NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT:   AUGUST 7, 2006

    Last year Local Knowledge introduced a PDA version of its top-ranked "Force 4" software, enabling users to view and control most Force 4 functions from a PDA they could put in their pocket ...

NOW, we introduce a PDA version of our "Offchart Racer" program for just $750, just half the price of competitors that do far less. As with all of our programs, ORPDA comes with its own charts and incorporates our detailed current models (available for all major US and many foreign venues).

A POINT TO POINT CURRENT MODEL IS ESSENTIAL FOR ACCURATE TACTICAL COMPUTATIONS. In venues such as San Francisco Bay, Block Island, Charleston Harbor, Puget Sound, the Chesapeake or Long Island Sound, routing computations provide the same advantages in coastal or buoy racing as weather-routing computations do offshore - and these optimal routes depend solely on current variations from point to point.

ONLY LOCAL KNOWLEDGE SOFTWARE PERFORMS ACCURATE COMPUTATIONS IN VARYING CURRENTS AND ENABLES SHORT-RANGE TACTICAL DECISIONS. Other programs offer a function called "what-if," which compares alternative tacks to a mark. But the "what-if" calculation assumes that current is constant across the venue, so it always predicts that alternative tacks take the same time. This completely misses the tactical advantage you can achieve in varying (differential) current. IN A VENUE LIKE SAN FRANCISCO BAY, THE "WHAT-IF" CALCULATION IS ALWAYS WRONG. [For a comparison to Local Knowledge's "Super-If," or "Best Tack," function, CLICK HERE.]

THE NEW PDA VERSION OF "OFFCHART RACER" ENABLES BOATS THAT CANNOT OPERATE A BELOW-DECKS COMPUTER TO GET THE SAME TACTICAL INFORMATION, WITH A WIRELESS PDA THAT ONE OR MORE CREW CAN SLIP IN THEIR POCKET AND OPERATE ON THE RAIL, TOTALLY BY TOUCHSCREEN CONTROL...

ANY STANDARD PDA SERVES AS A WIRELESS INTERFACE TO A LAPTOP THAT RUNS THE SPECIAL "PDA VERSION"  OF OFFCHART RACER. INSTRUMENT CONNECTIONS ARE MADE TO THE LAPTOP, WHICH RUNS BELOWDECKS AND CAN BE STOWED IN A SECURE, DRY LOCATION. THE PDA DISPLAYS AND CONTROLS THE PROGRAM BY TOUCHSCREEN, WITHOUT ANY NEED TO ACCESS THE LAPTOP DIRECTLY DURING THE RACE.

