Tasman Bay Navigation Systems Expedition User manual

Welcome to Expedition

Note: There should be a Table of contents on the left of this screen. If it does not appear, click the

Show button above. You may also need to drag the screen divider from the left hand side.

Expedition is simply the best tactical and navigation software available.

Expedition has been in development since the mid 1990s by veteran Volvo Ocean Race navigator and Whitbread winner, physicist Nick White.

Expedition has been used in multiple Volvo Ocean, America's Cup and Grand Prix events and is the most advanced and usable software available - for racing around the world or your local harbour.

Expedition is continually refined and developed with input from a core group of world-renowned navigators.

Features

Runs on Windows XP SP3, Vista or Windows 7. Windows 7 is recommended.

Chart-plotter that seamlessly selects, mosaics and rotates charts

C-Map NT+ and MAX,

Bsb,

Softcharts,

NV-Verlag,

Maptech PCX.

Advanced weather display and tools

Sophisticated display options,

Grib 1 and 2 support,

Intelligent merging and display of multiple grib file datasets,

Integrated PredictWind, Saildocs and Ocens weather services,

Integrated Proudman, SHOM, Tidetech & NOAA tides and currents.

Simply the best weather routing available

Display multiple optimum routes,

Optimal routes for fleet and multiple weather models,

Optimal route sensitivity tools,

Wave corrections and avoidance,

Reverse isochrone function for graphical interpretation of routing.

Start display and advanced buoy racing functions

Windward-leeward course support,

Time to marks, laylines, next leg etc,

Layline bounds,

Start line functions,

Rate of turn, acceleration and braking,

Time to ends & line,

Time to burn,

Line bias,

Hold wind,

Display grid

What if? functionality,

Simple handicap support,

... and much more

Instrument connectivity with all popular instrument systems

AIS receivers,

B&G,

Cosworth,

Koden radar,

KVH Quadro,

Navico broadband radar,

Nexus NX2, FDX and NXR,

NKE,

NMEA 0183,

NMEA 2000 (not yet certified),

Ockam,

Racing Bravo,

Tacktick,

Various compasses, lasers and other sensors,

Networking support.

Stripchart program to graph and analyse any instrument function,

Displays marks, courses, laylines, track, AIS targets, radar, tracks, race schedule information etc. on the chart,

Polar functions to output, analyse and create or modify a yacht's performance polars,

Race schedule functions to track and analyse competitors,

Logging functions to record race data that can be replayed or analysed later to assist with instrument calibration or polar modifications,

... and much more!

Licence Agreement

LICENCE AGREEMENT

This Licence Agreement (the Agreement) is between you (the User) and Tasman Bay Navigation

Systems Ltd. (the Licensor). The product described below is offered to you conditional on your acceptance of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement. You will be requested at the end of this Agreement to indicate your acceptance of these terms and conditions. By clicking on and selecting the I Agree button below, you will have accepted and agreed to be bound by these . If you do not agree, do not install, copy or use the software.

Description of product

This product may contain one or more software programmes, databases, charts or other data or media. Certain portions of the product may be owned by the Licensor and other portions may be owned by other third parties, including Maptech, Inc and C-Map s.r.l.

Grant of Licence

Licensor hereby grants User a non-exclusive, non-transferable (except as permitted below) and perpetual right to use Licensor's Expedition suite of computer software, data, associated media and electronic documentation, collectively the Product, in CD-ROM format and electronic format transmitted from Licensor's website. User's licence is subject to the terms and conditions of this

Agreement and subject to timely payment of applicable licence fees.

i. User shall only use the Product subject to the restrictions described in this agreement. Licensor expressly reserves any and all rights which it may have in or to the Product and which are not expressly licensed by Licensor to you under this Agreement.

ii. User may install and use a copy of the Product on one personal computer that is not primarily used aboard a vessel and may install additional copies of the Product on computers that are primarily used aboard a vessel by User.

Restrictions

Except as specifically permitted herein, User may not network, rent, sell, publish, loan, modify, sub-license or lease the Product to others, reverse engineer, in any manner decode the Product or attempt to discover the source code of the Product except as otherwise permitted by law

Product Registration

Certain features of the Product, including but not limited to technical support and software updates, require that the Product be registered to you. You may make a one-time permanent transfer of the

Product to another user provided that you do not retain any copies of the Product or any of its components.

Termination

You may terminate this Agreement at any time. Licensor may immediately terminate this

Agreement if you breach any representation, warranty, agreement or obligation contained or referred to in this Agreement. On termination, you will immediately erase all copies of the Product from your computers.

Proprietary Rights and Confidentiality

The Product is solely owned by Licensor and it is protected by trade secret, copyright and patent laws. You will take all steps necessary to protect Licensor's and its suppliers' proprietary rights in the Product, including, but not limited to, the proper display of copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices on any versions or copies in any form of the Product, including copies stored on diskettes, hard drives or other media. You will, at your own cost and expense, protect and defend

Licensor's ownership of the Product against all claims, liens and legal processes of your creditors and will keep the Product free and clear of all such claims, liens and processes.

Support and Updates

Technical support is available to registered users of the Product at no charge for one year after the date of purchase of the licence to the Product. Updates to the Product will be provided as described on Licensor's web site, currently www.TasmanBayNav.co.nz

. Any updates to the Product shall be deemed to be part of the Product and shall be governed by the terms and conditions of this

Agreement. You acknowledge that access to the web site and updates may not be uninterrupted or error free.

Disclaimer of Warranties by Licensor and Warranty from User

The product is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. Licensor further disclaims any implied warranties, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement for the product. Licensor makes no guarantees, representations or warranties about the suitability or the accuracy of the information contained in the product and other information provided to you by licensor or regarding the use, or the results of use, of the product in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability or otherwise. User assumes the entire risk as to the results and performance of the product. The information provided by licensor could include technical or other inaccuracies or typographical errors.

You warrant that: i. All individuals having access to the Product will adhere to all the terms and conditions of this

Agreement.

ii. You shall, at your own expense, promptly enforce the restrictions in this Agreement against any person who gains access to the Product in violation of the terms.

iii. You shall immediately notify Licensor in writing of any misuse, misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure, display or copying of the Product that may come to your attention.

iv. The person accepting the terms of this Agreement has actual authority to bind his or her organization and its other users who will gain access to and use of the Product to each and every term, condition and obligation to this Agreement.

International Navigational Requirements and Safety Warnings

User agrees to comply with all laws, regulations, and requirements of the Country in which you are using the Products and acknowledges and agrees that: i. Nautical navigation is an inherently dangerous act and that this product is only a navigational aid and neither the sole nor primary method of navigation.

ii. No national hydrographic office or official agency of any country has verified the data or information in this product, including but not limited to nautical charts or other images in digital or physical form and no such office will accept responsibility or liability for the accuracy of any reproduction or any modification made to the data or information produced by the product.

iii. No national hydrographic office or agency warrants that this product satisfies national or international regulations regarding the use of the appropriate products for navigation.

iv. User shall consult official, updated nautical charts which are issued by each country through which you transverse for purposes of navigation.

Indemnification

User agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Licensor and its suppliers from and against any and all claims, costs, liabilities, damages and expense (including, but not limited to reasonable attorneys fees and legal costs), including claims by third parties, which Licensor may incur as result of your breach of any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and/or use of the Product.

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall Licensor or its suppliers be liable for any indirect, consequential, special or incidental damages whatsoever, including, without limiting the foregoing, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information or other pecuniary loss arising out of the use of or inability to use the product or for any cause of action, including in contract, tort

(including negligence) or otherwise, even if licensor has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The parties to this Agreement have each agreed to the fees and entered into this Agreement in reliance upon the limitations of liability and disclaimers of warranties and damages set forth in this

Agreement, that the same form an essential basis of the bargain between the parties, and that they shall not be removed, even in the event of the failure of an essential purpose of a remedy.

Acknowledgment of Understanding

You acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand it and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. You also agree that this Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between Licensor and you and supersedes all proposals, representations or prior agreements, oral or written, and any other communications between Licensor and you relating to the subject matter of this Agreement. This Agreement may not be amended, except by an agreement in writing which is signed by authorized representatives of Licensor and you.

Governing Law

This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the New Zealand. You consent to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of such venue.

Installing Expedition

Expedition can be downloaded from the Expedition web site at www.TasmanBayNav.co.nz

The install is contained in a single zip file for convenience. Extract these files to a folder and run the setup.exe file to start the installation process. Make sure you do not extract the install files to a folder that is encrypted as you may get an error installing.

It is good practice to keep a copy of these install files on your computer.

After the installation is complete, you can launch Expedition by double clicking the Expedition

icon installed onto your desktop. When Expedition launches for this first time, it will ask for a licence key which will be unique for your computer. Email the authorisation code the program provides to Expedition or one of the dealers suggested. The authorisation window contains functionality to automatically create this email for you. If you already own or have paid for a copy of the software, a key will be emailed to you. If not, you can arrange for payment or a temporary licence at this time.

Licence keys may also be entered from the Licences menu item on the Application button.

Installations and updates may be obtained from www.TasmanBayNav.co.nz

. Periodic updates are made available on the web site.

Expedition interface

Expedition uses Microsoft's Office Fluent User Interface which will be familiar to anyone used to products such as Microsoft Office.

Application button

Some quick, easily accessed functions.

Help

Opens Exp's help documentation.

Exit

Closes Expedition.

Settings

Accesses Expedition's various settings .

Exp data folder

Opens the App Data folder used to store Expedition data files, such as log, archive and configuration files.

Windows keyboard

Launches Windows' on-screen keyboard. This can be useful for touch screen displays.

Full screen

Shows a full screen, chart only display.

Save screen

Exports the display to a file.

Auto save screen

Expedition can automatically save images of the chart area at a user-defined frequency. These are saved into the Screen Dump folder in the Expedition data folder.

Instruments

Displays the instrument pages.

Number of network connections

Expedition can have several network connections for receiving instrument data over. Most users will only require 1 (the default value). For practicality, the number is limited to 8.

Expedition calibration

Interface to calibration functions used by Expedition. Normally instrument calibration is preferred.

Instrument specific options

Shortcuts to instrument system settings. Depending on the instrument types selected, some of these options may appear.

Start radar

Start radar transmission

Stop radar

Stop radar transmission

AIS

B&G Hercules

Nexus FDX

Racing Bravo

Radar

Ockam

Applications

Stripchart

Launches Stripchart .

LogPlayer

Launches LogPlayer .

Simulator

Launches Simulator.

Dfw2Exp

Launches Dfw2Exp .

Nke2Exp

Launches Nke2Exp.

Licences

Allows a demo or full licence key to be entered.

Also allows entry of Winning Tides and SHOM tidal current licences.

Quick access toolbar

The Quick access toolbar (QAT) is just to the right of the Application button.

The QAT can be customised to show any button or ribbon pane by clicking on the preset shortcut or 'More commands' on the pop-up menu.

Selecting 'Minimise the ribbon' hides the ribbon. It will appear when selecting a ribbon menu item.

Windows

These menu items toggle Expedition's windows on and off.

States

The position of all windows , contents of the number boxes and QAT etc can be saved as

'Display states'. This enables easy switching between configurations. The active display state will be displayed at the top of the main Expedition window.

Display states available

Default display state

Pre-start display state

Race display state

Inshore display state

Offshore display state

Cruising display state

Save

Saves any changes to the display state currently being used.

Save as ...

Allows the current display state to be copied and saved as another.

Delete all

Deletes the saved positions of windows and toolbar configurations.

Style

The visual appearance of Exp can be modified to suit the user's preferences. This is purely cosmetic and the options are:

Blue

Black

Silver

Aqua

Windows 7

Expedition can also modify Windows' colours for day, dusk or night conditions.

Day

Dusk

Night

Expedition windows

The Expedition interface allows a lot of customisation as different users will have differing requirements that may vary from time to time.

Windows available

AIS & DSC

Displays a list of AIS and DSC targets. The data displayed can be selected on the AIS

& DSC settings page.

Double-clicking on the target list toggles the toolbar on and off.

The targets can be sorted by any of the columns items in the target list by clicking on the column header.

C-Map

Shows C-Map images on selecting Query C-Map from the pop-up menu.

Course

A list of the legs of the course with wind angle, range, bearing etc data.

GPS

Shows the GPS SV constellation, with GPS mode, satellite signal to noise rations etc.

Number boxes

There are two of these available. Clicking the window toggles the toolbar on and off.

Number list

List of numbers, similar to the number box windows. Double-clicking on the list toggles the toolbar on and off.

Radar

Displays radar echoes in a simple PPI display. Double-clicking on the radar window toggles the toolbar on and off.

Sail chart

See the sail chart help . Double-clicking on the sail chart toggles the toolbar on and off.

What-if?

The What-if? window.

Docking

Windows can be dragged around the main Exp window and left floating or docked to each other or the side of the main Exp window. As a window is dragged, small controls will appear (see the example below). Just drag the window to these controls to dock the window to an existing window or other windows. These windows can even be docked as tabs over each other.

The configuration of these windows and what the number windows contain is saved as display states .

Auto-hide

Expedition windows can be made to auto-hide by clicking on the pin icon on the window header or by right-clicking on the window header and selecting Auto Hide from the pop-up menu. In this case, they appear as small tags on the side of the Exp window and only appear when the cursor is moved over the tag.

Number boxes and the number list

There are two number box windows and one number list window available in Expedition.

Number box toolbar

To save screen space, the toolbar for the Number-box window is hidden by default. This can be toggled on and off just by clicking anywhere in the number-box window.

The toolbar is toggled on and off in the number list window by double-clicking on the list.

Adding numbers

The contents of these windows can be edited by clicking on the toolbar button in each.

The largest box/window on the right of edit interface contains all the numbers or channels that

Expedition can display. Simply left mouse click on the number you want to have displayed in this large centre box. This selected number will immediately appear in the previously empty left hand box with your boat number (i.e. 0: Depth). All numbers displayed in the left hand box will be displayed on the number box or list window being edited.

Some of the numbers are for specialized uses, so not all of these numbers will be available from your particular instrument system. However, the numbers that are coming from your instruments (i.e. Latitude, Longitude, boat speed, depth etc.) will be available for display on your main chart window.

To remove a number from the display list, simply move your mouse to the left hand box

(where the data to display is listed), click on the desired number and then click on the Remove button.

Notes:

The individual numbers in the number box windows can also be edited by rightclicking on them.

The displayed numbers can be damped or streaming straight from your instrument system.

Up to ten alternating channels (i.e. alternating/flashing two different numbers) to be displayed and/or exported into the external channels of your instrument system for display on deck.

See Appendix A for a list and explanation of all of Expedition's numbers.

Boat

This drop down window is in the lower left corner of the page. Expedition has the ability and power to display data from up to sixteen boats. This feature is useful for an

America's Cup level weather program or a two (or more) boat testing program. Most users will only have data coming in from their own instruments and therefore should have Boat 0 selected.

Unless you are running a fancy multiple boat system, your boat is Boat 0 and it should always be selected.

Advanced channels

Select this to make available other channels normally only of use to advanced users.

Damped check box

If you want the displayed data or number to be damped then check this box before driving the mouse to the central box and left clicking on the number that you want to select for display. In the left hand window you will now see that the number you selected for display will be damped. (e.g. 0: Depth (damped)).

A damped function/number will be underlined.

The amount of damping to be applied for particular function/number on the User settings tab.

Boat list

As mentioned above, most users will leave this at '0', but if you do have multiple sources of information, first select the desired boat number in the drop down window before you select the number or channel you want displayed.

Dragging a number box

Number boxes can be dragged around the number box window by left-clicking on them and dragging.

A number box may be deleted by dragging off the number box window.

Right click to change an individual number box

Any individual number box settings, including background colour, can be changed by rightclicking on it.

Note about true wind angle in Expedition

Please note that True wind angle displayed in Expedition and StripChart includes the effects of leeway wherever possible. Polar data from designers generally present TWA in this manner

(TWA to the boat's centreline plus leeway equals TWA track) as do Ockam systems. B&G is also likely to migrate to this convention in the future. For systems that do not add in the effect of leeway into TWA (B&G, Silva, etc.), leeway is added to the TWA received from the instrument system wherever possible. There are several benefits to this. For example, calculations of VMG have to include leeway and it makes the optimal routing function easier to use. This is why you may notice that Twa as reported by Expedition may be a few degrees wider than Twa reported by the instruments.

Charts panel

Settings

Chart settings is used to manage how charts are displayed in Expedition.

Charts

The chart management button is used to manage the raster chart database.

Pan

The pop-up menu on the bottom of the Charts button gives a summary of the C-Map chart system.

Pans the chart up, down, left or right.

See also auto-pan .

Scale

Zoom in or out. If Auto-chart is selected, this will automatically select the next scale chart.

These functions can also be performed using the + and - keyboard keys, the right click drop down menu or the mouse scroll button.

Zooming in can also be accomplished in Zoom + centre mode by holding the left mouse button down while dragging the cursor. This zooms in one scale level.

Selection mode

Controls how Expedition selects and centres charts. Note that the chart cannot be manually panned if one of the automatic chart display functions such as 'Follow boat' are selected

Drag

In this mode, click on the chart and drag in the direction to pan. This technique will be more familiar to Google Earth and Photoshop users and can be easier on touch screens.

Zoom + centre

The chart can be re-re-entered by clicking the left mouse button. This option is preferred by some users as it can be more efficient. This mode is can also be used to zoom in.

Auto chart

This function only applies to the Follow boat and Centre ahead of boat modes and zooming in and out.

With Auto chart selected button selected, the next higher or lower scale chart will be selected when you zoom in or zoom out. If you have this button de-selected, zooming in or out will display the current chart at different scales. See the help on chart enhancement.

Note: It is recommended that this button is selected for most use.

Follow boat

Automatically centres the chart on the boat.

Race display

This is an un-cluttered display mode with no charting and scaled to fit the start line or course to the screen.

After the start, it will display the active mark and the boat.

Centre ahead of boat

Centres the chart on a point ahead of the boat and may be used in conjunction with

Auto chart to select the best chart at that location. This can be useful in tricky coastal piloting situations to best view the upcoming hazards and feature. If your computer is not connected to instruments providing a GPS position, then the Centre on boat button will have no effect.

If the chart pans around too much because of frequent changes of heading, de-select this feature.

Centre on boat and active mark

Selects the best chart to display the boat and the active mark of the course.

Centre on active leg

Selects the best chart to display the boat and the active leg of the course.

Centre on boat, active mark and next mark

Selects the best chart to display the boat, the active mark and the following mark.

Centre on active course

Selects the best chart to display the boat and the active course.

Right-click menu options

On the pop-up menu, use Open best chart to select the best chart available at the cursor position or use Open chart to select any of the available charts at the cursor position.

Marks panel

Man over-board

See the Man overboard help.

Edit marks

Mark management .

Quick marks

Sets the Quick marks course creation mode.

Undo

Reverses the last mark or course modification.

Redo

Redo a mark or course modification that was undone.

Select mark

Next mark

Select the next mark as the active mark The right arrow is a keyboard shortcut to previous mark.

Previous mark

Select the previous mark as the active mark The left arrow is a keyboard shortcut to previous mark.

Left and right keyboard arrows are short cuts to these functions.

Active mark

Ping

Set a mark at the current boat position - either at the bow or GPS based on the Set start at bow (else at GPS) function in Racing settings.

Ping at

This is helpful if you want to ping a mark and then later right click or use mark management and add it to a course. For example, I often use this function to ping gate marks instead of using the mark gate function.

Creates a mark at a given range and bearing from the boat. Option of setting the created mark to be the active mark/course or as an always drawn mark to be added to the course (e.g. with the right click insert mark function).

Move to boat

If it isn't locked, moves the active mark to the boat's position - either the bow or GPS based on the Set start at bow (else at GPS) function in Racing settings.

Move

Moves the active mark.

Ping laser

Dividers

Creates a mark at the last laser position.

Set dividers

The dividers tool allows the user to draw and calculate the range and bearing between points on the main chart window. It is very useful in race planning or coastal navigation. The number of dividers (actually a range and bearing between two points) displayed is unlimited and they can be all cleared at once using Clear button or the right-click pop-up menu.

From boat

Set dividers given range and bearing. This tool can be used with running bearings on a mark to refine it's position.

A W/L race is a good example of the use of this tool

1.

The windward mark can be set from the range and bearing from the race committee using the Create WL course function. However this is only approximate and once rounded, the mark can be dragged to its correct position.

2.

Before arriving at the mark, its position can be refined using this tool from different places on the race course - the actual mark position is the intersection of the divider lines drawn using this tool.

Clear

Clears all dividers.

Tools

Export GPX

Exports Expedition's mark and course database to a GPs eXchange format (*.gpx) file for use in a range of other mapping and GPS products.

See www.topografix.com/gpx_resources.asp .

Import Exp

Imports marks from an Expedition marks.dat file.

Import Dfw

Imports marks from a Deckman marks file.

Import CSV

Imports marks into Expedition from a CSV (*.csv) file.

The expected format is mark name, latitude, longitude

For example:

54North Head 50 42.69n 01 35.52w

55North Ryde Middle 50 46.61n 01 14.31w

56North Sturbridge

57Paul Jackson

58Peel Bank

50 45.33n 01 08.23w

50 44.33n 01 28.19w

50 45.49n 01 13.34w

59Peters & May

60Prince Consort

61Quinnell

50 46.13n 01 22.19w

50 46.42n 01 17.59w

50 47.07n 01 19.88w

The latitude and longitude could also be in decimal degrees. For example:

My mark,50.1234,-1.0234

Sail panel

Polars

Polars

See Polars .

Sail chart

Displays the active Sail chart .

Sail list

Allows the Sail list used in Exp to be edited.

Testing

Tests

Displays test data stored in the database for selection to plot or exporting from

Expedition.

Also available with the Ctrl-T keyboard short-cut or from a polar edit window.

See the sail test analysis help and Saving tests in the Stripchart help.

Event list

Expedition's event database.

Set event

Set an event. Note that only sails selected in Sail settings are displayed in the drop lists.

Racing

Race schedules

Accesses Expeditions race schedule functions.

Edit boats

Edits boats used in race schedules and the handicap calculator.

Handicap

Handicap calculator.

Options

Bsp + twa as targets

Instructs Exp to use damped instrument values instead of targets to calculate laylines.

Edit database

Race notes

Race notes are annotations on the chart. They can be used for race planning and can be used to set areas to avoid when using route optimisation .

The right-click pop-up menu can also be used to edit a race note.

Notes

Lists all race notes.

Add

Creates a new race note. Select this, then click on the chart to create a new race note area.

Lock

Locks race notes so they can't be dragged.

Open

Save as

Saves a race notes file.

Clear

Loads a race notes file.

Clears all loaded race notes.

Start panel

These tools can be useful at the start of any race and for windward/leeward style buoy races.

Start and W/L course

Create W/L

This is the quickest way to configure a standard windward/leeward course. It easily allows you to configure a course where the leeward mark (or gate) is a bit upwind of the starting line.

Set port

Sets the port end of the starting line to the position of the boat.

Set starboard

Sets the starboard end of the starting line to the position of the boat.

Select whether to set start marks at the bow or the GPS on the user settings page. If pinging the mark at the bow, this requires the distance between the GPS and the bow to also be entered correctly.

The position used will be the last position received when the OK button is clicked.

Laser port

Sets the port end of the starting line to the position that most recently pinged with the

Laser gun.

Laser starboard

Sets the port end of the starting line to the position that most recently pinged with the

Laser gun.

Rotate wind'd

Rotates W/L marks to allow for a course change partway through the race.

Rotate lee'd

Rotates W/L marks to allow for a course change partway through the race.

If the race committee announces a change in the axis of the windward mark when you are rounding the first leeward mark simply press rotate windward mark and enter the new axis/heading in the dialogue box that pops open and then click OK to accept your change. Keep in mind that with these course change buttons, the course rotates around the leeward mark (or the windward mark), not the starting line (unless you configured the course so the leeward mark is at the starting line.

Starboard mark

From starboard

Set the starboard end of the start line given a range & bearing from the starboard end. Range is in metres or system distance units. Bearing is in degrees magnetic or true, depending on the system settings.

From port

Set the starboard end of the start line given a range & bearing from the port end.

Range is in metres or system distance units. Bearing is in degrees magnetic or

true, depending on the system settings.

Nudge upwind

Nudges the starboard end of the start line upwind or downwind in metres or system distance units. Positive values nudge the starboard end upwind, negative values nudge it downwind.

Port mark

From port

Set the port end of the start line given a range & bearing from the port end. Range is in metres or system distance units. Bearing is in degrees magnetic or true, depending on the system settings.

From starboard

Timer

Timer

Set the port end of the start line given a range & bearing from the starboard end.

Range is in metres or system distance units. Bearing is in degrees magnetic or true, depending on the system settings.

Nudge upwind

Nudges the port end of the start line upwind or downwind in metres or system distance units. Positive values nudge the port end upwind, negative values nudge it downwind.

The start time controls are used to control Expedition's starting line functionality by setting the time to go before the start. Take note that the pre-start countdown starts when you select OK on the pop-up window that appears.

Sync start time

Rounds the count-down timer (time to gun) to the nearest minute.

Start time

Sets the start time to any time.

Time to gun

Sets the time to the gun to any number of minutes and seconds.

Kill

Kills the start countdown timer.

5 min roll

Resets the countdown timer to 5 minutes at the gun.

Display

Race display

This is an un-cluttered display mode with no charting and scaled to fit the start line or course to the screen.

After the start, it will display the active mark and the boat.

See also the chart panel help.

Time ratios

Displays start times as a ratio of time to gun.

For example, time to line is displayed as time to gun

/ time to line.

Times to burn

Circles

Switches from time to go to the line, line ends etc to time to burn to the line etc.

Toggle the start range circles on and off.

Grid

Toggle the start range grid on and off.

Hold

Hold wind and/or current. Often, especially in the pre-start, it may be desirable to fix the wind and/or current to set values. The hold button offers a quick way to hold the twd, tws, set or drift to user-defined values rather than from the instruments.

Exp can release these settings at the gun - See Release hold wind and current at start in Start settings .

Weather panel

Display

Settings

This is a shortcut to the weather settings page, also available from the keyboard as Ctrl-

W .

Hide

Tooltip

A convenient one-click control to globally turn off weather display. This is very useful if you want to quickly 'de-clutter' the screen.

Toggles the weather tooltip on and off. The weather tooltip can be used to examine forecast weather and tide conditions anywhere on the screen.

See also the weather table from the pop-up menu.

1 2 3

Weather display states. Allows easy switching between different weather display settings.

Display time

Reverse

Steps the GRIB weather display backwards in time. The keyboard down arrow is a shortcut to this function.

Interpolate

When selected/depressed, the weather animation steps over the time intervals of the

GRIB file. (e.g. every 6 hours). If not selected/depressed, the animation steps are based on the time interval on the weather settings page and Expedition interpolates between the steps of the GRIB file.

This can also be toggled on or off using the space bar on the keyboard.

Forward

Steps the GRIB weather display forward in time (The time is displayed in the upper left corner of the chart window). The keyboard down arrow is a shortcut to this function.

Animate

Animates the weather display.

Now

Synchronizes the weather display time with that of the computer clock. It will always display the weather for now'.

This now button is very helpful in getting the GRIB animation back to the present moment.

It is important to have your computer clock set correctly when using Expedition!

Jump

Sets the display time to any user-selectable time.

Grib data source

Saildocs

Interface for the Saildocs grib mail service. Select this, then left-click on the chart and drag the cursor to select an area.

PredictWind

Opens the PredictWind interface to download data from a high resolution local model.

In practice, right-clicking and using the pop-up menu is easier to use.

PredictWind Global

Opens the PredictWind interface, but gets data from a PredictWind global model.

Select this, then left-click on the chart and drag the cursor to select an area.

MailASail

.

Interface to the MailASail service. The Expedition interface is very similar to Saildocs

Ocens

Accesses the Ocens WeatherNet system if installed. Ocens WeatherNet may be downloaded from the Expedition download page.

Tides

Tide stations

Access a list of tidal stations currently loaded into Exp. Select any individual station and clicking the Predictions button will display a window showing tide heights (or stream) information for that station.

If you don't find a desired location in the Tides section, look in the Secondary Tides

section.

Tidetech

Interface to Tidetech data in grib format.

Wind models

Quickly switch the display between models or ensemble runs loaded.

Optimal panel

Settings

Settings

This is a shortcut to the optimal settings page

Waves

Correction factors (percentages) for waves. Wave heights are in metres. See the optimal routing settings help .

Optimise

View results

Displays tables of the optimised courses.

Clear

Clears any optimal courses in memory.

Optimise

Computes a single optimal course. This processing is performed in the background.

The results will be displayed on the chart when complete.

Fleet

As for Compute optimum course but for the boats in the fleet that are drawn on the chart at the last race schedule time for the reference boat.

Each boat needs to have a polar specified on the edit boats interface.

Note that All optimal paths needs to be selected to draw the other boats on the chart.

Ensemble

Automatically performs route optimisation for each model or ensemble run loaded.

Multiple

Compute multiple optimal routes with staggered start times.

Polar %

Runs a series of route optimisations at 90, 95, 100, 105 and 110% of the navigation polar.

Filter

Produces a summary of the optimal routes

Tools panels

Track

Load

Loads saved boat positions (track) and currents from a log file. See the help on the display page for more information.

Clear

Clears the boat track .

