Steve, >>POLARIZED sunglasses. > >Thought that would be a problem. I'm about to order a $$ pair of >polarized progressives like yours - so I'll have the same problem as you. >I normally use a pair of single-vision glasses for more than a few >minutes computer work. I discovered a few years back that one can get a >painful neck/shoulder syndrome using progressives on a large screen, >because you have to tilt your head back to get the correct focal length. >But it's a pain to change glasses when piloting. I've been doing some experimenting since my last message. 1. The PBs are MUCH more comfortable to use with progressive eyeglasses than a hard tube if they're both sitting on a typical desktop -- for the very reason you give. The top of the PB screen is lower and you don't have to crank your head back. The Krogen's nav area beside the helm is really a stand-up deal, so I'll reserve judgement on the height of the surface relative to my eyes 'til I try it out with a hard tube. The PBs have all been very comfortable. 2. I'm not sure why the polarized glasses are such a problem. All the PB screens are polarized at 45 degrees apparently (although the 170 is 45 degrees the OTHER way - which may explain why it seems to be easier to see for me). With the color screens, rotating your head 45 degrees to the left causes the screen to go black, whereas rotating your head to the right has this effect with the 170 monochrome screen. I'm often glancing at the screen from an angle off to the left (the screen is to the right of the helm) and from there it seems to take much less rotation (on the color displays) than if I were dead in front of the machine. I have to wonder why they don't polarize the screens horizontally -- just like the glasses. One nice thing about your LCD ASD is that you can orient the screen so it's pointing directly at the helm position for easy viewing of the electronic charts and leave the keyboard oriented in a different direction, if desired, for typing and/or operating the nav software. 3. One thing to look out for when ordering the polarized progressives. At least at the shop I went to, the channel width was MUCH narrower and the transition length MUCH longer for the polarized glasses than for the clear ones. When I asked why, they said they didn't think folks would be reading much with sunglasses on so they didn't think it would matter much. It DOES matter, because the narrower the channel the MORE you have to move your head to read things spread across a printed page or across the computer screen. In any case, be sure they make them so the ENTIRE reading zone is included at the bottom of the lenses (you MAY want to pick your frames so that the lens area is larger, rather than sexier) -- test them under actual conditions if posible to make SURE you can use them for looking at distances, reading the computer screen, and reading papar charts and whatnot. Mine weren't quite right the first time and I had them redone to fix the situation. If you have the "glasses-in-an-hour" places there in NZ, I'd sugest trying them. If (more like WHEN) they have to re-make them, I find it easier to wait an hour than to come back in two weeks and likely start all over with a new person if they're still not right. >>an old PB 170 > >I see you have a computer museum too! We still have PB170 which we've >loaned to a writer friend for WriteNow and email. I'll see your 170 and raise you a Mac Plus (which the FM still likes the best of all -- the keyboard's MUCH better than the newer ones for touch typists) AND (are you sitting down?) a NeXT black box (my favorite computer of all time -- the power and flexibility of UNIX with a GUI that's still to die for, though I see Mac OS 8.5 has added some of its neat features). >MaxSea supports real-time animated current vectors. The demo files I >have work great. I don't yet know what the availability of the current >files is worldwide. For look-ahead I would expect fiddling the system >clock would work - need to look into that a bit. That's good to know. The demo version I have doesn't seem to show that -- maybe I need to pick up a newer one. I find the MaxSea GUI a bit obscure, whereas the NavimaQ GUI was intuitive. I was able to figure out how to use it by just just doing what seemed right -- 99% of the time it worked just like I expected -- typical of a good Mac program -- you should almost NEVER have to consult a manual. Maybe you should send an email to the NavimaQ folks and suggest they include your chart formats. I've found them to be very responsive to good suggestions (and even to some of my not-so-good ones). >I actually designed the nav area for a real 17" CRT. That may be the >"least worst choice", but the weight and power consumption are real >negatives (and space). When used with a PB, the 17" ASD (hard tube) has a neat feature (and the LCD model may dothis as well) that others may have as well. The software lets you quickly switch between either the PB display alone, the ASD alone, or both together. When you switch to the PB alone, the ASD automatically powers down. At least in our case, we'd normally be using the ASD for the Nav display underway when power consumption isn't a problem. At anchor, I would think using the PB alone would be fine for typical boat/personal management. Or you could use the PB screen when typing or pointing-and-clicking and let the ASD be a repeater -- JUST for viewing from the helm. >A side issue for us is that we do onboard digital video production. So >one of our goals is to use the same display both as a CRT and as a video >display. The ASD is perfect for that as it has S-video inputs, and is so >light it's easy to pick it up to move over to the comfy viewing area. A >full-size CRT is a pain to shift, especially since it will have to be >seriously secured to ensure it stays in place at sea. Looks like you'll just have to get two! FWIW, the 17" hard tube ASD doesn't have S video inputs -- just the regular computer connection. The G3 PB has S-video output, but not input. >The plan is to slave a pc laptop to the >display/keyboard/trackball. The pc is used for 3 or 4 functions where >best of breed is wintel s/w (like my mate Jim's AirMail, and OCENS >satellite receiver s/w.) Of course, there's always SoftWindows or Virtual PC. With the G3's speed, performance may not be the issue it has been for software PC emulation as it has been in the past -- as long as you're not trying to do digital post-production with it. >Fur sure, and that's a very good point about LCD technology. I would >prefer dim to the red map option. That's another plus for a real CRT. A framed neutral density film over the LCD screen should work, but you'd have to experiment some to get the correct density. >Our first concern is >heat gain in the tropics, so we're installing Llumar sputtered metal >film on all the glass. Since we need to minimize the impact on night >visibility, this is the best technology I know of because it slashes the >heat (and UV) without diminishing visible transmission much. I'd like to hear more about this film. Our KK42 has tinted windows on the sides of the PH and, although they're somewhat helpful for blocking sunlight, they may as well be 100% black at night. The front windows are clear, BUT still I have difficulty seeing well in the dark. I MISS this aspect of sailboats - being right out there in the open (when it's nice out <G>). The front window of the KK42 can be opened straight up and out, so that's the way I usually run if the weather is at all cooperative. Makes a HUGE difference, especially if there's ANY salt spray on the window and if there are ANY lights outside. Cheers to our friend down under! - Bryant PS. I've been carrying ona side discussion with listee Nick Morgan about the possibility of using an iMac for the Nav computer. I noticed a new Ethernet-to-Localtalk (old-style serial) converter for $90 which just might solve the GPS connectivity in a hurry.