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Subject: [Nml] Calculators for Navigation
From: Daniel K. Allen (Visual C++) (danallen@XXX.XXX)
Date: Fri Mar 12 1999 - 13:21:51 EST
Personally I prefer to spend my time doing lots of programming on my HP-48GX
to get sight reduction to the fewest keystrokes! The HP 48 uses very little
power and has great built-in functionality. It has a strange programming
language called RPL (Reverse Polish Lisp) but it is quite powerful. Sadly
HP is doing very little with calculators any more.
My best nav programs are written in the C programming language and run on my
laptops, although I am about to port them to a small HP620LX Windows CE
machine... which is what HP is putting its efforts to now. At least these
machines can be programmed in C -- a big step forward -- but they do not
support much programming on the machine: you need to write the programs on a
desktop machine running Windows 98 or NT.
I've begun experimenting with some nav software written as an Excel
spreadsheet, and it actually works quite well. These Handheld PCs that run
Windows CE (like the HP620LX and their newer Jornada) have a Pocket Excel in
ROM and one CAN program on the handheld machine in Excel simply by writing
formulas. (No macros or VBA yet though.)
One of the great advantages of using Excel for numerical calculations is
that you can see as much of your intermediate results as you want along the
way. You can change just one variable and see how it affects the answer,
etc. Writing nav software using Excel is actually pretty promising!
Dan
danallen@XXX.XXX
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Wescott [mailto:mike.wescott@XXX.XXX]
Sent: Friday, March 12, 1999 6:18 AM
To: Titanium Tom
Cc: Dan Hogan; navigation@XXX.XXX
Subject: Re: [Nml] Silicon Sea II: Show of Hands
> What type of calculator is the best for working the calculations, should
it be
> programable?
Personally, I prefer minimal computer help for doing the Silicon Sea
problems
(and maximal help on the open sea). I use a simple calculator and plotting
sheets. If I weren't too lazy to use an Ageton method (or one of it's
relatives,
I would do without the calculator.
-- -Mike Wescott mike.wescott@XXX.XXX =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= =-= TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send this message to majordomo@XXX.XXX: =-= =-= unsubscribe navigation =-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=
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