Off Road Notebook Computer

[DaveK]

Eric

Congratulations, you won't be disappointed.

On the waypoint question, the answer is definitely yes. You can transfer wpts both to and from your GPS, assuming that the model of GPS that you are using is supported by the software. For you, that should not be a problem since I seem to recall that you are using a Garmin 60.

The one variable in this question that I cannot comment on is the effect that your TT will have on the ability to transfer and receive wpts. I have no experience with TTs but I must believe that if your PC is successfully working with your GPS then you should be able to transfer/receive this information. A quick way to check is to, with your entire system operational, open Topo! and at the top select the pull down menu titled "handhelds". Select "change GPS settings" and enter your GPS receiver's information. Once entered, there is a "test GPS connection" button. If you get an "OK", you are good to go.

Even with everything working with your setup, I am not aware of a means by which you will be able to track others while you are using NGTopo! You can use the Topo! maps however, and track others with APRS, by simply making maps (from Topo!)of the area that you expect to explore, and placing them in your APRS program, which I assume is uiview. The process takes a little time but once it is done you will have this map ready to use in the future with no further work required.

Hope this helps. Call if you need help.

[sdnative]

I had a chance to play with the NG TOPO! today. Lets just say I am very disappointed. So much so I am probably going to send it back. Within an hour it had crashed 5 times, and like was mentioned before, the interface is very, very poor.

And to top it off, it apparently does not support the NMEA sentence I want to use ($GPWPL).

The output from my TT4 looks like this:

$GPWPL,3451.81,N,11810.37,W,WA6TK*61
$GPWPL,3423.10,N,11833.06,W,K6LDK-9*7A
$GPWPL,3338.73,N,11756.18,W,KI6IXQ-14*07
$GPWPL,3247.57,N,11706.06,W,KD7CVJ-9*2D
$GPWPL,3404.18,N,11803.02,W,KE6DQR-14*0D
$GPWPL,3424.29,N,11943.08,W,W6CGE-3*6B
$GPWPL,3411.17,N,11742.19,W,K4ELE*62
$GPWPL,3281.27,N,11703.20,W,K6EPS-9*7F
$GPWPL,3247.53,N,11706.17,W,KD7CVJ-9*29
$GPWPL,3238.78,N,11701.82,W,W6JRR-1*67

which does not display as waypoints on the map.



The direct output from my GPS looks like this:

$GPGSV,3,2,11,12,27,311,33,15,02,218,00,17,29,050,23,26,09,271,33*70
$GPGSV,3,3,11,27,58,247,42,28,15,107,23,51,50,161,35*4E
$GPGLL,3281.270,N,11703.200,W,032608,A,D*59
$GPBOD,,T,,M,,*47
$GPVTG,237.2,T,224.2,M,0.0,N,0.0,K,D*24
$PGRME,7.0,M,7.9,M,10.5,M*13
$PGRMZ,648,f,*22
$PGRMM,WGS 84*06
$HCHDG,241.3,,,13.0,E*1F
$GPRTE,1,1,c,*37
$GPRMC,032610,A,3281.270,N,11703.200,W,0.3,237.2,100709,13.0,E,D*39
$GPRMB,A,,,,,,,,,,,,V,D*19
$GPGGA,032610,3281.270,N,11703.200,W,2,08,1.0,192.1,M,-32.9,M,,*7B
$GPGSA,A,3,02,04,,09,12,,17,26,27,28,,,0.0,1.0,1.0*33

which displays as current position (as it should).

I really want the flexibilty to display the waypoints as well as current position.

The saga continues..

[DaveK]

Eric;

Sorry to hear about your problems. I wish I could troubleshoot it for you, but at a distance, it's difficult. I can only tell you that between settings and updates, all of these problems are easily solved including the display of waypoints and current position, crashes, and the output from your gps.

I hope you find your solution, whether it's with NG Topo! or another program. Good luck.

[DaveK]

Several weeks ago, I started noticing some odd and spontaneous setting changes in my Yaesu 8800. All components were checked and the only remaining culprit (I thought) was the radio. A quick checkup from Yaesu and it got a clean bill of health. Several conversations later, the problem was narrowed down to the computer programing software that I have been using by RT Systems. It seems that there have been some problems reported that were exactly like mine, but which have been addressed by their (RT Systems) recent updates.

If you have v3.xx there are updates that are currently available, free, that will get you current. All is well again (for the moment).

[sdnative]

What problems were you seeing? I use RT Systems as well.

[DaveK]

The enc/dec setting would come on by itself and power settings would change, also on their own. AND these settings were made to ALL six of the hyper-memories. I went back to the last back up I had done with the RT Systems program and none of these changes were there.

[DaveK]

Hopefully, industry's recent price reductions of solid state hard drives, will soon bring them in parity with the mechanical HHDs. Prices have dropped considerably and it appears that expectations are that there should be little difference in less than a year. Advantages include lower power consumption, , higher reliability, greater access speed, and for us, greatly improved shock resistance.

Industry observations:
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/20 ... -speed.ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10196422-64.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel- ... ,7601.html

[cruiserlarry]

The difference in size vs. price will get better over time, too. Right now, a good quality 120g SSD will cost you a lot more than a 500g fast SATA drive.

I was looking into a SSD for my Toughbook a few months ago, and learned there can be issues with SSDs too.
Mainly, possible problems related to EMI/EMP tolerance, heat, etc. And when loading programs, with a lot of simultaneous data in / data out access, they can work slower than a standard platter-type drive (well, at least the reasonably affordable units - not the mil-spec SSDs).

But, overall, the higher quality units (Intel, Samsung, etc.) are very reliable, and will eliminated hardware failure from shock (dropping your laptop). They also make 32g SSD smart cards which can be used as backup drives in rugged-type laptops that have the slots built in. Definitely the way to go if you can afford the size you need, and don't reload / add programs on a constant basis...

[DaveK]

Most of these issues will be ironed out as the price drops and the big makers address the compatibilty problems. There are also some software and hardware fixes that will deal with these issues but that just adds to the hassle in making the switch.

In this transition phase, as prices seek a reasonable level, one of the best ways to work around compatibility issues is to get an SSD from the manufacturer of your computer. At least for my laptop, they offer a HDD and an SSD, both meant to operate in each of their computers. I've seen the prices drop, but it has a bit more to go before it makes sense to switch. Eventually, the economy of scale will work in our favor. Sooner or later, SSDs will almost completely replace the mechanical spinning disk drive

[DaveK]

Well......I should have guessed that it would happen. Right after I upgrade to v3 of the RT Systems programming software, they come out with v4 and it's not a free upgrade.

Larry, you should be pleased to know that they have abandoned their reliance on the older serial port technology and it is not necessary now to use either a USB connection or a USB to serial adapter anymore. Cleverly though, they make it so that you can only use their USB cable to make the program work. They have made other upgrades as well, see: http://www.rtsystemsinc.com/download/kitupgrade2009.pdf .

Oh, did I forget to mention, if you send them your old stuff, they will knock 25% off your order for v4.

Cheers!