Export .kml

Exports any selected log file to a file in KML format, which can then be read by

Google Earth . This is great to distribute to crew without Exp or publish on the web!

Misc

Set boat position

Allows the user to manually set the latitude and longitude of the boat.

Reset logs

Resets Log Bsp and Log Sog to zero.

Set clock from GPS

Updates the computer clock to the time from the GPS.

Analysis

Analyse log files

Create grib files of sea temperature, depth or current set and drift from your log files.

Analyse sail tests

See the sail test analysis help.

Extract log data

Extract selected data from a log file. Options include the Expedition format, Pi

Toolbox and a Euro format.

The Euro option replaces decimal points with commas and commas with semi-colons.

Grib

Wx boat to grib

Creates grib file data from wind data from a weather boat fleet.

Extract grib data

Extracts an area from currently loaded grib data and saves to a file.

Save currents

Saves edited currents as a grib file.

Create currents

Create mode

Sets Expedition into a mode for manually entering currents for current grib file c reation .

Set drift rate

Sets the drift rate in knots to enter in Create currents mode .

Clear

Clear all currents created in grib file c reation

Save grib

Create a grib file of the manually entered current. See grib file c reation .

Import currents

Allows a test file containing current data to be imported. For example, this allows the use of AOML analysis data.

Expedition will also ask for a file name to save the grib data to and a validity time.

The accepted format is:

Latitude Longitude Zonal meridional current speeds

57.77 -34.79 5.2 11.7

Current speeds are in cm/s.

Pop-up menu

Right mouse-clicking anywhere on the screen will display the pop-up menu, which may have any of the following menu items. You will notice that the cursor changes when near a mark - when the cursor is near enough a mark, many of the following functions will be available from the pop-up menu, else they are hidden.

Open chart

Allows any available chart at the cursor position to be opened. Hovering the cursor over this menu item causes a sub-menu to be displayed (normally to the right) with all the available charts for the cursor latitude/longitude. The C-Map charting system will be at the top of the list. Below C-Map will be a list of charts sorted by increasing scale.

If you wish to exclusively use C-Map charts, open the C-Map charting system (either using this method, by selecting the check box under chart management or by zooming in or out to a

C-Map chart, then de-select the Auto-chart button.

Add mark

Allows the selected mark to be inserted at any point in the active route. Hovering the cursor over this menu item causes a sub-menu to be displayed (normally to the right). Use this submenu to insert the selected mark at the beginning of the active course or after any desired mark in the course.

Query C-Map object

Displays C-Map objects information.

Ping mark

Pings a mark, not part of the active course.

C-Map mark: xxxx (e.g.. Lighthouse)

Creates an always drawn mark based on the selected C-Map object.

Set active mark and course

Creates a new course and sets a new mark at the pointer.

Insert mark

Insert a mark in the active course. The inserted mark will always be placed in the nearest great circle leg of the course to the pointer. See right click to build a course .

Edit mark

Displays a dialog to edit the selected mark.

Remove mark from course

Removes the selected mark from the active course without deleting it.

Lock mark

Locks the selected mark.

Unlock mark

Unlocks the selected mark.

Delete mark

Deletes the selected mark.

Add new first mark

Adds a mark to the beginning of the active course.

Add new end mark

Adds a mark to the end of the active course.

Set mark as port end

Sets the selected mark to be the port end of the start line.

Set mark as starboard end

Sets the selected mark to be the starboard end of the start line.

Port start

Sets the port end of the start line at the pointer.

Starboard start

Sets the starboard end of the start line at the pointer.

PredictWind

Opens the PredictWind interface to download data from a high resolution local model.

Weather table

Displays a table of weather data from the grib file or files loaded valid for the location selected.

Meteogram

Displays graphs of weather data from the grib file or files loaded valid for the location selected.

Edit current

Edit the current from a loaded grib file. Any edited currents may be saved using the Save

currents button from the Tools panel.

Tides

Displays tidal information for the tide station selected.

New race note area

Creates a new race note area with the first point at this location.

Edit race note

Edit the race note attributes - colour, transparency, text.

Note that if editing the notes (as shown in the tooltip), text can be shown on a new line by using the Ctrl+Enter keys. This can make the tooltips much more readable.

Insert point into race note area

Inserts a point into a race note polygon.

Delete race note point

Deletes the nearest race note polygon point.

Chart details

Displays various details about the chart such as type, manufacturer, datum, projection.

Stripchart wand

If displaying a track, creates a wand on Stripchart at the time corresponding to the point on the track selected.

Open best chart

Opens the best chart at the pointer.

Zoom in

Pans in.

Zoom out

Pans out.

Geo-reference

Allows refinement of the geo-referencing of any imported image. See the chart management help.

Delete georeference point

Status Bar

The status bar has no controls and is purely for information. Most of the displayed numbers relate to the cursor or chart.

Use the Display settings page to select which of the items listed below to display on the status bar.

From left to right:

Chart scale and zoom factor

The published scale of the chart. In most cases, you will be using charts at real size, but you may wish to over-zoom or under zoom them. In which case, the zoom factor will be displayed to the left of the colon.

Cursor position

Latitude and longitude.

Magnetic variation

The magnetic variation at the cursor.

Cursor range and bearing

Range and bearing to the cursor.

Time to cursor

The time to the cursor position at the present speed and heading. The polar time is also given

in parentheses. These will not be displayed if you have no position information.

Polar time to cursor

Based on polars.

Chart datum

The published datum of the chart. If the datum of the chart cannot be determined or allowed for, UNKNOWN DATUM will be displayed. In this case, exercise extra prudence when navigating with the chart.

Position fix warning

If no position information is available, NO POSITION FIX will be displayed.

Log warning

This will only be displayed if you not logging data.

Active mark

The active mark name.

Expedition LT

ExpeditionLT is a free C-Map chart plotter and grib viewer with integrated PredictWind and

Tidetech forecasts.

As such, ExpeditionLT lacks many of the features of the full Expedition package and is unsupported, but will be sufficient for many users

Toolbar buttons

Settings

See the Weather settings help.

Drag

In this mode, click on the chart and drag in the direction to pan. This technique will be more familiar to Google Earth and Photoshop users and can be easier on touch screens.

Zoom + centre

The chart can be re-re-entered by clicking the left mouse button. This option is preferred by some users as it can be more efficient. This mode is can also be used to zoom in.

Zoom out

Scale out.

Zoom in

Scale in.

Weather tooltip

Display a tooltip containing GRIB weather information at the mouse position.

Reverse

Steps the GRIB weather display backwards in time. The down arrow is a keyboard shortcut to this function.

Forward

Steps the GRIB weather display forward in time (The time is displayed in the upper left corner of the chart window). The up arrow is a keyboard shortcut to this function.

Now

Synchronizes the weather display time with that of the computer clock. It will always display the weather for now'.

This now button is very helpful in getting the GRIB animation back to the present moment.

It is important to have your computer clock set correctly when using

Expedition.

1 2 3 4 5

Preset display settings.

Menus

Expedition's menus now have an auto-hide function to initially only show commonly used menu items. To turn this off:

1.

Select the Customise from Toolbars and docking Windows item on the view menu,

2.

Select the Options page.

3.

Uncheck Menus show recently used commands first.

Weather

Settings

See the Weather settings help.

PredictWind high resolution area

Access these areas for download by right-clicking on the chart and using

PredictWind high resolution area from the pop-up menu.

See the PredictWind help.

PredictWind 100km resolution custom area

Downloads data from the PredictWind global model.

The area to download is selected by dragging across the chart.

See the PredictWind help.

View

Simple C-Map display

Toggles the amount of detail displayed on the chart.

Local time

Local or UTC time.

Application look

Available from the View menu.

The visual appearance of Exp can be modified to suit the user's preferences. This is purely cosmetic and the options are blue, black, silver or aqua.

Weather settings

Available from the Weather panel.

The weather settings page is used to manage weather data in Expedition and also to scale, colour etc tidal and track currents.

Loading GRIB files into Expedition

The main window on the weather page shows the Grib files (if any) that are currently loaded into Expedition. There is no practical limit to the number of Grib files that can be loaded at one time. For example, Expedition can use both current and wind files in route optimisation and can merge have several Grib files that cover different times or areas.

Only grib files that are checked are actually used by Expedition.

Grib files may be loaded into Expedition several ways:

Drag them to the list on the left of the weather settings page.

Click on the Add button on the weather settings page. This opens a Windows' open

file dialog which you can be used to select grib files to add. The added grib files will then be listed on the weather settings page.

If the Grib files do not have a .grb, .grb1 or a .grb2 suffix, they will not be automatically visible in the Windows open file dialog. Select All files at the bottom of the open file dialog and they will appear.

Grib files can also be added by dragging them onto the main chart window if they have .grb, .grb1 or .grb2 suffixes. This automatically loads the grib file into

Expedition, but does not remove grib files from the grib file list. It is advisable to remove any unnecessary grib files from the list.

If using PredictWind or SailDocs ' direct download or Ocens to obtain grib files, these will be automatically loaded into Expedition.

To remove a Grib file from Expedition

Select the file or files to be removed, then click on the Remove file button.

Display control

The controls on the right of the weather settings page are used to select what information from the grib data is drawn on the chart and how. Just change the options for each grib parameter

(wind, mean sea level pressure, current etc). The options are:

Spectrum

Colour contour lines, arrows or barbs in a range of colours from red to green to blue.

Fade colours

Use brighter colours at larger values. This can be useful to visually show areas of light wind and may be combined with either the colour or spectrum options. The fade effect will be between the contour min and contour max values.

Contours

For example, contouring mean sea level pressure will give you a weather map similar to the ones we are all used to. Contouring wind speed gives a visual representation of areas of light or strong wind and wind speed gradients. For example, it may be helpful to display wind speed contours whilst stepping forward in time and studying an optimal route, as this will depict the hot and cold spots of wind velocity more obviously than standard wind barbs.

Contour increment

How often to draw the contours. For example, selecting 4 for pressure will draw pressure lines every 4mb.

Shading

Fills the chart with transparent shading, varying in intensity between the shade min and shade max values. Colours used in the shading can be set using the colour or spectrum properties.

Barbs, arrows or scaled arrows

Grib data that has direction such as wind, current and waves and be represented with arrows or barbs.

Scaled arrows

This option varies the arrow size by the size of the variable. For example, this can be useful to visually show areas of light winds. The reference size is set by the Shade/size max value.

Colour

Colour contour lines, arrows or barbs in a single specified colour.

Width

Draw contours or barbs with thicker lines.

In the example below

Rain is drawn with shading and contouring selected. The contour interval is

0.5mm/hr.

Winds are drawn using barbs and a spectrum of colours. This can give a good visual reference. Wind speed is often contoured.

Surface pressure is drawn using 2 pixel width contours every 2mb.

The time is displayed in UTC at the top-left of the screen. Local time could be selected on the display settings page.

Animation interval (minutes)

Set at 60 minutes by default, but the user can change the animation interval or time step when moving forward or backward in time whilst studying a GRIB or stepping through an optimal

route.

Use the forward or reverse buttons on the weather panel to step forward or backward in time.

(You can also use the keyboard up arrow or down arrow to move forward/backward in time.)

Time is displayed in the upper left corner of the main chart window and is in either UTC or local computer time depending on how you have configured Expedition in the Local time check box in display settings.

Scale Currents

Expedition can apply a multiplication factor (in percent) to the currents in a GRIB file. (The default is 100%). This might be desirable if you believe the GRIB file is incorrectly predicting current speed. This factor has no effect on the current speed and direction reported by the instruments (or the What If? currents set by the user in user settings. These instrument or What

If? currents drive the laylines and times whilst sailing. The GRIB file currents (which can be scaled here) are used for route optimizations.

Scale Winds

Similarly, Expedition can scale the GRIB file's wind speed. Why scale the GRIB winds?

Because wind speed usually increases with height and you are going to use these GRIB files for either route optimization or for study before a race. If it is the latter, you want the wind speed to be scaled to your masthead/instrument height so that the predictions match your expectations. If you are doing route optimisation, you want the wind speed to be scaled to the wind speed height that the polar is based upon. Although most yacht designers' polar files are scaled to a 10 metre height wind, most sailors want the polars and targets scaled to masthead instrument height.

Converting polar files to masthead height is simply done in Expedition as we will learn in the section on polars . Wind speed generally increases with height. There is a simple formula that can be used to estimate how more wind is at masthead height than it is at 10 meters (which is a common height that GRIB files are scaled to).

Tws wand

= Tws

10m

. ( h

/

10

) a where h is masthead/instrument height in meters and a is a constant which is normally in the range 0.11 to 0.14.

Example: If your mast/instrument height is 20 metres and your polars are scaled to this height then you can use the formula above to figure out what the percentage scaling you should apply to a 10 metre height GRIB file.

The answer is" x = (

20

/

10

)

0.12

= 1.09 ~ 109%.

So you should enter 109 into the Scale winds % edit box.

Rotate winds

Allows the user to rotate the GRIB winds by a fixed number of degrees. You might want to do this if you determine the GRIB file is systematically incorrect in direction by a few degrees.

Normally you leave this at 0, but if you do want to tweak the GRIB, a positive number rotates the winds in a clockwise direction and a negative number rotates in counter-clockwise in the specified number of degrees.

Reduce rotation over <selected> minutes

Check this box and enter a value in minutes to linearly reduce the value entered in rotate

winds above. The amount of rotation will reduce linearly from the maximum value at the current time to zero after the desired time period.

Time shift

Apply a shift in minutes to the weather if a change is happening more or less quickly than your grib files suggest. Note that this affects all grib fields loaded, including currents.

Always show SST

Often, ocean current temperature or height anomaly grib data will be an historic analysis, so won't normally be displayed at the same time as weather forecasts. Select this option to always display this data when showing weather forecasts.

This option is especially useful for races such as the Bermuda and Sydney to Hobart races where currents are very important.

Displaying and working with GRIB data in the main chart window

See the weather panel help.

PredictWind

PredictWind, as used by Alinghi in the Americas Cup, features highly accurate grib weather forecasts at resolutions down to 0.01 degree (about 0.6nm) resolution. There is a very useful summary of the advantages of using PredictWind at Why PredictWind?

Web

www.predictwind.com

PredictWind in Expedition

Expedition seamlessly integrates the PredictWind grib forecast service.

Expedition's PredictWind interface is available from either the right-click pop-up or Weather panel. The advantage of using the pop-up menu is that a forecast area can be graphically selected.

Either pre-defined high resolution areas can be selected or lower resolution data can be obtained for any part of the world.

PredictWind high resolution forecast areas

PredictWind high resolution forecasts are available for many places at 1km, 8km or 60km resolution.

The 1 and 8km forecast areas can be drawn on the chart by selecting PredictWind forecast

areas on the display settings page or on the PredictWind interface (see below).

The grib file downloaded will be at 0.5, 0.1 or 0.01 degree resolution for the 60km, 8km or

1km models respectively.

PredictWind global models

Any geographic area can be selected using this button. This data does not include the 0.1°; and

0.01°; high resolution forecast data.

The area to download is selected by dragging across the chart.

The PredictWind interface

On selecting PredictWind from either the right-click pop-up or Weather panel, a window will be displayed.

If the right-click pop-up option was used, the area selected will be high-lighted in the list on the left. This can be changed.

Just select or change the available options and click on the Get Grib File button to download the grib file. After downloading it, Expedition will automatically load the grib file.

Note that increased resolution, smaller time steps and selecting all data will result in larger grib files. This can be important with a slow or expensive email connection, especially at sea.

Resolution

PredictWind forecasts are available at 0.5, 0.1 or 0.01 degree resolutions. These equate to about 30, 6 or 0.6nm resolution respectively. Note that only certain areas have the finer resolution forecasts, as shown by the bounds drawn on the chart.

Time-step

Select steps of 1, 3, 6 or 12 hours in the forecast.

Note:

0.6nm (0.01 degree) files are always 1 hourly,

6nm (0.1 degree) files are always 3 hourly,

30nm (0.5 degree) files can be 3, 6 or 12 hourly.

Model

PredictWind uses its own, proprietary model which is initialized by either NOAA's GFS model or the Canadian CMC model. See Why PredictWind?

for a more in-depth discussion.

Wind only

Select this if only a wind forecast is required. Else, surface pressure, wind, rain-fall and air temperature will be included in the grib file.

Clear grib file list

If this is selected, any previous PredictWind grib files load will be removed from

Expedition.

Draw bounds

Instructs Expedition to draw the PredictWind 0.1 and 0.01 degree forecast areas on the chart. This setting is also available on the display settings page (PredictWind forecast areas).

Use compression

Download the grib file in compressed bz2 format. This option is recommended as it saves about 20% in download size. After downloading the compressed file, Expedition decompresses it and deletes the original, compressed file to the recycle bin.

Username

The email address associated with your PredictWind account.

Password

The password associated with your PredictWind account. Please note this is not encrypted in Expedition.

Check time

Allows a check on the analysis time of the grib file to be downloaded. Useful to check if the grib file has been updated.

Get Grib file

Downloads the selected grib file from the PredictWind server.

Email request

Sends an email to PredictWind, who will reply with the requests grib file.

TideTech

Web

www.tidetech.org

Navigation and yacht racing

With advances in technology, more tools are becoming available to the modern navigator every year. New instruments are being developed, existing instruments are being enhanced and analysis of all the information available is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

This section will provide a basic introduction to the role of information in navigation and tactics.

Targets and polars

Calibration

Inside the instrument system

Instruments

Targets and polars

Your polars are an extremely valuable input into the navigation process - for tactics and performance analysis. At their simplest, polars are a table of boat-speed for varying true wind speed and angles as seen in the table of the right of the picture below. This performance data is normally referred to as polars because it is often presented graphically in a polar form - as seen on the left of the picture.

Polars may be obtained from many sources - your boat designer, class association, your IMS certificate or US Sailing to name just a few. Expedition has some powerful tools to edit and manipulate polars.

Targets

Since a yacht can't sail directly upwind or downwind, but has to sail at an angle to the wind, we aren't making ground to weather at the boat-speed. Rather, progress to weather is at

Velocity made good (Vmg) - that is, the component of speed either upwind or downwind.

Targets are the true wind angle and true wind speed at which the boat should be sailed to maximise VMG either upwind or downwind. These are indicated by the blue radial lines on the left of the picture above. So, in an ideal world, you will sail best upwind or downwind sailing at your target angle and speed.

Polar performance

If the boat isn't sailing upwind or downwind, but is reaching, then the target numbers aren't a lot of use. In this case, we use the predicted speed from the polar to tell us how well we are doing. Expedition has numbers such as polar bsp and polar bsp %. For example if the polar bsp% is 96%, then the boat is only doing 96% of the speed the polar suggests it should be able to do. Obviously, the use of polars is a very powerful means of monitoring how well you are sailing and is a very important input into any tactical decision.

Obviously, your polar numbers will vary slightly from day to day with changes in shear and air density. 96% of polar speed might be all that is possible some days. For this reason,

Expedition uses a concept of wind weight. If the air feels heavier, you may want to use a wind weight of 1.1 for example.

Calibration

The data received from the various sensors by the instrument system will be of varying quality and accuracy. Obviously, if you have inaccurate data, then any calculations made by the instrument system and any decisions based on them will reflect those errors. So, we need to calibrate the instruments, bearing in mind that updating these calibrations is an ongoing task.

The basic calibrations are performed first. Most of these will also be available on lower end instrument systems.

Speed

The basic instrument calibration done in all systems is to calibrate the speed. This will be explained in the manual.

Compass

Calibrating a compass involves two steps. The first is to swing it. This involves motoring the boat through several steady circles so the compass can learn about any magnetic effects in it or the boat and correct for them. The compass can also be corrected to line up with the boat normally just linear addition or subtraction from the heading so when the boat is point due north, the compass reads 0 degrees.

Apparent wind

The apparent wind speed is normally calibrated by the factory and isn't changed by the user.

However, the apparent wind angle will need to be calibrated as the wind sensor may not be aligned with the boat. Your instrument manual will explain how to do this.

Generally, all the other sensors (depth, temperature etc) can also be calibrated.

Unfortunately, this is only the first step in the calibration process. There are other influences on the wind sensors that can (and do) vary from day to day such as upwash, heel and wind shear. So, the next step is to calibrate the outputs. The ability to do this is what differentiates the various

instrument systems available. To correct for all the errors in Awa and Aws would be impossible if we tried to correct them all individually, but we can make some very easy approximations and correct the outputs for all the combined sources of error. Experience has shown this approach works very well.

Speed

Paddle-wheels are notoriously non-linear, especially as the boundary layer breaks down with increasing speed. Because of this, sonic speed sensors are replacing paddle-wheels in many installations. Higher end systems often use a table of calibration values, effectively giving different calibration values at different speeds.

True wind angle

As the air flows around and over the sails, it is distorted. We call this upwash. What this means is that the apparent wind angle and speed measured at the mast-head will vary with wind speed, angle to the wind, the wind shear and even the sails being used.

Furthermore, as the boat heels, the wind angle measured by the wind sensor will vary and there are also effects due to twist in the mast.

Finally, wind speed and direction will vary at different heights about the water. Generally the wind speed will be more higher up and twisted, but by how much will vary from day to day.

The easiest way of calibrating the true wind angle this is to compare true wind direction when sailing at the same angle on port and starboard. Twa is treated as negative by the instruments internally, so if the wind direction is higher when on port tack than starboard, we add half the difference between the wind directions to the true wind angle. Conversely, if the wind direction is higher on starboard, we subtract half the difference from the true wind angle.

In this way, we build up a TWA calibration table based on TWA and TWS that collectively corrects for upwash and twist.

True wind speed

In general, the wind sensor will read more wind downwind than upwind because of upwash the wind accelerates over the sails. This effect is more pronounced downwind. B&G

instruments have a simple, but effective solution in which the difference is entered in a calibration table and subtracted downwind. Less is subtracted as TWA decreases. Expedition and Ockam T1 systems can take this one step further and offer different calibration values at different wind angles as well as wind speeds.

Apparent wind angle and speed

Effectively what the instrument system or Expedition is doing here is correcting the true wind values for errors in the apparent wind inputs. Expedition then takes this one step further and re-calculates the apparent wind sped and angle. You can think of these as calibrated or corrected apparent winds.

Inside the instrument system

Obviously, the raw information from the instruments is of limited use for many navigation problems. Fortunately, the instrument system (and computer) can make use of the raw data to provide a range of very useful information.

True wind angle and speed

At a basic level, the instrument system receives apparent wind angle and speed and speed.

Using some basic mathematics, it then calculates true wind speed and true wind angle. Tws is the speed of the wind over the water (remember aws is the speed of the wind over the boat) and Twa is the angle of the wind to the boat's heading if the boat wasn't moving. These are some of the most useful numbers you can get from the instrument system. Your sail chart and boat polars will be in terms of these two numbers.

Leeway

As the boat sails through the water, it also slides sideways a little. If the boat has a heel sensor, then an approximate leeway can be calculated. Expedition, B&G and Ockam systems all do this in a bid to increase the accuracy of the wind triangle calculations.

The commonly used equation is Leeway = k x heel

/ bsp^2

So, leeway increases as you heel more, but decreases as you go faster.

Expedition and some instrument systems include leeway in Twa (so twa is relative to the boat's track through the water instead of its heading). This has important consequences for calculating laylines and is generally preferable.

True wind direction

If the boat has a compass, the instrument system can then add heading into the calculations

and calculate the true wind direction. Twd is the direction, from north, the wind is coming from over the water.

Current set and drift

The GPS gives the boat's course over the ground (Cog) and speed over the ground (Sog).

Since boat speed is relative to the water and we know the heading of the boat from the compass, then the instrument system can calculate the speed and direction of the water. The is the current set and drift. For obscure reasons, the current set is the direction the current is going to - this is the opposite sense to the way the true wind direction is described.

Laylines

In combination with your targets and polars , Expedition and high end instrument systems can use all this information to calculate laylines, polar speeds, time to laylines and many other numbers.

These calculations can be significantly enhanced by calibrating both the sensors and the derived numbers.

Instruments

The last couple of decades have seen the most profound changes to navigation paradigms in centuries with the advent of satellite navigation systems - the latest of these being the US GPS system.

Prior to this, navigation primarily involved position fixing - a time consuming and, by today's standards, relatively inexact art. With the advent of GPS, position information is available to anyone possessing the barest of skills and experience with astounding accuracy and timeliness.

This and the increasing array on instrumentation have changed the role of the racing navigator from being a pure navigator to a tactician and manager of information.

The GPS, instrument system and boat computer are often connected using the RS232 and NMEA electrical standard, although there are several proprietary communication protocols.

Instrument systems

The instrument system supplies the much of the information available to the navigator.

Systems by Ockam and B&G are the main ones chosen by racing navigators, but there are other manufacturers of instrumentation.

The five fundamental sensors connected to a yacht system are wind, depth, compass, speed and GPS. There are many other sensors available that provide extra information and/or add to the accuracy of the information from these main inputs. For example, barometer, heel, trim, sea temperature and load cells.

GPS

The GPS provides position (latitude and longitude), course and speed over the ground

(Cog and Sog) as well as being an accurate time source.

Wind

The raw information received from the wind sensor are the apparent wind angle (awa)

Speed and apparent wind speed (aws). These are obviously relative to the boat, so will vary depending on boat speed and heading.

This is historically measured by a paddlewheel, but in high-end applications is slowly being replaced by sonic-speed devices, which provide better linearity and repeatability.

Heading

Depth

This is the direction your boat is heading and is often measured by a fluxgate or gyro compass.

The depth sensor is a fundamental safety and navigation instrument, but is an input that can be treated as separate from the rest of the system as far as the racing navigator is concerned.

Heel

A heel sensor (inclinometer) measures the heel of the boat to port or starboard. It can be a useful measure of how powered up the boat is and is often used in calculations of leeway.

Trim

A trim sensor (inclinometer) measures the fore and aft trim of the boat.

Load cell

These measure loads, for example forestay load/tension and can be useful tuning aids.

Sea temperature

The sea temperature sensor (an electronic thermometer) is often packaged with the speed sensor. It can be very useful to know the sea temperature when racing through the Gulf

Stream for example.

Barometer and air temperature

These can be useful for monitoring the weather.

Expedition charting

Chart management

Chart settings

C-Map charts

C-Map and Windows Vista

Expedition features a highly efficient and class leading charting system that seamlessly rotates, mosaics and moves between charts. Expedition supports a range of chart formats from different manufacturers. Where possible, all charts are corrected to the WGS84 datum before display and manipulation.

Charts come in two types - raster and vector. Most prefer either one or the other.

Vector charts

Vector charts are databases of all objects in a chart and their attributes - you can think of them as an intelligent chart. Vector charts are normally more efficient, require less storage and often allow better clarity. However, their main advantage is that the user or software can choose to display objects on the chart or not.

Expedition supports the C-Map charting system. C-Map charts have global coverage.

Raster charts

Raster charts are scanned paper charts in digital format that contain the geo-referencing information necessary to convert between pixels in the image and latitude/longitudes. Most raster charts also contain other information such as the date of update, datum and depth datum. Many navigators prefer raster charts over vector charts because they are more familiar. Raster charts are available varieties of the Bsb format. The Bsb chart format is used by many chart manufacturers around the world.

Bsb charts from various manufacturers have near global coverage.

Chart management

Accessed from chart panel.

This opens the chart management dialog. If this is your first time running the program, you will have an empty chart database and this chart management window will open automatically when you start Expedition.

Search

Will search your computer for charts and build a database of all the charts in the computer or on the CD drive. Expedition will ask you where to search - you can search the whole computer or just update specific folders in your chart database to save time. After the search is complete, you will be able to see your updated chart list and access them as described below.

This does not search for C-Map charts. The C-Map charting system manages that.

After running search and building the data base, your charts are arranged alphabetically in a tree arrangement based on their format - either vector or raster.

On selecting any chart in the chart management window its attributes will appear on the right of the dialog.

Unless for some reason you don't want the charts on your computer and plan using charts from your CD (which is much slower and less reliable than your hard drive), it is best to copy the desired charts from the CD into a folder on your hard disc drive (such as C:\Charts) and remove the CD before you run Search.

You can import individual charts using the Import button (see below). However, if you want to add a several additional charts, then it is faster to use the Search function rather than import them individually.

You can also examine the present charts details (chart name, datum, etc) by right mouse

clicking anywhere on the chart and selecting Chart details from the popup menu.

Once selected, a chart will remain displayed in the main chart window until you either Zoom

in, Zoom out or re-centre (pan) the chart window off the present chart.

NOAA RNCs

Links to NOAA's online Raster Navigational Charts. These are supplied free of charge for US waters. Note that Expedition does not support notice to mariner updates.

Clear DB

Clears the chart list. Does not delete charts from your system.

Delete

Deletes the selected/highlighted chart.

Open

Opens the selected chart on the main chart window.

Import

Allows import of individual charts (saves a full search).

It also allows the import of Windows bitmap (*.bmp) images. The image to be imported has to be in bitmap format (*.bmp), north up, a mercator or equidistant lat/lon projection and preferably using a 256 or less colour bitmap. As part of the import process, the image needs to be geo-referenced.

When importing a *.bmp image, you will be prompted for first guess bounds - the north, south, east and west limits of the image. Also, whether the image uses a mercator or a regular latitude/longitude projection.

After the image is imported, the geo-referencing can be enhanced by selecting geo-reference from the right-click popup menu, which will allow you to enter the exact position of the

clicked on location. This is very useful if the gridded area is smaller than the imported image or you are using a very large picture. Expedition requires two geo-referencing points that should be as far apart as possible on the chart for best results - for example in the top left and bottom right or top right and bottom left corners. These user defined geo-referencing points will be displayed as small blue x symbols on the chart.

