NaWiFi in Hajó Magazin, 2015. Part I.

Windwiser NaWiFi, more than a wind instrument: Unforeseeable horizonsPART IRegarding its installation, this is really easy. Drilling three holes and its done. Two for fixing the device and a thicker one for the cables. Well, this is already an exaggeration to talk about cables. In reality two single wires needed that should be connected to the power source. Make a parallel circuit coming from the wires that supply your top light and you are done. That simple.Installing it to the mast head, as in case of all broadcasting devices, is more complicated. Doing it at the beginning of the yachting season is highly advisable. You can avoid a mast take out or a climbing chair attraction in this way. Normally, the installation won’t take longer than 30 minutes.Inside of its housing sit a high precision wind speed and wind direction measurement unit and a wifi router. Four devices can be connected to NaWiFi at the same time regardless of their make and type (e.g. smart phone, tablet, notebook, etc) and their operating system (iOS, Android). They all should support WiFi though and host a gps chip. Mobile devices without a gps are not considered since this peripheria has to provide cruising speed and direction which are, lest wind speed and direction, are crucial when navigating. The good news is that our architecture does not require internet- nor gsm connection. No data traffic, no operating costs.We can choose from a wide selection of apps for both platforms. Sail Tracker Polar NMEA Pro (on Android) or iRegatta (on iOS and Android) are bears manufacturer’s recommendation. Both available in a free format, but these versions only allow a short, couple of minutes, operation or limited functions, good enough to try them out. For a basic version one has to pay a nominal, ca. 1000 HUF (5 USD) fee. But the unlimited, all feature versions cost not more than few thousand forints (15-20 USD). These apps provide a satisfactory level of functionality. Compared to common navigation instruments even the basic versions entertains users with general navigational information with a satisfactory precision. Pro versions go beyond it, offers more features, occasionally with better graphic, e.g. wind data displayed both in an analog and digital manner too, etc. And this is not the end of this road. There are highly sophisticated applications with many NMEA and AIS features. Certain apps includes digital compass, google map with our position, or the opportunity to save our daily trip together with our navigational data for review or analysis. Others can suggest tacking based on boyes coordinates, boat speed-, position and wind speed- and wind direction. Boyes coordinates can be gained by taking two photos of the boye from two different points.True routing software also exists. Recently, only the simplier ones considered as affordable. But in the foreseeable future those very pricy, professional routing software - with polar, sailchart, sailplan, etc. – can be substituted with an appropriate app. Obviously, this is service providers dependent. It will first be made available to everyday people in economically developed, sea-side countries. Because it already exists today, but there are only a few who can afford it. Maybe for Lake Balaton in Hungary, in the not too distant future, wind data will be made available on a subscription base or for free. No doubt, this requires a gsm connection for realtime data but even today fees are reasonable. A true advantage of a NaWiFi2+mobile device+app combo that new developments are instantly available when someone buys or updates an app.