[ gpsdrive ] marine or aviation specific package

[chris h]

On Tuesday 16 September 2008 08:16:40 Doug Robinson wrote:
> But wait there is more:
> And instead of tracking your friends, this feature would be upgraded to
> integrate the AIS traffic.  All this would then be loaded on your smb stick
> and you would then have a portable solution that would turn your laptop (or
> in my case the XO machine) into real competition against the $4k marine
> gadget.

Ya nice thought...just kidding. You still need an AIS receiver and transponder 
and they ain't cheap. I'm not sold on AIS in NA yet as there are still some 
issues with it from my reading of various sailing rags. Seems the Ausies and 
Brits have worked this out whereas in NA (Canada and the States) there still 
seems to be some wrangling going on. Could be wrong however. 

The big stumbling block however would be to put this hardware in the hands of 
developers dedicated to the task. As said, this stuff aint cheap. From a 
technical side, once the standards are stabilized, the programming would not 
be that difficult and could be done by talented hands and minds. Count me 
out, not a programmer but any stretch of the imagination.  

-- 
/ch