cbigma
Well-known member
First of all, I love my blackberry. There is no better way to keep track of email and the web if you are on the go.
If I am not at my workstation I have my blackberry with me, even on the Parker. I have ClassicParker.com as my
homepage on the blackberry. I am not advocating installing a laptop just for email and web.
However, there are some applications for which there is no substitute for a widescreen. It took just one weekend staring at my Garmin GPSMap176C chartplotter with it’s four inch display, wishing the screen were as big as my laptop, to drive me to this project..
The price for a chartplotter with a 15-inch display was $$$Way more than I wanted to spend. It seemed like a lot to pay for just an LCD display.
My solution was to turn a laptop into a chartplotter. I loaded Garmin BlueChart software onto a spare laptop and
bought a USB external GPS Sensor. I also use a Sprint Wireless AirCard that gives me Internet access anywhere in
my cruising range. The combination of the two turns my onboard laptop into a 15-inch chartplotter, that can also
check my email, surf the web, and keep track of local Doppler radar.
Its one thing to listen to a NOAA synthetic voice talk about an approaching line of showers in the afternoon,
and quite another to see a detailed real-time animated graphic of a line of green monsters headed directly towards
your position at 30 mph. Makes your evasive action strategy a lot simpler when you can “see” which way the greenies are headed.
I can now extend the definition of my “Virtual Office” to include the Parker, and conduct business offshore.
(insert obligatory wisecracks about running an “offshore company”) I know many of you are shaking your head and bemoaning
taking the laptop out with you, claiming the Parker should be an escape from the office, away from work. But using this
technique I’m able to add a couple dozen more trips per year that otherwise would not have happened because I was waiting
for a network report, or email, or conference call. I’d rather mix a little business with pleasure, than not have the pleasure at all.
For this project I used a “retired” Gateway model 9500 Solo Laptop with a 1.3GHZ processor 40G B HDD, 1 GB RAM, running
WinXP Pro and Garmin BlueChart Software. The GPS Sensor I used was a Garmin OEM18 USB “puck”.
I also use a Sprint Sierra Model 580 Wireless AirCard.
You could use a hundred different laptops, coupled with other types of external GPS sensors, and perhaps other
types of GPS Software. Almost all wireless carriers offer a PCMCIA laptop data card. There are so many permutations
and combinations that would work well, it would be impossible to list them all.
Unless you are suicidal, don’t use your primary business-critical laptop here folks. Use an old spare, or “retired” unit.
If you don’t have a spare, you can pick up a used one pretty cheap on the web from many different sources. At this one link alone,
Refurbished Laptops
I counted ten different types of recertified laptops on sale for under $500.
Try Tigerdirect.com or ebay. Your local CompUSA or Best Buy or Circuit City also all have “cheap” entry-level or “re-certified”
open-box laptops. Make sure you get a DC Power Adapter, because you’ll probably need to plug in for trips longer than a few hours
We are talking about a piece of hardware worth five hundred dollars tops. You don’t need a Geek’s Thunderbolt Delight here folks,,
just a current operating system with enough power to run your GPS software of choice... I use Garmin’s BlueChart. Here is what
they have for minimum requirements:
To run MapSource on your PC, your system must
have these requirements:
• Pentium processor
• Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000,
Windows XP or Windows ME
• At least 32 MB minimum RAM
• 300 MB free hard disk space
(for compact installation)
• CD-ROM drive
• 256-color display adapter and monitor
(24-bit color recommended)
• Mouse or other pointing device
• PC interface or USB interface cable
• Internet access recommended for certain
MapSource titles
The only two physical issues are 1.) find a way to keep your laptop from drifting around on the dashboard during a challenging sea,
and 2.) find the correct viewing angle so the sun glare is minimized. My approach was to make a drop-insert docking station for the
laptop that fits on top of the Pilothouse dashboard.
You’ll need a ¾ inch piece of plywood, chipboard, or your countertop material of choice. I selected a piece of melamine countertop.
