Chartplotter Subsitute Update

[Rick D]

I have been running a laptop with Seaclear ll and, more recently, Open CPN for a couple of years to augment my Raytheon chart plotter. I sail on the west coast of the US, so I don't need constant course info in front of me. All the nav gear is on the nav station and basic info plus waypoint info is available on the autopilot and Furuno radar at the helm. I also have my AIS into the laptop.

Anyhow, I got tired of lugging my laptop back and forth and burning up the amps, so I got an inexpensive notebook and loaded it up with the same programs, and it's great! The 10 inch screen is fine and the draw is minimal. I also got a DC plug so I won't even have to run the inverter for charging. It's nice to be able to carry to the local pub for e-mail, thus exchanging a wireless fee for a couple of drinks and it fits comfortably in the chart table.

For what it's worth. Something maybe to consider if your needs are like mine.

 

[stephen Penny]

Please provide the specifications for the entire kit, gps, satellite connection, etc......I am very interested.

 

[Rick D]

OK, here is what I remember form home:
The GPS bud is some generic GPS, WAAS enabled, with a USB input I purchased through e-bay for about forty bucks. I think you can get a very sensitive USB GPS that does not need to go to a port to see out. I have mine in an overhead opening port, velcro-ed to the handle.

The AIS is a Smart Radio SR 161 that you can buy for about $190. It attaches via a serial port to USB adapter form Radio Shack that was about twenty dollars. I initially used a rubber ducky antenna for the AIS unit which I have installed behind the switch panel. I could get about nine miles range. I changed to a manual antenna splitter ($35) for the (inside) VHF radio so as to get greater range and have gotten signals as far as 25 miles.

The Seaclear and Open CPN are available for free download. You get your charts from NOAA, again by free download. There is a conversion routine for Seaclear. No conversion is needed for Open CPN.

You may need an accessory disk drive for the driver for the serial cable to USB converter, although I downloaded it to a thumb drive from my desktop. I am not sure even that was needed though.

The computer is an Acus with Windows XP I purchased at Best Buy for about $280 without all the extended warranty, tech support contract and other junk. The DC charge converter I got on e-bay for $20-ish.

This takes some nimbleness re computers in that there is some searching and identifying ports, but once done, if you hook everything back to the same USB ports, you are in business.

Hope this helps.

 

[Maine Sail]

The computer is an Acus with Windows XP I purchased at Best Buy for about $280 without all the extended warranty, tech support contract and other junk. The DC charge converter I got on e-bay for $20-ish.


Hope this helps.

Rick,

Be very careful with the eeePC's as some of them require 12V not 12.3, 14.2 or 11.6 but just a fixed 12V. Both Roger Long and I found this out the hard way.

I spent a good deal of time trying to figure this out and finally spoke with ASUS tech support. In order to hit the batt life they wanted, lots of stuff in the power path was evidently eliminated to boost efficiency. Their wall charger and car chargers put out 12V even with fluctuating incoming voltage. Targus, iGo and others do not make a charger that will work with some of the ASUS eeePC's.. I think I paid about $50.00 give or take for the ASUS brand 12V car charger..



Google this part number: 90-OA00CA1100

You can buy it at New Egg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834998923


I got mine off Amazon as it was the best deal at the time with free shipping...

 

[Rick D]

The AC charger for the netbook outputs 19 volts. The DC converter I got has selectable outputs, 19 volts being one of them. I suspect it is in reality a small inverter, which might be a better way to go to start with.

 

[stephen Penny]

Many thanks!!

 

[Bill Roosa]

Laptop power voltages

I've had success pumping 12 volts ship power into the back of my laptop. It requires 19 volts from the wall wart but when I checked the battery it only supplies 12 volts. the extra voltage is for rapid charging I suspect. In any case the battery life indicator starts at 100% and 4+ hours, drops to ~88% and 3 ish hours then stays there.

 

[Maine Sail]

The AC charger for the netbook outputs 19 volts. The DC converter I got has selectable outputs, 19 volts being one of them. I suspect it is in reality a small inverter, which might be a better way to go to start with.

Cool, you must have one of the newer eeePC's. The older ones use 12v fixed. Hopefully they have made them more tolerant of incoming voltage fluctuations..

A small inverter will be in the 30%+/- efficiency loss range. With the laptops going direct DC is a lot more efficient..

 

[gettinthere]

ipad! You'll want the uplevel version with gps built in. you can buy an ap for $50 from the itunes store. Looks like a great way to go. They are very thin, light and low power use.

 

[Snotter]

ipad! You'll want the uplevel version with gps built in. you can buy an ap for $50 from the itunes store. Looks like a great way to go. They are very thin, light and low power use.

What software is available that supports NMEA?

 

[Maine Sail]

ipad! You'll want the uplevel version with gps built in. you can buy an ap for $50 from the itunes store. Looks like a great way to go. They are very thin, light and low power use.

The iPad has ZERO inputs and outputs such as USB or even SD cards and such. Could be a real PITA to get charts in and out of etc. or to network with a plotter for programming. I have used one rather extensively and it is a nice toy but not something I would use to navigate with no more than I would use an iPhone yet some folks actually do this too.I suppose in California where you have miles and miles of nothing but open ocean this is a lot less critical then here in the NE where granite ledges crop up from out of nowhere miles off shore.

 

[Rick Sylvester]

iPad/iPhone for plotting

You can put data on the these devices but it has to be done through a sync with iTunes. I know you knew that already.

Neither of these device was designed specifically for chartplotting so you probably can't dump stuff from another plotter and it probably won't steer your autopilot. Direct sunlight viewability really sucks.

That being said, the charts on my iPhone are all Navionics. The GPS works great. What is it about these device(s) that make them toys and not tools? I know more than a few idiot skippers who have all the latest and greatest stuff and still manage to get into trouble. In my humble opinion prudent navigation comes from good decisions rather than which "toy" you use.

 

[Rick D]

Cool, you must have one of the newer eeePC's. The older ones use 12v fixed. Hopefully they have made them more tolerant of incoming voltage fluctuations..

A small inverter will be in the 30%+/- efficiency loss range. With the laptops going direct DC is a lot more efficient..

You know, Maine, now that I think of it, it can't be an inverter. It takes my 12 volts from the socket and converts it into 19 volts DC. I haven't a clue how it scales up the voltage, but it does work. I also suspect the battery voltage out is 12 volts, but have no intention of changing the incoming voltage from that supplied by the AC charger, so no need.

 

[druid]

(Rick, a DC-DC converter converts DC to AC, ups the voltage, then changes back to DC)

I use an Asus netbook on my boat as backup to the Garmin and as a "planner". It is "diskless" so I can bang it around and not worry about a head crash. I run the software that came with the CDI Chartset - I think it's Maptech "Digital Ocean" or something. It's a bit slow but stable. For a GPS I use a Garmin eTrex Legend with a serial-to-USB converter cable. I either run the netbook on batteries (runs about 4 hrs) or just plug in the standard charger into the invertor - not the MOST efficient, but it doesn't draw much.

The only issue is that it's a bit hard to read in sunlight. I sit it in the cockpit under the dodger, which is pretty much right in front of me when I'm sitting sideways in front of the wheel.

Works great! And since most marinas have WiFi, I can hook onto the internet and suft the web.
druid