Apr. 11, 2007 - plotter

New Lowrance plotter arrived yesterday..... looks like an excellent bit of kit...

Also ordered the PC planning kit, which in reality is just a secure MMC/SD card reader, and then uses the emulator software.....

It however, works really well.... charts pop up nicely, waypoints easy to create, and have successfully transferred waypoints from PC to plotter, and vice versa...

Now i've got to work out where to mount it...

The pedestal is quite full already...

One of the instruments mounted on the pedestal is a ST50 GPS repeater, which won't be needed with the plotter at the helm, so that can come off.... the hole it leaves will be replaced by the large display depth gauge from down below, which will be much easier to see...... the hole below will be filled with a Nasa battery monitor.... leaving a spare ST50 GPS repeater to sell....

I'll then have to work out how to mount the plotter on top of the pedestal... it has a mounting bracket, but the pedestal top is rounded, so I may need to make up some spacers out of god knows what to get it to fit comfortably.....

Laptop will remain below for planning purposes, plus using my Maptech charts for a backup plotter.... and will also serve its purpose with Shotley's wireless network.... however, the operating system is 98, and is a bit knackered, and won't accept a wireless card, so I may have to buy a new O/S for it... and then face the hassle of trying to reload the maptech software, which won't be easy with their registration system..... ho hum!

Anyway..... down to the boat again this weekend (unsuprisingly).... the kids and SWMBO are desperate to spend a night on her!