Version 1.8 of NemaStudio released

NemaStudio Version 1.8

Version 1.8 actually has already been available since mid September, but due to circumstances I have not been able to blog about it here.

I did send an email newsletter about the release though, and also published a news feed. Unfortunately the feed was pointing to version 1.6 instead of 1.8, the result of a copy/paste action of a previous feed. Lesson learned. Thank you Joel (Nobeltec) for pointing me to this embarrassing mistake! In the mean time the download links on the web site have also been adjusted to point to version 1.8.

Updates in Version 1.8

1. AIS Msg 14 (Class A, !AIBBM) reformatted according IEC61993-2 BBM message, ITU-R M.1371 message Id included now
2. AIS Msg 21 (AtoN, !AIBBM) reformatted according IEC61993-2 BBM message, ITU-R M.1371 message Id included now
3. GPS: ‘No Fix’ option added to GPS Fix Quality options
4. AIS Class A and Class B: New feature: a GPS object can be linked as navigation data server, making automatic sailing possible via @GPWPL file
5. GPS: now remembers waypoint input file ($GPWPL) at restart in Auto and Navigate mode
6. Unhandled serial port read timeout, corrected
7. Unhandled exception while interpreting data read, corrected
8. General Settings user interface redesigned
9. Number of decimal positions in Lat/Lon for $GPGLL, $GPRMC and $GPGGA can now be set between 2 and 5
10. GeneralSettings: Log file Browse button now works as expected

Linking of AIS Class A and Class B objects to GPS

An exciting new feature in this version of NemaStudio is the possibility to link a GPS object to a Class-A or Class-B AIS object (item 4 above).

Why would you link a GPS to an AIS target?

Because it brings consistency in the generated output. The GPS position will always agree with the position of the AIS target in question. This is particulary handy if you have set the "Own Ship" to generate VDO sentences to be input into any chartplotter together with GPS data.

And more: it enables another much asked feature, namely that you are able now  to automatically have your AIS targets follow a predefined route!

How does that work?

By using the "Auto" or "Navigate" execute option in the GPS object. Selecting one of these objects brings up a file selection window asking to select a text file. This text file will contain any number of waypoints the GPS object has to follow. The waypoints must be in the $GPWPL format.

The file(s) can of course be created and edited with the text editing functions built in NemaStudio. But it is a lot easier to use the free WaypointCreator. You create waypoints by just point-and-click, and save them as a $GPWPL file for import in NemaStudio.

WaypointCreator  is using Microsofts Virtual Earth maps and can be downloaded from the download section of the Sailsoft website or by directly clicking this link.