A Boatowner's Guide to Using PCs on Board

Personal computers (PCs) and the marine applications they run are increasingly popular on boats of all sizes. Learn how using a PC on board can enhance your boating enjoyment by giving accurate and timely information and by taking much of the work and uncertainty out of navigation. A Boatowner's Guide to Using PCs on Board helps you through the process of choosing a PC as well as suitable software for tidal calculations, route planning, chart plotting, performance analysis, weather information, communications, and Internet access. When you combine electronic charts, marine navigation software, and your boat's GPS you can watch your boat's progress across the chart display, calling up local tides and currents with a mouse click. From a vector-based chart you can switch to a nighttime display that shows the locations of nearby lighted navigation aids. Interface the PC to a single sideband receiver and see the latest weather maps and satellite images for your area, or send and receive e-mail messages anywhere in the world. If you're heading offshore, you can still have fax, e-mail, or even full Internet access through the growing number of satellite communication services. And of course there are plenty of other uses for a PC on board, from vessel management programs to sailing simulators to computer games. "An excellent introduction to setting up your own onboard system."--Yachting Monthly "Essential and easy reading for those planning to take a computer to sea. . . . A great introduction, written for boat users, not computer nerds. This book is long overdue."--Sailing Today "Weather information, the Internet, and choosing and installing a system are all covered in this easy-to-read book. If you are confused about computers and want to become less so, this is the book for you."--Lloyd's ListTim Thornton is the author of 'A Boatowner's Guide to Using PCs on Board', published 2000 under ISBN 9780071364461 and ISBN 0071364463.