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 dispense from training to applications as well as advice and assistance for the integration of mobile devices (tablets, smartphones) on board pleasure boats.

Reading : “With the Fairies” by Sylvain Tesson

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With the Fairies

With the Fairies

This book is not a maritime novel ! And yet it is part of a “ sailing trip » of three months which takes the author from cape to cape along a long coastal strip from Galicia to the Shetland Islands.

Meditative journey, Tesson goes in search of his Fairies, which he describes as “a quality of reality revealed by a disposition of the gaze”. Led by his companions on a sailboat 15 meters high, he will alternate the maritime stages while gaining towards the north, and hiking or cycling stops along selected promontories. Read more …

Update Weather4D R&N 2.0.92 -New charts update

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As part of the gradual conversion of raster charts to vector charts ENC (¹) on the platform Geogarage, Weather4D Routage & Navigation now includes the following ENC catalogs :

  • Portugal (derived from the productions of the Portuguese Hydrographic Service – IH)
  • Poland (derived from the productions of the Polish Hydrographic Service – HOPN)
  • Australia (derived from the productions of the Australian Hydrographic Service – AHO)

These ENC catalogs are added to the previous ones already available (Spain, Croatia, Germany, Netherland). Others are under negotiation such as Greece and Sweden.

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(¹) Geogarage to introduce ENC charts for Weather4D
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Starlink goes from strength to strength but still offers versatile services

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Since the first launch in 2018 more than 6.600 satellites Starlink have been launched to date, of which almost 6.100 are operational (¹). Satellites have evolved technically, just as the infrastructure was gradually improved. They are launched in packets of 20 to 23 at the rate of one SpaceX flight on average every ten days. However, the planned constellation of 34.396 satellites is still far from being achieved. Service coverage expands over time with the addition of new territories as requests for authorization from States are successfully completed. (²).

For more than four years, many boaters around the world have equipped their boat with an antenna/router kit by using the “Roaming” service. (ROAM in English) Who, with a particularly low cost, offers the possibility of maritime use off the coast thanks to an activated “Mobile Priority” option.

But everything is not as simple as that… Read more …

GNS 3000 Bluetooth GPS receiver for mobiles [Update]

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March, the GNS 3000 to Global Navigation Systems has been available since November 2022 (¹). It replaces the GNS 2000 Plus. Now equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter 5.0, it has an SD Card connector to record position data continuously.

Compatible with Apple products, it is mainly aimed at devices not equipped with GPS : iPod Touch and iPad WiFi all models. It can also be used with all PDAs, Bluetooth-enabled laptops and tablets. It has a Li-Ion battery offering a battery life of 10 hours continuously.

[Update 15 May 2024] From iOS/iPadOS 17.x, a update of the device is essential. But it can only be done from an Android device. If you buy a used device, Check that she was done.

Read more …

Weather4D renews its GRIB model offering

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Latest releases Lite, Routing, Routing & Navigation arrive with a full renewed list of weather and ocean models in order to allow users to benefit from the evolution of the offer of international forecasting models. At the same time, all GRIB files go to format GRIB-2, this allows for a reduction in their size and a better compression ratio. Read more …