<HTML><PRE><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica>Hi Bob,
You are precisely correct, my XYL would send a "Directed Query" of course
when the message was received, maybe after 3-4 tries the boat system would simply
acknowledge the receipt of the transmission and in just doing so the LAT, LON
data was passed in the return reply.
Your second point regards the low power drain of the Icom M800 on RX and TX
again is correct and it would normally be possible to allow 20 minute posit
transmissions without much drain on the battery. However I have a NAVICO
hydraulic autopilot system that is a power hog. I really do like it's performance but
I cannot get around the current drain. As a result I have to run the genset
for 30 minutes every 3 hours. It is truly remarkable the difference when you
have every square inch of sail up, trying to maintain speed versus a slow lazy
sail setting when you are simply cruising. My wife and I sail down to the Keys a
couple of times a year, and when we are not driving the boat hard we can get
6 hours out of a battery charge!
73
De Jim<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free email to
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