Warning : This article is for advanced users only. ShipModul has just released a new firmware MiniPlex-3 (V.3.6.0) and an updated version of the utility MPXConfig3 (V.3.6.0) PC/Windows. This is an update for improvements and bug fixes. Beginners abstain 😉 Read more …
Category : Equipment
MiniPlex-3 new firmware 3.4.0
The MiniPlex-3 multiplexer has known since November 2021 numerous software improvements and changes withfirmwares (Firmware) versions 3.x.x. The latest version 3.4.0 date of 13 January 2022. These firmwares are closely associated with the MPXConfig3 utility whose latest version 3.5.0 is required to proceed with the latest device update. To date, this utility can only be used with PC/Windows, the macOS version probably not being available until late February. Read more …
Garmin offers Vesper Marine
Obviously Garmin® has long teeth ! After Active Captain up to Navionics charts, Garmin® has just announced the purchase of Vesper Marine, specialized in high-end AIS transponders (¹). Read more …
Weather4D with Mac M1
We've been talking about it since 2020 in the Facebook group of Weather4D users, the messaging app Weather4D Routing & Navigation (¹) now works on ARM-based Mac : Mac M1 and later, from the system macOS 11.x ("Big Sur" and following). All you need to do is connect the Mac to a GPS receiver or a NMEA gateway via Wi-Fi to receive the position and navigation data from the instruments.. Read more …
MacENC is back
MacENCx64 is now the name of the MacENC application which has just been released by its new developer NavStation.
MacENC has been fully adapted and recompiled in 64 bits for recent MacOS systems and new processors, which explains the new denomination. I continue to ensure the French translation. But beware : to date the Navionics cartography is no longer available. So there is no charting yet for the coasts of Europe, except ENC S-57 and S-63 available by Chartworld (see page Digital charting). Read more …
GNS 3000 Bluetooth GPS receiver for mobile
The new GNS 3000 announced by Global Navigation Systems since last spring is finally available (¹). It replaces the GNS 2000 More. Now equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter 5.0, it has an SD Card slot for recording position data continuously.
Compatible with Apple products, It caters mainly to non-GPS devices : iPod Touch and iPad WiFi all models. It can also be used with all PDAs, Bluetooth phones and tablets. It has a Li-Ion battery offering an autonomy of 10 continuous hours.
Simultaneous Wi-Fi and cellular connection [Update]
In coastal navigation, so often within range of a cellular network, we can download GRIB files, weather maps, or simply communicate with friends. But what if our smartphone or tablet is already connected via Wi-Fi to a multiplexer?, or an NMEA gateway, without cutting the data that feeds our favorite navigation application ?
This is the summer trick…
[Update 25/09/2020] The trick in question depends on the iOS version used. Details in the article.
Controlling a Windows PC from an iPad [Update]
(First published on 8 December 2010)
Dear Friends macusers, the approach of Christmas, we need to be charitable, particularly towards users of Windows PC. Indeed, before the influx of requests on how to control a Windows application from an iPad, not having provided a tutorial (*) for Mac users, I feel indebted to a small tutorial for windowsusers.
[Updated 22/08/2020]
The accuracy of GPS [brief summer]
I'm always being asked - and have been for ages - how much confidence we can put in the GPS on our tablets and smartphones. At the risk of repeating myself, I persist in asserting that our mobile devices are provided with the most accurate GPS receivers that can be found in civilian use, especially for pleasure boating. Read more …
Integrate tablets with onboard instruments : Wi-Fi gateways
For several years it is possible to integrate iPads and other mobile devices using Wi-Fi to onboard instruments. This enables navigation applications, not only receive all sensor data : log, anemometer, sounder, AIS, etc,, but also to send their own navigation data to instruments, as, in example, to control an autopilot.
This integration involves devices called “gateways” or “routers” which connect to the networks of the instruments., receive the data circulating through these networks, and transceive in Wi-Fi to tablets and smartphones. Some navigation applications are being developed to process this data and transform mobile devices into real navigation centers. Read more …