It is a good idea to delete the 'first guess' geo-referencing points by right-clicking on them.

For example, you can import images of weather faxes, sea temperature charts, satellite images,

'QuikScat' wind satellite charts and ocean current charts to plot your position on, overlay grib weather on or create grib fields of ocean current.

Note: Do not use on custom charts derived from *.bmp bitmap files for navigation. The ability to display these is only provided as an aid to strategy and decision making.

Chart settings

Access

Chart tab on the settings sheet

See the chart panel.

Ctrl+C.

Important warning

Most charts, are referenced to the WGS84 datum. Non WGS84 charts are automatically corrected by Expedition to the WGS84 datum where possible. This is to make everything consistent within the system and with the position provided by your GPS. Most charts contain enough information to facilitate this, but if the words unknown datum or unknown ellipsoid appear in the status bar at the bottom of Expedition's main chart window, then no conversion is possible. In this case, extra care should be exercised if using Expedition for navigation.

There are small errors involved in datum conversions, potentially up to tens of metres. Some projections (for example ED50 around the Mediterranean may have errors larger than this for various reasons).

A chart's datum can also be viewed in the chart management dialog or using the right-click pop-up menu . There are inherent errors in any datum conversion, so the user should be especially careful with non WGS84 charts. For optimum accuracy on a given chart, the user may want to apply an offset to the GPS position. Most GPSs have a protocol to enter a user determined correction to be applied to the position. This sort of correction should only be done if you are confident of its accuracy and you must remember to remove/change it if you switch to a different chart. Luckily this sort of manipulation is rarely necessary.

Because of this, it is normally recommended that your GPS is configured to output position based on the WGS84 datum unless you are an expert user and your chart datum is unknown to

Expedition.

General

Expedition has no internal printing features due to licensing restrictions with the chart manufacturers.

Chart orientation

Expedition can rotate raster charts to suit individual needs, but most navigators accustomed to paper charts will prefer the chart up display setting.

The chart up mode is a lot faster when displaying raster (e.g. Bsb) images.

Chart up

The default and most common setting. Display charts oriented as they are drawn (most charts are drawn with true north up).

True North up

Display charts so that true north is always to the top of the screen.

Course up

Useful for windward/leeward courses where tactical viewing is more desirable than navigational viewing.

Heading up

Orients the chart to the current heading.

Start up

Like Course up, this setting displays charts with the starting line oriented horizontally across the screen.

Palette

By default, Expedition displays C-Map charts using the NOAA colour palette. However, C-

Map MAX, Admiralty or gray scale colour schemes may be used.

Custom land colour

Allows the land colour to be defined on C-Map charts. Over-comes the problem where grey and white are hard to distinguish on some screens.

Language

Lists available C-Map languages.

Reference depth

Colours depth areas less than the value specified if Reference depth colouring is enabled (see below).

Value In metres.

Chart Selection

Prefer C-Map

Prefer Raster

With Open best Chart selected, these controls determine whether to display C-Map or raster (e.g. Bsb) charts when zooming in or out or using Follow boat etc. if both are available at the same scale.

Use demo charts

Instructs Expedition to use C-Map demo charts in the DemoCharts folder in the

Expedition data folder . Exp may need to be restarted after changing this setting.

Chart settings

Set various chart display settings.

Lat/lon Grid

Display or hide the latitude/longitude grid.

Chart bounds

Chart boundaries.

C-Map specific options

Over Zoom

Allows Over-zooming of charts

Reference depth colouring

Colours depth areas less than the value specified in Reference depth (see above).

This over-rides and disables Colour sea areas, Dynamic depth colouring and Invert depth colouring.

Dynamic depth colouring

Dynamic depth colouring.

Invert depth colouring

Depths

Inverts dynamic depth colouring.

Depth contours and shallow waters.

Soundings

Spot soundings

Nature Of Seabed

Sand waves, seabed areas, springs and weed/kelp.

Under-water Objects

Diffusers, obstructions, wrecks, submarine cables, cable areas pipeline (submarine/land) pipeline area.

Ports

Berthing facilities, causeways, dock areas, harbour facilities, hulks, Landing place, signal stations, harbour master, coast guard, police, customs, Health emergency, yacht clubs, port/marina, Fuel station etc.

Caution Areas

Anchorage area, customs zone, marine farm etc.

Lights

Light and navigational aids.

Light sectors

Display light sectors.

Buoys

Buoys.

Buoy Names

Buoy names next to buoys.

Signals

Fog signals, radio stations, radar reflector/station/transponder.

Meta Objects

Survey source, datum etc.

New Objects

Anything not covered by other categories.

Points of interest

Value added data

Great Barrier Reef, photos etc.

Depth labels

Depth labels on depth contours.

Underwater rock depths

Wreck depths

Obstruction depths

Beacon name

Port name

Tides & Currents

Tide-ways, water turbulence and tide height. In the case of C-Map MAX charting, also displays tidal streams.

Continuous animation with C-Map tides and currents showing can be slow.

C-Map tidal streams are for display purposes only. See the tide settings help for Expedition's tides and tidal streams.

Tracks and Routes

Names

Traffic separation zones, ferry routes etc.

Text on chart

Compass Distance

Compass point, local magnetic anomalies.

Cartographic Objects

Line, text, cartographic symbol/line.

Enhanced anti-clutter

Uses the C-Map enhanced de-clutter algorithm for cleaner charts. MAX charts only.

Height labels

Height labels.

Perspective view

Large text

Natural Features

Hills, vegetation etc.

Rivers

Rivers, lakes, canals etc.

Cultural Features

Airfields, railways etc.

Landmarks

Buildings, flagpoles, windmills etc.

Roads

Roads.

Railway

Railways.

Airport

Bridge labels

Outdoor recreational areas

C-Map MAX and NT+ charts

Expedition seamlessly manages C-Map charting with Bsb raster charts. Objects on C-Map charts can be interrogated using the right-click pop-up menu.

See the chart panel.

C-Map NT+ or MAX /PC Selector

The C-Map destination folder must not be in the c:\program files\ folder.

C-Map NT/PC Selector can be launched from chart management or from the C-Map section of the chart settings page.

Note that sometimes MAX and NT+ charts may not behave nicely together.

Palettes

By default, Expedition displays C-Map charts using the default C-Map colour palette.

However, NOAA, Admiralty or gray scale palettes may be used. See the chart settings help.

Display settings

You can turn various C-Map features and display attributes on or off. Some of these (e.g..

Boundings) also apply to raster charts. See the chart settings help.

Colour shallow depths

This can be used to shade areas where the depth is less than a set amount.

Always in metres,

Requires Reference depth colouring to be enabled in chart settings ,

C-Map objects

Use the Query C-Map object menu item on the right-click pop-up menu to interrogate any C-

Map object.

Select any item in the tree control on the left of the C-Map object window to display its attributes in the right hand window.

In the case of a tide station, times of high and low tides as well as sunrise and sunset will be displayed.

In the case of a C-Map image, a picture will be displayed. Note that to suit smaller screens, expanding the dialog will show more detail in the displayed window.

Important notes on C-Map MAX NT Selector

When you attempt to install the new C-Map NT/PC Selector for MAX, it will ask you to uninstall your previous version of NT/PC Selector. Unfortunately, this also deletes all your C-

Map charts.

If this happens, you can do a 'restore charts' from the CD.

The other option is to manually back-up the C-Map charts folder (normally c:\program files\C_MAP NT PC Selector\Charts and manually copy it back after the upgrade. This would be quicker than the restore charts option.

C-Map provides two quick reference charts that can be downloaded from the Expedition or C-

Map web sites:

C-Map chart legend : A visual reference and description of objects on C-Map NT+ electronic charts.

C-Map NT Cartography Reference Guide : Detailed information about C-MAP charts, the different formats and features.

Expedition can utilise C-Map NT+ charts from the following sources:

C-Card

Requires a C-Card Reader, available from your local C-Map dealer. The required drivers should be provided with the cartridge reader, but may be downloaded from the

Expedition or C-Map web sites, and should be installed according to the on screen instructions when you first connecting the USB lead from the reader to your computer.

PCMCIA

Available from your local C-Map dealer. The required drivers should be provided with the card, but may be downloaded from the Expedition or C-Map web sites, and should be installed according to the on screen instructions when you first install the card in your computer.

PC/NT Selector

The most common (and preferred) source of C-Map charts. The user has two options when purchasing and loading these charts - they can be linked to the PC or to a security key (dongle). The advantage of the dongle is that the chart can be used on any computer

the dongle is connected to. The C-Map NT/PC Selector programme is included with C-

Map's NT/PC CDROM.

The C-Map NT/PC Selector is also available from the chart settings page.

The PC/NT Selector application is a software program that:

1.

Acts as an electronic chart catalogue: you can navigate through different World zones and browse the C-MAP NT Chart Catalogue to choose the NT/PC Charts needed.

2.

Generates the Chart License Code Requests. Each time you select a NT/PC Chart and list it in your Shopping Cart, a unique Chart License Code Request is automatically generated. This code must be communicated to C-MAP's Call

Centre Operator, if you do not have an Internet connection, to obtain the Chart

License Code to unlock the NT/PC Chart you have purchased. If you decide to purchase online the code is automatically transmitted.

3.

Manages the Chart License Codes you receive from C-MAP. The Chart License

Codes are communicated to you after you have provided the Chart License Code

Request of each NT/PC Chart you want to purchase. The Chart License Codes unlock the purchased NT/PC Charts. The Chart License Codes cannot work on other computers. If you reinstall your operating system you will be able to use the same codes. If you perform a hardware change you will have to contact C-

MAP to obtain new Chart License Codes.

4.

Allows your Navigation Software Application, designed for C-MAP NT/PC, to display and use the NT/PC charts purchased.

5.

Allows you to contact C-MAP online through the Internet or by phone to a Call

Centre. You can obtain assistance to guide you through a purchase process or to perform operations with the NT/PC Chart Selector software application as well as assistance for installation troubleshooting and high level technical suggestions.

Just a few simple steps compose the NT/PC Chart shopping procedure:

1.

1.

In the Map Window, use the left mouse button to highlight the available charts in the region of interest. The codes of the available charts are displayed in the

'Charts Selected from Map' window in the lower left part of the screen.

2.

Select the chart code of interest and the coverage area will be outlined in the

Map Window. To purchase the outlined/selected chart right click on it and a

Pop-Up Menu will appear. Select 'Buy Selected Chart'.

3.

The selected chart will automatically appear in the lower window of the

'Shopping Cart' page shown. To add further charts to the Shopping Cart click on the "Chart Selection" icon and repeat steps 1 to 4.

4.

To complete the purchase procedure go to Online Shopping if you have an

Internet connection, else go to Call Centre Shopping:

For more details, please read the PC/NT Selector help.

C-Map and Windows

The C-Map destination folder must not be in the c:\program files\ folder.

By default, older versions of C-Map NT/PC Selector program install chart files to its local program folder, normally:

C:\Program Files\C-MAP NT PC Selector\Charts\

This can cause issues on PCs with Windows 7 and Vista. The default Windows settings don't allow software to write to the program files folder. Instead, the charts get saved in a virtual store folder like:

C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\C-MAP NT PC

Selector\Charts\

In this case, the charts may not be viewable in Expedition. Even if they are, they won't be viewable if you log on to Windows with another user name.

There are a couple of solutions to this, depending on the C-Map NT/PC Selector version.

Older versions of C-Map NT/PC Selector (pre v11)

Older versions of C-Map NT/PC Selector don't have the ability to change the destination folder. It is recommended the C-Map charts are upgraded, but it may be possible to manually copy the chart files from

C:\Program Files\C-MAP NT PC Selector\Charts\ to

C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\C-MAP NT PC

Selector\Charts\

The charts will probably have names like AUM00106.MCP or ENC56517.MCP.

C-Map NT/PC Selector v11 and later

Version 11 and later of C-Map NT/PC Selector provide the option to save the chart files in the

ProgramData folder, C:\ProgramData\C-MAP NT PC Selector\Charts.

Close Expedition and click on the Yes button. C-Map NT/PC Selector will then copy all the

C-Map chart files to a program data folder that Expedition and C-Map can safely read, probably:

C:\ProgramData\C-MAP NT PC Selector\Charts

On Windows XP or 2000 systems, this will be a folder like:

C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Application Data\C-MAP NT

PC Selector\Charts

Note, this may take a few minutes. This can be verified by examining the Destination Path setting in the C-MAP NT/PC Selector settings page:

Marks and courses

Man overboard button

Easy marks

Right click to build a course

Mark management

Man overboard

The man overboard button on the Marks panel sets a locked mark called MOB at the current boat position.

Also available from the and by using the F-10 keyboard shortcut.

Computers can be less reliable than a purpose built GPS, so always use your boat's GPS system as your primary MOB position fix system. Use Expedition as a backup - displaying the track on the screen is a very good way visual of seeing your way back.

Quick (easy) marks

Accessed from the Marks panel.

As per its name, this is the easiest way to set up a new course. First Zoom out to a chart scale where you can see your entire course area. Now select Quick marks. A window will pop up where you can name the course or simply accept the name Easy by clicking OK. Now you can move the cursor onto the main chart window. Wherever you left click, a mark will be laid and a course/route will be created following these Easy Marks in the order in which they were created.

Remember to deselect Quick marks when you're finished creating the route or else you will create an additional mark every time you use the left click button.

Marks can be easily added by using the insert mark item on the pop-up menu while you are creating an easy course.

Loop

If a course is set to be able to loop, moving to the next mark from the last mark sets the first mark as the active mark. Similarly, moving to the previous mark from the first mark selects the last mark as the first mark.

Fine tuning the position of a mark

After setting up an Quick Route you can then Zoom in to a particular mark and fine tune it.

Drag

You can drag a mark to a desired location by left mouse clicking it (an arrow will appear on the mark when it is drag-able) and whilst keeping the left click button depressed, move the mark where you want it.

Edit on chart

By right mouse clicking a mark in the main chart window you open a drop down window. If you select Edit mark, a Mark properties window will open where you can enter a precise latitude and longitude and perform a number of other functions including locking the mark so that it is not drag-able.

Edit in Mark management

You can get to the same Mark properties window by highlighting/selecting (with a left mouse click) any mark in the Mark management window and clicking the Edit button.

The ability to drag a mark is highly useful in buoy racing where the race committee does not always place the marks exactly where intended.

Mark Management and Easy Marks

If you accepted the name Easy when creating the Easy Route your new Easy marks are stored in the Easy folder in Mark management. They will be overwritten next time you use Quick marks. You could rename the mark and course folders using mark management, but it is easier to choose a unique course name when you first click this button.

Right mouse click to build a course

You can build a course by simply right clicking at a point to open the drop down window and select

Set Mark. Subsequent marks in the course can be added by right clicking and selecting Insert Mark for example. You can also use the pop-up menu to add marks at the start and end of a course or to insert an already existing mark into any point of the course. See the pop-up menu help for further assistance.

As with Easy Marks the marks you create in this manner can be found in the marks section of mark management .

The pop-up menu tools can be very helpful when fine tuning or refining a course. The inserted mark will always be placed in the nearest great circle leg of the course to the pointer.

Mark management

Accessed from the marks panel.

You can modify existing course/routes and create new courses from existing marks that are in your mark folders using the mark management dialog . To build a new course, first create a folder in the

Courses section by clicking the left hand New button. This creates a new folder in the Courses section which you can rename as desired in the normal manner (highlight the course, pause, and then left click it again). When you create it, this folder is empty, but you can insert mark into the folder (in order from start to finish) easily. First make sure this desired course folder is highlighted

(left click), then move your mouse over to the right side marks section, expand the desired mark folder(s) and highlight the first mark (i.e. the starting point) you want in the course. Now click the

left arrow button in the centre of the mark management window and the highlighted mark will be placed into the highlighted course folder. In this manner you can add as many marks as you want into a particular course, one at a time in order. If you make a mistake, or to remove a mark from a course folder simply highlight it and click the right mark button.

In mark management you can also insert a mark into an existing course folder by expanding that course folder and highlighting (with a left click) the mark that should come just before the new mark to be inserted. Then use the same protocol described above (highlighting the intended mark and using the button to insert it in the desired location).

Marks

New

Creates a new mark or mark folder

Edit

Edits a selected mark

Delete

Deletes a selected mark or mark folder

Lock

Locks a mark or all marks in a folder

Unlock

Unlocks a mark or all marks in a folder

Always draw

Sets a mark or all marks in a folder to be always drawn.

Don't draw

Sets a mark or all marks in a folder to be not always drawn.

Port end

Sets the currently selected mark to be the port end of the start line.

Starboard end

Sets the currently selected mark to be the starboard end of the start line.

Courses

Leave to port, Leave to starboard or Sail to mark

This instructs optimal routing to leave a mark to one side.

It is also used when computing laylines - Exp adds or subtracts half a boat width when leaving a mark to port or starboard.

Loop

Toggles the course loop attribute on and off.

New

Creates a new course

Delete

Deletes a course if selected or removes a mark from a course if selected.

Move up

Moves the selected mark of the course up one.

Move down

Select

Moves the selected mark of the course down one.

Sets the selected course as the active course.

Details

Displays details about the currently selected/active course.

Can also edit a course's loop property. If a course is set to be able to loop, moving to the next mark from the last mark sets the first mark as the active mark. Similarly, moving to the previous mark from the first mark selects the last mark as the first mark.

Reverse

Reverses the order of marks in any selected course.

Other Mark Management features

Can move/drag marks between mark folders,

Can edit most mark or course names and details by selecting the label in the tree control,

Can right-click in the marks tree control to perform the above mark operations on any mark or mark folder,

Can select the desired course to be active (i.e. display it on the main chart window and use it for routing) by highlighting (left click) the desired course in the Courses section and then left clicking Select. This overrides any other course that had been previously displayed on the main chart window.

Weather and tides

GRIB files

A Grib file is a digital weather or current file. These are available from a variety of sources see SailDocs , Ocens , PredictWind or www.TasmanBayNav.co.nz

for examples.

Expedition can seamlessly merge and use multiple Grib files, automatically using the best available data in the selected Grib files for its calculations.

There is some variation in the types of Grib files that are available, but Expedition can read the most common types.

See the weather settings help for further help on using grib files.

Tides and currents

See the tide settings and SHOM help.

Information for the Newport-Bermuda race

This is a summary of relevant sections of the Expedition help file for the Bermuda race and the

Gulfstream.

Also, see Grib file creation and Chart installation and management .

Gulf stream currents and Grib files

Grib files of the Gulf Stream can be obtained from various sources depending on preference, including Ocens , Saildocs (select the RTOFS model) or direct from NOAA.

Ocens and Saildocs are easiest, but you can also get RTOFS directly from NOAA - you want the files below.

ofs_atl.t00z.n000.gs.grb.std.grib2

ofs_atl.t00z.f024.gs.grb.std.grib2

ofs_atl.t00z.f048.gs.grb.std.grib2

ofs_atl.t00z.f072.gs.grb.std.grib2

ofs_atl.t00z.f096.gs.grb.std.grib2

ofs_atl.t00z.f120.gs.grb.std.grib2

These files are an analysis (n000) and 24 hourly forecasts. The forecasts can be very useful for the Bermuda race as the meanders move so much. Obviously these highly detailed grib files are too large to download at sea for most users, but can be downloaded before the start.

If you have a bitmap (.bmp) image of ocean temperatures or currents analysis, you can use

Expedition to create a grib file based on the information in the image.

This could be from Jenifer Clark or another source. For example, but just save the image as a bitmap (.bmp) file.

Tip: Select Extend currents in time in the optimal routing settings.

Importing an image

See Chart installation and management .

Expedition allows the import of Windows bitmap (.bmp) images. The image to be imported has to have the following properties: be in bitmap format (.bmp), use a north up mercator or regular lat/lon projection, preferably using a 256 colour bitmap.

As part of the import process, the image needs to be geo-referenced.

1.

Open Expedition's Chart management window and click on the import button.

2.

When importing a .bmp image, you will be prompted for first guess bounds (the north, south, east and west limits of the image) and whether the image uses a mercator or a regular latitude/longitude projection.

3.

Be aware that most recent Gulf Stream charts and images we have seen use a regular latitude/longitude projection. This option is only available on Expedition v5.5.

4.

After the image is imported, the geo-referencing can be enhanced by selecting georeference from the right-click popup menu, which will allow you to enter the exact position of the clicked on location. This is very useful if the gridded area is smaller than the imported image or you are using a very large image. Expedition requires two geo-referencing points that should be as far apart as possible on the chart for best results - for example in the top left and bottom right or top right and bottom left corners. These user defined geo-referencing points will be displayed as small blue x symbols on the chart.

5.

It is a good idea to delete the 'first guess' geo-referencing points by right-clicking on them.

6.

At this point, your image is ready to use. It may be opened later on from Chart management or from the Right-click pop-up menu.

SailDocs

Available from the SailDocs button on the Weather panel.

SailDocs has an email or direct web delivery service for the delivery of grib weather data.

For more information, send email to the auto-respond addresses [email protected]

and [email protected]

.

Requesting smaller areas with less fields, times and resolution will result in smaller grib files. This can be important with a slow or expensive email connection, especially at sea.

To use, click on the Saildocs button, then select an area of the chart to obtain weather for.

Check time

Allows a check on the analysis time of the grib file to be downloaded. Useful to check if the grib file has been updated.

Get Grib

Obtains a grib file directly from the web, rather than via email, and automatically load the received grib file into Expedition.

Use compression

Download the grib file in compressed bz2 format. This option is recommended as it saves about 20% in download size. After downloading the compressed file, Expedition decompresses it and deletes the original, compressed file to the recycle bin.

Clear grib file list

Automatically removes previous grib files from the file list. If not selected, it is advisable to remove any unnecessary grib files from the list.

Email request

Creates a SailDocs email query.

Expedition automates the creation of the email message required to receive a SailDocs grib file, but you can edit the Expedition-created email before sending.

North, south, east and west

Expedition lets you refine the area to request.

Days

Number of days to subscribe for.

Subscribe

Selecting subscribe will change the email to request grib files for desired number of days.

Resolution

Select the desired resolution of your grib file. Higher resolution grib files will contain more detail, but a 1 degree grib file may be close to 4 times as large as a 2 degree grib file.

Note that higher resolution options may not be available for all models. For example,

COAMPS data is available at 0.2°, RTOFS is available at 0.05°; and GFS is available at 0.5°; resolutions.

Model

Various models and data sources are available from Saildocs.

GFS

The default model global model from NOAA/NCEP. Data is generally available at 0.5

degree resolution grid every 3 hours out to 180 hours, then at 2.5 degrees resolution out

to 384 hours (16 days). The availability of the 0.5 degree data depends on availability from NOAA - Saildocs falls back to 1 degree at 6 hourly steps if the 0.5 degree files are not available.

Available parameters are PRMSL, WIND, RAIN, HGT500, AIRTEMP and SEATMP.

Selecting WAVES will include the WW3 significant wave data in the grib file.

Updated every 6 hours and is generally available by 5 to 6 hours after the main synoptic hours.

GFS Fudge

As above, but will use older model data if the most recent isn't available for any particular time.

WW3

NOAA's WW3 wave model is available at 1 x 1.25 degree resolution (lat x lon) every 3 hours out to 180

Available parameters are WAVES, HTSGW, WIND, WVPER and WVDIR.

Updated every 6 hours and is generally available by 6 hours after the main synoptic hours.

NOGAPS

A US Navy model. Data is available at 1 degree resolution every 3 hours out to 24, then every 6 hours to 96, then every 12 hours to 144.

Available parameters are PRMSL,WIND and HGT.

Updated every 12 hours and is generally available by 6 hours after the main synoptic hours.

COAMPS

A higher resolution regional model provided by the US Navy. Data is available for three regions: eastern Pacific, west Atlantic, and Caribbean/Central America. Data is available at 0.2 degree resolution at 6 hourly intervals out to 48 hours and to 72 for the west

Atlantic.

For best results, stick with 0.2 or multiples thereof, to avoid interpolation.

Available parameters are PRMSL and WIND.

Available regions are

East Pacific

29n, 60n, 160w, 114w

West Atlantic

20n, 55n, 093w, 055w

East Atlantic and Europe

This also seems to be available.

Central America and Caribbean

00n, 32n, 120w, 060w

Continental US

24n, 50n, 126w, 066w

QSCAT

Quickscat wind data is obtained from satellite observations. Data is updated hourly, but only once or twice a day for any particular area.

This is no longer available.

RTOFS

Atlantic current, temperature and deviation data (CUR, WTMP & DSL_M) from the

RTOF & HYCOM models.

Forecast times

Select the forecast times to request.

Clear

Clears all selected times.

Default

Selects default times to request.

Parameters

Select desired fields. If none of these are selected, the default is PRMSL and WIND.

Note that the parameters selection has no effect if no forecast times are selected.

Ocens WeatherNet

Available from the Ocens button on the weather panel if installed. Ocens WeatherNet may be downloaded from the Expedition download page.

WeatherNet is a system designed to optimize the download of weather and ocean data products via wireless connections. The product offers highly compressed text, images, charts, buoy data, radar,

GRIB files, and many more formats. With over 20,000 continuously updated weather products,

WeatherNet is the largest most comprehensive source of weather data in the world. All are available to the user on demand by the push of a button.

Grib files downloaded from Ocens WeatherNet are automatically loaded into Expedition.

See www.ocens.com

for further information.

Proudman Tidal currents

Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory is the UK's tidal research centre.

Expedition supports the Proudman tidal current models, which are licensed separately as a valueadded product. Once licensed, these extensive currents may be displayed on the chart, used in routing, laylines etc.

Please direct licensing inquiries to Expedition or your dealer.

Several areas are available:

Arabian Gulf model

Mediterranean model

The tidal currents are divided into 3 areas, only one area may be selected at any one time.

6°W to 10°E

8°E to 23°E

21°E to 37°E

NW European Continental Shelf model

The standard model supplied with Expedition covers the UK and surrounding waters with a resolution of 1/9° latitude by 1/6° longitude (approximately 12km) .

The Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory has validated every data point against observed currents. The minimum observation period at each data point is 30 days

Area covered: 48° 07'N to 62° 53' N, 11° 50'W to 12° 50'E

The tidal currents are divided into nine areas for UK and surrounding waters. Only one area may be selected at any time.

Western Approaches and English Channel

Eastern English Channel, Dover Straits and southern North Sea

Ireland and Bristol channel

Central North Sea

Kattegat

Western Scotland

Northern North Sea

Faroe Islands

Norway and Shetlands

SHOM Tidal currents

Expedition supports the SHOM tidal current models, which are licensed separately as value-added products. Once licensed, these extensive currents may be displayed on the chart, used in routing, laylines etc.

Please direct licensing inquiries to Expedition or your dealer.

The tidal currents are divided into two areas, broadly northern and western French coasts for licensing purposes.

Northern France from Ouessant to Dunkerque

557, Courants de maree dans le Pas de Calais,

561, Courants de maree de la Baie de Seine, de Cherbourg a Fecamp,

562, Courants de maree du Golfe Normand-Breton,

563, Courants de maree Bretagne-Nord, des Heaux-de-Brehat a la Pointe de Pontusval,

564, Courants de maree de la Manche de Dunkerque a Brest.

Atlantic coast from Royan to Ouessant

558, Courants de maree de la Cote Sud de Bretagne, d' 'Audierne au Croisic,

559, Courants de maree de la Cote ouest de France, de Saint-Nazaire a Royan,

560, Courants de maree de la Cote ouest de Bretagne, de Goulven a Penmarc'h,

565, Courants de maree dans le Golfe de Gascogne

Instruments

Available from the Applications button or the Ctrl-i keyboard shortcut.

Expedition can be configured to talk to all the main types of instrument systems, either via a network (ethernet or wireless) or a serial connection. Expedition will automatically detect available serial ports on your computer and they will appear as tabs across the top of the window. Select the page for the appropriate serial port or network connection and proceed with the configuration described for your individual instrument system.

If you do not see the serial/com port you desire on the tabs in this window, it may have been opened by another application. If the port has been used for another program such as Microsoft

Hyperterminal, you may have to restart Windows before Expedition sees the com port desired.

Non-WGS84 charts are automatically corrected by Expedition to the WGS84 datum where possible.

For this reason, it is generally preferable to use the WGS84 datum in your GPS or other position fixing device.

The common functions are described below. Depending on the instrument system selected, different options will be available on this page and from the System button.

Expedition

AIS

B&G H690

B&G H2000

B&G H3000

B&G Hydra

Koden radar

KVH Quadro

Laser rangefinders

Maretron Compass

Nexus NX2

Nexus FDX

NKE

NMEA 0183

Ockam

Racing Bravo

Raymarine

Tacktick

Use position fix check box

Normally you will have your GPS position information coming through the instrument system's data stream.

However, there are certain advantages (mainly precision and timeliness, which are important when using the start line tools) to receiving the GPS position fix directly from its NMEA output rather than from your boat's instrument system.

This box is checked by default and therefore assumes that GPS position is coming through the data stream from the instrument system. However, if you want to connect the GPS to another serial port, uncheck this box. Deselecting this option stops position being received from your instrument system. Of course if you do this, you must set up Expedition to receive the GPS data from its serial/com port on the Instruments page tab for the port to which the GPS is

connected. Configure this as a NMEA 0183 instrument and ensure the Use position fix check box is checked.

