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Hardware To use a program like VNS you need a GPS and a PC. I won’t discuss GPSs here, but I do want to make a few observations on computers. I like to say that any “modern” Windows based PC will run the basic VNS functions very well. We ran most of our miles using a 1996 Compaq Pentium 133Mhz with a 1.2Gig hard drive and 64-megs of RAM. This somewhat archaic machine ran VNS (version 6.0) with no glitches, albeit a little slowly. The biggest limitation with this machine was lack of hard drive space. The small 1.2Gig drive meant that Canadian charts had to be run from CD-ROM. Today you can buy a decent laptop from Costco with a Celeron GHz processor, 256-megs of RAM, and a 15 Gig hard drive all for about US$1,000. Is this configuration adequate to run VNS? Yes—wonderfully adequate in my opinion. Instead of spending US$3,000 on a top of the line laptop, I would probably recommend buying two $1,000 laptops and save one as a backup. On a voyage of any length, having a backup PC is always a good idea. When we were in Sitka Alaska, our trusty Compaq’s hard drive failed and we were forced to switch to our backup laptop. Sitka is one of the more populated places we visited, but trust me, even there it is much easier to swap to the backup PC than try and get a hard drive replaced. One thing is that it is important, is to have your PC secured. I learned this early on when our trusty Compaq nearly launched itself off the chart table onto the cabin sole. As a result, I built a custom insert into our chart table that has straps to hold the laptop down. This solution had the benefit of not looking too bad or requiring permanent holes be drilled in our beautiful mahogany chart table. Many people wonder what effect of the hostile marine environment will have on a personal computer. While I can’t vouch for all situations, I can say that our non-marinized Compaq has held up pretty well. Sitting at the chart table, our laptop is pretty well protected. However, when the wind was howling behind us, the laptop has gotten doused through the companionway a couple times. This has always caused a minor panic, but never seemed to affect the laptop. I think laptops have a couple things going for them in terms of durability. First, they are probably a little better constructed than desktops since they were theoretically designed to be on the move. Second, you can take them home in the off-season and keep 'em warm and cozy.
TGW.NET is property of Tim Whelan. All pictures, diagrams and text ©Tim Whelan 1980–2002, all rights reserved. Only permitted images and material may be downloaded from this web site. For usage, please see my copyright notice. | |
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The Patience nav station.
Note straps holding laptop down.
The teak insert has since been varnished;-) |
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