Using a computer as a chart plotter

[higgs]

I thought I would start a new thread as this is a good one and will be easier to discuss here than in the SeaClear thread.

The lap top battery is good for a couple of hours. Usually I do not need to constantly monitor my computer/chart plotter, so I put it to sleep and check it periodically making the battery last longer. If it still runs down, I turn on the inverter and recharge it.

 

[Stu Jackson]

As always, great material

A simple and sensible approach from a skipper who epitomizes that concept.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Battery check

Check out the laptop battery specks. If it says 12 volt then you can "plug in" the laptop to a 12 volt circuit with an extra "AC power" jack.
I have found that a docking station is great for using my laptop on the boat. I mounted it under the nav station against the hull. Out of the way and secure if you remember to lock the unit down. My display is a 21" TV//DVD/monitor that swivels so the rest of the salon can watch a DVD if they want.
For the record even if your laptop power supply says 19ish volts the unit may still run off 12 volts internally. The 19 volts are to fast charge the battery and are not used internally.
The "for sure" test is to check with the manufacturer and see if they have a 12 auto power cord. If it does not have some sort of transformer in the line it is certainly just a straight through pass of 12 volts to the "AC power" jack.
With both the laptop and monitor running at "daylight" levels they draw 3 amps. Still can't see it from the helm but at 6-7 knots there is not much that sneeks up on you of you keep a weather eye out.

 

[Roger Long]

Check out the laptop battery specks. If it says 12 volt then you can "plug in" the laptop to a 12 volt circuit with an extra "AC power" jack.

I just got one of these for my 12 V. Asus sub laptop and am having a strange problem with my tests in the car and trying to use it with street navigation software.

The computer has a window that pops up whenever external power is connected or disconnected to notify you that it is switching from high performance to power saving mode. When I plug it into the car jack, this window starts popping up with alternate messages every 2 - 3 seconds like someone was pulling the power jack in and out. It isn't alternator interferrence because it does it when the engine is off. I've checked the cord outlet with a meter and it is rock solid 12 volts.

What's up with that do you suppose?

I haven't tried it on the boat yet but it is going to make the laptop unusable for navigation if I can't solve it as the window pops up right where the boat is.

 

[sailingdog]

Roger—

Try setting the machine to power saving mode as an option, that way it may not keep switching between the two.

 

[Tim R.]

Bill, be aware that docking stations have internal components that need power(NICs, video cards, etc) and they will draw more juice than the laptop alone. Not much compared to 21" monitor though.

 

[Don12364]

Roger,
It looks as if the laptop thinks the charging voltage is sufficient and connects and indicates it is running on external power. Then, as soon as it draws some current, it discovers the voltage is too low after all and switches off - only to repeat the cycle again and again. Try connecting the laptop directly to the 12 V supply but beware as violent supply fluctuations could blow the laptop's power supply.
After using direct 12 V connection I eventually bought a laptop power brick for in car use which takes the 12V DC and makes 19 V DC so the laptop will charge as well as run (£25). Direct coupling of boat supply to laptop usually means the laptop will run okay but does not recharge and, knowing how dodgy those cigar lighter plugs are, I often found the laptop had been running on internal battery and was flat.
Incidentally mine brightens its screen as soon as it runs from external supply which is nice. Also it only needs 2 amps to run the computer once the internal battery is charged.
And I retain mine on the chart table with a couple of feet of polypropylene fishing line, one end on a round head screw on one side of the nav table, then across the laptop's hinge, and to another screw on the other side. I use a slip loop to facilitate removal. The machine never moves and I can shut the top to go into suspended use. Cheap and simple. (That's me too!).

 

[Maine Sail]

iGo..

I use the iGo products and they are simply amazing. One charger will charge your laptop, iPod, phone or any other device you have by simply switching tips. They can also charge two devices at once.

iGo

 

[Roger Long]

And I retain mine on the chart table with a couple of feet of polypropylene fishing line,...

Here's the detail of my movable computer table from another thread below:

The strap is a piece of small fan or machinery belting, very strong. The two thumb screws let me loosen and tighten the clamp to slack it and install and remove the laptop.

Table mounts three places with the large holes as shown here:

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/09Misc.htm#Computer

BTW the charger for this particular computer puts out just 12 volts. I'll see if there is anything in the power settings that will make it behave.

Later: That appears to be the answer. Setting it to "Portable/Laptop" worked. "Always On" didn't.

 

[higgs]

Thanks Stu

I appreciate the kind words.

 

[Cpt. Jon]

I was looking at the asus eePC yesterday. I have a laptop now, but was thinking I may want a bigger screen for dvd's etc on the boat. I was also looking at SeaClear as I have not used that before. I have two Garmin GPS's, ones a GPSMAP478 and the other is GPSMAP76. My question is how do I connect the GPS to the laptop to communicate the coordinates to the application. I believe that the 478 has a USB cable, but I don't think that it sends constant data feed. I read that you can make a connector to the serial cable, but I don't think that most laptops have serial ports anymore... anyone have an idea?

thanks!

 

[Tim R.]

Some laptops still have serial ports. Most only have USB now but you can get a USB to serial converter for short money.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Laptop use as chartplotter.