It is recommended that you configure your GPS to output NMEA 0183 v2.0 rather than

NMEA 0183 v1.5.

Validate checksums

Some data (NMEA, Racing Bravo, Nexus H3000, Expedition etc) includes an error checking mechanism. Normally this box will be selected, in which case received data will be checked for errors.

If you are receiving old NMEA data without a checksum, you will want to deselect this option.

User command

This box, although not commonly used, allows you to send a command to the instrument system. Beware of what you send!

Reconnect

Can be useful to pick up a dropped network connection, especially wireless.

Wake

Some instrument systems, need to be instructed what data to send by Expedition. Normally, this happens automatically, but if desired, this button forces all the wake-up commands to be immediately re-sent to the instruments.

Raw data

Displays data being received from the instruments. This can be very useful for tracing instrument connectivity problems. Use the Export incoming data button to save the incoming data to a text file.

System

Opens an interface specific for the instrument system selected on this page.

Instruments

Available from the Instruments item on the Application button menu or the ctrl-i key stroke.

Instruments, baud rate etc. settings

Select the appropriate instrument type, serial port settings (baud rate etc.) and the boat to which the incoming data will be mapped. Most users will only want to map data to boat zero and throughout this help file we have assumed that the system is set at Boat 0.

Tip: When you select an instrument system, Expedition sets the default settings that usually are best for that system.

DB9 pins

1 Received Line Signal Detector (Data Carrier Detect)

2 Received Data

3 Transmit Data

4 Data Terminal Ready

5 Signal Ground

6 Data Set Ready

7 Request To Send

8 Clear To Send

9 Ring Indicator

Networking

Available from the Instruments item on the Application button menu or the ctrl-i key stroke.

Expedition can talk to other versions of Expedition or to any supported instrument system over a network using TCP or UDP network protocols.

By default, Expedition has no network connections available. If one or more network connections are required, this can be changed from the Number of network connections item from the

Instruments item on the Application button menu

Broadcasting data

Expedition can broadcast selected data to all other computers on your local network using

UDP.

On a Network page,

Select Expedition from the instrument drop-list.

Select UDP Tx or Tx & Rx as the connection type.

Select a port between 1024 and 65535 to broadcast to. Ports below this are assigned for common services, so you shouldn't use these. Ockam instruments use port 5005 for example.

From the System button, select the desired Expedition channels to broadcast on the Expedition output filter page. Obviously, you should not select the same item to be both sent and received on the same PC.

Receiving broadcast data

To receive Expedition data broadcast by another PC.

On a Network page,

Select Expedition from the instrument drop-list.

Select UDP Tx and Rx as the connection type.

Select a port to receive data on. This is the port number as set above to broadcast the data on.

From the System button, select the desired Expedition channels to receive on the Expedition input filter page. Obviously, you should not select the same item to be both sent and received on the same PC.

Expedition data exchange between specific computers

Expedition data can also be exchanged between any two computers rather than the whole network.

On a Network page,

Select Expedition from the instrument drop-list.

If using UDP, the sending computer can be set to send data to the IP address of the receiving computer.

If using TCP, one computer should be set as the TCP server and the other as a TCP client. The server listens for a connection request from the client. The

IP address of the server needs to be entered on the client computer network page.

Select a port to receive and send data on.

From the System button, select the desired Expedition channels to send and receive. Obviously, you should not select the same item to be both sent and received on the same PC.

Receiving instrument data

Expedition can receive data via a network from Expedition on another computer or any supported instrument system.

On a Network page,

All controls behave as for serial ports.

Select the instrument system to receive data from and the port to connect to.

If using a TCP connection

Enable the TCP and enter a port number and network address of the other computer (for example, "192.168.1.1") to connect to.

If using a UDP connection to send to a specific IP address (for example, Koden radar).

Select UDP Broadcast

Enter the port number and network address (for example, "192.168.1.1") to connect to.

Four common ways of physically connecting your computers together.

1.

Ethernet, connecting the two computers through a router,

2.

Ethernet, connecting the two computers directly using a cross-over cable,

3.

Wireless, using a wireless DHCP access point,

4.

Wireless, using an ad-hoc network.

4.

In cases 2 and 4, you need to give each of the two computers their unique IP address. For example, set the IP addresses to 192.169.0.1 and 192.169.0.2 and the subnet mask on each computer to

255.255.255.0

For cases 3 and 4, you also need to set up the wireless connection. Assuming an 802 system, you need to set the network wireless mode to infrastructure for case 3 or to Ad-hoc for case 4. You also need to make the SSID (e.g. default), the channel (e.g. 6) and the transmit rate (e.g. 11 Mbps) the same on all devices.

This is very brief and it is a good idea to read your manuals. The advantage to the Ad-hoc network is that many laptops have 802b built in or an 802b wireless card is easy to insert. The disadvantage with an Ad-hoc network is that it is point-to-point. If you want more computers listening to the host computer, you need to use an Access point.

AIS

AIS is a shipboard broadcast system operating in the VHF maritime band that is capable of handling well over 4,500 reports per minute and updates as often as every two seconds. The system coverage range is similar to other VHF applications.

Expedition can read and decode AIS messages from most standard AIS receivers.

AIS targets may be drawn on the chart significantly more accurately that with ARPA/MARPA radar target plotting. Expedition can also calculate the distance and time to the point of intersection with each AIS target.

Expedition can also display AIS-SART messages.

Information sent over AIS includes:

MMSI number

Navigation status - at anchor, under way using engine etc.

Rate of turn - right or left

Speed over ground

Position accuracy

Longitude

Latitude

Course over ground

True Heading

IMO number

Radio call sign

Name -of ship

Type of ship & cargo

Dimensions of ship

Destination

Estimated time of Arrival at destination

Web presence

There are many manufacturers of AIS receivers.

Instruments, baud rate etc. settings

The default AIS serial port settings are 38400, 8, N, 1.

Baud rate 38400

Data bits 8

Parity

Stop bits

None

1

Connecting an AIS device to the PC's RS232 serial port

Most computers have a 9 pin serial port or can use a USB-serial port adaptor if lacking a serial port.

DB9 pin PC

2 Receive data +ve

3

5

Transmit data +ve

Signal ground

AIS device

AIS device output +ve

AIS device input +ve

Signal ground

Note that Expedition won't send any information to the AIS receiver, so the DB9 pin 3 is not necessary.

NMEA 2000

Exp should also be able to receive AIS data from a NMEA 2000 source using the

Actisense NGT-1 USB adaptor.

AIS Settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button, also available from the AIS target list window .

Filters

MMSI

Enter your boat's MMSI number if sending AIS data so you don't display your own boat!

Range Filter

Instructs Expedition to not decode data from targets more than a set distance away.

Lost targets

Deletes targets for which data hasn't been received for a specified number of minutes.

Reject Type B

Class B transponders are designed for carriage by sub-SOLAS vessels. With the proliferation of AIS equipped vessels, the screen may quickly become cluttered. This provides a means to reject these.

Using AIS with Expedition

Displaying AIS targets on the chart

Received AIS targets as well as their ship name and/or Cog & Sog may be displayed on the chart. See the display settings help for more details.

List of AIS targets

Expedition can list the AIS targets in a customisable list, along with time and distance to point of intercept.

This list may be displayed at all times and may be toggled on and off using the AIS from the Window menu.

Individual elements listed may be turned on and off using from the AIS settings page or by clicking on the toolbar on the AIS target list window .

The list of attributes of each AIS target that may be listed are:

MMSI number,

Vessel Name,

Call sign,

Vessel type,

Navigation status,

Time since receiving the AIS signal,

Range to the target,

Bearing of the target,

CoG,

SoG,

Hdg,

Distance from target at closest point of approach,

Time to closest point of approach,

True wind direction,

True wind speed,

Rate of turn,

Position.

B&G Hydra & Hercules

H1000, 690, 790, H2000 and H3000 processors.

Connection settings

Hydra and Hercules (690, 790, H1000, H2000 & H3000) instruments communicate using the

NMEA 0183 protocol, so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the NMEA standard and interface. However, there are also several custom NMEA strings.

Wiring to connect a H1000 to a PC's serial port:

H1000

1

2

5

NMEA Tx (+)

NMEA TX (-)

NMEA RX (+)

Colour DB9

Blue 2

Green 3

Red 5

Output

Select desired Nmea sentences to send back to your instrument system.

Hydra custom Nmea data

Note: This functionality does not work for H3000 processors as of 30 June 2007. B&G is intending to fix the bug.

Expedition automatically sends some basic performance data to hydra instruments. However, you need a v9.0 NMEA FFD for this sentence support in H2000.

The following are available:

PERFORM

POL SPD (kt)

POL PERF (%)

LAYLINE distance (nm)

LAYLINE time hh/mm, Exp sends Time to Gun in the pre-start

WIND

TARG AWA (Expedition outputs Target Twa to this channel instead of Target Awa)

NAVIGATE

TARG HDG NL (near layline)

TARG HDG FL (far layline)

Not yet implemented:

WAYPOINT - DIST TSL

WAYPOINT - TIME TSL HR/MS

Settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

B&G H690

This instrument connection setting is designed for connection to older B&G performance processors, for example with B&G version 4a software.

If you have a performance processor with a later version of the B&G software (later than 4a), select

B&G H2000 instruments.

For further documentation, see the B&G H2000 documentation.

B&G H2000

Including 690, 790 and 2000 performance processors with newer B&G software.

Note

If you have a performance processor with an older version of the B&G software (e.g. 4a), select B&G H690 instruments.

Connection settings

Expedition defaults to 9600, 7, E, 1 when the H2000 instrument system is selected (6.2 on the

FFD).

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

9600

7

Even

1

Note: Occasionally, you may find 2 stop bits works best with B&G.

Wake

Each time a Hercules system is turned on, it has to be instructed what data to send by

Expedition. Normally, this happens automatically. This button forces all the wake-up commands to be immediately resent to the instruments.

Instrument system wiring and set up

Recommended serial port wiring

RS232 gnd

RS232 Tx

RS232 Rx

Jumper

Jumper

B&G 390 B&G 690+

7

2

3

11

10

9

DB9

5

2

3

4 to 6

7 to 8

DB25

7

3

2

4 to 5

6 to 20

While the normal PC hardware might well run with just Tx, Rx and Ground connected, some driver software will wait forever for one of the handshaking lines to go to the correct level.

Depending on the signal state it might sometimes work, other times it might not. The reliable solution is to loop back the handshake lines if they are not used.

When the lines are handshake looped, the RTS output from the PC immediately activates the

CTS input - so the PC effectively controls its own handshaking.

A more complete solution for B&G 690 onwards systems is

B&G

690+

DB9

7 Green 4* RS232

CTS

RS232

RTS

RS232

Rx

RS232

Tx

RS232

Gnd

8 Violet 8

9 Red

10 Blue

11

Black

3

2

5

* link pins 4 and 6.

B&G instrument setup

On an FFD, set the B&G to 9600 baud, even parity, 7 data bits and 1 stop bit. To do so, select

Waypoint / cross tr on one section of the display and Calibrate / cal val1 on the other. Set the

value to 0.

Select Waypoint / cross tr on one section of the display and Calibrate / cal val2 on the other.

Set the value to 6.2.

B&G H3000 settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Accesses the interface to instrument polars, calibration values and tables.

Expedition can exchange polars and calibration values with the instrument system. This is a very useful function for backing up calibration values. Depending on the version of the instrument system, it occasionally takes several 'uploads or 'downloads' for Expedition to accurately send or retrieve the full polar.

B&G nodes used are those defined in custom configuration below.

Polars

A Hercules system only allows a maximum of 10 wind speed rows in the polar. If your performance polars contains more than 10 wind speed rows, only the first ten rows will be sent.

External channels

This is highly useful if you want to send some of Expedition's numbers/data to your instrument system for display on deck. For example you might want to display target

speed when sailing a windward leeward course, or polar percentage when sailing a reaching course. There are ten external channels available for this purpose. Simply choose the desired channel and select the number/function from the drop down menu.

Note that you can also select one of Expedition's Alternating Channels here.

Selecting the damped check-box next to any external channel will cause damped data to be output.

Selecting refresh tags sends tag text every 10s even if not changing. Some B&G displays do not like this, so this function is off by default.

Selecting Send alternating tag names means tags on the external channels will be continually updated to change with the alternating channel. Some B&G displays do not like this, so this function is off by default.

Linear channels

Hercules linear channels 1 to 10 (such as Forestay load) can be mapped to Expedition system channels.

Custom configuration

Advanced users only.

Expedition uses a configuration file to determine the functions Expedition instructs the B&G

H2000 performance processor to send.

Expedition creates the file, H2000_config.txt, in the Instrument folder in the Expedition data folder.

This file can be edited - any line can be disabled or comments added by putting an exclamation mark (!) at the start of the line.

There are several options with H690, H790 and H2000 processors, but for more details on function and node numbers, please see your B&G documentation.

1.

B&G #OV command

This command requires the B&G node and function number

! node, function

5, 11 rudder

For example, you may have a compass on different nodes, so it is possible to specify which node the compass to be used is on.

The text is optional in the Expedition configuration file, but is useful for editing purposes.

2.

2.

B&G #OE command

This command just requires the Hercules or Remote channel number and a tag to say whether it is a Hercules or Remote channel being requested. These tags are just H or R characters.

!690/2000 Hercules functions

H, 10 aws

!690/2000 Remote functions

R, 17 cog True

The text is optional in the Expedition configuration file, but is useful for editing purposes.

An example of an H2000_config.txt configuration file:

! use an exclamation mark to comment out functions

!

! H690,790,2000,3000 functions

! node, function

5, 11 rudder

13, 16 Linear 5

13, 17 Linear 6

13, 18 Linear 7

13, 19 Linear 8

5, 28 air temp F

! 5, 29 air temp C

! 1, 30 sea temp F

! 1, 31 sea temp C

! 5, 52 heel

! 5, 56 Linear 1

! 5, 57 Linear 2

! 5, 58 Linear 3

! 5, 59 Linear 4

112, 64 Digital load cell

! 1, 65 bsp

! 16, 73 heading : Halcyon 2000 on Fastnet Bus

! 5, 73 heading : Super Halcyon 3 on CPU

! 15, 73 heading : Halcyon Gyro on Gyro Processor

! 18, 73 heading : Halcyon Gyro on ACP Pilot

! 96, 73 heading : NMEA compass on FFD

! 5, 77 aws

! 5, 81 awa

! 5, 85 tws

! 5, 89 twa

5, 102 keel angle

5, 103 canard / forward rudder, (node correct?)

5, 104 trim tab, (node correct?)

! 5, 109 twd

5, 130 leeway

! 9, 131 drift

! 9, 132 set

5, 135 barometer

! 5, 141 battery volts

5, 155 trim

! 15, 155 trim on Gyro compass

! 18, 155 trim on ACP pilot

5, 156 mast angle

5, 163 daggerboard

5, 164 boom position

! 1, 194 depth ft

! 1, 233 cog True (may as well ask for it in its original reference frame, not magnetic)

! 96, 233 cog True (on first NMEA FFD)

! 1, 235 sog

! 96, 235 sog (on first NMEA FFD)

!

!690/2000 Hercules functions

H, 10 aws

H, 13 awa

H, 12 tws

H, 14 twa

H, 15 twd

H, 27 sea temp C

H, 0, heel

H, 1, bsp

H, 5, hdg

H, 23 leeway

H, 7, volts

H, 8, depth ft

H, 28 Linear 1

H, 20 Linear 2

H, 26 Linear 3

H, 18 Linear 4

!

!690/2000 Remote functions

R, 17 cog True (may as well ask for it in its original reference frame)

R, 19 sog

R, 28 set

R, 29 drift

B&G H3000 performance processor

Connection settings

Expedition defaults to 115,200, 8, N 1 when B&G H3000 instrument systems are selected.

Baud rate115,200

Data bits 8

Parity Even

Stop bits 1

Wake

Each time a H3000 system is turned on, it has to be instructed what data to send by

Expedition. Normally, this happens automatically, but if desired, this button forces all the wake-up commands to be immediately re-sent to the instruments.

B&G instrument setup

See the H3000 manual.

It is recommended that awa heel correction (awa cal 2, heel_crn) is set to 1 (on).

It is recommended that for Performance and Motion processors, the twa and twd calculations are set to use leeway (leeway cal 2, use_lwy).

B&G H3000 settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Accesses the interface to instrument polars, calibration values and tables.

Expedition can exchange polars and calibration values with the instrument system. This is a very useful function for backing up calibration values.

B&G nodes used are those defined in custom configuration below.

Polars

A Hercules system only allows a maximum of 10 wind speed rows in the polar. If your performance polars contains more than 10 wind speed rows, only the first ten rows will be sent.

External channels

Note that refreshing or sending alternating tags is not recommended with GFDs in the system.

This is highly useful if you want to send some of Expedition's numbers/data to your instrument system for display on deck. For example you might want to display target

speed when sailing a windward leeward course, or polar percentage when sailing a reaching course. There are ten external channels available for this purpose. Simply choose the desired channel and select the number/function from the drop down menu.

Note that you can also select one of Expedition's Alternating Channels here.

Selecting the damped check-box next to any external channel will cause damped data to be output.

Selecting refresh tags sends tag text every 10s even if not changing. Some B&G displays do not like this, so this function is off by default.

Selecting Send alternating tag names means tags on the external channels will be continually updated to change with the alternating channel. Some B&G displays do not like this, so this function is off by default.

Linear channels

Hercules linear channels 1 to 10 (such as Forestay load) can be mapped to Expedition

system channels

Custom configuration

Advanced users only.

Expedition uses a configuration file to determine the functions Expedition instructs the B&G

H3000 performance processor to send.

Expedition creates the file, H3000_config.txt, in the Instrument folder in the Expedition data folder.

This file can be edited - any line can be disabled or comments added by putting an exclamation mark (!) at the start of the line.

For more details on function and node numbers, please see your B&G documentation.

The B&G #OV command requires the B&G node and function number

! node, function

5, 11 rudder

An example of an H3000_config.txt configuration file:

! use an exclamation mark to comment out functions

!

! H3000 functions

! node, function

5, 11 rudder

13, 16 Linear 5

13, 17 Linear 6

13, 18 Linear 7

13, 19 Linear 8

5, 28 air temp F

!5, 29 air temp C

1, 30 sea temp F

!1, 31 sea temp C

5, 52 heel

5, 56 Linear 1

5, 57 Linear 2

5, 58 Linear 3

5, 59 Linear 4

112, 64 Digital load cell

1, 65 bsp

16, 73 heading : Halcyon 2000 on Fastnet Bus

!5, 73 heading : Super Halcyon 3 on CPU

!15, 73 heading : Halcyon Gyro on Gyro Processor

!18, 73 heading : Halcyon Gyro on ACP Pilot

!96, 73 heading : NMEA compass on FFD

5, 77 aws

5, 81 awa

5, 85 tws

5, 89 twa

5, 102 keel angle

5, 103 canard / forward rudder, (node correct?)

5, 104 trim tab, (node correct?)

5, 109 twd

5, 130 leeway

9, 131 tide drift

9, 132 tide set

5, 135 barometer

5, 141 battery volts

5, 155 trim

!15, 155 trim on Gryo compass

!18, 155 trim on ACP pilot

5, 156 mast angle

5, 163 daggerboard

5, 164 boom position

1, 194 depth ft

1, 233 cog True (may as well ask for it in its original reference frame, not magnetic)

!96, 233 cog True (on first NMEA FFD)

1, 235 sog

!96, 235 sog (on first NMEA FFD)

B&G WTP

Dfw2Exp

B&G does not allow direct access to their Two processor.

However, Expedition has a small utility ( Dfw2Exp ) that allows Expedition to read data from

Dfw.

Dfw2Exp also has functionality to send data to the displays.

Cosworth

Web

www.cosworth.com

Connection settings

Expedition defaults to 115,200, 8, N 1 when Cosworth instrument systems are selected.

Baud rate115,200

Data bits 8

Parity Even

Stop bits 1

Cosworth settings

Accesses the interface to instrument polars, calibration values and tables.

Cosworth uses a protocol very similar to B&G's HLink for compatibility with existing systems. In general, the function numbers and nodes are identical.

Expedition can exchange polars and calibration values with the instrument system.

Polars

If the performance polar contains more than 10 wind speed rows, only the first ten rows will be sent.

External channels

Cosworth can use B&G displays, however refreshing or sending alternating tags is not recommended with GFDs in the system.

External channels are very useful if you want to send some of Expedition's numbers/data to your instrument system for display on deck. For example you might want to display

target speed when sailing a windward leeward course, or polar percentage when sailing a reaching course. There are ten external channels available for this purpose. Simply choose the desired channel and select the number/function from the drop down menu.

Note that you can also select one of Expedition's Alternating Channels here.

Selecting the damped check-box next to any external channel will cause damped data to be output.

Selecting refresh tags sends tag text every 10s even if not changing. Some B&G displays do not like this, so this function is off by default.

Selecting Send alternating tag names means tags on the external channels will be continually updated to change with the alternating channel. Some B&G displays do not like this, so this function is off by default.

Linear channels

Linear channels 1 to 10 (such as Forestay load) can be mapped to Expedition system channels

Custom configuration

Advanced users only.

Expedition uses a configuration file to determine the functions Expedition will decode from the Cosworth processor data stream.

Expedition creates the file, Cosworth_config.txt, in the Instrument folder in the Expedition data folder.

This file can be edited - any line can be disabled or comments added by putting an exclamation mark (!) at the start of the line.

For more details on function and node numbers, please see your Cosworth documentation.

Each line contains the function number, node and the Expedition var to map to.

For example:

! function number, function, exp var

52, 5, 18 Heel Angle

65, 1, 1 Boatspeed

73, 1, 13 Heading

DSC

Expedition supports Digital Selective Calling (DSC) messages from NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000

(via the Actisense NGT-1 USB adaptor) sources.

DSC targets are displayed in the list in the AIS and DSC window and on the chart. See the display settings help for more details.

Expedition can also display AIS-SART messages.

Koden RADARpc

Expedition supports Koden radars - with the radar image displayed on the chart or in a dedicated radar window.

Web

http://www.koden-electronics.co.jp/eng/marine/index.html

Radar systems

The MDS-1R/8R/9R/10R radars have an ethernet cable from the radar. The MDS-50 to 63R radars need an MDS-5R or MDS-6R control box between the computer and the radar antenna.

There are advantages to both approaches. The MDS-1R to 10R solutions are lighter and cheaper, but cannot connect to a Koden display as is possible the MDS-50 to 63R systems.

There are other differences. For example, the MDS-9R antenna is slightly smaller than the

MDS-51R antenna. Both are rated at 4kW peak power, but the larger 51R antenna has a smaller beam width. The 9R operates at 24rpm, while the 51R also has a 48rpm option.

Radome antennas

System

MDS-1R

MDS-8R

MDS-9R

Interface Antenna

MRT-152R

-

-

MRT-158R

MRT-150R

Power

2kW

2kW

4kW

MDS-50R MDS-5R

MDS-51R MDS-5R

RB714A

RB715A

2kW

4kW

24nm

24nm

36nm

24nm

36nm

0.9'

1.5'

1.8'

1.2'

2'

Open antennas

System

MDS-10R

Interface Antenna

MRT-147R

MDS-52R MDS-5R

MDS-61R MDS-6R

MDS-62R MDS-6R

MDS-63R MDS-6R

RB716A

RB717A

RB718A

RB719A

4kW

4kW

6kW

12kW

25kW

48nm

48nm

64nm

72nm

96nm

3.5' or 4.5'

3 or 4'

4 or 6'

4 or 6'

4, 6 or 9'

Connection settings

Expedition connects to the Koden radar using an ethernet network connection.

For the integrated radars (MDS-1R,8R,9R and MDS-10R), select Koden MDS-1/8/9/10R from the Expedition drop-list.

The default radar UDP address is 192.168.0.1 and the default UDP port number is preassigned to 10001. The address should be disabled as Exp should be set to UDP broadcast as default.

For other Koden radars with the MDS-5R or MDS-6R control boxes, select Koden MDS-

5/6R.

The Expedition radar interface is available by

Clicking on the System button on the appropriate network , settings page

Selecting the radar item from Instruments on the Application button menu,

The optional Radar toolbar button,

The Ctrl + K key stoke.

It may be necessary to remove the Fire-wall at the host PC for satisfactory operation in some cases although we haven't had to do this in testing.

Display

The radar image may be displayed on the chart.

It may also be drawn in its own, dedicated radar window .

Warming up time

In order to protect the magnetron in the radar transmitter, it is required to warm the radar for

1.5 minutes (MDS-1R/8R), 2 minutes (MDS-9R/10R, MDS-50R/51R/52R/61R/62R) or 3 minutes (MDS-63R (25kW)) before use.

Transmission on & off

Stop or start radar transmission by using the Start Radar and Stop Radar items on the

Application button menu.

Sometimes we find two Start commands are required to start the radar.

If the radar is an MDS-10R open antenna system, it may be desirable to park the antenna when stopping transmission. This is achieved by selecting the Park antenna checkbox and entering an appropriate angle (in the adjacent edit box) to park the antenna at.

Koden settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Range

The maximum range varies depending on the output power of the radar transmitter.

24nm MDS-

1R/8R

2kW Dome antenna

MDS-9R 4kW Dome antenna

MDS-10R 4kW Open antenna

36nm

48nm

Range can be selected on the Koden instrument settings page.

Auto-range

Selecting auto-range instructs Expedition to select the best range to fit the displayed chart scale.

Heading offset

Allows the radar to be aligned with the boat.

Resolution

Selects the Koden radar echo data resolution sent to Exp.

Number of pixels in each sweep range from 256 to 1024 and the number of sweeps in one rotation of the radar antenna range can be either 2048 or 4096.

256 x 2048

256 x 4096

512 x 2048

512 x 4096

1024 x 2048

1024 x 4096

Exp default to using 256 x 2048 as this uses less network bandwidth and computer resources and is sufficient for most systems.

Colour

Colour to paint radar echoes. Target intensity of shown in shades of this colour.

Other options are to fade the echoes by intensity or to use a colour spectrum.

Interference rejection

Used to reduce or eliminate interference from other radars.

Tuning

Gain, Tuning, STC and FTC is automatic on selected models.

However, manual tuning of the Koden radar may be accomplished on the System settings page above by selecting the relevant check-box and changing the value.

The Default button returns these values to their defaults.

Gain

STC

Manually adjust the radar gain.

Sensitivity Time Control. Also known as Anti Sea Clutter.

FTC

Fast Time Constant. Also known as Anti Rain Clutter.

Transmission trigger delay

This allows the user to make accurate distance measurement with the radar sensor by adjusting the transmission time delay. In practice, you need to align the start of the sweep with the leading edge of the transmission pulse. Use the following procedure.

1. Set up the radar controls as follows before doing the following set ups.

The range must be 0.25 nm, FTC minimum and the GAIN is set to the best picture. Adjust the STC until the TX pulse can be seen as a round point in the screen centre.

2. Adjustment of distance

Transmission trigger delay is adjusted to a point that the centre looks as shown in the diagram (b) below. Transmission trigger delay must

be tuned so that a target such as a bridge or a breakwater displays as a straight line on the screen.

KVH Quadro

Web

KVH no longer manufactures or supports their Quadro range of instruments, however a few documents may be found at www.kvh.com

.

Connection settings

KVH Quadro instruments communicate using the NMEA 0183 protocol, so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the Nmea standard and interface. However, there are also several custom NMEA strings.

Baud rate 4800

Data bits 8

Parity None

Stop bits 1

KVH Quadro does not send TWA or TWS, so Expedition needs to calculate them. Select these on the calibration page.

Output

Select desired Nmea sentences to send back to your instrument system.

KVH Quadro custom NMEA data

Expedition automatically sends some basic performance data to KVH Quadro instruments.

The following are available:

Polar bsp %,

Twa,

Target twa,

Target bsp,

Vmg,

Layline time,

Layline distance,

Vmc,

Twa for optimum vmc,

Mark range,

Next mark twa,

Sog,

Twd,

Mark bearing,

Polar bsp.

KVH Quadro settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Lasers

Connection settings

There are no standard NMEA sentences that support output from laser range finders.

Expedition supports several models, including Laser Atlanta, Lasercraft XLRic and the

Trimble Pro-XL/XR

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

Laser Atlanta Lasercraft XLRic

4800 19200

7

Even

1

8

None

1

The laser may be connected to the PC's serial port or, if using a Bluetooth equipped laser, to a virtual bluetooth serial port.

If the laser is being used to 'ping' another boat, it is recommended to set the connection to say

'boat 1' as all derived numbers are relative to boat 0.

Maretron SSC200 Solid State Rate/Gyro compass

Calibration and modification of compass settings can be accomplished with a Maretron display.

This is not possible on many boats as the Maretron compass is used with another instrument system. Expedition therefore has functionality to perform functions normally performed by a dedicated Maretron display. Please read your Maretron manual.

There is other functionality associated with the Maretron that could be implemented. If required, please contact Expedition.

Web

www.maretron.com

Connection settings

The Maretron SSC200 rate/gyro compass communicates using the NMEA 0183 protocol (or

NMEA 2000 protocol), so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the NMEA standard and interface. However, there are also several custom NMEA strings.

Baud rate 4800

Data bits 8

Parity None

Stop bits 1

Maretron SSCS200 Settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Set heading

This is the command used to perform installation-offset where the compass is aligned to a known heading and the pitch and roll are zeroed to the vessels current attitude.

