SeaClear

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by caribnsol

Only real problem I am seeing is the instructions are very bare bones and that I have to try different things to make it work.

Yeah, it takes a long while to figure the software out and feel comfortable with it. Then again the price is right.

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by Retcoastie

My problem using SeaClearII on Vista is when it opens a window comes up that says "Could Not Open Communication Port 1". What this does is not allow my GPS to talk to the program. .............
I suspect SeaClear is looking for a serial input port and my laptop does not have serial ports, only USB. I had similiar trouble initially hooking up my scanner and printer but was able to redirect them to the USB port. I don't know how to redirect SeaClear to look for my GPS at a USB port.

SeaClear does look for serial ports. My laptop has no serial ports as well. My data cable from my Garmin GPS is a serial connection, so, I had to buy a serial port to USB port adapter. This adapter came with a driver which SeaClear recognized instantly.

It sounds like you have a GPS which has a USB cable. I would suspect that you just need the correct driver.

[Elie]

Originally Posted by S/V Elusive

Not to hijack the thread, but guess who just ran smack dab into the BIG 60???!!!!

Hi Chuck!

Bravo Thomas, you made it! But keep in mind from now on, that if you ever wake up some morning without any pain or complaint what so ever, about some muscle, joint, bone, and otherwise you feel perfect, beware: You may be dead!

[Daddy's Dream]

Originally Posted by Retcoastie

Has anyone gotten SeaClearII to work on the Vista operating system?

Thanks

I instaled it on Vista and it works great. I haven't had it on a boat yet, but I've been playing with it for about a year and I'm happy.

[Daddy's Dream]

Originally Posted by Retcoastie

My problem using SeaClearII on Vista is when it opens a window comes up that says "Could Not Open Communication Port 1".

That only means the program can't find the GPS. If your GPS mouse isn't plaged in then it is doing what it should be doing.

If it is pluged in then I would try changing the post settings under SeaClear's preferances.

[Ramona]

I use Seaclear on my commercial fishing vessel. At first it was a little difficult to follow the instructions, mainly because they were translated into English and were not all that clear. Having used it now for a couple of years its simply superb. I use digital navy charts which makes a big difference. Other fisherman in this port that use expensive charting systems are staggered to find this system is free and makes theirs look crap. The secret is in the quality of charts you have. Seaclear will do everything you need.

[caribnsol]

Retcoastie: There is a thread about Seaclear and Vista on the Sevens Seas site. Also I down loaded a serial port emulator from Delorme that helped SC recognize the gps, your mfg might have something similar.

Mike: Hows the weather down in Merritt Island ? Used to live there and my wife is from there. I am planning on selling the house here and moving there next year. Though slip fees seem outrageous compared to here. Called Patrick, they are $3-4 ft/month, but a 2 year waiting list. Called a few other places and the best I could find was $12 ft/month.

[Tropic Cat]

I think you mean me as I appear to be the only poster in the thread who lives on Merritt Island. Yes $12 per ft per month is the going slip rate here.

As to weather, it's another perfect day. Temperature will be 75 degrees F today with winds out of the SE at 10 knots. Same as yesterday!! Perfect sailing weather!!

Check your email and PM

[Retcoastie]

Daddy, I just Googled "tennessee river chart" and got TN River Navigation Charts
The Tennessee River charts are in JPG. Others you want may not be. The Cumberland River, which I will do next, is in PDF.

Also, I'm still needing help With SeaClear opening the Com Port. I don't think it is a GPS problem as my Garmin handheld talks to the MapSource program on this laptop. I tried changing the ports in the properties area. No Luck. Question, when you start SeaClear without a GPS connected, do you get the Could Not Open Com Port 1 message?

Thanks

Ken

[btrayfors]

Interesting thread. But, there are some misleading notions here.

The difference between rhumb line and great circle calculations is not plane geometry vs. spherical trig. Both, in effect, are based on spherical trig.

The difference between the two is that:

1. Rhumb lines represent CONSTANT BEARING lines to the destination on the surface of the globe; while

2. Great Circle lines represent CONSTANTLY CHANGING BEARINGS to the destination.

As Gord correctly said, many GPSs calculate great circle distances and bearings. If you were to use only the first bearing calculated in New York and your destination were, e.g., London, you'd miss your destination not by a few miles but a huge amount, because the initial course is FAR north of the direct bearing to London.

When you leave New York JFK on a Great Circle you're headed mostly North (51.4 True), and as you make your approach to London you're headed mostly South on the Circle.

