Visit Stentec at the Hiswa In-Water boat show

From September 4 to 9 you can visit Stentec Software in booth T226 at the Hiswa in-Water boat show in IJmuiden, the Netherlands. We will demonstrate and sell the following software:

• New WinGPS 4 Pro version with polar diagram for regatta sailing and AIS-XT for extra safety on board. More information below.
• WinGPS 4.1 Navigator with digital charts and GPS-mouse
• Complete PDA's in Otterbox with WinGPS 4.1 Mobile Navigator
• Digital charts CD's for all your races and voyages.
• Sail Simulator and Motorboat Simulator with spectacular KNRM rescue boat.
• AIS-receivers/transponders, GPS-mice and NMEA multiplexers

Also technical advice about GPS-navigation solutions on board. Installation is not possible on our booth. For support please contact our shop in Heeg or one of our local resellers. Hope to see you at the Hiswa te Water, the largest open water boat show in Europe!

Stentec's AIS-XT technology improves safety on board !
Op the Hiswa in-Water 2007 boat show Stentec demonstrates its new developed AIS-XT technology for WinGPS 4 Pro. Due to the fluent movement of AIS-ships on the screen of your board-PC, the traffic situation can be be analyzed instantly.

In stead of the average every 10 second position change, that shows the last position send out by AIS-ships, now AIS-XT shows the most likely position, speed and rate in a frame rate of up to 10 Hz. This 100 times faster update frequency is much easier to interpretate by the human brain. Compare standard AIS plotting with crossing a road while opening your eyes for half a second each 5 seconds: judging the traffic situation gives an unsafe feeling and needs rational planning.

The X in AIS-XT stands for our special developed eXtrapolation Technology. Specially for slow one channel AIS-receivers, mostly used by leisure sailors, the differed in AIS experience is stunning.

With a special time slider it is is even possible to eXtrapolate the traffic situation forward in time. This is very helpful to make a good decision when cross a shipping lane for example. The most likely future positions of the AIS-ships and also your own ship can be plotted on your screen, even if some tracks are curved, which is ideal for river traffic. Zooming-in now also shows all ships on scale. AIS-XT makes the interpretation of a complex traffic situation much easier

Polar diagram makes in WinGPS 4 Pro suitable for racing !
For the next WinGPS 4 Pro version we are developing a polar diagram option for active sailing and racing. A polar diagram shows the current en optimal boat speed at current wind speed and course relative to the wind. In front the speed characteristics of your ship need to be entered carefully. The navigation laptop on board can be used to optimize the boat speed. Minimal hardware requirements: Navigation PC, GPS-mouse and NMEA wind meter. For sailing on stream also a Compass and Log are recommended, both with NMEA output.

For creating a polar diagram data need to be recorded at a number of wind courses and wind speeds. Simply press the record button and start sailing at maximum speed and use the polar diagram to sail along one of the wind course angles (say half wind). Then try other angles, including beat and run. A special editor can be used afterwards to process the recorded track to create the polar diagram.

You can use the polar diagram to keep your boat on speed.
The figure on the right shows on the left side the current VMG (in wind speed) in percentages of the maximum value as defined by the polar diagram. On the right side the speed through water (STW) itself is shown, also compared to the polar diagram value. Blue is better then expected, end a red color indicated less speed or VMG then could be possible.