Set ROT damping

The damping of rate of turn can be set to values from 600ms to 60s.

NMEA output control

The Maretron SSC200 compass can output several NMEA sentences.

HDG (magnetic and true heading)

HDM (magnetic heading)

HDT (true heading)

ROT (rate of turn)

PMAROUT (heel and trim)

Set any transmission interval in milliseconds (for example, a value of 100 would cause a

10Hz transmission rate).

Setting any value to zero disables transmission.

Deviation calibration

1.

In general, the compass will be connected directly to your instrument system. However, it is can be convenient to connect it directly to Expedition for calibration purposes.

The Expedition initiated deviation calibration is accomplished by turning the vessel through at least 3 complete circles. The procedure is as follows:

1.

Ensure that the compass has been properly installed. Read your Maretron manual for further details.

2.

Warm up the compass by operating it for approximately 10 minutes.

3.

Open the Maretron system page by clicking on the System button on the relevant instrument page in Expedition. Start turning the vessel (in either direction) such that you complete a full 360° turn in 2° minutes or less (try not to go below 1 minute for a complete circle).

4.

Click the Calibrate compass button. This will initiate a compass reset and force the

SSC200 to start the calibration process. It will also instruct the compass to temporarily stop sending normal periodic data so to make messages more easily discerned.

5.

Continue turning the vessel through at least 3 circles until you see one of the following

Maretron proprietary sentences:

$IITXT,01,01,01,Deviation Calibration Started*17

This sentence indicates a successful calibration.

$IITXT,01,01,02,Deviation Calibration Successfully Completed*17

This sentence indicates a successful calibration.

$IITXT,01,01,03,Deviation Calibration Failed To Complete*43

This sentence indicates that the calibration failed. The SSC200 attempts to perform calibration 5 times before giving up and issuing this sentence. Each time the SSC200 encounters an error (see message identifiers 04, 05, and 06) it restarts the calibration process. Upon the 5th error, the SSC200 exits the calibration routine and it must be restarted before it will once again try to perform deviation calibration.

$IITXT,01,01,04,Deviation Calibration Turning Too Fast*

During calibration, the vessel must not turn to fast where the SSC200 is unable to reliably develop deviation data. If the SSC200 senses the vessel turning to quickly, it will issue this message and restart deviation calibration as long as it has not failed five times.

$IITXT,01,01,05,Deviation Calibration Turning Too Slow*

During calibration, the vessel must not turn to slowly where the SSC200 is unable to reliably develop deviation data. If the SSC200 senses the vessel turning to slowly, it will issue this message and restart deviation calibration as long as it has not failed five times.

$IITXT,01,01,06,Deviation Calibration Invalid Movement*

During calibration, the vessel must not jerk or reverse directions where the

SSC200 is unable to reliably develop deviation data. If the SSC200 senses an invalid movement, it will issue this message and restart deviation calibration as long as it has not failed five times.

6.

Occasionally after an unsuccessful calibration, it may be necessary to click the Start

periodic data button to turn the periodic transmissions back on.

Navico BR24 Broadband radar

Expedition supports Navico Broadband radars, with the radar image displayed on the chart or in a dedicated radar window.

At present, Expedition only supports one radar connection. If multiple radars are required, we can extend this.

Note that the connection requires an additional Navico licence per radar.

Note also that MARPA support is not yet implemented in Exp.

The radar must be running RTM2 software (2.8.251 and above). Older radars will require an upgrade, available from your Navico dealer.

Web

http://www.navico.com

Navico distributes radars under the Simrad , Northstar and Lowrance brands.

Connection settings

Expedition has a separate program (BR24toExp.exe) to connect to the Navico BR24

Broadband radar using an ethernet network connection.

The BR24 interface can be started from Expedition's application button , Windows' Start

menu, by clicking on the Radar pane setting button or be automatically started with

Expedition.

Note that in some cases, the vcredist_x86.exe 2005 included with Exp may need to be run manually to get BR24toExp to work. This is normally found in the c:\program files\expedition\expedition\navico br24\ folder.

It is recommended that the radar is connected to the computer via a RI10 or RI11 comms port. This also allows the radar to receive heading from an external compass, improving the radar image.

Navico has an adaptor cable to connect a standard ethernet RJ45 to the RI10 or RI11 interface. The part number is 000-0127-56 ETHRNT YELW CBL 5 PIN MALE:RJ45

FMALE 2M .

However, the ethernet cable from the radar may be connected directly to the computer or network hub. If connecting directly to the PC, it may require a cross-over adaptor or cable.

Note that the yellow wire needs to be supplied with 12V.

Connecting via a wireless is not recommended.

It may be necessary to remove the fire-wall at the computer, although this hasn't been necessary in testing.

Display

The radar image may be displayed on the chart. Exp will need to be supplied with a GPS position. Exp also needs a heading input if the radar does not have a compass connected.

It may also be drawn in its own, dedicated radar window .

Warming up time

Unlike magnetron based radars, warm-up time is negligible.

Transmission on & off

Stop or start radar transmission by using the Start Radar and Stop Radar items on the

Application button menu, on the radar window toolbar or on the BR24 settings page.

Navico BR24

Gives further details related to the scanner.

Expedition display settings

To draw radar echoes on the chart, select Radar overlay in display settings. Echo colours may be selected in the radar settings, as described below.

Navico BR24 radar settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Range

The maximum range varies for BR24 radars is 24 nm. Exp has a set of preset ranges that may be chosen.

Auto-range to fit chart

Selecting auto-range instructs Expedition to select the best range to fit the displayed chart scale.

Sets the antenna height. This improves the automatic radar tuning.

Heading offset

This can be used to correct for errors due to misalignment of the radar installation in the boat.

Colour

Colour to paint radar echoes. Target intensity of shown in shades of this colour.

Other options are to fade the echoes by intensity or to use a spectrum of colours.

Tuning

It can be a good idea to have the radar PPI window showing when adjusting these values for feedback.

Factory defaults

Resets all settings back to their factory default values.

Fast scan mode

Sets the fast scanner rotation mode if checked. Fast scan mode only operates at shorter ranges, currently at and below ranges of 2 miles.

Interference rejection

Interference rejection (IR) can also be set manually.

Gain

Automatic or manual radar gain adjustment.

Sea clutter

Automatic or manual control of the sea clutter Sensitivity rejection level. 0 is minimum clutter rejection.

Side lobe

Automatic or manual control of the radar side-lobe mode and level.

Rain

Manually set rain clutter rejection level. 0 is minimum clutter rejection.

FTC

Manually set the Fast Time Constant.

IR Level

Sets the interference reject level in the radar. 0 means IR is disabled.

Heading offset

Adjusts the offset of the radar to line the image with the boat compass.

Antenna height

Sets the antenna height for better automatic tuning.

Nexus NX2

Web

www.nexusmarine.se

Connection settings

Nexus NX2 instruments communicate using the NMEA 0183 protocol, so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the NMEA standard and interface. However, there are also several custom NMEA strings.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

4800

8

None

1

It may be necessary to deselect Validate checksums on the Expedition serial port page.

Nexus NX2 Settings

By clicking on the Settings button, further NMEA functions are available.

Damp | Output

Allows any Expedition channel to be sent to the three user channels available in the NX2 system. The data sent can also be damped.

TBS : Target boat speed, but you could send other data such as polar boat speed.

CAD : Custom angle data - normally for angle or bearing data such as leeway, target

TWA etc.

CFD : Custom fixed data - normally for other data such as Polar Bsp percentage,

distance to line etc.

Note that the alternating channels can be sent to these channels, effectively doubling the user channels available for display on the Nexus NX2 instruments. For example, Target

Bsp and Target Twa could be mapped to Alternating 0, which could then be sent to CFD.

Fixed output

Select Nmea sentences to send back to your instrument system. You can map any

Expedition channel to any of the three custom Nexus Nmea sentences. See your Nexus manual for further information.

Nexus NX2 FDX (Fast

Data eXchange)

Expedition can also communicate with FDX equipped Nexus NX2 servers using the proprietary

Nexus FDX communication protocol. This allows faster transfer of data to and from the server and allows the upload of calibration values to the server.

If are using the Nexus NX2 Race software, it creates a virtual serial port that Expedition can talk to, so both software packages can talk and listen to the instruments at the same time. Note that in this configuration, Expedition can only connect in Nexus NMEA mode, not FDX.

FDX data received from the NX2 server is not damped, so may need to be damped within

Expedition.

The heading is always sent from the FDX server in degrees true, so you need to set the variation in the server.

Web

www.nexusmarine.se

Connection settings

Expedition will set the serial port settings below. Do not change these.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

19200

8

None

2

On start up, the FDX server will be in NMEA mode. Expedition switches the server to FDX mode. To revert to NMEA, the Nexus server has to be powered off and on.

Nexus FDX Settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Output

Damp | Output

Allows any Expedition channel to be sent to the three user channels available in the

FDX system. The data sent can also be damped.

TBS : Target boat speed, but you could send other data such as polar boat speed.

CAD : Custom angle data - normally for angle or bearing data such as leeway, target TWA etc.

CFD : Custom fixed data - normally for other data such as Polar Bsp percentage, distance to line etc.

Note that the alternating channels can be sent to these channels, effectively doubling the user channels available for display on the Nexus NX2 instruments.

For example, Target Bsp and Target Twa could be mapped to Alternating 0, which could then be sent to CFD.

Fixed output

Allows various data to be sent to the FDX server for access from the standard NX2 display menus. For simplicity, this is mainly navigation data at present, but can be expanded on request.

Expedition channels that can be sent to the FDX server are:

Heel

Mark bearing

Mark range

Course to steer (not yet implemented)

Previous mark bearing

Cross track error

VMC (Nexus calls this Waypoint closure velocity, WVC).

Mark time (Time to go, TTG)

NKE

Web

www.nke.fr

Connection settings

NKE instruments communicate using the NMEA 0183 protocol, so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the Nmea standard.

However, there are also several custom NMEA strings.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

4800

8

None

1

Custom NKE output

Expedition will send the following data to the NKE instruments:

Target Bsp

Opposite track

Target Twa

VMG%

Polar Bsp %

Set

Drift

NKE Settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

NMEA 0183

Select standard Nmea sentences to send back to your instrument system.

Mappings

Send Exp data to NKE Dynamic displays.

NMEA 0183

Web

www.nmea.org

Connection settings

The default NMEA 0183 serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. Occasionally will you find

NMEA devices that operate at different settings.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

NMEA 0183

4800

8

None

1

Navman

GPS3000

57600

8

None

1

Tacktick, Silva, NKE and B&G Hydra instruments communicate using the NMEA 0183 protocol, but have extra custom sentences.

It is recommended that you configure your GPS to output Nmea 0183 v2.0 rather than Nmea

0183 v1.5. For example, the precision in latitude is just under 1m with 2.0 whereas it is just under 10m with 1.5.

Checksum

Check NMEA data for errors. If you have an old NMEA device, this may need to be de-selected in order to decode the data.

Connecting a NMEA device to the PC's RS232 serial port

Most computers have a 9 pin serial port or can use a USB-serial port adaptor, if lacking one.

3

5

DB9 pin PC

2

NMEA device

Receive data +ve Nmea device output +ve

Transmit data +ve Nmea device input +ve

Signal ground Signal ground

So, for example, you connect the NMEA out from the instruments or GPS to Pin 2 of the DB9 adaptor.

NMEA 0183 settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Send RTE and WPL

Sends mark and route information from the active course in RET and WPL sentences.

NMEA sentences decoded by Expedition

Expedition can send receive NMEA sentences to your instrument system.

Notes:

HDT is normally turned off as Exp uses magnetic heading wherever possible.

DSC message data is viewed in the AIS pane and on the chart window .

If BWC is selected and Expedition receives a valid BWC sentence, the mark received will replace the active mark being used by Exp.

In addition, which XDR fields to be decoded are selected on this page.

BWC Bearing and distance to waypoint

DBT Depth below transducer

DPT Depth below keel

DSC Digital Selective Calling information

DSE Expanded digital selective calling

GGA GPS fix

GLL Position

GSA GPS DOP

GSV Satellites in view

GXA Position (obsolete)

HDG Heading

HDM Heading - magnetic

HDT Heading - true

MMB Barometer

MWD TWD and TWS

MTA Air temperature

MTW Water temperature

MWD Wind direction and speed

MWV TWA and TWS or AWA and AWS

OSD Own ship data

OWD Heading

RMA

RMC

ROT Rate of turn

RPM Revolutions

RSA Rudder sensor angle

RSD Radar System Data

TLL Target latitude and longitude

TTM Tracked targets

VDR Set and Drift

VHW BSP and HDG

VTG COG and SOG

VWR AWA and AWS

VWT TWA and TWS

ZDA

WIMDA Airmar meteorological message

XDR

Output

Expedition can send various NMEA sentences to your instrument system. Note that in the case of sentences containing Twd, Twa or Tws, the source (whether instrument, what-if? or calculated by Expedition) will be used. See the What-if?

help for more information.

APB Autopilot sentence 'B'

BWC Bearing and distance to waypoint

DPT Depth

GLL Geographic position - latitude and longitude

HDG Heading - deviation & variation

HDM Heading - magnetic

MTW Water temperature

MWD TWD and TWS

MWV TWA, TWS, AWA and AWS

RMB Recommended minimum navigation information

RMC Recommended minimum navigation information

RSA Rudder sensor angle

VDR Set and drift

VHW BSP and HDG

VTG CoG and SoG

VWR AWA and AWS

VWT TWA and TWS

XTE Cross track error

ZDA Time & date

ZTG UTC & time to destination waypoint

NMEA 2000

Note that Exp is not yet certified for NMEA 2000.

Web

www.nmea.org

Background

NMEA 2000 is a combined electrical and data specification defined and maintained by the

National Marine Electronics Association ( NMEA ).

NMEA 2000 is much faster than NMEA 0183 (250k bits per second vs 4.8k bits per second) and, unlike 0183, it supports a disciplined multiple talker and listener data network.

As well as the electrical and data specification, NMEA 2000 uses the DeviceNet cabling standard.

NMEA 2000 and Expedition

Exp supports the Actisense NGT-1 USB adaptor. This appears as a serial port - just select

Actisense NMEA 2000 from the drop-list as for any other instrument system.

As well as standard instrument inputs, Exp should be able to receive AIS data.

Note that depending on the devices connected to the NMEA 2000 network, it may be necessary or desirable to calculate leeway, twd, tws, twa, set and drift in Exp.

PGNs received by Exp

129038

129039

129040

129539

129540

129802

130306

130310

130311

130312

130313

130314

130323

130578

126992

127245

127250

127251

127257

127508

128259

128267

129025

129026

129029

System time

Rudder

Heading

Rate of turn

Attitude (heel/roll and trim/pitch)

Battery status

Speed, water referenced

Water depth

Position, rapid update

COG & SOG, rapid update

GNSS position data

AIS Class A position report

AIS Class B position report

AIS Class B extended position report

DOPS

Sats in view

AIS safety related broadcast message

Wind data (tws, tws, awa, aws, twa, tws)

Environmental parameters (barometer, air and sea temperature)

Environmental parameters (obsolete)

Temperature

Humidity

Pressure

Meteorological station data

Vessel speed components

NMEA 2000 settings

Controls sending of NMEA 2000 PGNs from Expedition. If Exp is in true mode, these will be sent in degrees true where applicable.

PGNs sent by Exp

127245

127250

127251

127257

127258

127508

128259

128267

129025

129026

129283

129284

129291

129301

130306

130310

Rudder

Heading

Rate of turn

Attitude (heel/roll and trim/pitch)

Magnetic variation

Battery status

Speed, water referenced

Depth

Position, rapid update

COG & SOG, rapid update

Cross track error

Navigation data (mark range bbearing, latitude, longitude)

Set and drift

Time to/from mark

Wind (tws, tws, awa, aws, twa, tws)

Environmental parameters (barometer, air and sea temperature)

Instruments

Web

www.ockam.com

Connection settings

The default Ockam serial port settings are 9600, 8, N, 1.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

9600

8

None

1

Instrument system wiring and set up

Ockam recommended serial port wiring

Ockam

RS232 gnd 7 black

RS232 Tx

RS232 Rx

3 green

2 blue

Jumper

Jumper

7 to 8

DB9

5

2

3

4 to 6

7 to 8

DB25

7

3

2

4 to 5

6 to 20

While the normal PC hardware might well run with just Tx, Rx and Ground connected, some driver software will wait forever for one of the handshaking lines to go to the correct level.

Depending on the signal state it might sometimes work, other times it might not. The reliable solution is to loop back the handshake lines if they are not used.

When the lines are handshake looped, the RTS output from the PC immediately activates the

CTS input - so the PC effectively controls its own handshaking.

DB9 pins

1 Received Line Signal Detector (Data Carrier Detect)

2 Received Data

3 Transmit Data

4 Data Terminal Ready

5 Signal Ground

6 Data Set Ready

7 Request To Send

8 Clear To Send

9 Ring Indicator

Ockam instrument set up

The default Expedition settings for Ockam are 9600, 8, N, 1 to suit the T1. Older Ockam systems are often set to 4800, 8, N, 1.

To set the Ockam RS232 interface to 9600, 8, N, 1, set switch A to 4 and switch B to D.

To set the Ockam RS232 interface to 4800, 8, N, 1, set both switches A and B to 9.

Ockam calibration data

Ockam calibration values are also mapped to user channels 10-18. These user channels will be renamed appropriately when data is received from the Ockam T1.

User 10 Cal bsp

User 11 Cal bsp offset

User 12 Cal awa

User 13 Cal aws

User 14 Cal upwash

User 15 Cal leeway

User 16 Cal twa

User 17 Cal tws

Settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

User channels

This tool is highly useful if you want to send some of Expedition's numbers/data to your

Ockam instrument system for display on deck. For example you might want to display

target speed when sailing a windward leeward course, or polar percentage when sailing a reaching course. Ockam has ten available external channels available for this purpose.

Simply choose the desired channel and select the number/function from the drop down menu. Note that you can also select one of Expedition's Alternating channels here.

Selecting the damped check-box next to any external channel will cause damped data to be output instead of raw data.

Occasionally, your Ockam system will be receiving user data on a user channel (for example, a keel string-pot). In this case you don't want to send data to the particular

Ockam user channel, but map the data Expedition receives from the Ockam system for that user channel to an Expedition channel. This is accomplished by checking the relevant send checkbox and selecting the appropriate Expedition channel to map the data to from the drop list. Note that the Ockam user data could be mapped to the Expedition

User n channel.

Expedition uses Ockam's user tag 9 for its own purposes, so this is not available for use.

Auxiliary channels

Here you can map Ockam auxiliary channels 0, 1, 2 and 3 (such as Forestay load) to

Expedition system channels.

Ockam user tag data

Ockam User tag data may also be stored in User0-8. Ockam user tag 9 is used by

Expedition internally and is not available for other use.

Calibration

Expedition can send the following single calibration values to the Ockam T1:

Mast height, O8

Heading offset, O17

Wind weight, O20.

Auto calibration

Be VERY careful using this feature.

Expedition can send automatic calibration values to the instruments. These are derived from Expedition's calibration tables or linear calibration values. Select which auto-cal values to send by using the appropriate check-boxes.

Note: Interpolation of values uses a smooth spline technique by default. If linear interpolation is desired, this can be manually set by adding the text "linear" to the first line of any calibration table file.

Auto-cal values Exp can send to the Ockam T1:

Bsp, K1

Table dependant on Bsp across,

Default value = 1.0.

Bsp offset, K2

Single default value = 0.0.

Leeway, K3

Table dependant on twa across and tws down,

Default value = 10.0.

Awa offset, K4

Single default value = 0.0

Aws, K5

Single default value 1.08

Upwash, K6

Table dependant on twa across and tws down,

Default value = 0.0.

Upwash slope, K9

Single default value = 0.0.

Aws offset, K10

Single default value = 0.55.

Twa, K11 & K12

Table dependant on twa across and tws down,

Default value = 0.0.

Tws, K13 & K14

Table dependant on twa across and tws down,

Default value = 0.0.

Transducer depth, K15

Single default value.

Keel depth, K16

Single default value.

Ockam settings

Allows control of Ockam magnums (see the help on the U@=JmTn<CR> command in the Ockam manual).

Update magnums at start-up

Updates the Ockam Magnums when Expedition is started.

Set auto-cals to hardware screw value on exit

Sends the Kn=D command for any auto-cals enabled in Expedition.

Expert users only. Default value if OFF.

Limit output (black RS232)

Slows output sent to older black RS232 interfaces.

Heading and Twd in true

In some cases with a compass that sends heading in true, Ockam will not correct for this.

Send mark

Sends Expedition's active mark to the Ockam T1.

Damping

Allows upload of damping variables to the Ockam system. Note that these values are independent of Expedition's internal damping values.

Racing Bravo

Racing Bravo from Spain is universally acknowledged as being the highest performing instrument system available. For example, it was used by 6 of the teams challenging for the 2007 America's

Cup and Oracle in the 2010 Americas Cup.

Expedition provides a simple, intuitive and seamless interface to the Racing Bravo system.

Updates of settings and values are generally transferred automatically between the Racing Bravo system and Expedition. However, most pages in the Racing Bravo interface allow the user to manually exchange data (such as calibration tables or waypoints) with the Racing Bravo system. In most cases, this will not be necessary.

Yes, the documentation below is short and simple, but it really is that simple to use Expedition with

Racing Bravo.

Web

www.bravosystems.es

Connection settings

Expedition can connect to the Racing Bravo system via a network or a serial connection. The network connection is preferred for speed. A serial connection could be a physical wire or

Bluetooth or WiFi.

Network

Serial

The default address the Racing Bravo server is 192.168.25.225. However, this can be changed by the user. The default port is 5242. Exp should be set up as a TCP client.

The default connection settings are 38400, 8, N, 1, but other settings are possible.

Racing Bravo settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

System

A summary of the Racing Bravo processor version. Please quote this with any queries the text in this can be copied.

Events

The Racing Bravo system supports a large number of events, such as a start timer, mark rounding etc. Expedition does not yet support all events, but is adding new functionality as requested.

Vars

The Racing Bravo system can support a vast number of variables in addition to the ones we are already familiar with.

This page provides a simple, graphical interface to map Racing Bravo vars to Expedition variables and boats and there are some default mappings to simplify the task. Similarly,

Expedition variables can be mapped to Racing Bravo vars for display on instruments etc.

The variable mappings can be saved to a file (RB_Map2.dat) for archive purposes or for transfer to another computer.

The right hand column in the list contains the current values being received from the

Racing Bravo system.

Settings

This is the list of Racing Bravo server settings/customised server parameters. For example, bsp, awa and aws calibration values.

Curves

These are just one dimensional tables. Often used for calibration, but can be used for other purposes.

Tables

Often used for calibration, but can be used for other purposes. There are two types standard and advanced. For an example of the difference see the section on polars below.

Note: Interpolation of values uses a smooth spline technique by default.

Polars

Polars in a Racing Bravo system can be in two forms - standard and advanced.

Examples of each are -

Standard

A two dimensional table in twa and tws. There will always be 10 rows for tws and

17 columns for twa from 20 to 180 and 4 extra columns for target speeds and wind angles.

2

4

6

10

12

14

16

20

23

26

30

20 30 40 50 ... 160 170 180 BspUp TwaUp BspUp TwaDn

Advanced

The advanced form of tables and polars is similar to Expedition's polar format. The main difference is that the advanced polars in RB require a column for upwind targets and another for downwind targets whereas the Expedition polars can have the targets spread over several columns.

14

16

20

23

26

30

2

4

6

10

12 v0 a0 v1 a0 v2 a2 . . . v

n

a

n

Caveats for exchanging Racing Bravo advanced polars with Expedition polars:

Requires size of polars to be the same.

Racing Bravo requires specific columns for upwind and downwind targets. Targets can be across different columns in Expedition, so for the moment we have restricted it to the second and second to last columns.

Dampings

Damping values in the Racing Bravo system. There are two types of damping in the

Racing Bravo system.

NODYN - a single parameter for the damping value in seconds.

DYN - dynamic damping.

Displays

Controls the behaviour of the Racing Bravo displays.

Waypoints

The Racing Bravo system can contain waypoints or marks. Expedition can retrieve these from the instrument system or send the active course to the Racing Bravo server.

Raymarine Seatalk

The original SeaTalk is a proprietary protocol used by Raymarine. and cannot be connected to

Expedition directly.

Seatalk NG

Seatalk NG is essentially NMEA 2000, so Exp can connect to the Raymarine SeatalkNG using the Actisense NMEA 2000 adaptor.

Seatalk1 to SeatalkNG converter

Exp can connect to the Raymarine SeatalkNG converter using the Actisense NMEA 2000 adaptor.

Seatalk to NMEA 0183

Raymarine manufactures a Seatalk to NMEA 0183 interface box that allows two-way exchange of data with other instruments and computers.

The Raymarine E85001 SeaTalk/NMEA Interface Box connects a SeaTalk bus and a serial port on a PC via the NMEA 0183 protocol. A USB to serial adaptor may be required if the

PC has no serial port available. See the Raymarine Documentation .

Connection

Select NMEA 0183 on the Expedition drop list for the appropriate serial port.

The PC/SeaTalk/NMEA Interface Box connects using the NMEA 0183 protocol, so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the Nmea standard and interface.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

4800

8

None

1

Note: It may be necessary to deselect Validate checksums on the Expedition serial port page.

NMEA sentences received

The PC/SeaTalk/NMEA Interface Box can convert Seatalk to the following NMEA

0183 sentences:

GLL, GSA, GSV, HDG, HDM, HDT, HSC, MTW, MWD, MWV, RSA, VHW, VLW,

VPW, VTG, VWR, VWT, XTE, ZDA and ZTG.

Fixed output

The PC/SeaTalk/NMEA Interface Box can convert the following NMEA 0183 sent by

Expedition or other NMEA instruments sentences to Seatalk.

AAM, APA, APA, APB, BEC, BER, BOD, BWC, BWR, DBT, DPT, GDP, GGA,

GLL, GLP, GOP, GSA, GSV, GXP, HDG, HDM, HDT, HVD, HVM, IMA, MTW,

MWV, RMA, RMB, RMC, VHW, VLW, VTA, VTG, VWR, WCV, WPL, XTE, XTR,

ZDA, ZFO and ZTG.

Alternative solution

ShipModule ( www.shipmodul.com

) manufactures NMEA and Seatalk multiplexers. We have not used or tested these, but note that they exist.

Stowe

Web

http://www.stowemarine.com/

Connection settings

The default Stowe Dataline GX Terminal Display serial port settings are 9600, 8, N, 1.

Baud rate

Data bits

Parity

Stop bits

4800

8

None

1

Checksum

Checks received data for errors. Leave this enabled.

Connecting a Stowe Dataline GX Display to the PC's RS232 serial port

Most computers have a 9 pin serial port or can use a USB-serial port adaptor, if lacking one.

5

2

3

DB9 pin PC

Receive data +ve

Transmit data +ve

Signal ground

Red

Brown

White

Green

Black

Stowe

+12V power

Serial data Tx

Serial data Rx

Serial data common

0V power

Stowe settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Expedition has 4 preset options for Stowe displays. Each preset may have 1 to 4 variable associated with it.

Pressing buttons 1 to 4 on the display will select which option will be sent to the display.

TackTick

Web

www.tacktick.com

Connection settings

Tacktick instruments (via the T122 Wireless Interface) communicate using the NMEA 0183 protocol, so the default serial port settings are 4800, 8, N, 1. See the NMEA help for more information on the Nmea standard and interface, however, there are also several custom

NMEA strings available with Tacktick.

Baud rate 4800

Data bits 8

Parity None

Stop bits 1

Note: Tacktick does not send TWD, so Expedition needs to calculate it. Select this on the calibration page.

Tacktick settings

More advanced interface options are available by clicking on this button.

Output

Any Expedition channel, including alternating channels, can be sent to one of four or six

Tacktick Proprietary NMEA sentences. See your Tacktick manual for further information.

Selecting the damped check-box next to any output channel will cause damped data to be output.

Some displays cannot display the proprietary data. The T210 Maxi, T215 Maxi and T110 displays can, but the T111 dual line display can't.

Because of the limited display space, values below -100 will not show the - sign.

NMEA 0183

Allows NMEA messages to be selected to receive and/or sent.

Tacktick cals

Send Twa and/or Twa auto-cal values to the Tacktick processor. Select which auto-cal values to send on the calibration system page.

Alternating

Alternating numbers.

Exp calibration

Advanced calibration and calculations.

Tacktick does not send TWD to Exp, so Expedition needs to calculate it.

Racing tools

Windward-leeward course creation

Boat editing

Calibration

Grib file creation

Handicap calculator

Optimal routing

Polars

Sail chart and list

Sail test analysis

Race schedules

What if?

Start

Settings

Setting the line

Start numbers

Create an AC, WL or quad course

Available from the Create W/L course button on the Start panel.

This function orients your race course around an existing starting line or committee boat.

Unless in the chartless start display mode, select the start line checkbox on the display settings page to show the start line.

For any derived start numbers such as Time to line, you need to have a start polar loaded.

Note that if you have already set the ends of the start line, they won't be reset by this operation.

After setting up and loading a windward leeward course you can fine tune the position of the ends of the line with the Set port or Set starboard buttons. Fine tuning the starting line in this manner (after you have set up a course) will have no effect on the position of the other marks.

