With the cost of instrument maxis (mast displays) so high, has anyone out
there come up with a simple solution? It seems like it would be fairly easy
to have a program to read and direct the NEMA sentence to a commonly
available LCD display. Use a plam pilot or similar to run a selection of
what to display and to direct the info to a display. Any ideas?

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 20:27:08 -0800, "dbp" wrote:

With the cost of instrument maxis (mast displays) so high, has anyone out
there come up with a simple solution? It seems like it would be fairly easy
to have a program to read and direct the NEMA sentence to a commonly
available LCD display. Use a plam pilot or similar to run a selection of
what to display and to direct the info to a display. Any ideas?

Commonly available cheap LCD panels can't be seen in sunlight.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a

"Happy is he that taketh thy little ones and dasheth them upon the stones." __Psalm 137

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 20:27:08 -0800, "dbp" wrote:

With the cost of instrument maxis (mast displays) so high, has anyone out
there come up with a simple solution? It seems like it would be fairly easy
to have a program to read and direct the NEMA sentence to a commonly
available LCD display. Use a plam pilot or similar to run a selection of
what to display and to direct the info to a display. Any ideas?


The NMEA-0183 data format is described in my NMEA FAQ (on my GPS/NMEA
site below), and I have some links to companies that make NMEA
displays.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 20:27:08 -0800, "dbp" wrote:

With the cost of instrument maxis (mast displays) so high, has anyone out
there come up with a simple solution? It seems like it would be fairly easy
to have a program to read and direct the NEMA sentence to a commonly
available LCD display. Use a plam pilot or similar to run a selection of
what to display and to direct the info to a display. Any ideas?

Rodney is correct. Don't forget to get something seriously water
resistant as well. At least one of my customers uses a standard
external lcd dsplay with his laptop and my program. He uses a bracket
to swivel the display into the companionway for viewing, and out of
the way when not needed. It's protected from the weather and direct
sun by the companionway hatch cover when in use. It should be visible
from the helm on most boats. Whether the trimmers can see it or not
depends on the boat.
__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

"Rodney Myrvaagnes" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 20:27:08 -0800, "dbp" wrote:

With the cost of instrument maxis (mast displays) so high, has anyone out
there come up with a simple solution? It seems like it would be fairly
easy
to have a program to read and direct the NEMA sentence to a commonly
available LCD display. Use a plam pilot or similar to run a selection of
what to display and to direct the info to a display. Any ideas?

Commonly available cheap LCD panels can't be seen in sunlight.

Depends on what you regards as common cheap. In my opinion, a common cheap
LCD is a standard STN reflective type monochrome display, which gets more
readable with more light. This is the type of display used in intruments and
repeaters. You probably referred to color LCD's, which are definately not
cheap.

Meindert

"dbp" wrote in message
news:Fqc2c.12970$Zp.7642@fed1read07...
With the cost of instrument maxis (mast displays) so high, has anyone out
there come up with a simple solution? It seems like it would be fairly
easy
to have a program to read and direct the NEMA sentence to a commonly
available LCD display. Use a plam pilot or similar to run a selection of
what to display and to direct the info to a display. Any ideas?

The funny part is: they don't need to be expensive. Simple 4 digit, 7
segment LCDs are very cheap to produce and the required electronics even
cheaper. They are definately cheaper to produce than even the simplest
monochrome Palm unit.
It's all marketing.....

Meindert

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 22:32:09 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

Depends on what you regards as common cheap. In my opinion, a common cheap
LCD is a standard STN reflective type monochrome display, which gets more
readable with more light. This is the type of display used in intruments and
repeaters. You probably referred to color LCD's, which are definately not
cheap.
Good point. I had one of those on my frst laptop (a 286 12mHz,
woohoo!). I wonder if you can still find one set up to use as an
external SVGA monitor. Time to hit Google, I guess.


__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

LCDs are like solar panels. Been around for a long time but never drop in
price. The current flat panel television craze hopefully will change that.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"

Both LCD displays and solar panels have dropped drastically
in the past few years. The problem I see with the OP's suggestion
is that a mast mounted display needs some pretty large characters,
needs to be very waterproof and UV proof. There still needs to
be a computer (albiet it fairly simple) to do the work. This all
mounts up into a non-cheap device. There are some simple
repeaters out there that are cheap but are intended to be used
at a nav station or at the helm. None are big enough for mast
mount use. I'd guess that the cost for a commercial unit is not
really that outrageous.

Doug
s/v Callista

"SAIL LOCO" wrote in message
...
LCDs are like solar panels. Been around for a long time but never drop in
price. The current flat panel television craze hopefully will change
that.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"No shirt, no skirt, full service"