NMEA Data Logging

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Visitors to this website may be interested in the following topics:
  • The NMEA Specification
  • A lecture given at Stanford University by the skipper of J/105 "Kookaburra". The lecture, entitled "Computer Technology in America's Cup Yacht Racing" is now archived on the web. Please click the link mentionned previously, and click on the video camera symbol next to February 19. Also click on the title to get an abstract. The section of the talk on two-boat tuning was motivated by the data logging and analysis described on this web site. Check out an abstract of the talk.

  • Most of the inboard electronic stations provide an NMEA output. As well, most of those stations need some calibration. A good example of such a calibration is the boat speed. As the transducer is generally not set in the center of the boat, the upwind speed read on the instruments is very often different from one tack to the other.
    To calibrate such a channel, the only way to proceed is to got through some data logging, analyze them, and then calculate or compute the value to enter in the station for an accurate reading of the requested data.
  • The idea behind all this is to have a solution that would allow the crew to start the logging, sail as usual, and stop the logging when back at the dock. The computer where the logging is done from should not require any special attention.
  • We provide here a simple way to achieve such an operation. The only things you will need are a PDA supporting the Palm OS, and a PC. We will do an extensive use of the Java Programming Language, and a Java Runtime Engine will have to be installed on the PC. This software is free and can be downloaded from the Sun web site, as we will see appropriatly.

All the softwares presented on this site have been elaborated and successfully tested on board the J105 Kookaburra, of the Fleet One in San Francisco.

This NMEA Suite is basically made out of three major components:

  • A Palm Application to record the data on board
  • A Palm Conduit to upload the data from the Palm to the PC
  • An application running on the PC, to transform the data uploaded previously into something usable, like a file compatible with an Excel spreadsheet for example.

We describe each component individually:

  1. The Palm Application
  2. The Palm Conduit
  3. The Transformation Utility

Disclamer

All the softwares described here can be downloaded and used as they are. They are free of charge, and free of maintenance!
Anyway, feedbacks, comments, questions, enhancement requests and other ideas will be most welcome. Just drop an email at the address below.

Please drop me an email whenever you download a component from this web site, and I will ping you if any of them is updated. Or even better, spend one minute to fill out the survey on the right... Survey - NMEA Data Logging
What kind of boat are you sailing?
Where?
What's his/her name?
What kind of electronic do you have on board?
Have you done some data logging already? Yes  No
If yes, with what kind of software?
If you want, tell me your name, more about your sailings, and add any comment or question you want below:
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