Use the Set dividers given range and bearing tool for tips on fine-tuning the position of the top mark.

Start to windward mark

The distance in nautical miles to the top mark from the start line.

Start to leeward mark

The distance in nautical miles between the start line and the leeward mark. You could then sail up to the gate/leeward mark and drag this buoy to its exact position.

To place the leeward mark below the start line, enter a negative number.

Course axis

Allows the course axis to be manually set in degrees magnetic. If the race committee has done a good job this will be aligned with the True Wind Direction. The Twd button updates the course axis with the current damped true wind direction from Exp.

Leave marks to port

Sets all created marks to be left to port.

Rate of turn can also be used to more accurately calculate time and distance to laylines.

Gate at leeward mark

Select whether or not to have a gate to the left (looking upwind) of the leeward mark and its width. When the leeward mark is the active mark, laylines will also be drawn from this mark.

Finish

Can set a finish mark different from the pin end.

Leeward mark

Sets the position of the leeward mark above either the committee boat, the middle of the line or above the pin end.

Boat editor

The database used by Exp can contain a list of all or some boats in any race.

These are used by race schedules and the handicap calculator.

Options

Boat name,

Use this boat on the chart etc?,

Colour to plot boat and track on the chart,

Is it the reference boat? Normally this is you.

Handicap value,

Start time. Note that the handicap calculator has an option to use the time from the start of the race if the start timer is being used,

Boat polar. This is used for fleet route optimisation.

Calibration

Expedition's calibration and calculation functions are accessed from the Instruments item on the

Application button, the relevant instrument page or the Ctrl-Q short-cut.

In most cases, the calibration and calculation functions will not be used. The common exceptions to this are the rate of turn and acceleration values that are necessary for start calculations. In higher end systems (for example Bravo , Ockam and B&G ), the instrument system will perform calibration functions.

Calibrations types can either be single value or tables of calibration values. See below for details for each calibration parameter.

Load and save calibration data using the Load and Save buttons to as text files in Expedition's config folder (in the data folder). The calibration values can either be edited from this dialog window or the calibration file may be edited directly, using any text editor.

Note that Expedition will store raw instrument values of Bsp, Twa and Tws in their own channels, which are logged and can be useful for later analysis.

Calculations

The checkboxes on the left of the Expedition calibration page control the calculation of various parameters. For example, if Twa is selected, it will be calculated from Aws, Awa, Bsp etc. If not selected, Expedition will use the value received from the instruments. This is useful if your instruments don't send some values.

Mostly, these options should not be checked, but it is necessary in cases where the instrument systems doesn't send all data.

Also, if using LogPlayer , these should all be de-selected.

Nexus NX2

If Expedition is connected to the Silva NX2 Sail Performance program rather than directly to the instruments, TWA, TWS and TWD may need to be calculated by

Expedition.

Nexus FDX apparent wind speed and direction are already corrected for heel if available, so do not select this option with Nexus instruments.

Tactick

TWD may need to be calculated by Expedition.

KVH Quadro

TWA and TWS may need to be calculated by Expedition.

Calibrations

The checkboxes with each value control whether that value will be calibrated by Expedition.

Some of these calibration tables are single values, others can be tables of numbers.

Interpolation of values uses a smooth spline technique by default. Linear interpolation is also an option.

Acceleration

Table of values. Tws across and twa down the table. Units are knots per minute.

This is used in start calculations to fine tune the time to the starting line.

Only one row is needed - most users will just have one row in the table and ignore any

TWA dependence.

Expedition has sample values, but it is easy to measure values using Stripchart. Slow to half

speed or stop the boat, sheet on and measure how long it takes to accelerate to full speed and calculate this real acceleration value in knots per minute.

With large values of acceleration like 12 knots/min, once the boat reaches its polar speed (say 7.5 knots), Expedition will not assume further acceleration.

Braking

Table of values of time to stop in seconds. Rate of turn across.

This is used in start calculations to fine tune the time to the starting line and models the braking effect of turning.

Rate of turn

Table of values. Bsp across the table. Units are degrees per second.

This is used in start calculations to fine tune the time to the starting line.

One trick I do is adjust the cal values so the circles on the start display are about the same size as circles on the track.

Rate of turn can also be used to more accurately calculate time and distance to laylines .

Heel (roll)

Table of added value corrections, heel across the table.

Trim (pitch)

Table of added value corrections, trim across the table.

Mast angle

Table of added value corrections, mast angle across the table.

Rudder angle

Table of added value corrections, rudder angle across the table.

Bsp

Aws

Table of added values. Bsp across and heel down the table.

Most users will just have one row in the table and ignore any heel dependence.

Table of added value corrections to correct for aws errors. Awa across and aws down the table.

For advanced users only.

The AWS cal is added to aws (aws = cal + aws raw

).

Twa

Table of added value corrections. Twa across and tws down the table.

Twa and Tws calibration tables are different from other calibration tables in that the default format is similar to the Expedition polar format.

Tws

Table of added value corrections. Twa across and tws down the table. Generally negative numbers as want to subtract from tws.

Heading

Leeway

Normally a single calibration value to correct for compass installation errors, but could be a table dependent on heading.

Often a single calibration value, but could be a table dependent on Twa across and tws down the table.

Expedition uses the same equation as used by systems such as Ockam and B&G to estimate leeway. The calibration values are leeway coefficient(s), k, such that

Leeway = k . heel

/ bsp

2

The hard part is estimating the value of the coefficient, k. In practice we bias k to upwind sailing as the leeway is larger and more important upwind. For many purposes a value of 7 or 8 will suffice.

Because the ideal value of k varies at different angles, Expedition also allows the use of a table of leeway calibration values. These are just the coefficients at different wind angles and speeds.

So, given a VPP from the yacht designer with bsp, heel and leeway, it is relatively easy to generate a corresponding mean value or table of leeway coefficients.

Note that heel should be -ve on port.

Wind weight

Multiplier for polars, default 1.0.

Calibration and your instruments

Depending on the instrument system being used, Expedition may be able to exchange calibration values with it. In these cases, there will be an extra calibration page available dedicated to exchanging information with the instrument system.

Grib file creation

As well as being able to use grib file data from third party sources, Expedition also has functions enabling the creation of your own grib files. This functionality was developed primarily to allow the creation of ocean current data to enhance course optimisation for races such as the Newport-

Bermuda race where ocean current charts of the Gulf-stream are both important and readily available.

There are two ways you can create grib files, both accessed from the tools panel.

1. Create current graphically

If you have an image of ocean temperatures or currents (for example, a Gulf-stream analysis chart), you can use Expedition to create a grib file based on the information in the image.

1.

Import and geo-reference an image.

2.

Select Create currents mode from the Tools panel. This will direct Expedition to create a current vector wherever you click on the chart with the left mouse button. It will ask for a value of current drift. This should be entered in knots.

Move the cursor around a line of constant current drift, clicking regularly or at important points. The current drift will be in the direction you are moving the cursor, so start upstream.

You can't immediately click elsewhere on the chart to start another line of current points as the first and last points will have unintended sets. So, click Set drift rate on the tools panel and enter the drift rate of the next series of points you intend to enter (they could be the same) and then click on the chart as before.

When all creation of current points is complete, click on Create mode on the Tools panel to exit the current entry mode. Then, select Save grib.

You will then be asked for the bounds and resolution of the grib file you wish to create. The suggested bounds north, south, east and west bounds will be based on the data you entered earlier. The default resolution is 0.5 degrees, but it could be 0.1

or 1.0 degrees for example.

Also, choose whether to give the current field a validity time (it could be a forecast for example) or make it a climatologically mean current.

Finally, select a file name and location for the new grib file and click on OK.

You can now clear the manually entered currents by clicking on Clear created

currents on the Tools panel and load the new grib file (see the help on the weather settings page.

It can also be a good idea to enter zero knot currents along coastlines.

2. Log file analysis

As you use Expedition, you can collect your instrument data in log files. This data can be played back by LogPlayer or loaded into Stripchart , but you can also use it to create grib files of sea temperature, currents and/or depth.

Handicap calculator

The handicap calculator window is used to compare mark rounding and finish times with other boats using time correction factor (TCF) handicaps.

Select the boats to compare to in the edit boats window.

On longer races, it may be advisable to set the start time in the edit boats window.

For shorter races, the start gun can be used.

Route optimisation

This is one of Expedition's most powerful and refined features. We have worked hard to hone this tool for accuracy.

Expedition easily routes over complex courses with multiple GRIB fields containing both wind and current information.

Exp has special features such as reverse isochrones that help the navigator/tactician judge the

sensitivity of the calculated optimal route. It has features designed to help both the shore side study of an upcoming race (or a race underway that you are watching) and also the navigator/tactician in the middle of the race.

As in any solution involving a computer program, be aware that the final result is only as good as the information/data provided to the program - Garbage in = garbage out! So it pays to work hard to make your polars reflect reality and get the very best and latest GRIB files. However, even with the most refined polars and fine mesh weather GRIB files, the prudent navigator will study the solution carefully and make adjustments based upon practical experience or intuition.

Before using this tool, make sure you understand the Expedition's optimal routing settings, marks and courses and weather .

Before performing a course optimisation

1.

Make sure all your settings in optimal routing settings are correctly configured.

2.

You have a wind GRIB file loaded that covers the area and time span needed to sail the course. You can check the extend last wind field box on the optimal routing tab if your

GRIB doesn't quite cover the time frame needed to sail the course.

3.

You have a polar loaded into Expedition. See the polars help.

4.

You have a course set up and selected as active. See mark management .

5.

4.

5.

It is also important that the correct destination mark is selected as active.

The optimal route is calculated by Expedition with a click on the Optimise button on the Optimal panel. A progress bar and cancel button are displayed while Expedition is computing the optimised course. To speed up the calculation you can make the resolution value larger and/or deselect Avoid

C-Map land in the optimal routing settings. The optimisation may be cancelled at any point by clicking on the cancel button.

After the calculation complete, the optimal path and other features such as isochrones that you selected for display on the optimal routing tab will be displayed on the chart.

Race note areas

These can be set to be avoided by the optimal routing. This can be very useful for avoiding land or obstructions in the routing.

The optimal course table

Available from Optimal panel.

Displays a summary of each course optimisation.

This table displays many details about each step of the optimised route. The number of entries

(rows) in this table is a function of the length of the route and the resolution that you configured in the optimal routing settings tab.

The table can be used when studying predicted wind speeds and angles in order to plan sail selection.

The optimal route can be exported to a .csv file by clicking the export button. It can also be exported to the marks database.

Important note

If any TWA value is in parentheses, for example (-12), then Exp has tacked or gybed for that part of the optimal course.

Sometimes this might be one tack or gybe, but in other cases it might mean staying in a lane of stronger wind for example.

Common mistakes that that results in no Optimal Course being calculated

GRIB problem

The GRIB file does not cover the correct time span or geographic range. Check by displaying 'Wind' in the GRIB file and animate it to confirm its time span and geographic range (See the help on weather for more information).

Course problem

Something is wrong with your course. Maybe the wrong course is selected or the wrong destination mark is selected as active.

Polar problem

Something is wrong with your polar file or you have no polar file loaded. See the help on polars for more information.

Optimal Routing setup problem

Something is wrong in your configuration of the optimal routing settings tab. The most common errors are:

Incorrect Start Time entered (make sure you know the time zone Expedition is using). The start time and finish time should fall within the time span covered by the

GRIB.

Resolution is set too low, resulting in the course optimisation taking too long.

Polars

Available from the sail panel or the Ctrl+P keyboard shortcut.

There is support for performance, navigation, start and heel polars in Expedition and each has a dedicated tab.

For details on the file format, see the bottom of this page.

In addition to the pre-defined polars listed below, there are several custom polars. These can be used for parameters such as keel angle. In this case, they would generate polar keel and and polar keel angle %.

Performance polar

Expedition uses the Performance polar when calculating performance numbers - such and

Polar Bsp and Polar Bsp%.

Navigation polar

This is the main polar used by Expedition. The Nav polar is used in optimal routing and all navigation calculations.

Being able to modify just the navigation polar to suit different conditions means the performance polar can be left to provide the same reference from day to day.

Of course, you may just wish to use the same polar file for the navigation and performance numbers.

Start polar

The start polar drives Expedition's starting line program (which features such valuable tools as

time to burn) so if you plan on using that feature, you will want to enter a starting polar. If you

are always doing upwind starts, then you can simply use the same text file as the performance polar. If you are doing downwind starts, you might want to modify this file and slow down the polar points at the angles where the polar assumes you have a spinnaker set.

Heel polar

If entered, it allows you to use Expedition's Target heel number which has proved quite useful

Database tab

Use the Database page to add, delete or edit items in the database, which is selected from the user settings page. These items are used to identify your boat's configuration (i.e. helmsman etc.) when a test is saved in Strip Chart. The boats list used in race schedules may also be edited here, but is more easily edited from the Edit boats item on the sail panel.

You can also edit Expedition's database (*.mdb) by opening it in a database program like

Microsoft Access.

Sails tab

Edit the sails database here:

Whether on-board. This is to reduce the number of sail options displayed when setting

events

or

tests ,

Name,

Colour (as plotted in the edit polars window described above),

Sail type,

Any notes or comments.

Polar file details

When Expedition was installed it added some sample polars in the Expedition polars folder.

Expedition polars are just text files, so can also be edited in any text editor such as Microsoft

Notepad. Users often manipulate the data using Microsoft Excel - just make sure you save them in a *.txt file format. Take note of the format of these polars as any new ones that you create for your boat must be in a similar format.

The Expedition polar format is very versatile. It does however have a few restrictions:

The first column always contains the Tws values,

Other columns are in pairs of Twa and Bsp (or heel etc),

Twa must increase across a row,

Tws must increase downwards,

Normally we make the last column at 180 twa,

For performance, navigation and start polars, Exp automatically determines which point is the target (maximum upwind or downwind vmg),

Comments may be used in the polar file by adding a '!' character at the start of each comment line. Note that these comments aren't saved by Exp, so are only useful if you only edit your polars manually.

There is no limit to the number of rows (True Wind Speed) or columns (True Wind

Angle) that you can have in your polar, but you may find it easier to work with a simple polar like the sample ones.

Polar percentage (%)

This allows the polar to be scaled by any value. The default value is 100.

Load

This allows you to load a polar file (in *.txt format) from anywhere on your computer.

Save and Save As

These buttons allow you to save changes/edits that you have made to a polar file. It is highly recommended that you use Save As so you do not overwrite a valuable polar file.

Comments may be used in the polar file by adding a '!' character at the start of each comment line. Note that these comments aren't saved by Exp, so are only useful if you only edit your polars manually.

Converting a polar file from a 10m wind reference height to masthead height

Many boat designer's polars are given for 10m winds, so the polars may need scaling. See

Scale winds in the weather settings help for a formula to assist with this.

Edit button

Displays an edit polar dialog, which allows the polar to be graphically edited by simply dragging polar points.

Important note:

Targets are defined as the point on a polar curve with the maximum VMG upwind or downwind. Editing a target point can cause it to have a lower VMG value than an adjacent point, which would then become the new target point and be the displayed in the up-wind and down-wind curves (below).

For this reason, it not having polar points to close to the targets can make editing a lot easier.

For example, if the target angle is 46, consider using TWA values of 0, 46, 60 ... instead of 0, 46, 50, 60, ...

Tests

Displays test data stored in the database for selection to plot on the polar edit window or exporting from Expedition. Tests to be displayed on the polar can be selected.

Different views of the polar and target data are available:

Polar

Display polar curves on the familiar polar diagram. Select a polar curve for any wind-speed using the wind-speed drop-list on the top right. The polar curves at wind speeds above and below the selected polar curve will also be displayed to aid with editing.

Upwind

Display upwind target bsp, twa and vmg. Select whether to plot tests against bsp, twa or vmg from the drop-list.

Downwind

Display downwind target bsp, twa and vmg. Select whether to plot tests against bsp, twa or vmg from the drop-list.

Polar radial

Displays a radial (column) of the polar.

To edit the target upwind/downwind polar points, select the upwind or downwind buttons for display. To edit reaching polar points, select the polar button. If you select the latter, then the drop down window on the upper right shows which wind speed polar curve is being displayed and allows you to move through the wind speed matrix to get to the curve or curves you want to edit.

For Upwind, Downwind and Polar radial editing, the Black line is boat speed, the Blue line is

TWA, and the Grey line is the calculated VMG.

Tests saved from Stripchart will be displayed here. Using this feature you can drag a polar point to the middle of a cluster of tests and have a high degree of confidence that you have improved your polar. There are several controls to modify how these tests are displays:

N ormalised

The tests displayed will not be for exactly the wind speed selected in most cases.

This attempts to scale the test bsp for to the selected tws.

Tests

For the upwind and downwind target displays, this selects whether to plot the tests by their bsp, vmg or twa values.

Colour tests by sail

By default, tests are displayed in red if the test tws less than that of the polar curve being edited and in blue if greater. Selecting this option colours the tests by the colour associated with the sail entered for that test.

If editing upwind or downwind targets, tests are displayed in green if on starboard

(twa > 0) or in red if on port (twa < 0). If the Vmg of the test is less than that of the polar curve, the test point will be hollow, else it will be drawn as a solid point.

Tws drop-list

This box is only accessible when you are displaying the individual polar curves.

Select the wind speed for the polar curve to be displayed.

Sails

See the Sail panel help.

Sail list

Edit the sail list database

Whether on-board. This is to reduce the number of sail options displayed when editing the sail chart or setting events or

tests

,

Sail name,

Colour (as plotted in the edit polars window described in polars ),

Sail type,

Any notes or comments.

Sail chart panel

The sail chart loaded into Exp can be used for planning

The Course pane will show the sail indicated by the sail chart for each course of the race,

The optimal routing summary will list the sail indicated by the sail chart for each section of the optimised course.

The current TWA/TWS point is drawn on the sail chart as a circle. Also, TWA to the active mark and next leg are drawn on the sail chart as 'M' and 'N'.

Editing

The format of the sail chart file is a simple text table, with TWA across, TWS down and the name of each sail separated by tabs. See the sample file included with Expedition.

The file is also easily editable in Excel. Use the Load and save buttons to select different sail charts.

To edit the sail chart, simply right-click on any cell in the chart window and select the new sail from the pop-up menu.

Sail colours can be changed by clicking on the Sails button or editing the sail list (as above).

Polar view

This option draws the sail chart in a polar format.

For advanced users, also see the sail test analysis help.

Sail test analysis

Available from the Analyse sail tests item on the Tools panel.

See also Saving tests and Events in the Stripchart help.

This is a very powerful feature, but does require a lot of work to get the most of it.

Tests

Tests (periods of good, consistent data) are saved using the Stripchart program. Note that saving sail changes as Events in Expedition or Stripchart can make post race creation of tests a lot easier.

The tests in the database can be viewed by clicking on the Tests button.

With time, the number of tests stored in the database can become very large (hundreds or even thousands of tests) and impossible to manually draw conclusions from. Also, test data varies from day-to-day with changing conditions.

So, Exp has automated functions to automatically draw some statistical conclusions as to what the polar and sail chart should look like based on the saved tests.

These functions perform better with more test data available.

Analyse sail tests

The first tab page in Sail and speed test analysis allows test data to be analysed for individual or subsets of sails. For example, all sails A2-1, A2-2 and A2-3 can be selected an the test data for these analysed. For example:

Note that it is a good idea to give the output file a short, descriptive name such as A2 in the example above as this name will be used in the final sail chart.

Also, this function requires the boat's performance polar to be loaded in Exp.

To actually perform the analysis, just click on the Process button. The output is a polar patch file for the sail or sails selected, which will be saved in the Tests folder in Expedition's data folder. There is a shortcut to the data folder on the Application button menu.

Repeat the analysis process for all sail types to end up with a collection of polars for each sail type.

On the test page accessed from the Tests item on the Sail panel, individual or all tests can be selected to be drawn on the edit polars window. Checking Only use selected tests directs

Expedition to only use these selected tests in the analysis.

Build polar and sail chart

The second tab page in Sail and speed test analysis allows selected analysis files from Analyse

sail tests to be combined to give a sail chart and polar. Select sail analyses to be used by clicking on Add analysis files . Enter an output file name, then click on the Process button as in the example below.

In this case, the output files will be labelled with the date. Selecting Update performance

polar when process directs Expedition to update the performance polar with the analysed polar speeds.

In this example, the output files will be

25 June 2007_polar.txt - the analysed polar file

25 June 2007_Sails.txt - the analysed sail chart

These will be saved in the Tests folder in Expedition's data folder. There is a shortcut to the data folder on the Application button.

Note that in most cases, the test data will not be complete for every twa and tws value, so the output polar and sail chart files will probably have missing data. As more tests are included, the output will become more complete.

Race schedules

Available from the Race schedules button on the Sail panel.

Race schedules was initially designed for and used very successfully in the 2001-2 Volvo race. It enables you to track longer races that have some sort of position reporting on a regular basis.

Interpreting Race Schedules

Once you have entered two position reports, the power of Expedition's r ace schedule tool becomes more apparent. When you have the race schedules dialog open (race schedules from the Sail panel), you are presented with a lot of information about the race. Most of the column headings should be obvious. DMG is distance made good towards the next (selected) mark.

Cor DMG is the distance made good on a corrected time basis. This is a very valuable piece of information, as it may highlight some important corrected time information (e.g. Some smaller/slower boats are making big corrected time gains on a certain part of the course). As mentioned above some functions like Gain , Brg (bearing) and Rng (range) will be calculated relative to the reference boat .

It is important that the correct course and waypoint are selected as active for the Distance to

Finish and other calculations to be correct.

Displaying the track of other boats on the main chart window

There are check boxes to draw Race schedules and Race schedule tracks o n the display settings tab. If selected, the tracks and/or positions of the fleet will be drawn on the chart. The tracks can also be drawn in bold. The boat positions will be drawn for the current display time

(upper left of main chart window). There are 7 different pen colours available. So if, for example, you have 8 boats with position report entries, boat 17 will be drawn in the same colour and style as boat 1. However, by the time you have 7 boats drawn, your screen may be too cluttered anyway so consider only selecting the important boats (class leaders, your division etc) to plot.

If no boat is designated as the reference boat, position reports will not be plotted on the chart.

Schedules window

Race schedules item on the Sail panel.

After setting up the fleet, use this tool to enter position reports and/or operate Expedition's race schedule features.

Edit boats

See the Edit boats help.

Use this to add or boat names, handicaps or start times and whether to plot in the database.

One boat, typically your boat, should be selected as the reference boat. Positions, based on distance to the finish (active mark), as well as ranges and bearings to the other boats are relative to the position of the reference boat. Each boat can have a handicap rating (either a time correction factor (TCF) or a time on distance factor).

Set disp time

Sets Expedition's screen display time to the select race schedule.

TCF/Time on Distance radio buttons

Select the type of handicap system the race is using (if any).

Schedule time (local) window

Export

Displays the time (in local, computer Windows time zone) of the most recent position report. You can display old position reports/schedules using the drop down box in this window.

Exports schedules to a text file. This is useful for printing out and taking on deck.

Manual

Manual entry of position reports. Select the boat, position and time of the report.

Delete

For entering positions, use a format as follows: 12 34.5n 123.4w (you can use as many decimal places as you like). Notice the space between Degrees and Minutes and also between the Latitude and Longitude.

Deletes any selected/highlighted schedule report - good if you make an error.

View all

Displays all position report entries. This is good for finding an erroneous entry.

Clear all

Clears all position reports.

Import

Import positions from a file. Several formats are supported, selected from the drop-list.

Any position report file can also be imported by dragging it onto the race schedule window.

Expedition

This format has been designed as a generic race position report that is efficient to receive at sea. It requires two files - one for the boat names and one for the actual position reports. Using the boat name file means the boat names don't need to be downloaded with every race position report. For example, it could be downloaded before a race.

1.

BoatId.csv

This file contains all the boat names possible in a position report.

It can be edited with Microsoft Excel or a text editor and the format is:

1,Samba Pa Ti

2,Morning Light

3,Pendragon

4,...

2.

Scheds_yymmddhhmm .csv

This file contains the actual position report. The file can have any name, but if it is in the Scheds_yymmddhhmm .csv format, then the time of the position reports need not entered for every boat in the file. This is also useful for differentiating position report files.

Times are in UTC.

The minutes part of the file name is optional. For example, a position report for 1200UTC on the 15th of March 2008 would be.

Scheds_0803151200.csv

or

Scheds_08031512.csv

Each line of the position report file represents a position report for an individual boat and can contain various parameters. The format is: id,latitude,longtitude[,YYMMDDhhmm[ss],fleet,class,dtf,cog,sog,twd,tws]

At the very minimum, each line needs to contain a boat id, latitude and longitude. In this case, it is assumed the time will be obtained from the file time.

1,-10.1000,-125.9667

2,-10.1500,-124.2500

3,-10.6833,-124.9333,0803151230,2

Adding a UTC time field after longitude over-rides any time value obtained from the file name. The time field could be used for all reports or as it the example above, for boat 3 (Pendragon) who has reported 30 minutes later. The seconds part of the time field is optional.

Other fields - handicap position, distance to finish, current and wind can also be added.

Basic

Imports from a basic text file. The format for the text file required is:

Boat name,UTC date and time, LL LL.LL N,LLL LL.LL W or a degree symbol can be used after the degrees value.

The data & time should be in the format used by your computer.

For example, any of the following work:

Boat,26/11/2007 07:02:00,29 58.40 N,021 26.24 W

Boat,26/11/2007 07:02:00,29 58.40°N,021°26.24 W

Boat,26/11/2007 07:02:00 UTC,29 58.40 N,021 26.24 W

VOR

Imports position reports from a text file in the format used in Volvo Ocean races since 2001/2. The format for the text file required is:

Rank;Boat Name;Latitude;Longitude;DateTimeGroup;WindDirection;WindSpeed

1;TYCO;49,16.74S;017,30.72E;0600;05Aug01;170;18

2;NEWS;49,16.74S;017,30.72E;0600;05Aug01;170;18

3;ILLB;49,16.74S;017,30.72E;0600;05Aug01;170;18

Times in this file should be in UTC.

When used with the VolvoSatC, the first line in the file must be

POSRELEASE

Mini

Import position reports for the Mini Transat boats:

Pos,Skipper,Boat,Sail no,Class,Lat,Long,DTF,DTL

1,Douguet Corentin,E. LECLERC / BOUYGUES TELECOM,433,PROTO,N382100,W0123366,578,

2,Gladu Sebastien,ARMOR LUX,427,PROTO,N382393,W0131161,580,1.4

...

Mini Transat 07

Import position reports for the Mini Transat boats in the 2007 format:

Pos,Voile,Skipper,Bateau,Type,Lat,Long,Cap,Vit,Dist/but,/1er,Date

1,667,Joschke Isabelle,Degremont - synergie,proto,36.3505 N,-14.2734 W,164,11.3,261.72,0,22/09 14:00

2,679,Manuard Samuel,Sitting bull,proto,36.7793 N,-14.0213 W,190,6.4,290.16,28.44,22/09 14:00

3,624,le Blevec Yves,Actual,proto,37.1005 N,-14.2144 W,188,8.6,303.45,41.73,22/09 14:00

...

Note times are in UTC and the current year is assumed.

Bermuda

Specifically for the 2006 Newport-Bermuda race, which was a *.csv file in the format: class,boat,report_time_stamp,position_dd_N,position_dd_W,position_dms_N,position_dms_W,boat_spd_knots

GHL,Hissar,Wed Jun 14 14:22 EDT,41.4898,71.3224,41 29 23.42,71 19 20.57,12.34

...

Expedition uses the degrees minutes and seconds format for the position if available.

Note that west longitudes don't have a negative sign in this format.

Hobart

This format option is designed to enable easy importing of position reports from the Sydney-Hobart race web site at http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/standings_lite.asp .

Just cut and paste from the web page into a *.txt file. The format is tab delimited:

27 December 2007, 2:00pm

YACHT NAME LAT LONG DTG SOG COG (not required)

LINE HONOURS Overall (not required)

1 Wild Oats XI 39°; 52' S 150°; 39' E 275.7 11.3 220

2 City Index Leopard 39°; 43' S 150°; 57' E 290.5 10.3 248

3 Skandia 39°; 29' S 150°; 38' E 295.3 10.3 172

...

Transpac

Imports FIS position reports for the Transpac. The format is:

10B,Denali,USA 97363,3/7/2007 7:30:13 PM,23.5988,-111.3574

11B,Grand Illusion,USA97,3/7/2007 7:30:07 PM,23.1623,-111.2885

12B,Pendragon 4,77000,3/7/2007 7:29:08 PM,24.1758,-111.8009

13B,Ragtime,USA 7960,3/7/2007 7:32:23 PM,24.6680,-112.4426

14C,Locomotion,USA 46860,3/7/2007 7:29:52 PM,24.9972,-112.9096

Times are assumed to be in local time, in most cases PDT.

The computer time format should be set to the same time as the time in the file to be imported.

