thrown at it. Some posts will follow about the connectivity challenges I have had – none of which are a problem with the laptop!

So the conclusion of this episode is – great laptop..

.......Click New laptop…final verdict .... to continue reading

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Buying a new laptop for the boat (part 2of2) ….

Russ — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:25:29 +0000

In part 1 of this posting I was trying to see how best to approach the task of getting a good replacement laptop for my old Dell XPS M1530 (deceased).

After digging around the web, and trying to judge what was good and what was lacking with my old laptop and the uses to which it was put, I came up with some selection criteria.

Pleaese look back at post 1of2 if you haven't read it already, but in summary here are my selection criteria:

Benchmark software capability – MaxSea TZ (3D graphics + real time signal

.......Click Buying a new laptop for the boat (part 2of2) …. .... to continue reading

Buying a new laptop for the boat (part 1of2)…

Russ — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:34:50 +0000

The time has come to retire my Dell XPS M1530. Actually it retired itself when the screen faded and drifted away. Despite my attempts to install a news screen which was a surprisingly easy operation – it just would come back to life. Luckily I have a full back up – so other than saying good bye to what used to be Dell’s “Xtreme Gaming “ laptop there was no drama involved.

I bought this laptop in 2008 so 4 years use – and latterly on board the boat running Max Sea TZ software meant I had had

.......Click Buying a new laptop for the boat (part 1of2)… .... to continue reading

Stunning little computer ..for $25!

Russ — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:22:20 +0000

Those of you who follow this blog know I have an "attitude" when it comes to the big marine electronics companies.

I’m sorry, but very few of them seem to bring any real innovation to the table given the prices that they can command and the captive audience that they can "manipulate" or is it "influence".

Yes, yes I know that the market size is less than that for consumer electronics but I don’t care they could still produce a lot better products than they do… IMHO.

Now here is a small bunch of people that

.......Click Stunning little computer ..for $25! .... to continue reading

HTC 7510 – Solid State Computer & Phone & GPS !

How many WiFi hotspots can you see?…

Russ — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:04:25 +0000

Its not at all unusual for cruisers whether they are weekenders or blue water adventurers to have a laptop, iPad, or smartphone – or even all three on board. Many people are expected to be in touch with work email 24×7 and if you have the younger generation on board with you, they will be Facebooking and surfing non-stop!

I am of course assuming that you are cruising in coastal waters, not too far from some civilisation and not actually transoceanic. If you are 20 miles plus away from land then of course we would be talking SSB

.......Click How many WiFi hotspots can you see?… .... to continue reading

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Sailing Junk…

Russ — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 09:33:25 +0000

Having just come back from a holiday in Turkey it was disheartening to find that I could not open the front door of my house ..why?… there was a pile of junk mail and other “useful” offers that just beggared belief ! So when that thoroughly good chap Jeffrey Siegel emailed from Active Captain to describe the very same problem that he has in the USA, it was very interesting to read about Jeffrey’s solution.

I am simply reprinting his comments here…” The first time we left our land-based home for an extended cruise,

.......Click Sailing Junk… .... to continue reading

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Sorry to carp on about this…

Russ — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:50:41 +0000

I am pretty sure it isn't April 1st today – but this video just took the biscuit, and I had to share it – why don't the fish do this off the coast at Brighton !

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you take your boat along the Spoon River, which is tributary of the Illinois River, you may get more than you bargained for but watch out because the fish can weigh up to 45kg.

A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency said that boaters have suffered broken bones, black eyes, cuts, back injuries and

.......Click Sorry to carp on about this… .... to continue reading

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