NemaTalker, a tester’s friend
My head hurts! I’ve got 11 ECS packages installed here now, and I’ve been fooling with them on two computers for the last several days. Would you be surprised to hear that Windows XP has occasionally crashed, sometimes violently, and not everything plays together nicely? Like when I start Nobeltec Admiral 8.1, MaxSea 12.2 also tries to start! I have the two computers connected with a null serial cable, meaning I can run NemaTalker (a great utility from SailSoft) on either one and an ECS running on the other thinks it hears, say, the virtual GPS above, which I control, plus a sounder, compass, etc.. In other words, I can ‘drive’ the boat on one screen, and plot the results on another. It’s geek fun for sure and a better way to test an ECS than with its built-in simulator/DR function. Unfortunately NemaTalker (full screen here) does not send AIS targets, and there aren’t many where I live, but one ECS provides its own test AIS in a very interesting way, explained tomorrow.