THE PDA VERSION IS DESIGNED TO BE VISIBLE AND EASILY CONTROLLED FROM THE SMALL SCREEN OF THE PDA. IT CAN ALSO BE OPERATED DIRECTLY FROM ANY TABLET OR MID-SIZED LAPTOP WITH WINDOWS XP OR OTHER STANDARD LAPTOP OPERATING SYSTEM. ORPDA HAS ALL PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS OF "OFFCHART RACER," OPTIMIZED FOR THE SMALL SCREEN.
IT IS ESSENTIAL TO AVOID CLUTTERING THE SMALL SCREEN. WITH ORPDA YOU CAN HIDE ALL CONTROLS BY CLICKING ELSEWHERE ON THE SCREEN. CLICK AGAIN TO BRING BACK THE MAIN MENU BUTTONS. CLICK ON A GIVEN BUTTON TO EXPAND OR CONTRACT THE ASSOCIATED FUNCTIONS. CLICK ON A RESULT FORM TO MOVE IT AROUND THE SCREEN.
THE VERTICAL ROW OF BUTTONS ALONG THE LEFT SIDE OPEN MENUS WHICH PROVIDE CONTROLS AND DATA DISPLAYS OF ALL PROGRAM FUNCTIONS. IN THIS EXAMPLE, THE "I" (OR INSTRUMENT) BUTTON EXPANDS TO SHOW MEASURED WIND, BOAT HEADING AND BOAT SPEED, PLUS TWA AND TWS COMPUTED WITH CURRENT CORRECTIONS.
ORPDA1.GIF (154107 bytes)
CLICK THE "D" (DATA) BUTTON, TO ACCESS WIND, POLAR AND CURRENT MODELS AND DISPLAY PREDICTED VALUES AT THE BOAT LOCATION. IN THE EXAMPLE BELOW, CLICKING 'C' ON THE MENU EXPANDS DISPLAY TO SHOW CURRENT AT THE BOAT. CLICK THE "M" (MARKS) BUTTON TO OPEN THE MARKS MENU (AT BOTTOM OF DISPLAY). YOU CAN PICK A MARK FROM A LIST, DEFINE A NEW MARK, OR ACCESS A VARIETY OF FUNCTIONS WHICH APPLY TO A SELECTED (ACTIVE) MARK.
ORPDA2.GIF (177343 bytes)
THE PDA HAS NO KEYBOARD, SO ORPDA HAS A SPECIAL FORM TO MAKE IT EASY TO EDIT OR DEFINE NUMBERS BY POINT AND CLICK. THE EXAMPLE BELOW SHOWS HOW YOU WOULD DEFINE OR EDIT THE LAT-LON COORDINATES OF A MARK.
ORPDA3.GIF (159283 bytes)
CLICK "C" TO OPEN THE COURSE MENU. YOU CAN SELECT A PRE-DEFINED COURSE FROM A LIST, OR DEFINE A 'QUICK' COURSE BY POINT AND CLICK. ONCE A COURSE IS LOADED, CLICK 'FUN' TO ACCESS A VARIETY OF COURSE FUNCTIONS.
ORPDA4.GIF (175145 bytes)
CLICK "T" TO EXPAND THE TACTICS MENU AND ACCESS THE LAYLINE, BEST TACK AND ROUTING FUNCTIONS. THE LAYLINE AND BEST TACK FUNCTIONS AUTOMATICALLY RECOMPUTE EVERY FEW SECONDS TO UPDATE THE SITUATION. BELOW, THE RED AND GREEN LINES SHOW WHERE THE BOAT WILL INTERCEPT THE CURRENT-CORRECTED LAYLINES IF SAILED AT THE INDICATED TWA ON THE PORT AND STARBOARD TACKS. THE BEST TACK FUNCTION USES MEASURED WIND AND THE UNDERLYING CURRENT MODEL. ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN ENTER CONSTANT VALUES FOR A "WHAT-IF" COMPUTATION.
ORPDA5.GIF (156816 bytes)
THE IMAGE BELOW SHOWS THE CORRESPONDING "WHAT-IF" COMPUTATION, USING THE SAME WIND VALUES, AND CONSTANT CURRENT ESTIMATED FROM THE CURRENT MODEL (AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET TO THE EXACT 'BEST TACK' SOLUTION). NOTE DIFFERENCES WITH THE ABOVE 'BEST TACK' RESULT. THIS OPTION IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL IF THERE IS NO CURRENT MODEL AND YOU WANT TO FREELY ENTER VALUES TO COMPUTE THE TIME TO THE MARK WITH DIFFERENT ASSUMPTIONS.
ORPDA6.GIF (156037 bytes)
CLICK ON "T" BUTTON TO EXPAND THE TACTICS MENU. CLICK ON THE BUTTONS TO START/END THE TACTICAL FUNCTIONS.
ORPDA7.GIF (163636 bytes)
CLICKING 'BEST ROUTE' BRINGS UP THE FORM BELOW (OR CLOSES AN OPEN ROUTING). THE FORM HAS A NUMBER OF OPTIONS, EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED IN THE ORPDA 'TUTORIAL.' TO ROUTE, HOWEVER, YOU ONLY HAVE TO CLICK 'START FROM BOAT' (OR 'START FROM MARK' TO PICK THE INITIAL POINT FROM A LIST), AND 'END AT MARK' TO PICK THE DESTINATION FROM A LIST. USUALLY YOU WILL WANT TO COMPUTE COMPARISON ROUTES, WHICH IS THE DEFAULT (THE 'SHOW ALTERNATIVES' BOX). ROUTE WITH MEASURED OR MANUALLY ENTERED WIND, OR DRAW VALUES FROM WIND FILE.
ORPDA8.GIF (184438 bytes)
RESULT OF ROUTING COMPUTATION IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY, UPWIND AGAINST ADVERSE (FLOOD) CURRENT. THE DISPLAYS SHOWS OPTIMAL ROUTE IN RED, AND COMPARISON ROUTES IN OTHER COLORS. TIMES FOR EACH ROUTE ARE SHOWN IN THE 'BEST COURSE COMPARISONS' BOX AT LOWER RIGHT.
ORPDA9.GIF (153785 bytes)
CLICKING ON THE 'A' BUTTON OF THE 'BEST COURSE' FORM BRINGS UP THE ANIMATION CONTROLS, AND ADDS A NEW COLUMN WHICH SHOWS DISTANCE TO THE DESTINATION FROM THE PREDICTED POSITION ON EACH ROUTE. YOU CAN SCROLL BACK AND FORTH THROUGH INTERMEDIATE TIMEPOINTS BY CLICKING THE LEFT/RIGHT ARROWS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FORM. IF YOU CLICK THE OPTIONAL 'T' BUTTON ON THE FORM, THE TIME OF THE DISPLAY WILL RESET TO THE INTERMEDIATE TIME AS YOU SCROLL, SO YOU CAN SEE THE PREDICTED CURRENT AND WIND AT THAT DATE AND TIME.
ORPDA10.GIF (153727 bytes)
OVER LONGER DISTANCES YOU MAY WISH TO COMPUTE ROUTING AND COURSE SOLUTIONS BASED ON A WIND-PREDICTION FILE. YOU CAN LOAD AND UNLOAD A WIND MODEL USING THE 'Mod' BUTTON ON THE "D" MENU, WHICH ALSO DISPLAYS THE PREDICTED WIND AT THE BOAT LOCATION. COMPARE THIS TO THE INSTRUMENT-MEASURED VALUES ON THE "I' MENU.
ORPDA11.GIF (161762 bytes)

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