Sharing pictures from phones, laptops etc.

[olewsaa]

Just back from a Pacific crossing as a crew of 4. With 4 phones, pads and laptops we were faced with the problems of collecting, downloading and sharing pictures and videos. I could have come hove with a lot of cool pictures taken by mye crew mates if we had this little box with us.

Facing this challenge I found that a small server with both wifi and bluetooth is needed. The bluetooth is important, all phones (almost all) can send pictures and video to a bluetooth receiver (a file server), and no app is needed to be installed. It's far better to use the samba, but then an app is needed.

The project is now almost done and I can now ask crew to upload selected (at their own discretion). The little server also provide samba (CIFS) for connection to laptops and phones with a samba client installed (or even NFS and sshFS). It also accept RJ45 for Ethernet cable connection.
All of this for about 20 Euro + a large USB stick which turned out to be the most costly part.

For all of us to want to share pictures and videos while on board and disconnected from the world with services like dropbox (in many places the internet bandwidth is so bad that using dropbox is not even possible) this is a
nice tool.

I have a project page at : file-server on board and relevant config files at github.

Of course once you have a server like this available and on-line there is no end to microservices you can set up. Automatic sync of any memory card put in etc.
The Allwinner H5 is powerful enough to convert pictures and even transcode video.


Best regards,
Ole W. Saastad

[smac999]

or a laptop with a phone cable...

[olewsaa]

Originally Posted by smac999

or a laptop with a phone cable...

Right, I wish it were that simple.

If it was that simple services like dropbox and googledrive would not experience the popularity it does.

However, almost all crew I have sailed with (not to mention teenagers) have strong objections to have their phones invaded by a laptop and cable. On the other hand they are happy to share selected photos and videos, and it's here bluetooth come in. Sharing while maintaining privacy.

Ole

[Steadman Uhlich]

Good post Ole!

Thanks for sharing your tips.

A bit more technical than I understand at this point, but the concept and desirability are clear.

But, your post topic begs or deserves some photos! Show us some photos of your trip and device!

[olewsaa]

Pictures and documentation of the little server is found at my project page about yacht server and replacement of most of the instruments with laptops, pads and mobiles. Signal K and OpenPlotter are two major project to look at.

The question "what can you do when computers are essentially free?" And as we've seen the possibilities are almost unlimited.

Pictures from the Pacific is somewhat off topic, but I have an album on line.


Regards,
Ole

[gaucho]

I think it would be interesting if you contributed this over to OpenPlotter, as it could become part of the distribution and it makes a lot of sense to be so.