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China launched its 16th satellite of its satellite positioning system BeiDou-2. Like all other Chinese satellites, it was put into orbit by their own rocket Long March 3.
It is the sixth satellite launched this year to complete the constellation of satellites that will make up the BeiDou-2 navigation network. Started in 2007, this network is the successor to the BeiDou-1 project launched in October 2000 and gradually made up of 4 Experimental satellites. Read more …
Source : iFixit
With iPad 3, Apple has discontinued Broadcom's BCM475x series A-GPS chipsets that powered iPads 1 and 2 and iPhones 4. From iPhone 4S and iPad 3, says New iPad (¹), it is now Qualcomm company which provides Apple devices a modem integrating all communication features, series Gobi™ Modems (²). Read more …
Dominique Gauthier welcomes us, Olivier Bouyssou (Weather4D) and myself, on its stand H59 iPadNav.fr for super demonstrations of latest news regarding the use of the iPad in navigation.
The team is ready for the opening
After several months of intensive development and testing, under the conditions mentioned in a previous post, Olivier Bouyssou will offer his latest version of Weather4D PRO 1.3.0. At no additional cost, the routing module will simply be added with the update !
A career as a computer developer in the service of technical engineering combined with a solid mathematical background (¹) has enabled it to develop routing algorithms that have nothing to envy to the market leaders (²). Added to an interface that everyone agrees with, this new advanced feature that will appeal to both racers and cruisers, want to optimize their trips in the best conditions of safety and comfort. The new features will :
While I spent my summer diligently testing hardware and software in extremely arduous conditions, hard-working developers tirelessly aligned miles of lines of code to improve our navigation applications. What dedication, what self-sacrifice !
Challenging working conditions…
Regarding navigation applications, the new features mainly come from Navionics Marine and iSailor Sex. To all lord all honor, let's start with the undisputed leader of our smartphones and tablets, Navionics charts… Read more …
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, with docking station and outdoor antenna (a big thank you to 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 with Sailor outdoor fixed antenna, We were able to carry out tests in real use situations.
Prince d'Oc on his way to Croatia
At sea from July, 20 th until August 3 August, I will use a Mediterranean journey for a report on the use of several devices discussed on this blog :
Enough to keep you busy during the ten days of sailing planned between Port-Leucate and Dubrovnik. Hoping that our tests will leave us time to enjoy the sea, few planned stops and some fish have liked to bite our hooks.
There will therefore no more post on this blog before… mid- August, or even early September. But the result of my investigations will be largely developed next autumn.
And as a bonus, but don't say anything to anyone, It's a rumor : a test of the integration of the speed polars into the router function of Weather4D PRO.
Happy sailing to all.
The use of Iridium is taking a growing place among offshore sailors. The security of being able to join your family at sea at any time, or to be able to contact a medical service in the event of an emergency, are arguments often raised by buyers. In addition, The satellite phone offers data services to send and receive SMS and emails, and above all make GRIB weather file requests. Unfortunately, To date, the bandwidth offered for data exchanges is extremely low, not authorizing more than 2400 bits per second on average for use from a mobile phone. Only large fixed installations, out of reach of the average boater, offer speeds up to 128 Kbps.
And tomorrow ? Iridium Communications Inc., based in McLean, Virginia (USA), announced in June 2010, the launch of a major programme to develop a constellation of next-generation satellites, gradually replacing the current one : Iridium NEXT. Read more …
March, the 7 June 2012, Imray has released its navigation app for iPhone and iPad.
It is now a free app and includes online charts purchase directly from the application.
Two charts of the Channel are always provided as standard for test, and a world map shows the areas of charts region available.
The Atlas of Oceans by Jimmy and Ivan Cornell is a gold mine in color A3 size of over one kilogram. This one won't fit in an iPad !
60 Pilot Charts Updates to the latest data, 69 transoceanic route charts, Tactical remarks and suggestions for the choice of the best crossing times provided by routers and meteorologists specializing in each area.
It had the passion and experience of the author of famous " World Cruising Routes ” (*) and those of his son to carry out such a work. Read more …