You’ll also need a matching-sized piece of veneer of your choice
for the bottom. I used another thin piece of melamine (countertop plastic) for this.
Cut the piece of countertop plywood big enough to accommodate the footprint of your laptop and trim it to fit on top of the dashboard.
This final docking station blank will need some custom cutting, as the shape you need to end up with is a pentagon, with the apex of the
dashboard “V” facing foward and three other sides. You need to trim it so the docking station blank will sit snugly in place without
screws. (You will put screws in to finish, but you want a good solid fit without fasteners first.)
Next use the docking station blank as a template to trace out the bottom veneer piece. Cut the veneer bottom to match the top blank,
and set it aside until after you have finished cutting out the laptop hole.
Now you need to place your laptop on top of the docking station blank and find the correct viewing angle. Get into your most comfortable
helm “slouch” and adjust the screen position to make sure you can see the image at it’s brightest angle. LCDs all have an optimal “viewing angle”
that provides the brightest resolution. Next trace the outside footprint of the laptop with a pencil to establish the cut lines.
Be certain to include the PCMCIA card in the slot if you are going to use a cell air card, and also the USB dongle for the GPS antenna, or
serial connector if your GPS receiver is serial. Leave enough room for the power cord to bend up out of the back socket. Pay close attention
to where the fan exhaust ports are, and don’t block them.
Now cut out the laptop profile hole in the countertop, check the fit, and do final trim. The hole should prevent the laptop from moving, but
not be so snug that you have to force the laptop into place.
Now glue the bottom veneer piece in place. Make sure the finished side is “up”, i.e., the finished side shows up through the bottom of the
laptop hole when you are done. Choose a glue or contact cement that is waterproof and permanent. Your laptop will go home with you after each trip,
the docking station will not.
Paint the exposed surfaces with white paint to seal them.
Mount the finished docking station with a screw or two to hold in place. You don’t need massive fasteners, or many of them. Just a couple to prevent “drift”.
Done.
If I am not at my workstation I have my blackberry with me, even on the Parker. I have ClassicParker.com as my
homepage on the blackberry. I am not advocating installing a laptop just for email and web.
However, there are some applications for which there is no substitute for a widescreen. It took just one weekend staring at my Garmin GPSMap176C chartplotter with it’s four inch display, wishing the screen were as big as my laptop, to drive me to this project..
The price for a chartplotter with a 15-inch display was $$$Way more than I wanted to spend. It seemed like a lot to pay for just an LCD display.
My solution was to turn a laptop into a chartplotter. I loaded Garmin BlueChart software onto a spare laptop and
bought a USB external GPS Sensor. I also use a Sprint Wireless AirCard that gives me Internet access anywhere in
my cruising range. The combination of the two turns my onboard laptop into a 15-inch chartplotter, that can also
check my email, surf the web, and keep track of local Doppler radar.
Its one thing to listen to a NOAA synthetic voice talk about an approaching line of showers in the afternoon,
and quite another to see a detailed real-time animated graphic of a line of green monsters headed directly towards
your position at 30 mph. Makes your evasive action strategy a lot simpler when you can “see” which way the greenies are headed.
I can now extend the definition of my “Virtual Office” to include the Parker, and conduct business offshore.
(insert obligatory wisecracks about running an “offshore company”) I know many of you are shaking your head and bemoaning
taking the laptop out with you, claiming the Parker should be an escape from the office, away from work. But using this
technique I’m able to add a couple dozen more trips per year that otherwise would not have happened because I was waiting
for a network report, or email, or conference call. I’d rather mix a little business with pleasure, than not have the pleasure at all.
For this project I used a “retired” Gateway model 9500 Solo Laptop with a 1.3GHZ processor 40G B HDD, 1 GB RAM, running
WinXP Pro and Garmin BlueChart Software. The GPS Sensor I used was a Garmin OEM18 USB “puck”.