I did not follow the Seaclear thread so I am probably out of context here. Is this post suggesting using a laptop as your chartplotter?

Not having a chartplotter at the helm would have made the trip from Lake Erie to west Florida pure hell. But that is another story. This is about using the laptop as backup.

We were offshore in the middle of the night when something changed radically on the Garmin 172C. We were suddenly running on the base charts as we passed Charleston, SC! Yep, my charts had run out. Garmin gets $116. per region. Stupid me, forgetting that I had not purchased and loaded the next region. How hard would it be to find the next inlet with the paper charts that I had printed? What about the detail that is necessary when back inside at St. Augustine? Saved by this laptop.

In the comfort of the v-berth I attached my Garmin e-Trex and started Fugawi. That worked well. But even better is a freebie that I have on here: Offshore Navigator Lite.

Then when we were back within Verizon cellphone range I was able to register/pay for the next set of charts. Simple enough to copy them from the DVD to the chip and we were back in business.

The chartplotter is an interesting tool. Until we were away from home and in strange environs I would not have appreciated its value. The other day, our second time offshore from Port Richey, FL, and not knowing the landmarks, it was comforting to have a waypoint for returning.

 

[larryw]

Personally, I like my plotter display at the helm, not down below, and my laptop is too big to have in the cockpit, too vulnerable to damage.

 

[Cpt. Jon]

In my case, I would like my garmin chartplotter at the helm mounted and have the ability to display SeaClear on my laptop below.

 

[Capt. Kermie]

I use a Garmin GPS MAP76CS. When I first got it and loaded the Maps I could plug it into my Notebook using the USB plug & port and get live tracking through Mapsource on the notebook. I could only view it below though because the bright sun would wash out the display if I got it anywhere near the light so I only used it a couple of trips then gave up. Then one day after an upgrade it stopped working so I called Garmin. They explained that the live tracking was dis-abled in the upgrade in favor of using a new product called n-route which would provide the live tracking on the notebook. I downloaded the program and loaded it onto the notebook along with their new POI add-on. I only played with it a bit on the notebook but never took it out for sea trials because the notebook was having power issues. Still have n-route on my notebook to use even though I can no longer find it on the Garmin website, I am not sure what they did with it but it is a legacy add-on that only works with the older operating sytems on the 76CS series and older and the older legacy Mapsource. If anyone has the original Mapsouce and bluecharts from 2004-2005 they would work and possibly 2006 versions. You just need to set the USB port in your 76CS to garmin for the USB to read it as serial. Worked for me way back when.
I would like to find out more about the offshore navigator lite, perhaps it would work for coastal areas in the PNW, my first thought due to the name was that it is intended for offshore but perhaps that is not what the name is intended to mean. Has anyone used it for coastal stuff in sight of land?

 

[higgs]

I would prefer the chart plotter to the computer, but it just is not worth it to me to spend the money for a chart plotter and all the charts as well. I take the computer on board anyways and often use my Garmin 76 to hand plot on my paper chart anyways. It keeps my navigation skills intact. Sometimes I can be caught still using a hand held compass.

I used to have a real nice little Garmin plotter that used blue charts. It cost me less than $300, but it went with the old boat and when I went to replace it, the new models were just more than I wanted to spend.

 

[sailingdog]

Cpt Jon—

You'll need a NMEA 0183 cable for either of the two units. The NMEA cable can be used to power the GPS as well as provide data. You can't use the USB connection, since Garmin uses a proprietary USB driver that very little software, outside of their own, can recognize.

Remember to set the serial ports to NMEA with 4800, 8, N, 1 as the data settings, since that is what the NMEA 0183 protocol is defined as. You may need a USB-to-Serial adapter if your laptop doesn't have a DB-9 RS-232 port.

I was looking at the asus eePC yesterday. I have a laptop now, but was thinking I may want a bigger screen for dvd's etc on the boat. I was also looking at SeaClear as I have not used that before. I have two Garmin GPS's, ones a GPSMAP478 and the other is GPSMAP76. My question is how do I connect the GPS to the laptop to communicate the coordinates to the application. I believe that the 478 has a USB cable, but I don't think that it sends constant data feed. I read that you can make a connector to the serial cable, but I don't think that most laptops have serial ports anymore... anyone have an idea?

thanks!

 

[sailingdog]

... If anyone has the original Mapsouce and bluecharts from 2004-2005 they would work and possibly 2006 versions. You just need to set the USB port in your 76CS to garmin for the USB to read it as serial. Worked for me way back when.
...

This doesn't work for most third-party software packages, as they can't recognize the Garmin GPS via the USB port.

 

[sailingdog]

FYI—the Garmin compact chartplotters come with either the Inland or Coastal US charts pre-loaded at a fairly reasonable price.

I would prefer the chart plotter to the computer, but it just is not worth it to me to spend the money for a chart plotter and all the charts as well. I take the computer on board anyways and often use my Garmin 76 to hand plot on my paper chart anyways. It keeps my navigation skills intact. Sometimes I can be caught still using a hand held compass.

I used to have a real nice little Garmin plotter that used blue charts. It cost me less than $300, but it went with the old boat and when I went to replace it, the new models were just more than I wanted to spend.