By contrast, if you were in New York and you calculated the rhumb line to London, you could follow that same bearing (77.9 True) all the way across the Atlantic and wind up in London.

With the great circle calculations, you'd have to be constantly adjusting your heading as you progress across the Atlantic. In practice, mariners and aviators actually just follow a series of short rhumb lines intersecting the great circle route.

Difference? The Great Circle route is closer, at 2989.5 nautical miles. The rhumb line, while longer (3107.4 nautical miles), involves no course change. Notice that on this Trans-Atlantic crossing of about 3,000 miles, the mileage saving isn't all that much....only about 118 nautical miles.

By the by, radio waves follow Great Circle routes, so many DXers use GC calculations to orient their directional antennas.

Bill

[dacust]

Originally Posted by Retcoastie

Also, I'm still needing help With SeaClear opening the Com Port. I don't think it is a GPS problem as my Garmin handheld talks to the MapSource program on this laptop. I tried changing the ports in the properties area. No Luck. Ken

SeaClear seems to support only serial com port devices, like many packages.

Thing is I am not familiar with anything that will make a usb device communicate as a serial device. Someone mentioned an emulator for a particular brand. So I'd check with the manufacturer of your antenna and see if they have one.

You may be better off hooking up a serial gps antenna. If you don't have a com port, a usb/com port converter can be found easily. Seems like any of them will work. I have used two different ones with my Garmins since my laptop is usb-only.

@btrayfors - Thanks for that explanation. I was thinking of replying, but I'm glad I waited. I basically new what you said, but not all of it and I know I wouldn't have been as clear about it.

[scotte]

Originally Posted by Retcoastie

Also, I'm still needing help With SeaClear opening the Com Port. I don't think it is a GPS problem as my Garmin handheld talks to the MapSource program on this laptop. I tried changing the ports in the properties area. No Luck. Question, when you start SeaClear without a GPS connected, do you get the Could Not Open Com Port 1 message?

Just checking, but did you reconfigure your GPS to spit out NMEA instead of using the GARMIN protocol? You have to use GARMIN mode for Mapsource, and NMEA mode for SeaClear...

[sundown]

For what it worth I loaded 'SeaClear" onto a computer and left it running while we did a boat delivery from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. We did not use it for actual navigation because it was easier from the pilot's chair to see the the monitors with Nob elTek BUT it did show the same boat position as Nobeltek Ver 7 whenever I looked at it. Also for what it is worth both programs showed the boat in the wrong position while in Puerto Vallarta.

[hellosailor]

dacust-
"Thing is I am not familiar with anything that will make a usb device communicate as a serial device. Someone mentioned an emulator for a particular brand. So I'd check with the manufacturer of your antenna and see if they have one."

this has got nothing to do with antennas. USB stands for "Universal Serial Bus" and in fact all USB devices ARE serial devices. What they are not, is dumb old "RS-232" aka "NMEA" serial devices though. A USB device can only function when connected to a USB master which typically means a computer. Plain NMEA and RS-232 devices aren't as fussy, they will spit out data on command and accept whatever data comes into them, no brains (no "master") required. So in a sense, the old serial devices are superior to the new ones.

Except, of course, the USB devices use the intelligence in the master instead of requiring humans to match parameters and make configurations, which makes them better in many cases. And, USB uses incredibly faster data transfer speeds.

You can connect any old-fashioned serial device into a USB port on a computer by using a "USB to serial" adapter--but that's hardware, which also requires software drivers in the master, and like most computer gizmos sometimes it just doesn't work. Especially if you buy blindly by price. "Some assembly required, batteries not included" and all that good stuff.<G>

[Daddy's Dream]

I use SeaClear on Windows Vista and have been very happy with it, (other than, I can't open ENC Vector maps with it).

I use a Holux USB GPS, (model 213u), Here is the link to the product on the Holux web site. I got mine off ebay for $20 plus $10 shipping.

http://www.holux.com/JCore/en/produc...nt.jsp?pno=273

Talk about being off...... You can't trust GPS according to the spec sheet on this GPS it has a 75 yard margin of error. I also use DeLorme Street Atlas 2005. I put it in the window of my house, picked up 4 satelettes, (when outside it picks up 10 to 12 sats). Set the GPS to leave a trail and left it all night. The next morning the trail was spread over 4 blooks, (about 3 or 400 yards). On the road when it is picking up more sats, (10 to 12), I have seen it 20 to 40 yards off.

Bottom line Don't trust your GPS.