I also use a Sprint Sierra Model 580 Wireless AirCard.
You could use a hundred different laptops, coupled with other types of external GPS sensors, and perhaps other
types of GPS Software. Almost all wireless carriers offer a PCMCIA laptop data card. There are so many permutations
and combinations that would work well, it would be impossible to list them all.
Unless you are suicidal, don’t use your primary business-critical laptop here folks. Use an old spare, or “retired” unit.
If you don’t have a spare, you can pick up a used one pretty cheap on the web from many different sources. At this one link alone,
Refurbished Laptops
I counted ten different types of recertified laptops on sale for under $500.
Try Tigerdirect.com or ebay. Your local CompUSA or Best Buy or Circuit City also all have “cheap” entry-level or “re-certified”
open-box laptops. Make sure you get a DC Power Adapter, because you’ll probably need to plug in for trips longer than a few hours
We are talking about a piece of hardware worth five hundred dollars tops. You don’t need a Geek’s Thunderbolt Delight here folks,,
just a current operating system with enough power to run your GPS software of choice... I use Garmin’s BlueChart. Here is what
they have for minimum requirements:
To run MapSource on your PC, your system must
have these requirements:
• Pentium processor
• Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000,
Windows XP or Windows ME
• At least 32 MB minimum RAM
• 300 MB free hard disk space
(for compact installation)
• CD-ROM drive
• 256-color display adapter and monitor
(24-bit color recommended)
• Mouse or other pointing device
• PC interface or USB interface cable
• Internet access recommended for certain
MapSource titles
The only two physical issues are 1.) find a way to keep your laptop from drifting around on the dashboard during a challenging sea,
and 2.) find the correct viewing angle so the sun glare is minimized. My approach was to make a drop-insert docking station for the
laptop that fits on top of the Pilothouse dashboard.
You’ll need a ¾ inch piece of plywood, chipboard, or your countertop material of choice. I selected a piece of melamine countertop.
You’ll also need a matching-sized piece of veneer of your choice
for the bottom. I used another thin piece of melamine (countertop plastic) for this.
Cut the piece of countertop plywood big enough to accommodate the footprint of your laptop and trim it to fit on top of the dashboard.
This final docking station blank will need some custom cutting, as the shape you need to end up with is a pentagon, with the apex of the
dashboard “V” facing foward and three other sides. You need to trim it so the docking station blank will sit snugly in place without
screws. (You will put screws in to finish, but you want a good solid fit without fasteners first.)
Next use the docking station blank as a template to trace out the bottom veneer piece. Cut the veneer bottom to match the top blank,
and set it aside until after you have finished cutting out the laptop hole.
Now you need to place your laptop on top of the docking station blank and find the correct viewing angle. Get into your most comfortable
helm “slouch” and adjust the screen position to make sure you can see the image at it’s brightest angle. LCDs all have an optimal “viewing angle”
that provides the brightest resolution. Next trace the outside footprint of the laptop with a pencil to establish the cut lines.
Be certain to include the PCMCIA card in the slot if you are going to use a cell air card, and also the USB dongle for the GPS antenna, or
serial connector if your GPS receiver is serial. Leave enough room for the power cord to bend up out of the back socket. Pay close attention
to where the fan exhaust ports are, and don’t block them.
Now cut out the laptop profile hole in the countertop, check the fit, and do final trim. The hole should prevent the laptop from moving, but
not be so snug that you have to force the laptop into place.
Now glue the bottom veneer piece in place. Make sure the finished side is “up”, i.e., the finished side shows up through the bottom of the
laptop hole when you are done. Choose a glue or contact cement that is waterproof and permanent. Your laptop will go home with you after each trip,
the docking station will not.
Paint the exposed surfaces with white paint to seal them.
Mount the finished docking station with a screw or two to hold in place. You don’t need massive fasteners, or many of them. Just a couple to prevent “drift”.
Done.
.
