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It's time, we think, to renew the site, to stop selling the software (which isn't going
to make us rich)to concentrate more on the hardware solutions for typical sailing
problems (which definitely won't make us rich). Until we have time to make the changes
we're going to leave the site as it is but we won't be continuing to offer the software
for sale. The best seller we had was the GPS upload program but now the RYA plotter seems
to be on it's way out and, if you can find the free charts, the OpenCPN system provides
better functionality anyway (www.opencpn.org) including uploads to GPS units (use Garmin
transfer protocol for Garmin devices, by the way). Stepping Stones is still fun but the
schools it was intended for often can't use it because of limits placed on them by network admin
people and it won't run on netbooks because of their screen limitations.
The encryption software is now largely taken care of by functions inbuilt into modern
browsers. So, to a happily retired sailor flogging away at software doesn't seem attractive.
Just lately I've finished a power meter for plugging into solar panels and that seems much
more fun to play with. So that, plus a few more articles for PBO, and a few other
unrelated ideas, will provide all the fun I need into the near future until I can find the
time to work on the website again. Wales April 2011
Not hard hardware
We offer solutions to common problems to sailors who
are capable of making up electronic circuits. These
are in the form of circuit diagrams and descriptions
and are totally free of charge. They are invariably
projects that we have completed and installed on our
own boat and are thus thoroughly tested.
Have you got so many NMEA instruments
that linking them together causes problems with degraded signals? If so you need a
buffer. In the shops these are
typically £50 while you could make ours for a tenner!
Have you got a gas alarm? We show you how to make a cheap gas alarm using pre-calibrated components from RS and a kit from Maplin.
What about trickle charging your
batteries? It's easy to link them all together but that means a fault on one
will drain the rest, we can show you how to stop the drain.
Galvanic Isolators seem to cost an enormous amount and we can't understand why. So we set about making one. Here are the details: galvanic isolator.
Just plain fun Fun is good, fun is nice, do you want to listen for dolphins?
I don't know if the hydrophone project will catch them singing because
we've never been in the right place at the right time to try; but I
know it detects ship and boat propellors and it's fun! We show you how
to put together a couple of Maplin amplifiers to make a hydrophone.
goto Fun Projects
...and if you enjoy looking at these sleek creatures here's our own
little video
from which the shot above was captured.
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Software for all If you use
the Admiralty RYA Chart Plotter you may have been frustrated to find you cannot upload
the waypoints you create to your GPS. GPSWPUpload is a utility which has all the functions you need
to upload and download waypoints from the Admiralty Plotter to a GPS using the Garmin protocol.
Stuck in a port with nothing to do to amuse the kids and yourselves? Stepping Stones
is a wonderful little game full of challenges and surprises. Written as
an educational game it is also superb as a general knowledge quiz; and
since you can write your own questions and answers, it can occupy you
on many different levels.
Or try Bingo our simple little program that scrambles a list of questions and answers; or simply bingo numbers and rhyming calls.
If you are travelling you are likely to need all your bank, credit
card details, logon details; and so on to travel with you. This needs
everything wrapped up in an encrypted, portable file which is something
your browser and operating system cannot supply for you. NetXPasswords
allows you to manage the lot in a personal, portable but totally secure
way. For other personal files that you don't want to be looked at we
offer a file encryption program CrytptAFile which will securely wrap up any sort of computer file
using the same unbreakable encryption algorithms used for web transfers.
If you're down below and the wind is howling above isn't it nice to
watch the windspeed in relative comfort without venturing out? Our boat
has an internal helm position but no internal wind repeater so this program takes the wind instrument NMEA output and displays it
as a virtual instrument (VI) in different formats on the laptop screen.
goto Software Solutions
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Send your ideas We are always keen to try new projects so if you have a problem you can't solve why not get in touch and see if you can arouse our interest. Would you like a program written?
Or how about PIC code? A website
like this one can be yours very cheaply.
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We hope these Google ads help you find what you're looking for
YBW Boats for sale
If you're a Teacher, you need Haven
TeachersHaven
You can get components here...
We prefer payment via . . .
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. . . but we will accept cheques. Please contact us.
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