Label : GRIB

IsatPhone Pro versus Iridium (continue)

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As promised in my post on 15 July, here are the results of the comparative test conducted aboard "Prince d'Oc" for our trip from Port Leucate to Dubrovnik.

Thanks to the loan of a complete IsatPhone Pro, avec station d’accueil et antenne extérieure (un grand merci à PYG @voilier_xhosa, who sent me all this from Belgium), and the presence of a similar facility Iridium on board Olivier's boat : Iridium 9575 avec antenne fixe extérieure Sailor, nous avons pu effectuer des tests en situation réelle d’utilisation.

Prince d'Oc vers la Croatie

Prince d’Oc en route pour la Croatie

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IsatPhone Pro versus Iridium, which one to choose ?

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I just read, dans le dernier numéro de Voiles et Voiliers daté de mai 2012, un comparatif Inmarsat-Iridium qui me laisse insatisfait. Quite interesting in form, it presents a lot of approximations in substance, et ne permet pas au lecteur de se faire une opinion sur des éléments de comparaison précis et chiffrés. On the other hand, n’en déplaise à François-Xavier Ricardou, les solutions logicielles pour Mac existent depuis longtemps et sont parfaitement éprouvées : just to see the number of participants provided with Mac or iPad at ARC 2011. I will try to contribute complementary, je l’espère, éclairera les acheteurs potentiels. Read more …

Navigation with iPad trainings : a complete solution

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With Weather4D PRO and Iridium Mail, associés à un téléphone satellite Iridium, we now have a complete solution, reliable and low cost to receive, display and manage GRIB files in open seas with iPad.
iNavX and Navionics cartography also provide a complete navigation solution, supporting files transfers with Weather4D PRO : GRIB, routes, tracks, that allows simultaneous display in both applications.

Ces solutions, parfaitement complémentaires et cohérentes entre elles, ont été testées sur plus de 2800 NM in the automn during a crossing from Canaria to the Caribbean, on board Catana 47 « Rafale », token place in ARC rally 2011. In addition, Olivier Bouyssou a pu améliorer « au fil de l’eau » son application Weather4D Pro, correcting, adding and optimizing daily development onboard. Read more …

Weather4D PRO 1.0 integrates routes from iNavX

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Weather4D ProThe new app Weather4D PRO for iOS (iPhone / iPad), developed by Olivier Bouyssou, was submited yesterday to Apple. It provides advanced functions associated with GRIB files for demanding users. It comes in addition to Weather4D app which was promoted as one of the best apps in Apple AppStore for few weeks.

This Pro version, quickly available, will provide following features :

GRIB files management :

  • Importation, sharing (export ), copy-paste, folders filing, history, request from SailDocs by email

Routes management :

  • Route import in KML format from iNavX or other apps, overlay route display with forecasts, boat progress with forecasts scrolling, route settings (heading, speed, date, etc…).

Iridium satellites tracking :

  • Prediction of transition from Iridium satellites to optimize the connections to run queries GRIB files. Automatic updating of ephemeris and parameter setting coverage (rising, timing). Read more …

Iridium - iPad connection – is coming out !

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Le routeur WiFi AxcessPoint d’Iridium

I dont like to advertise products or features before they are available, but in this case the subject can guide choices or postponements of purchase among potential users.

Iridium announced on last 7 September the creation of a free service called Iridium AxcessPoint Mail & Web app qui sera disponible avant la fin de l’année 2011. This will be a mail and web compression service, hébergé par Iridium, spécialement conçu pour optimiser la transmission de données avec le nouveau routeur WiFi Iridium Iridium Mail. Read more …

Use an Iridium phone with Mac OS

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mailasailBritish company Mailasail provides tools to connect directly an Iridium to Mac OS X. A driver specially designed by them now allows data to be transferred from a messaging application under OS, mainly Mail or Thunderbird, and surf the Internet.

We can make requests for weather files by mail from servers Mailasail, Saildocs, ocens.net or even Navimail. The subscription to Teleport-it provides several services : mail compression, access to the weather file server Teleport Weather (¹), Possibility of creating a personalized blog. In addition, there are two very useful applications : Teleport Firewall and Teleport Proxy.

Finally, Mailasail had the good idea to offer a free trial subscription, allowing you to carry out all the configuration that will follow, and to test mail sending/receiving following procedure described on its website. Read more …

XyGrib for Mac now truly “Apple like”

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XyGribXyGrib, the GRIB weather file viewer developed under Linux and well known in the PC world, is the subject of a port on Mac which, since version 5.0, is real progress compared to the first versions. Since the beginning 2011 it is distributed as an executable version for Mac (Intel) Ready to use, as a package in a disk image (.DMG).

We must welcome the community of this development that makes a great work for the greater benefit of boaters. Open source software opensource, zyGrib is distributed under the GNU GPL v3. zyGrib allows the display of a large number of GRIB files, from many weather Forecasting Models weather. It also allows automated requests generated by the application. Read more …

Weather4D 1.1 for iPad and iPhone, at the top.

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Two months after out for iPhone, Weather4D (¹), by surprising Olivier Bouyssou, arrives with a version fully optimized for iPad, with the modest release number 1.1.

Cette version unique iPhone/iPad est donc une simple mise à jour gratuite pour les heureux acquéreurs de la version 1.0.

And yet, quel travail il aura fallu pour adapter et optimiser cette application 3D, aussi bien aux écrans et capacités mémoire des iPhone 3 and 4 qu’à celles des iPad 1 and 2, known to be very different ! Read more …

Disturbances in GRIB files

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Disturbances are not just atmospheric, it happens that they are also in the transmission of GRIB files !

Some of you alert me for two or three days about difficulties to receive files, ou encore l’absence des données affichées dans iNavX.

After checking in requesting last night from my iPad, force m’a été de constater, once a file loaded after long minutes of waiting, that the data were not displayed on the chart. By checking the GRIB display with MacENC, seuls apparaissaient les vecteurs de vent, but not the contours. So I contacted by myself Richard Ray who, thanks to jet lag, a pu réagir immédiatement. Read more …