NAVIGATION AND VESSEL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

• OBS (navigation software) – Excellent package. No problems. Only works with C charts. www.digiboat.com.au
• Visit My Harbour – Around £30 for a set of 800 UK + Ireland charts with navigation software, AIS and GPS supported for passage planning and operation. Lots of other goodies too, very useful! www.visitmyharbour.com
• Master Volt (battery charger management) – Using a proprietary lead we were able to monitor the battery voltages and current and re-configure the chargers charging characteristics. www.mastervolt.com
• Sea Clear (navigation software) – No problems but adding charts took some effort (free). www.sping.com/seaclear/
• PC Navtex – Display software for use with Navtex engines (Silva, Nasa). www.marinecomputing.com/
• AIS, Navtex & DSC – Free PC software requires a radio, not tested but looks interesting. www.coaa.co.uk/shipplotter.htm
•  Instrument Display – Free package giving graphic display of wind, depth and speed instruments from an NMEA 1083 feed. www.polarnavy.com

ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE

• VLC Media Player Media player – Good but high on memory usage (free) www.videolan.org
• Virtual CD – Creates virtual CDs on the hard disk; good for chart, demo, music, etc., meaning you don’t have to carry originals. Worked well. www.virtualcd-online.com