"Ed Bruette" writes: >Or, you could stick with the single engine and use a bow and stern thruster. Come now gents: single engine, no bow thruster. It keeps the heart healthy! Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Peter Bennett writes: >Yes - NMEA occasionally adds new sentences but I think most things >will still work. If your GPS has a choice of NMEA versions, you may >need to use the earlier version. For what it's worth, the "0183" in NMEA-0183 refers to "Version 01, 1983", so the radar (made in 1990) should have no problems receiving data NMEA-0183 data from a modern GPS. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Mel Kowal writes: >I second the swap from Jabsco macerator to Sealand diaphragm. And I third it. When I refit Island Eagle I installed two Sealand diaphram pumps on the aft black water tank and the grey water tank. I left the existing macerator pump on the forward black water tank. That one failed the first year of use, so I replaced it. Last summer the replacement failed. It's now been replaced with a Sealand. Score Macerator 0, Sealand 3. > As for the switches, all of my pumps (black, grey, water transfer, fuel polishing) are equipped with Intermatic clockwork timer switches, like this: http://www.intermatic.com/Default.asp?action=subcat&sid=96&cid=53&did=5 They are dead simply to install and debug, and you can pick them up at Home Despot. If you are really keen, run the pump right when the "Tank Full" indicator comes on, make a note of how long the tank takes to empty, and the put a label beside the switch so you know how long to run it for. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

DandMYachts@aol.com writes: >some time back someone advised there were 2 very good books on marine >wiring??? anyone remeber which 2 they were ?? My two favorite are Nigel Calder's "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" and Charlie Wing's "Boatowner's Illustrated Handbook of Wiring". Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

sea_trek_2000@yahoo.com writes: >Thanks for that, but is there something I can do to correct this? Chuck Yes, probably. For reasons lost in the sands of antiquity (well, OK, a Teletype machine) the end of a line was not denoted by a single "end of line" character, but by two characters: "carriage return" (known as CR) and "line feed" (LF). Since early computers used teletype-style terminals for input and output, this somewhat strange tradition was carried on: the end of a line was/is terminated with both a CR and an LF. Later and more modern computers have played fast and loose with this, however. First, some operating systems will allow you to use either a CR or and LF, and they will be treated as a CR/LF pair. On the other hand, some didn't. That's why terminals (remember those) had a weird cryptic setting that allowed you to control this. When it was set wrong, you would always get double-spaced lines. In the modern world, text display systems (e.g. MS Word, a web browser) simply flow text on the fly. There is no end of line, only the end of a paragraph. The lines are reflowed depending on the width of the window. When that text is sent out via certain email application, each paragraph becomes a "line" since it has no CR/LF. I would guess that Chuck's problem is that he is either (a) composing the messages in an editor that does not use CR/LF, maybe MS Word, and then pasting it into his email client, or (b) he is using an email client with a similar wonky editor. Or he's composing his messages on a circa-1985 terminal with the CR/LF set wrong :-) Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

baypelican@earthlink.net writes: >The comment was made about using a Verizon Air Card in Canada. While this >is unlimited service or 5 gigs in the US, the same subscription is changed >to per megabyte in Canadian territory, something like one or two dollars a >megabyte. Be cautious and check this out before you get your first bill. You should definitely investigate this beforehand. In my particular case I have a Telus Air Card, it's $40/month for unlimited. I can add unlimited US roaming for an additional $15/month. It's worth spending some time on the web site of your service provider. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

<2elnav@netbistro.com> writes: >Not having a functional and working pump out would be bad for business >because boats needing a pump-out will go to the next marina for a pump >out; plus buy their fuel etc. from them. Although I come from Ontario on >the Canadian side of the border I found the US regulations for border water >states to be as tough or tougher than Ontario. One further note in this. When I was boating in Ontario, I found that in most cases the pump-out was right beside the diesel pump, so you could fuel up and pump out at the same time. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

David H Sorenson writes: >On a related note, the topography of Duluth is of high hills rising above >Lake Superior. According, it is an everyday occurence to see substantial >stretches of the lake from an altitude of about 800 feet. The REAL >pollution of Lake Superior locally comes after a heavy rain when the >Nemadgi River in Wisconsin dumps bazillions of gallons of literally brown >water into the lake. From the heights, it is very visible. Whereas the >main lake is blue, the waters on the Wisconsin side are brown, carrying >who knows what in its runoff. For what it's worth, this is typically suspended silt, not pollution. While suspended silt is harmful in certain fish populations, it's not necessarily harmful to humans. Unlike the E Coli we carry in our gut, which most definitely is harmful to humans. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Garrett Lambert writes: >AIS targets quickly clutter the display, and could easily overwhelm >it. Moreover, many vessels broadcast even when tied up. The fun of >seeing far-off vessels quickly dissipates in favor of information on >the movements of ships in a limited region, and the software in most >navigation programs lets you define the area for which AIS icons are >displayed. Just a quick FYI on this. Using Nobeltec you can also filter the AIS targets, so (for example) you might choose to ignore targets that have a Closest Point of Approach greater than 2 miles. I do this and find it helps a great deal. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Truelove39@aol.com writes: >I tooB always look for savings when it comes to boat gear, and although this >solenoid is about half the price ofB aB watertight, continuous dutyB marine >unit, I could not justify it for the following reasons: The solenoid is installed belowdecks in a completely dry location. > >ItB is an automotive solenoid - it is not watertight andB is only >ratedB 100A for 6 minutes with a 20% duty cycle -B windlass duty is always >100%. True. However, my windlass is 24 volts and draws about 50 amps. Lifting my entire 400 feet of chain only takes about 4 minutes. It's very unlikely this will cause a problem. >Also, theB 6mmB terminal studs are too small for anything larger than 1/0 >wire terminals.B Correct. I run #2. >The specs state that it is forB permanent magnet motors, but many windlass >motors are shunt-wound with brushes, and need larger contacts due to inrush >current when starting.B Also correct. The Ideal uses a reversing-field motor. Inrush current is always a problem. It's possible this contactor might have problems, I'll see. However, for me the big advantage is that this is a single unit, as opposed to 4 individual solenoids, each with multiple exposed contacts. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden