Author : Francis

From 2009 independent IT trainer and consultant for boating. Translator of several navigation apps on iOS and MacOS. Professional in boating for over 30 years old, I provide training for applications and consulting and assistance for the integration of mobile devices (tablets, smartphones) on board pleasure boats.

About alignments and sextant

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This holiday season, during which we happily return for a few days to the traditions, inspires me to rethink the traditions of an activity that is dear to us : navigation.
Not that of our illustrious predecessors, royal navies, discoverers of distant lands, corsairs, pirates or honest merchants, isn't it. I want to talk about the one that has concerned us for more than half a century : yachting. Especially to the attention of our friends who are sailors born in 70-80, who discovered navigation from the years 90, period of the appearance of GPS on board our pleasure boats.
I, who is constantly adding a website and a blog on the intricacies of computing onboard, of all these tools which bring us our position a few meters away, what the weather will be like in eight days, the height of water under the keel, the time at which it will be necessary to tack to take advantage of the favorable wind shift, and how much additional information is available in three mouse clicks, I don’t forget how I learned to sail.

This holiday season, during which we happily return for a few days to the traditions, inspires me to rethink the traditions of an activity that is dear to us : navigation.

Not that of our illustrious predecessors, royal navies, discoverers of distant lands, corsairs, pirates or honest merchants, isn't it. I want to talk about the one that has concerned us for more than half a century : yachting. Especially to the attention of our friends who are sailors born in 1970-80, who discovered navigation from the years 1990, period of the appearance of GPS on board our pleasure boats. Read more …

Install the GPS BU-353 with GPSNavX/MacENC

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bu-353

The BU-353 GPS connected to the MacBook via USB

You have to follow the steps below, in order :

1) Quit GPSNavX or MacENC before proceed.
2) Install the Prolific PL2303 driver.
http://www.francis-fustier.fr/media/Telecharge/PL2303_1.2.1.sit
3) Connect the BU-353 USB GPS antenna to a USB port on your Mac.
4) Launch GPSNavX or MacENC, select the menu "GPS > Connect ". Open the "Settings" drawer, then select :
– Type : "SiRF USB"
– Port : "usbserial"
– Rate : " 4800 ”

Read more …

ENC User Permit, what is ?

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The "user permit" of ENC charts is a unique identifying number attached to a device, or to an application, able to read encrypted ENC chart data (format S-63). This “User Permit” is required to register a system (chartplotter, MFD, software) and thus make it possible to generate, for charts purchased, a single authentication code to use these charts to the referenced system. User Permit (User Permit) consists of a chain of 28 digits hexadecimal code.

Let's take the example of a purchase on the site Chartworld. Read more …

Good news from Apple !

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No, I won't tell you about the insolent quarterly results published by Apple (more than 20 million devices sold, all models combined).
I won't tell you about the dizzying rise in Apple shares over the past year either. (to 78 down to 192 dollars).
No, isn't it.
The good news I want to talk about is the new Mac Mini going on sale ! Enjoy, macusers browsers : entry-level 2.26GHz, 2 GB of RAM and a 160 GB hard drive, that all for 549 €, thus 50 less than the previous entry level.
That makes a superb equipment to get onboard for GPSNavX or MacENC about 786 € !
Oui, oui, right count : Mac Mini + Clavier standard + souris Magic Mouse + 1 wide 19 screen″ LCD 1er prix (from one of our specialist suppliers).
Although, for my own, a wireless mouse on a card table, as the boat heels… you know.

No, I won't tell you about the insolent quarterly results published by Apple (more than 20 million devices sold, all models combined).

I won't tell you about the dizzying rise in Apple shares over the past year either. (to 78 up more to 200 dollars).

No, isn't it.

The good news I want to talk about is the sale of the new Mac Mini ! Enjoy, macusers boaters : entry level 2,26 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and a hard drive 160 GB RAM, that all for 549 €, thus 50 less than the previous entry level.

That makes a superb equipment to get onboard for GPSNavX or MacENC about 786 € !

Oui, oui, right count : Mac Mini + Clavier standard + souris Magic Mouse + 1 wide 19 screen″ LCD 1er prix (from one of our specialist suppliers) good enough to get onboard.

Although, for my own, a wireless mouse on a card table, as the boat heels… you know.

Navionics does not know the crisis…

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Many users wonder about the redundancy of Navionics charts. Examples :
“I bought an SD-Card (or a CF-Card) with a Navionics region for my chartplotter, but I can't use it with my Mac. Why should I pay again to use these charts with MacENC ? ”.
Or even :
“I already have Navionics mapping for my software on Mac, why do I have to pay for mapping for iNavX on my iPhone again ? ”
So I asked these questions to person concerned. First of all, regarding iNavX, the answer can already be found in the Navionics FAQ which I translated and which is available on my site :
Q : Can I purchase Navionics charts from a source other than X-Traverse.com for use with iNavX ?
R : No. Only genuine Navionics charts, subscribed with www.x-traverse.com are iNavX consistent. Navionics charts on physical Plug-and-Play media are not compatible, not more than those purchased from the iTunes AppStore Navionics Mobile.
It has the merit of being clear.
Regarding software on Mac, the answer is already more nuanced :
Fugawi, the host of Navionics maps on its site x-traverse.com, tells us :
“Navionics charts supplied with Plug-and-Play support (Navionics SD ou CF card) cannot work with MacENC 7 because the Navionics multicard reader is not currently supported by Mac OS. ”
What Richard Ray, the MacENC editor, retorts : “We plan to support the Navionics chart reader, but I cannot give a date because it is up to Navionics to provide a specific driver for support of its reader by OS.
And what says the main concerned ? Navionics tells us : »Products for direct download (the cards) work exclusively with MacENC 7.xx on the Mac on which they were activated. These charts can not be copied to an SD or CF card for use on the plotters supported. To do this you must purchase Navionics maps on official Navionics Plug-and-Play media ».
We can therefore deduce, not to be spiteful, that Navionics has great interest to not rushing to provide an OS X driver for its Multi-Card Reader. This allows them to sell several times the same charting to same users, provided they have a chartplotter, a Mac and an iPhone !
My Little Business, It Knows no Crisis…

Many users wonder about the redundancy of Navionics charts.

“I bought an SD-Card (or a CF-Card) with a Navionics chart folder for my plotter, but I can't use it with my Mac. Why should I pay again to use these charts with MacENC ? ”.

Or even :

“I already have Navionics mapping for my software on Mac, why do I have to pay for mapping for iNavX on my iPhone or iPad again ? ”

So I asked these questions to person concerned. Read more …

Welcome to the blog !

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Welcome to the blog Navigation Mac, I invite you initially to have a look on the About page for explanations about the motivations of this blog.

Feel free to leave feedback and share your experiences using Apple hardware on your boats, This will benefit all browsers who will be happy to visit this blog. For practical reasons, Comments for a topic are closed after the one-month deadline.