MaxSea

Imports position reports from MaxSea text files. The format for the text file required is: rank;boat id;lat;lon;date time;dtf;log;dmg;point-to-point

1;1;48.2967N;5.0785W;11/28/04 08:10:44;23967.3;0;0;0

2;2;48.1660N;5.2808W;11/28/04 09:06:00;23949.3;18.8;18.8;0.0

3;3;48.1076N;5.3560W;11/28/04 09:28:00;23941.8;26.5;26.5;0.0

4;6;47.5552N;5.5308W;11/28/04 10:18:00;23922.9;45.7;45.7;0.0

5;5;47.3576N;6.2252W;11/28/04 11:40:00;23896.4;73.7;73.7;0.0

6;4;47.1724N;6.4916W;11/28/04 13:10:00;23872.1;99.5;99.5;0.0

In addition, a file called identifiant.txt is required in the same folder as the file(s) to be imported. Its format is: identifiant nom

1 VM MATERIAUX

2 VIRBAC-PAPREC

3 AKENA VERANDAS

4 ECOVER

6 HELLOMOTO

All information to the right of time is ignored.

Positions are degrees and decimal minutes- dd.mmmm.

Times in this file should be in UTC.

When used with the VolvoSatC, the first line in the position files must be

POSMAXSEA

Trans-Atlantic

For the 2009 Trans-Atlantic race.

Format: position in fleet;boat name;lat;long;sog;cog;time

1;VALKYRIE;28.4675566666667;-16.24411;0.00;8.05;11/22/2009 14:4722

2;BEAU GESTE;28.4677866666667;-16.24411;0.00;247.80;11/22/2009 16:3042

3;SOJANA;28.4677383333333;-16.2437683333333;0.00;232.88;11/22/2009 17:1503

4;ALEXIA;28.4676983333333;-16.243465;0.00;351.74;11/22/2009 14:2550

Latitude and longitude are in decimal degrees.

Time is MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMSS in UTC.

What if?

Can be toggled on and off from the Window menu.

What-if? is a user definable wind and current value for use in certain calculations. This is a powerful tool for tacticians and navigators.

For example, a navigator might be expecting a 10 degree wind shift to the left (from 270 instead of

280) and want to see where the laylines would be with that new wind direction in order to avoid sailing extra distance.

If the What-if? true wind speed is zero, Exp will use the instrument tws value.

Note that What-if? is slightly different in Exp than in Deckman, which uses ground wind as an input whereas Exp uses true wind direction and speed.

Start

Expedition has some very powerful start functions and displays, but these do require some advanced user input to use them to their full potential.

Race display

This is an un-cluttered display mode with no charting and scaled to fit the start line or course to the screen.

After the start, it will display the active mark and the boat. See the start and chart panels help.

Both ends of the line as well as boat position are required for the start screen to be displayed.

See race settings for more options, including the option to specify the display state used before and after the start.

Events

Events are automatically set in the database when pinging start marks and at the gun.

In the prestart

The start line is displayed with the port end to the left of the screen and the starboard end to the right.

The current heading is drawn as a thin blue line.

The GPS derived course of the ground is drawn as a solid blue line.

The boat track will be drawn if selected on the display settings page. This can be very useful to reposition start marks if you sail around them.

Laylines are drawn from each end of the line.

The time to each end is drawn at that end and at the top corner. The to burn to the corner is immediately below it.

A bias line is drawn above the start line, indicating the favoured end. In the example below, the starboard end is favoured. The bias angle, length and line square wind are also displayed at the bottom right.

If wind or current is held, they will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. See the start panel help.

Turns to beat (or run) to the line are drawn as thin black lines. Note that some turns aren't drawn in order to keep the display uncluttered.

Many of these items stop being displayed 1 minute after the start to reduce screen clutter.

At this point, only part of the line may be drawn.

Expedition draws numbers on the start line for times to the ends, the line etc. Clicking on the time to burn button on the start panel makes these numbers time to burn numbers instead of actual times.

Selecting the Display times button on the start panel can reduce the number of these on screen numbers.

Time to gun, time to burn and distance below the line are displayed at the top centre of the screen. After the gun, the distance above or below the line will also be displayed.

The bar on the left is a graphic indicator that shows time to burn.

The dot and time shown below is the time to burn after sailing to and turning onto the starboard end layline. The time below the start mark is defined on the race settings page.

Race and Start settings

To obtain maximum benefit from Expedition's starting tools, there are several things that are needed to describe the boat.

Boat length

The overall length (in metres) of your boat for proper scaling of Expedition's distance measurements.

Expedition uses the boat length to present various numbers in boat lengths. The desired units are selected on the user settings page. Note that if you have nautical miles as the default units, most start distances will still be displayed in boat lengths.

Boat width

Boat width in metres.

Bow to GPS

The distance (in metres) from the bow to the GPS antenna. The distance from the GPS to the bow is required for precise calculation of time and distance to the line. This will fine tune the distance and time to start line calculations.

GPS offset

For multi-hulls, but not actually used anywhere in Exp yet.

Starboard layline time to burn offset

Time down the starboard layline to the starboard end for time to burn to this point. See below and the start help .

Start calibration values

Shortcut to calibration values used by Expedition.

Acceleration

Set in the calibration section. Units are knots per minute and are a function of true wind speed and true wind angle. If you only have one wind angle in the cal file, then it will just be a function of tws.

Often the boat's speed will be less than target speed at any point in the pre-start.

Expedition allows for acceleration when calculating time and distance to the line.

Braking

Set in the calibration section. Units are seconds to stop as a function of rate of turn.

Rate of turn

Set in the calibration section. Units are degrees per second and are a function of boat speed.

Race settings

Use rate of turn in laylines

If this option is selected, Exp will include the time and distance to turn to the opposite tack or gybe when calculating laylines. This is based on the rate of turn calibration table.

Time and distance to each layline will be to the start of the tack or gybe.

Ping marks at bow (else GPS)

The default option when pinging a start (or other) mark is to set the mark at the bow.

This assumes the distance between the GPS and the bow is entered correctly as below.

If this is de-selected, the mark is assumed to be at the GPS.

Start display

Grid

Draws a grid with increments of the boat length on the start display.

Boat length circles

Draws range circles in increments of the boat length on the start display.

Track

For clarity, there is an option to not draw the track in the start display.

Time to burn graphic

See the start help .

Starboard layline time to burn offset

Time down the starboard layline to the starboard end for time to burn to this point. See above and the start help .

Magnify

If close to one end of the line, will magnify the start line to show the boat and that end of the line.

Show gybe

Shows more circle options in the start.

Start settings

Time to line includes ends and reaching.

If this is selected, the time to line number will be the fastest way to the line, including to the ends or at the current reaching angle.

If not selected, it will just be the upwind or downwind numbers.

Switch to chart display at gun + 10s

Instructs Expedition to switch to a chart display at 10s after the gun.

Switch display state at gun +10s

Instructs Expedition to change display state files at 10s after the gun.

Pre-start

The display state file to use before the gun.

Post-start

The display state file to use after the gun.

Release held wind and current at gun

De-selects held wind and current values.

Setting the start line

There are several ways to create and modify a start line.

See the help on the Start panel.

See the help on the right-click pop-up menu.

Start marks are just like any other mark. They can drag them with the pointer after clicking on them

(if they are unlocked). They can be manually edited. See the marks help for more information.

The right-click pop-up menu can be used to create start marks or to select an existing mark as a start mark. Note that to select an existing mark, it must be displayed on the screen - it must be part of the

active course or be set to always drawn.

Start numbers

Line square wind

Wind direction at 90 degrees to the start line. This is closely related to the bias angle.

Start bias angle

Bias of the start line in degrees given the current wind direction. Negative means the port end is favoured, positive means the starboard end is favoured. In the number bars, a port end favoured line will have a 'P' next to the number as in the display above.

Start bias length

Distance bias of the start line given the current wind direction at the favoured end. Negative means the port end is favoured, positive means the starboard end is favoured. Note that if the default distance units for Expedition are in nautical miles, this value will always be in boat lengths.

Start distance below line

Distance below line. This will be negative if over the line. Note that if the default distance units for Expedition are in nautical miles, this value will always be in boat lengths.

Start distance to line

Shortest distance to the line. This will be negative if over the line.

Start distance to line reach

Distance to the line at current heading based on the start polar.

Start line square wind

Wind direction at 90 degrees to the start line.

Start time to gun

Time to start gun.

Start time to layline

Time for the bow to reach the start layline the boat is heading to, based on CoG and SoG.

Start time to line

Shortest time to the line at targets (includes tacking or gybing and acceleration) based on the start polar and acceleration settings. This will be negative if over the line.

Start GPS time to line reach

Time to the line at current heading based on SoG and CoG from the GPS.

Start time to line reach

Time to the line at current heading based on the start polar as well as the current speed and heading.

Start time to port

Minimum time to reach the port end of the line based on the start polar.

Start time to starboard

Minimum time to reach the starboard end of the line based on the start polar.

Start time to burn

Difference between time-to-line and time-to-start. Note that a negative number suggests you will be late.

Start time to burn at starboard

Time to burn when tack onto the starboard layline to the starboard end of the line.

Start turn strb to strb

Time to the line on starboard after a turn to starboard.

Start turn strb to port

Time to the line on port after a turn to starboard.

Start turn port to strb

Time to the line on starboard after a turn to port.

Start turn port to port

Time to the line on port after a turn to port.

Settings

Display

Display2

Charts

Alternating numbers

User

Channels

Start

Weather

Tides

Optimal routing

When you first use Expedition, and indeed every time you use it, you may want to review and configure many settings.

The settings pages may be accessed from the Application button or the charts or weather panels.

You will need to go through each of the tabs in this menu to configure Expedition for your needs.

Display settings

Various check boxes and controls on this page allow you to select whether or not to display various details on the chart.

Distance Units

Changes the units used when displaying distance in most of Expedition's numbers. Normally this is set to nautical miles for navigation purposes, but it may be helpful at times to use a different measurement unit such as boat lengths.

If this setting is in nautical miles, distances in the starting line calculations will be displayed in boat lengths (e.g. Start distance to line).

Depth units

Select depth units ( feet, metres or fathoms). This applies globally (C-Map charts, tides and instrument data).

Boat Colour

Select colour to paint boat.

Range circle radius

Controls the size of the range circle (see above) drawn around the boat.

Period

Controls the size of the predictor lines and the polar range circle. See above.

Limit track

Enable this to specify the number of minutes of track to draw.

Layline bounds (minutes)

Sets the period of time for the Layline bounds as described above.

Magnetic mode

Display all bearings and directions in degrees magnetic. Normally you will select this feature, but in certain cases it can be useful to operate in True magnetic mode, especially when you are in the Southern Ocean and the variation is 60 degrees!

Local time

Display all times (displayed or user input) in local time. If this box is unchecked, UTC

(Universal or Greenwich Meridian Time) will be displayed. Normally you select local time for buoy racing and short offshore racing. It is often desirable to operate in UTC time mode in longer, offshore races.

Temperatures in Fahrenheit

Display in temperatures in Fahrenheit. Default is degrees Celsius.

Marks and courses

Leg details

Display range and bearing of all legs in a course/route and Divider measurements.

The range will be displayed in user selected units. The bearing can be displayed in either degrees true or magnetic. On a long leg a straight line appears curved because it is a great circle. In a great circle, the bearing displayed is the bearing at the starting point.

Current leg

Draw the leg of the course from your boat to the next mark.

Mark names

Display mark names. If you move the mouse over a mark, any comments associated with it (that you have entered when editing or creating a mark) will pop up.

Mark range circles

Draw range circles around marks for which you have set up a range circle (when editing the mark's details).

Racing

Laylines

Draw laylines that will emanate from the active (green dot) mark. By default, these laylines are a function of the active polar, the leeway, the damped true wind and the damped current.

Expedition allows you to override the instrument wind/current and to have the laylines drawn oriented to a contrived, user selected wind and current. This is especially helpful when the wind/current instruments are acting up, or when studying possible tactical scenarios. Learn how to force what if wind and/or currents using the What if? help.

You can change the active mark (displaying the green dot) to another mark in a course by clicking the previous or next buttons on the marks panel or the right/left arrows on the keyboard.

Layline bounds

Similar to laylines , but are extreme laylines for a preceding period of time as defined in the Layline bounds (minutes) control. Often if displaying laylines, you may wish to also display these.

Laylines from boat

Similar to laylines , but emanating from the boat's position.

Laylines using predicted tides

As for laylines above, but uses tidal model data if available instead of using set and drift at the boat (from instruments, predicted or what-if? values).

This will results in laylines curved to take account of the tidal current model.

Note that these laylines use the instrument (or what-if? ) wind values at the boat, which are even more likely to change than the current.

In addition to the graphical representation, there are 6 channels that can be displayed in number boxes or lists. These are the times to the port and starboard sides of the course:

To the port side of the course:

Lay tide port side port time - Time on port from the boat

Lay tide port side stbd time - Time on port to the mark

Lay tide port side time - total time to the mark

To the starboard side of the course:

Lay tide stbd side port time - Time on starboard from the boat

Lay tide stbd side stbd time - Time on starboard to the mark

Lay tide stbd side time - total time to the mark

In this example, the solid lines are the laylines based on the measured current and the thin lines are laylines based on the tidal current model for San Francisco:

Opposite tack

Draws a predictor line for the opposite tack or gybe.

Race notes

Draws race notes on the chart.

Polar range circle

Draws a polar around the boat. The size of the polar dependent on the number of minutes entered.

Race schedules

Display other boats positions if you are using the Race Schedules feature.

Race schedule tracks

Display other boats' tracks if you are using the Race Schedules feature. This is very useful in an ocean race when there are daily position reports that you enter into

Expedition's Race schedule tool.

Select which boats to display in race schedules and on the chart from the Edit boats interface, available from the sail panel.

To view other boats' tracks, you must have entered other boats' positions in the race schedule database (see the help on race schedules ) and the program time/date shown in the upper left corner of the main chart window must be concurrent to or after the range of time for these schedule/position entries. To view other boats' position at a point in time, the time/date displayed in the upper left of the main chart window must be during the range in time for these schedule/position entries. It helps a lot to have a weather

GRIB file covering this range of time loaded into Expedition. (See the help on weather for more on GRIB files).

Use the Jump button on the weather panel to set the display time to the sched time you are interested in.

Race schedule tracks in bold

Draws the race schedule tracks as thicker lines.

Start line

Draw the start line (and laylines for it) if you have one set up.

Track

Draw your track/trail on the screen. This is normally selected and is very valuable for repositioning marks that you have rounded. Be careful, clearing this check box will delete your entire track and it may not be recoverable in real time.

A fast way to clear your track (if the screen gets too cluttered or when starting a subsequent buoy race on a given day) is by right clicking the main chart window and selecting Clear track .

You can load a track from a log file by selecting the Load track button on the Tools

panel.

Track currents

Draws current vectors along your track. The length of the vector can be controlled by changing the maximum value for current on the weather tab. For best resolution, set your maximum current about equal in magnitude to the maximum expected current.

This feature is very useful in studying current flow over a race track and to troubleshoot instrument (heading, leeway and speed) calibration errors - if your current changes from tack to tack, you may have a calibration error in your compass or boat speed.

Currents obtained from the instruments will be displayed unless using Expedition derived currents for calculations (see what-if? ).

Track winds

Draws wind barbs along your track. For best resolution, set your maximum current about equal in magnitude to the maximum expected current.

Winds obtained from the instruments will be displayed unless using Expedition derived winds for calculations (see what-if? ).

Boat

Boat winds

Display a boat's damped wind speed and direction in a data box next to the boat and a wind barb emanating from the boat's position. This is normally turned off, but can be especially useful when there are several boats in the system (e.g. 2 boat testing or a multi boat weather program).

This was a very cool part of the Stars & Stripes weather program where we had up to a dozen instrumented boats connected to Expedition - both race boats, all the weather boats and the support vessels as well as several weather buoys and land stations.

Boat real size

Draws boat 0 to scale on the chart.

Compass

Draw a compass rose (in magnetic degrees corrected for the local variation) on the chart. You can drag the compass around the screen.

Heading, course and CoG

Draw heading, course and/or CoG predictor lines from the bow of the boat. The user enters how long the line will be by entering a time value in minutes. For example, if you enter 5 minutes , the predictor line will show you where you will be in 5 minutes if you keep the present course and speed). This is very helpful for coastal navigation and when monitoring how long you have to go before a manoeuvre/course change. See the help on centre chart ahead of boat .

Radar overlay

Draws radar echoes on the chart.

Range circle

Draws a range circle around the boat. Note that you can also draw range circles around marks . The size of this is controlled by Range circle radius (see below).

Estimated horizontal position error

Draws a series of shaded rings around the boat given information from the GPS. Each ring is approximately one standard deviation.

For example, this means any given GPS fix has about a 95% chance of being within the first two rings.

This feature is intended purely as a visual aid to monitor GPS performance and in no way reduces or replaces the requirement to use official printed charts or prudent use thereof. See the Expedition licence and also the disclaimer when starting Exp.

AIS and DSC targets

Targets

Draws AIS and DSC targets on the screen.

Target names

Displays the name of each AIS target next to its symbol if AIS targets is also selected.

Target Call Sign

Displays the radio call sign of each AIS target next to its symbol if AIS targets is also selected. Note this also applies to both boat descriptors for boats > 0.

Target CoG & SoG

Adds CoG and SoG text to each AIS target next to its symbol if AIS targets is also selected.

Target predictor lines

Draws a predictor line from each target, based on it's Sog, Cog and the specified period.

Target trails

Trails.

Status-bar

Controls the parameters listed on the Status bar .

Other

PredictWind areas

Draws PredictWind forecast areas on the chart.

Tidetech areas

Track settings

Track colouring

Alternating number settings

Expedition has ten channels that can be set to alternately display different channels. These numbers can be displayed on the screen or output to the instrument system.

Selecting alternating numbers

For each alternating number, select desired numbers for each situation. Set any cell to blank if that option is not desired. If redundant options are selected, the precedence when selecting the channel is:

1.

Pre-start

Channel to use before the gun.

2.

Timer 1

3.

Timer 2

These two numbers alternate on the display at the period as entered in the Alternating

period (s) box.

4.

Reaching

5.

Upwind

6.

Downwind

The alternating number will be one of the numbers selected in these columns depending on the true wind angle.

Twa from targets to display reaching number determines how far from the target angle to display the up-wind, down-wind or the reaching number.

7.

Port

Channel to use when on port.

8.

7.

8.

Starboard

Channel to use when on starboard.

Alternating numbers can be nested. In the example below, time to gun is displayed in the prestart. Then the display shows target bsp when upwind, polar bsp% when reaching and alternates between target bsp and target twa when downwind.

Alternating period(s)

This determines the period at which the numbers alternate at. Please note that some instrument systems (e.g. B&G 20/20 displays) will have problems and may lock-up if the alternating period is too short (e.g. less than 2-3 sec).

Twa from targets to display reaching number

This determines when to switch from display the up-wind, down-wind or reaching number.

For example, if the target wind angle is 40 and, then with 10 degrees entered, Exp will display the upwind selection from zero to 50 degrees, then the reaching number at greater angles.

User settings

Use this page to control many functions in the system. Before using Expedition, you will want to look through this page and make sure the settings are to your liking. The User settings page also includes control over the logging of data.

Log data

Expedition can save instrument data to log files. To log boat data, check boat 0 in the list to enable logging.

Normally your boat is boat 0.

Other boats or data sources can also be logged.

The frequency at which data is logged can also be changed. The default is to log data at 1hz (once per second). For example:

10Hz is ten times per second,

5Hz is 5 times per second,

0.5hz is once every two seconds,

0.1Hz is once every ten seconds.

For buoy racing, keep the logging frequency low, such as 1hz. For offshore racing, you may want to decrease the frequency (i.e. 0.5hz - 2 seconds between samples) so the log files don't get too large.

If you want to log data, make sure you confirm that the logging check box for your boat is selected. The No Log warning will appear in the status bar if you are not

logging boat 0.

Expedition only logs select functions that are of use in instrument tuning, navigation and performance analysis. Take a look at a log file to see what functions are logged.

Log files may also be imported directly into Excel.

Where does the logged data go?

Data that is logged is saved in a folder (usually named Log0) located in the Expedition app data folder. This folder can be easily accessed by clicking on the Exp data folder item on the Application button.

The data is saved in a simple comma delimited text file that is easily opened by many programs, including spread sheet programs like Microsoft Excel. The time stamp is either in UTC or local time, depending on what you have chosen (in the Display settings

local time check box), but the second number logged is a Microsoft DATE type and is always in UTC for consistency.

All data for a particular day is saved in a file that is named for the date it is logged. For consistency and for ocean racing, the date is calculated in UTC, so if you are logging data on a boat on the west coast of the USA when the local time clicks past 1700 Pacific

Daylight time (0000 in UTC time) a new log file will be created and begin to be populated. If you close Expedition and re-launch it on the same day, the logged data will continue to be written to that day's log file.

Error logging

Used to log system errors. Very incomplete and is mostly being added to as Nick wants to look at things.

User defined log folder

In rare cases, it may be desirable to save log files in a location different to the Expedition data folder.

Auto-start

Select Stripchart, LogPlayer, Dfw2Exp etc to start these applications when Expedition starts.

Tablet

Display pop-up keyboard when click in an edit control. Use this mode with tablets.

Auto leg selection

Automatically advances the active mark to the next mark of the course when you round a mark.

Auto-pan

Enables auto-panning of the chart when ragging a mark, creating a race note area or a quick route etc.

User database

Much Expedition data is saved in a database - tests, sails, race position reports, events &tc.

The database file can be copied to other computers or backed up.

By default, this file is called Expedition.mdb. The default name is sufficient for most purposes. However, if you sail on different boats if may be more convenient and safer to have a database file with a name unique to each boat. Any Expedition database (*.mdb) can also be selected just by dragging it onto the user settings page.

Compact database

This compacts the database file (*.mdb) currently being used.

Archive

Controls Expedition's archive behaviour. The archive function can be disabled and the number of days to keep archived files altered to suit individual user requirements.

Several critical files are archived from Expedition's data folder (see below) by default whenever Expedition is started. The files archived are: marks.dat, the database in use' the Polars folder and files' the Config folder and files' the States folder and files' the Stripchart folder and files' the Instruments folder and files.

These files are archived to a daily folder in the Archive folder in the Expedition folder.

NOTE: It is recommended that these archive folder is saved regularly in a secure location (e.g.

a CD or USB memory stick).

Channels settings

User channels

Allows Expedition's user channels to be renamed. Note that in some situations (with Racing

Bravo for example), this happens automatically.

Precision is the number of digits displayed after the decimal point.

Damping

Sets damping for each Expedition var in seconds.

This is similar to the damping in most instrument systems. Entering a non-zero number

(seconds) next to a particular variable (channel) dampens that variable.

Some instrument systems will output damped data to Expedition and others will output raw data. Obviously, if the instrument system is sending damped data, it may be undesirable to further dampen numbers in Expedition.

Targets, Polars, Layline and start line calculations use the damped values of Twd and Tws.

For twd and tws, good starting damping values are 3-5 seconds for high end instrument systems and say 6-10s for simpler instrument systems.

Normally only dampen Twd and Tws need to be damped - all other functions are left at 0 seconds damping.

Both raw and damped values in number bars in the main chart window. The damped values will be underlined

.

Tides settings

Using the Tides tab you are able to study tidal information for various areas and select it for display on the main chart window.

Disclaimer

The tides tools were developed to allow the addition of tidal stream information for the purposes of yacht racing. The ability to predict heights is just a bonus. As for the charting functionality in this system, do not rely on the heights computed by this software for anything that could in any way endanger you, your vessel, anyone else or anything else. Always use official tide height data and your own good judgment and seamanship when piloting shoal waters. See the licence document.

Displaying tide data for individual tide stations

Individual tidal stations can be accessed by right-clicking on the 'T' tide icon on the chart.

If a C-Map tide station, select 'Query C-Map object' from the pop-up menu.

If an Expedition tide station (mostly the US), select 'Tides' from the pop-up menu.

The full list of Expedition tide stations loaded can be accessed by clicking on the Tide stations button on the weather panel.

Display

Tidal stations

Displays primary tidal stations and their information on the chart. These locations are listed in Tides on the tree in the window to the right.

When selected, these a pop-up tool-tip will display their name when the cursor is moved

over the icon. Right-clicking on the icon will display tidal height information.

Secondary tidal stations

Displays similar tidal height information for even more locations (from the Secondary

tides list).

Tidal streams

Displays tidal current stream information on the chart.

Tips:

Make sure the maximum displayed current speed is set to a reasonable number on the weather settings tab. This is venue dependant, but usually a setting of about 2 knots will suffice.

Selecting the

Weather tooltip

will display the tidal set and drift as the cursor is moved over an area with tidal stream data.

The time displayed in the upper left of the main chart window is the time the tidal streams are drawn at. See the help on weather to review Expedition's time controls.

Tidal stream labels

Draws the predicted drift as text label beside each current arrow.

Tidal stream offset

Allows the tidal streams predictions to be shifted in time if they are early.

For example, if you expect the tide to change 30 minutes before the models expect it to, enter -30.

So that changing this value is a conscious decision each time you run Expedition, this value is not saved on exiting. So, it you restart Expedition, it will be reset to zero.

Tide sources to use

Select or deselect tide sources to use and display in Expedition. Expedition also runs faster when unnecessary tides sources are not selected.

For example, when in the following locations:

Europe

Select Europe, if Winning Tides (Solent) is licensed, select this also, if either of the SHOM areas are, select these also,

In New Zealand

Select New Zealand.

USA

Select US West Coast currents and/or heights or US East coast and/or heights depending on location,

Or select the US Model area valid for your area. These are relatively low resolution models, but may be sufficient in many cases.

US Models

Most of the basic model areas are derived from observed data. Exceptions are the SHOM data and much of the NZ dataset.

Expedition also includes a range of model datasets for the north-west Atlantic and northeast Pacific. Because of size, these are limited in extent, but we can add areas as they are requested.

Winning tidal currents

Expedition supports the Winning Tides tidal stream database for the Solent area. To use this dataset, it needs to be licensed (see Licences on the Application button). Contact

Winning Tides for further information.

SHOM tidal currents

Expedition supports the SHOM tidal stream database for French coastal areas. To use these datasets, they need to be licensed.

Important note on model data

The tidal currents from model predictions (the US models, NZ and SHOM models) are just that - models. They may not show features in complicated situations or features of an inherently unpredictable nature.

For example, the San Francisco model doesn't show the tide changing first inshore along the city front. This is because the effect is mostly smaller than the resolution of the model. When racing there, we are interested in every extra of metre we can get out or into the tide. The SFPorts site is still the best source for current maps in San Francisco.

The model does however give a good picture of the general flow and when changes happen.

Xtides

Expedition can also use the GNU Xtide software distribution global tidal station database available at http://www.flaterco.com/xtide/index.html

.

Download the harmonics.txt file (it may be zipped) and select it using the Xtide button. Be aware that the file contains a large number stations and physically reading it may slow

Expedition, so you may just want to copy the stations you are interested into your own file.

This option is provided merely for user convenience. While Expedition uses a significantly different technique of computing tides to Xtide, the results should be very similar.

Optimal routing settings

Available from the Optimal panel.

Notes

You can also save the details (course, wind, heading, finish time) of a particular optimal route by using the View results button on the optimal panel after running an optimal route. You can then save this information in a simple text file by clicking the Export button. Before a big race, you might want to run a daily optimal route calculation and email the graphic image of that route (see: To print out the chart window screen) and the text file of the Optimal course table to your crew.

Occasionally, the wind angles the routing software calculates and displays in its optimal course will be above your upwind target angles or below your downwind target angles.

Effectively this means that the system has included at least one tack or gybe in that segment of time.

When you have an intermediate turning mark in your course, there are times that the best or fastest routing solution is for the boat to pass the buoy at some distance not close aboard.

Expedition's router has the power to allow for this situation if you configure all the marks in your active route correctly. They can be configured to be left to port, starboard or force the optimal route to go to the mark. Expedition's router will accurately follow the instructions for each waypoint/mark. This feature can also be used to avoid optimal routing scenarios that route over land by placing some interim waypoints in your course.

The race notes feature in Exp can also be used to avoid areas.

Settings

Start time

The time and date to start the routing from. The Now button sets the time to now (this is very useful during a race). The time will either be local or utc depending on how you've

configured Expedition using the local time check box on the display settings page.

Optimal routing resolution

Choose the resolution of the grid to use in the optimal routing calculations. The smaller the grid, the longer the calculation will take, but will more accurate (depending on the resolution of the GRIB files and the length of your route).

By selecting Auto resolution, Expedition will automatically choose a suitable grid resolution.

1.

If you choose too small a grid resolution, the course optimisation will be very slow. You can quit the optimisation by clicking on the Cancel button.

2.

Expedition does a new routing calculation at each grid point and then assumes the boat goes straight until the next grid point. Try a bigger number here first and see how long the calculation takes. If the calculation is really fast, you can make this number smaller until the calculation time gets too long or the resultant optimal route is not getting any better. For a 100 mile race, you might start at a

10 mile grid. For a 2000 mile race, you might start at a 60 mile grid.

3.

This is one part of Exp where a fast computer is desirable.

Number of previous course optimisations to keep

Expedition can remember your previous course optimisations to be displayed on the screen or in the optimal course tables . This sets a limit on how many to keep in memory

- for example, you may wish to only keep the previous one or two.

Shade time sensitivity

Shades an area where the routing is within the specified number of minutes of the optimal path.

Avoid significant waves over <x> feet

Forces the routing to avoid areas with significant wave heights over the set value.

Configuration options

Optimize from current position/time

Route from your current position and time. This is a very useful feature if you are continually updating the optimal routing solution during a race. Normally you will have this selected during a race.

Use instrument wind

This lets you start the optimal routing calculation using your damped instrument wind instead of the wind from the Grib file. The utility of this feature is still under review and

I don't tend to use it much. The default is to leave this check box empty.

Extend wind field in time

If your wind Grib file only covers the next 3 days, but it will take 3 days to get to your destination and you leave this box empty, the optimal routing calculation cannot complete. The best solution is to get a GRIB file that covers the final day, but that is not always possible. When you can't get the full time scale GRIB then you can force

Expedition to return an optimal route solution by checking this box. The program then assumes the last wind field in the GRIB continues on forever into the future with no change.

If the router can only complete part of the route before the weather GRIB comes to an end, the resultant Optimum route on the screen will converge back to the great circle course from the moment the GRIB ends.

Extend current field in time

This check box is even more useful as ocean current GRIB files are often only valid for a single time step and it is a reasonable assumption to consider that the flow pattern will remain fairly static over a few days.

Save results in mark database

Outputs the computed optimal path to the mark database.

This feature is rarely used, but it can be very helpful for archiving optimal routes for comparing the results using different GRIB files or polars.

Use grib land mask if available

Some grib files (e.g. fnl) include a land/sea mask that can be used to route around land. There is also a coarse land/sea mask distributed with Exp.

However, when routing very close to land, this can cause problems, in which case, this feature may need to be disabled.

Optimise first leg only

If a multiple leg course, only optimise the first leg of the course or the leg to the active mark. Often this is all you are interested in and it can speed the calculation.

Optimise along Great circle

Sails the boat along the great circle path instead of doing any optimisation. This feature, especially useful when doing weather studies of an upcoming race, can also be useful to study the wind angles and time it would take if you sailed directly on the great circle route.

Use tidal streams

With this feature selected, the tidal streams from the tides.dat database (see tide settings ) will be used in the route optimisation. This will override any current GRIB files so be very careful when selecting this feature.

1.

The use of tidal streams slows course optimisation, so if you are using a custom grib file for currents, routing away from any tidal stream data or across ocean an ocean, it may pay to turn this off.

2.

Tidal stream data is used in preference to grib current data where both are present. So for example in a Newport to Bermuda race, Expedition will use tidal stream predictions to start with then start using your grib data containing Gulf

Stream information when you get away from land.

3.

You need to select the tidal stream source to use on the tide settings page -

NOAA in the US, Exp diamonds in most other places or Winning Tides in the

Solent.

Auto-resolution

Instructs Expedition to automatically determine the resolution to use (see above).

Avoid C-Map land

NOT RECOMMENDED.

Uses the C-Map chart to avoid land. This option should be disabled unless necessary as it is slow and unreliable.

If the route starts on land with this enabled (e.g.. from a dock that C-Map thinks is land), then Exp may not be able to route.

Using race notes is more efficient and is generally recommended.

This feature significantly slows course optimisation, so unless you are routing near land it is recommended not to use it.

Avoid C-Map land is more efficient if the C-Map chart displayed covers the course to be optimised.

Avoid C-Map land may have unpredictable results, especially when used with

Bsb charts.

Fast routing

Uses a lower resolution when using Auto-resolution.

Correct polar for waves if available

Uses the waves correction tables and grib data if available to modify the optimal route for wave effects. This uses the significant wave height and the swell wave direction. If the swell wave direction is not available, it will use the wind wave direction.

Wave heights are in metres.

Display options

Isochrones

Isochrones are curves that indicate where a boat could sail to in a certain amount of time.

Isochrones are calculated when Expedition calculates an optimal route and are displayed on the main chart window if this box is selected. This is a useful tool to leave enabled.

Depending on the length of the route, you will vary the time step for the drawn isochrones. For a 2000 mile race every 12 or 24 hours will usually suffice. For a 100 mile race, you might want them drawn every 2 hours or so.

Optimal Path

Draws the optimal path calculated. You pretty much always want this feature enabled.

Winds on optimal course

Draws expected wind barbs along the route. This is quite helpful in pre race planning when showing other crew members roughly what wind speeds and angles to expect but it adds to the screen clutter if you are also displaying a GRIB file's wind barbs.

All optimal paths

Draws all optimal paths - previous runs, fleet optimal routes etc.

Reverse Isochrones

When selected, reverse isochrones are also drawn. This is a very useful tool for studying the sensitivity of a calculated optimal route. Reverse Isochrones use fancy math to work the optimal route backwards through the GRIB fields from finish to start. When displayed concurrently with forward isochrones you can more easily see the moments in a race when a particular side of the course or route is especially good or bad.

Reverse isochrones are lines of points equidistant in time from the finish whereas isochrones are lines of points equidistant in time from the start. So, if another boat is on the same reverse isochrone as you, they should finish at the same time. Thus, the reverse isochrones can be used as a way of seeing who is ahead.

However, their main use is in analysing the optimal route. The problem with the computer, is that (for example) when going upwind, it will reward a half degree right shift with an optimal course that goes all the way to the right hand side of the, when in fact it doesn't really matter where you go (and a prudent tactician might be more inclined to play the shifts going up the middle of the course).

Paths

To get an idea of how critical the optimal course is, have a look at how parallel the forward and reverse isochrones are. You will see that there is a reverse isochrone that animates as well. (When you step forward along the optimal path using the forward or

reverse buttons on the weather pane, the forward and reverse isochrones for the display time will be highlighted). If they are close together and parallel over a large distance along their length, then the optimal course isn't very critical, but if they are only close together over a small distance (i.e. have convex or nose shapes pointing at each other), then the optimal course is much more critical. In this instance a prudent navigator would need to have good reason to deviate much from this critical point. Another example is where the forward and reverse isochrones come close together in two different places, but in one you are 10 seconds ahead. The computer is going to suggest a track through the area that puts you 10 seconds ahead, whereas both routes are probably relevant. And you might have good reason to want to take the 10 second slower option if the slightly faster one passes closer to a high pressure ridge with big swells.

Draws all the possible paths (not just the fastest one) successful paths obtained whilst computing the optimal path. Usually you leave this button unchecked, but it is sometimes helpful for studying routes or to help understand options for other boats around you.

Can be useful to analyse problems when using the 'avoid c-map land' option.

Shade time sensitivity

Shade time sensitivity for previous courses

These shade areas where the routing is within the specified number of minutes of the optimal path.

Other programs

Exp DLL

LogPlayer

Stripchart

System Restore

Dfw2Exp

Nke2Exp

BR24toExp

Stripchart

Stripchart is a very powerful and easy to use program that graphs numbers, follows trends, computes averages and saves tests and events (notes). It is especially valuable for quickly and efficiently reviewing data from a race and calibrating instruments.

Using Stripchart

Stripchart can be started from Expedition's application button or Windows' Start menu.

Stripchart can also be automatically started with Expedition.

Note that advanced channels will not be graphed unless you have that option selected.

Stripchart can use a lot of memory after a day or two of continual use. De-selecting 'advanced channels' can reduce this use.

Display period and time

Use the Time menu or toolbar buttons to change the time scale displayed.

The Time drag mode

, Back in time

and Forward in time toolbar buttons are used to navigate in time.

The Draw in real time mode always shows the most recent data.

Display frequency

Select the display frequency from the Frequency menu. The display frequency is always

displayed on the status bar.

The default update frequency is 1Hz. Lower frequencies use less memory as Stripchart has to store less data. Cruising boats may be content with 0.5Hz (one sample every two seconds), while in short course races 2Hz or even 5Hz may be useful. Obviously collecting data at 5Hz uses 5 times the memory as sampling at 1Hz.

Setting configurations

Set the number of channels to graph from the View menu.

The Stripchart panes can be dragged to rearrange their order.

Right clicking on a channel's horizontal pane displays a pop-up menu

Delete

Enables any individual strip-chart to be removed.

Edit

Allows all attributes for that strip-chart top be edited.

Move up

Shuffles a strip-chart up.

Move down

Shuffles a strip-chart down.

Set event

Sets an event, see below.

Notes

Take some time to experiment with these settings to get comfortable with what things like Shift Max (setting the maximum amount the top and bottom value of the graph will jump) and roll (keep the min and max span the same and simply roll the top and bottom

values up and down to keep the new data on the screen) do when you change them.

Remember, unless you are configured in a multi boat program, your data is for Boat 0.

Saving and loading configurations

StripChart configurations can be saved as files (use the File menu or the toolbar buttons), so it is easy to change plots simply by loading pre-saved configurations. These files can be copied to other computers. The most recently used configurations are available from the File menu and the Recently used file list on the toolbar.

StripChart configuration files can also be opened by being dragged onto the Stripchart display.

Post race analysis

You can also load log files from the File menu for analysis later. This is especially useful to analyze data and save tests after a race or testing session. It can also be very helpful in instrument calibration.

Expedition log files can also be opened by being dragged onto the Stripchart display.

Averaging the data & setting wands

Use the left mouse button to set wands (up to 4 red vertical lines) and thereby select the start and finish of up to two discrete time sections. Once you set these wands across a particular time span, Stripchart will display the average of the data for that time span in the wanded section of each pane. At the top of the screen, just below the toolbar, Stripchart will display the time of the left hand (oldest) wand and also the duration of the time span that is wanded .

Use the Show 4 wands item from the View menu to select two or four wand display modes.

You can also use the S et wand now toolbar button to lay a wand at the current time. You can insert a permanent marker at a particular point in time with the Set flag toolbar button

. This is a very useful feature for temporarily flagging events such as a sail change.

Averages for the display Stripchart data can be turned on or off using the Show means item on

the View menu.

Use the delta toolbar button to display differences between two wanded regions. This can be useful for calibration.

This process of setting wands is very valuable and powerful for instrument calibration and studying data. For example, you can quickly and accurately determine average rudder angles or wind angles for each tack this way.

Saving tests

Once you have set the wands at desired points in time, you can save the averages of the time span in Expedition's test database. Simply use the Save test to database button (or Save

test item from the Test menu) to save the averages within the wanded time span as a discrete test. A window will open where you can enter other details of the test such as sails set or sea state as well as comments before finally saving.

1.

Items such as sails available in the test database can be added to the test (see polar settings).

2.

A typical time span for a test would be in the 2 to 5 minute range.

Once a test has been saved, that section of time will be shaded grey it so you know not to save another test during that time span.

These saved tests are then available for viewing and analysis in the (see polar settings) section of the Expedition program. The tests will also appear as data points in the polar edit diagram.

Saving events

Use the Event item on the Test menu to set an event at the current time. Events can be useful to record sail changes or items of interest. Events can also be set using the set event button in

Expedition.

Events can also be set at point in time on the Stripchart using Set event from the right click pop-up menu.

LogPlayer

From the Expedition menu folder on Windows' Start menu.

LogPlayer lets you replay a log file. You can play back at real-time speed, in faster mode, restart or drag the slider to a position in the file.

System restore

System restore is a small application found in the Expedition folder in the Windows' Start menu that allows the user to clear all settings they have customised for Expedition.

It can be also be used to delete the marks & courses database as well as the chart database (of course, this can also be accomplished by manually deleting the marks.dat and charts1.dat files found in the Expedition folder). It can also be used to delete the licence keys from the computer.

Note: It is always a good idea to back-up marks.dat from time to time.

Exp DLL

The ExpDLL.dll file is supplied to allow third party software to query Expedition data as well as to send data to Expedition. It is supplied with a header file that may be used to link to the DLL.

As an aid to developers, the location of the Expedition program files folder is saved in the registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Expedition\Core\Location

Note that any directions returned will be in degrees magnetic.

The relevant lines in the header file are: extern "C" __declspec( dllimport ) void __stdcall SetExpVar(short id, double value, short iBoat); extern "C" __declspec( dllimport ) void __stdcall GetExpVar(short id, double* pValue, short iBoat);

// set boat name, limited to 32 characters extern "C" __declspec( dllimport ) void __stdcall SetBoatName(short iBoat, char* pName);

// set wx boat name data extern "C" __declspec( dllimport ) void __stdcall SetWxBoat(short iBoat, DATE utc, double lat, double lon, float twd, float tws); id

Identifier of the parameter to pass. Common id values include:

22

30

48

49

50

51

19

20

21

15

16

17

18

12

13

14

5

6

10

11

3

4

1

2

Bsp

Awa

Aws

Twa

Tws

Twd

Leeway

Set

Drift

Heading

Air temperature

Sea temperature

Pressure

Depth (m)

Heel

Trim

Rudder

Tab

Forestay load

Voltage

Latitude

Longitude

CoG

SoG value iBoat

The value to pass to Expedition.

The boat id. In most cases, this will be 0, but can be any value from 0 to 31 inclusive.

For GetExpVar, SetExpVar and SetBoatName, the allowable values are 0 to 7 inclusive. For

SetWxBoat, the allowable range is 0 to 63 inclusive.

pName

The maximum size allowed for the boat name is 32 characters. Any more characters than this will be discarded.

Dfw2Exp

Dfw2Exp is a utility that lets Expedition exchange data with Deckman for Windows.

Sending data

Any Expedition data can be sent to a WTP remote channel / function number using the control on the right hand side of Dfw2Exp. Simply click in the cell immediately to the right of the desired Expedition channel you wish to send data from and select the Remote channel from the pop-up list

The channels need to be defined in the \data\690menu.d file on the WTP.

Receiving data

Dfw2Exp allows data defined in Dfw's j_varsxx.d file to be passed to Expedition. The default mappings are listed below. Any other Dfw channel defined in j_varsxx.d can be mapped to any Expedition User channel using the control on the left hand side of Dfw2Exp. Simply click in the cell immediately to the right of the desired Dfw channel and select the Expedition user channel from the pop-up list.

Select 'Use Position Fix' to use boat position, CoG and SoG from Dfw. If you have a separate

GPS input, deselect this.

Note that data filed by Dfw2Exp isn't affected by Expedition calibration functions.

The channels from j_varsxx.d that Expedition will automatically use are:

Heel

Boat speed

AW_angle

AW_speed

Forestay

Seatemp

Airtemp

Trim_Tab

S_APortDn

Mapped to User0

S_APortUp

Mapped to User1

S_AStbdDn

Mapped to User2

S_AStbdUp

Mapped to User3

Leeway

Heading

TW_Dirn

TW_angle

TW_speed

Ext_SOG

Ext_COG

MCur_Rate

MCur_Dir

Depth (it is preferred Dfw outputs depth in metres. If not, units in Exp may be unreliable)

Rudder

Trim

Keel

The following are mapped to boat 1:

O_Heel

O_Boatspd

O_TW_Dirn

O_TW_angle

O_TW_speed

O_AWA

O_AWS

OBRng

OBBrg

OBGMW

VolvoSatC

VolvoSatC is a utility that monitors a selected folder for new position reports.

It was initially designed to detect position reports received by an Inmarsat C terminal in the Volvo

Ocean race, hence the name. It now also detects MaxSea position report files.

If a position report file is detected, VolvoSatC will tell Expedition to import it.

VolvoSatC can be started from Expedition's application button or Windows' Start menu. VolvoSatC can also be automatically started with Expedition.

When VolvoSatC is minimised, it is minimised to Windows' system tray.

Technical notes / help

This is where we put technical notes to resolve common problems as we experience or resolve them.

1.

LogPlayer won't open today's log file

2.

Mouse behaving unpredictably

3.

By Belkin USB to serial port adaptor doesn't work

4.

No Start numbers

LogPlayer won't open today's log file

The log file currently being written to (today's log file) cannot be read by LogPlayer unless logging is turned off as Expedition would then be logging data from earlier in the log file.

The solution is to temporarily disable logging .

Nmea input detected as mouse input by windows

Occasionally, Microsoft Windows will detect instrument input into a serial port as a mouse. This can lead to the cursor jumping unpredictably around the screen. This is most common with Nmea input and USB-Serial port adaptors.

If you turn the instruments or GPS off, it will stop.

Solution

One option is to start the computer before turning the instruments or GPS on.

Microsoft has posted a fix for this at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?

scid=kb;[LN];Q131976 as Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q131976. For your convenience, this material is posted below. Tasman Bay Navigation Systems makes every effort to keep this up to date, but be aware Microsoft may update its web information.

Note that to regain control of your computer you need to disconnect or turn off the instruments or GPS causing the problem.

My personal quick solution

When the problem next occurs (it may not happen every time), I try and disable the mouse. If it is deleted, Windows may still detect it at some future time.

1.

Disconnect or turn off the Nmea GPS or instruments causing the problem. You need to do this to regain control of your computer.

2.

Open Windows' Device Manager by clicking on the Device Manager button on the

Hardware page of System Properties. You can access System Properties by right-clicking on My Computer on the desktop and selecting Properties or from System from the Control

Panel.

3.

Expand the Mice and other pointing devices section. Then disable the mouse Windows thinks your GPS is. It will probably be called Serial Ballpoint Mouse or just Ballpoint

mouse.

4.

Right click on the offending mouse entry and select Properties from the pop-up menu. On the page that appears, select the Do not use this device (disable) option from the Device

Usage list.

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q131976

SUMMARY

This article explains how to modify the Boot.ini file to disable the detection of devices on COM ports.

When you start Windows NT, NTDETECT searches for the pointing device (usually a mouse). In the course of this process, data is sent to the serial (COM) ports. If a serial mouse is detected,

Windows NT disables the port so a device driver for the mouse can load instead. If a device is not detected, Windows NT disables the port. A disabled COM port does not display any information in

Control Panel Ports.

MORE INFORMATION

To disable the detection of devices on COM ports in Windows NT:

6.

7.

1.

Make a backup copy of the Boot.ini file.

2.

Remove the hidden, system, and read-only attributes from the Boot.ini file.

3.

Using a text editor (such as Notepad) open the Boot.ini file.

4.

Add the /NoSerialMice option to the end of each entry in the [operating systems] section of

Boot.ini. See the example below for more information.

5.

Save Boot.ini and quit Notepad.

5.

6.

Restore the hidden, system, and read-only attributes to the Boot.ini file.

7.

Shutdown and restart Windows NT.

The following is a sample of the Boot.ini file:

[boot loader] timeout=3 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT35

[operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT35="Windows NT Workstation

Version 3.51" /NoSerialMice multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT35="Windows NT Workstation

Version 3.51 [VGA mode]" /basevideo /sos /NoSerialMice

NoSerialMice Syntax

/NoSerialMice - Disables the detection of serial mice on all COM ports.

/NoSerialMice:COMx - Disables the detection of serial mice on

COM x, where x is the number of the port.

/NoSerialMice:COMx,y,z - Disables the detection of serial mice on

COM x, y and z.

NOTE: The /NoSerialMice option is not case sensitive.

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1

Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition

Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5

Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51

Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

My Belkin USB to serial adaptor doesn't work

Several Expedition users have reported difficulties using the Belkin USB to serial port adaptor.

We use Edgeport or Keyspan USB to serial adaptor, although we have a generic one from DSE NZ in the workshop that also works well.

Another option is a PCMCIA to Serial port adaptor - for example SocketCom .

Note that Expedition does not guarantee or promote any of these products - they are just solutions we have found to work.

No start numbers

Expedition requires a start polar and estimates of the boat's acceleration and rate of turn characteristics in order to calculate the various start numbers .

So, if you have a start line defined and the display settings set to draw the start line, make sure you have a start polar loaded and values set for acceleration and rate of turn (these can be linear values or tables in your calibration file).

Appendix A : Numbers / channels

Expedition has channels/numbers for each boat. Some channels are listed below.

Ahead of

Distance boat zero is ahead of boat n vmg-wise.

Air temperature

The air temperature.

Alternating 0 - 9

See alternating numbers above.

Awa

Apparent wind angle. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Aws

Apparent wind direction. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Barometer

Atmospheric pressure.

Bearing from boat 0

The bearing of boat n from boat 0.

Bsp

Boat speed. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Canard Height

Height of forward canard rudder (retracting).

Cog

Course over the ground - effectively heading + leeway + tide.

Course

Heading + leeway.

Cross track error

Current drift

Current drift speed in knots. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Current drift predicted

Current drift speed in knots as predicted by diamonds, NOAA tides, Grib data, Winning tides or Local Knowledge tides.

Current set

Current set direction. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Current set predicted

Current set as predicted by diamonds, NOAA tides, Grib data, Winning tides or Local

Knowledge tides.

Date

The current date & time and is stored internally in UTC.

Delta target bsp

The difference between the current boat speed and the target boat speed at the current true wind speed.

Delta target twa

The difference between the current true wind angle (see Twa) and the target wind angle at the

current true wind speed.

Depth

Depth. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Diff station

Differential reference station ID.

Distance to finish

Distance to current mark and on to last mark in the active course.

Downhaul load

Load on the downhaul. Mapped on an instrument page from a linear channel in B&G &tc.

Error code

Forestay load

Load on the forestay. Mapped on an instrument page from a linear channel in B&G &tc.

Forestay length

Length of the forestay.

GPS age

Age of differential GPS data, time in seconds since last SC104 type 1 or 9 update, null field when DGPS is not used

GPS antenna height

Antenna altitude above geoid.

GPS geo height

Geoidal separation is the difference between the WGS-84 earth ellipsoid and mean sea level

(geoid). Negative if mean sea level below ellipsoid.

GPS number

Number of satellites in view.

GPS position fix

1 not available, 2 = 2D, 3 = 3D.

GPS quality

0 fix not available.

1 GPS fix.

2 Differential fix.

GWD

Ground wind direction. Wind direction over the surface of the earth. Twd is wind direction with respect to the surface of the water without regard to current set/drift.

GWS

Ground wind speed. Wind speed over the surface of the earth. Tws is wind speed with respect to the surface of the water with regard to current set/drift.

Instrument Bsp, Twa & Tws

Raw values received from the instruments.

HDOP

Horizontal dilution of precision in metres.

Heading

Compass heading. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Heel

Boat heel.

Keel Angle

Keel angle (for canting keels).

Keel Height

Keel height (for retracting keels).

Oil Pressure

Oil pressure.

RPM1

RPM2

Engine rpm.

Latitude

Layline bearing

Bearing to the mark of the layline boat n is heading towards.

Layline distance on port

Distance to the starboard layline.

Layline distance on starboard

Distance to the port layline.

Layline distance

Distance to the layline boat n is heading towards.

Layline port bearing

Bearing to the mark along the port layline.

Layline starboard bearing

Bearing to the mark along the starboard layline.

Layline time

Time to the layline boat n is heading towards at the target speed and angle.

Layline time on port

Time to the starboard layline at the target speed and angle.

Layline time on starboard

Time to the port layline at the target speed and angle.

Lay tide port side port time

Lay tide port side stbd time

Lay tide stbd side port time

Lay tide stbd side stbd time

Lay tide port side time

Lay tide stbd side time

As above, but with predicted tidal stream at the mark.

Leeway

If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Log Bsp

Log of distance based on Bsp

Log Sog

Log of distance based on Sog

Longitude

Magnetic variation

The variation between true north and magnetic north at boat n's current position.

Mark bearing

Bearing to the current mark.

Mark current drift

Mark current set

Predicted current at mark at estimated time of rounding, based on Mark polar time.

Mark polar time.

Time to the current mark based on the current wind direction and speed as well as the polar.

Mark range

Distance to the current mark.

Mark time

Time to the current mark based on the current polars.

Mark GPS time

Time to the current mark based on the GPS CoG and Sog.

Mark twa

True wind angle if heading directly to the current mark given the current wind direction.

Mast angle

For rotating masts - the angle of the mast.

Mast butt

Mast butt position.

Next mark Awa

Expected apparent wind angle on the next leg.

Next mark Aws

Expected apparent wind speed on the next leg.

Next mark bearing

Bearing to the next mark from the current mark.

Next mark polar time

Expected time for the next leg based on the current wind and your polars.

Next mark range

Distance to the next mark from the current mark.

Next mark time on port

Time to the next mark spent on port based on the current wind direction and speed as well as the polar target angles and speeds.

Next mark time on starboard

Time to the next mark spent on starboard based on the current wind direction and speed as

well as the polar target angles and speeds.

Next mark twa

True wind angle if heading directly to the next mark from the current mark given the current wind direction.

Opposite track

What the Cog (heading + leeway + tide) would be on the opposite tack or gybe.

Optimum vmc

Given the current polar and wind, what the optimum Vmc would be to the current mark.

Optimum vmc heading

The heading to achieve optimum vmc to the current mark.

Optimum vmc twa

The wind angle that would be experience if sailing at the optimum vmc heading.

Pdop

Dilution of precision in metres.

Polar bsp

The polar boat speed at the current wind speed and angle.

Polar bsp%

The fraction of the current boat speed to the polar bsp, expressed as a percentage.

Polar heel

The polar heel angle at the current wind speed and angle.

Polar leeway

The polar leeway at the current wind speed and angle.

Polar vmc

The vmc to the mark at the current heading based on the polar and given the current true wind

angle and speed.

Polar vmc to mark

The vmc to the mark if headed directly towards the mark based on the polar and given the current true wind angle and speed.

Port gate lay dst on strb

Distance to the port layline to the port gate.

Port gate lay tm on strb

Time to the port layline to the port gate.

Port gate lay dst on pt

Distance to the starboard layline to the port gate.

Port gate lay tm on pt

Time to the starboard layline to the port gate.

Port jumper

Rake

Mast rake.

Range from boat 0

The range of boat n from boat 0.

Rudder

Rudder angle.

Sea temperature

Shadow

The bearing of the centre of boat n's wind shadow.

Shadow opposite gybe

The bearing of the centre of boat n's wind shadow if on the opposite gybe or tack.

Sog

Speed over the ground.

Starboard gate lay dst on strb

Distance to the port layline to the starboard gate.

Starboard gate lay tm on strb

Time to the port layline to the starboard gate.

Starboard gate lay dst on pt

Distance to the starboard layline to the starboard gate.

Starboard gate lay tm on pt

Time to the starboard layline to the starboard gate.

Starboard jumper

Start bias angle

Bias of the start line in degrees given the current wind direction. Negative means the port end is favoured, positive means the starboard end is favoured. In the number bars, a port end favoured line will have a 'P' next to the number as in the display above.

Start bias length

Distance bias of the start line given the current wind direction at the favoured end. Negative means the port end is favoured, positive means the starboard end is favoured. Note that if the default distance units for Expedition are in nautical miles, this value will always be in boat lengths.

Start distance below line

Distance below line. This will be negative if over the line. Note that if the default distance units for Expedition are in nautical miles, this value will always be in boat lengths.

Start distance to line

Shortest distance to the line. This will be negative if over the line. Note that if the default

distance units for Expedition are in nautical miles, this value will always be in boat lengths.

Start distance to line reach

Distance to the line at current heading based on the start polar. Note that if the default distance units for Expedition are in nautical miles, this value will always be in boat lengths.

Start line square wind

Wind direction at 90 degrees to the start line.

Start time to gun

Time to start gun.

Start time to line

Shortest time to the line at targets (includes tacking or gybing and acceleration) based on the start polar and acceleration settings. This will be negative if over the line.

Start GPS time to line reach

Time to the line at current heading based on SoG and CoG from the GPS.

Start time to line reach

Time to the line at current heading based on the start polar.

Start time to layline

Time for the bow to reach the start layline the boat is heading to, based on CoG and SoG.

Start time to port

Time to reach the port end of the line based on the start polar.

Start time to starboard

Time to reach the starboard end of the line based on the start polar.

Start time to burn

Difference between time-to-line and time-to-start.

Start turn strb to strb

Time to the line on starboard after a turn to starboard.

Start turn strb to port

Time to the line on port after a turn to starboard.

Start turn port to strb

Time to the line on starboard after a turn to port .

Start turn port to port

Time to the line on port after a turn to starboard.

Start gun distance below line

Distance below the line at the gun.

Start strb time to burn, parallel

Time to burn after sailing parallel to the start line and tacking onto the starboard layline to the starboard end of the line.

Start strb time to burn, X secs

Time to burn after tacking onto a point X seconds from the line on the starboard layline to the starboard end of the line.

Tab

Angle of the keel tab.

Target bsp

Target boat speed upwind or downwind based on the current performance polar.

Target bsp %

The fraction of the current boat speed to the target bsp, expressed as a percentage.

Target heel

Target heel upwind or downwind based on the current heel polar.

Target leeway

Target leeway upwind or downwind based on the leeway polar.

Target twa

Target true wind angle upwind or downwind based on the current performance polar.

Target vmg

Target vmg upwind or downwind based on the current performance polar.

Trim

Fore-aft trim.

Twa

True wind angle includes leeway. If your instrument system calculates Twa to the centerline of the boat, then Expedition will add the leeway value (if any) to that to generate Expedition's

Twa. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Twd

True wind direction. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Twd -90

True wind direction - 90 degrees.

Twd +90

True wind direction + 90 degrees.

Twd to lay mark

Twd to lay the mark - what the wind direction would have to shift to in order to lay mark.

Twd Period

Period of the dominant wind shift.

Tws

True wind speed. If selected under calibration , will be Expedition's internally calculated and calibrated value.

Tws Period

Period of the dominant tws cycle.

User0-19

Channels for custom use.

Note:

Dfw2Exp will use some of these and rename them.

Ockam calibration values are mapped to user channels 10 to 18. Ockam User tag data may also be stored in User 0 to User 8.

VDOP

Vertical dilution of precision in metres.

Vmc

Velocity made course - the component of sog towards the current mark.

Vmc%

The fraction of the current vmc to the optimum polar vmc, expressed as a percentage.

Vmg

Velocity made good - the component of bsp and leeway upwind or downwind.

Vmg%

The fraction of the vmg to the target vmg, expressed as a percentage.

Volts

System voltage.

Wind weight

In the Ockam sense - as a fraction.