12vdc Marine Computers

[hasse_A]

What does the community think of this :

http://www.google.se/url?sa=t&rct=j&...cad=rjahttp://

I know there are trials being done with the Rasberry Pi2 but I understand that the 1 GB ram is a bit of a problem.
The Utilite 2 has got 2 GB ram and seem to very low power. I myself have a FitPC 3 which has got ample resources but it's a bit pricey. The Utilite 2 starts at £160 something.

[sobraon]

I replaced our 240V PC with an Advantech embedded fanless 12V unit last year. I was up to my 3rd 240V PC and was not happy with there performance nor longevity. Running the Mastervolt Inverter just for the computer was also a waste of power.

The Advantech units are available online and are cheap. Mine was about $400. They are not home PC's. They are industrial computers designed to work in extreme conditions. The unit I installed has an atom processor and a 500Gb flashdrive for it's hard drive. There are no moving parts and it is not effected by heat so I have yet to experience a crash.

Unlike newer PC's they are industrial units so are supplied with multiple RS 232 serial ports and USB Ports. My unit was provided with Windows XP Pro as most industries still prefer it for machinery control rather than the newer game oriented operating systems. The company also can provides 12V LED industrial screens as framed and unframed units. They can be touch controlled or USB Bluetooth operated. I don't think there is a more robust configuration for onboard navigational use.

I have set the unit up to be our main onboard computing and navigation system. The screen can be opened into the companionway and is then visible from the helm.








I had more than enough RS 232 serial ports to input AIS, Nav instruments, GPS, VHF Radio and Depth sounder through an NMEA 0183 feed. As the RS232 plugs are easy to wire the only hole I needed to drill through the bulkhead was the diameter of the small multi-strand data cable. The plugs were then attached to multiple leads from a data terminal box. In all I only needed one +ve lead from each sender and I used a common -ve. The RS 232 sockets meant it was easier and much cheaper to connect than expensive serial to USB converter cables.

The system is wifi linked to the net via a 10" Samsung tablet so live grib file downloads etc can be input-ed to opencpn whilst in the cockpit if I have internet coverage.

I use a bluetooth mouse and onscreen keyboard to input data and control opencpn whilst in the cockpit sailing. When I am planning a route etc, I plug in a conventional keyboard and sit in the saloon to input data..

I also installed a new Raymarine E7D plotter/radar last year. We use it whilst passaging, however as soon as we near land or multiple AIS targets appear the nav system's 19" screen becomes invaluable. I have found that I often turn on opencpn then leave the computer running, however turn off the screen to conserve power. If I need the bigger screen I simply push one button on the screen and instantly have opencpn and a track as a cross reference for the much smaller and hard to read E7D.







The embedded computer is screwed to the bulkhead in it's own cabinet above the engine room. It is also bluetooth linked to HP printer in the same cupboard.

The contact page for Advantech is

Embedded Computers

I hope this helps. Computers and laptops were a constant source of annoyance until I built this system.

Garry
Spirit of Sobraon
Home Page - www.sobraon.com

[Dauntlessny]

Originally Posted by bfloyd4445

..were did you find the 24" lg dc monitor? I'm having trouble locating any except for industrial and mil spec ones. I'm going to build a system and use opencpn for navigation with radar and ais plugins. Untill i read your post I was thinking of modifying an ac monitor because they really only us dc anyway.
I'm tired of spending big buck for marine systems that are limited in function and obsolete within a year. I've been toying with a cheap netbook for the last two years and have found it has definate advantages over my humminbird and lowrance chart plotters like free maps that don't end! They then keep plotting but on a blank screen with no map.

Best wishges
B

I got two Samsung LED 24" monitors last year, because they are 12 to 14 v.
Works great, love them.

Samsung 23.6-Inch Wide Viewing Angle LED Monitor (S24D390HL).
$180 each and viewing angle is great.

[Sailorman Ed]

Sobraon - very nice job. which model did you get (not clear on the web site)?

Dauntlessny - read the review about very poor mounting stand - what did you do?

Are there plugs to plug open USB ports to keep the salt air out? Cables are cheap to replace but ports on the computer are not.
Ed

[barnakiel]

I have picked up a Medion Akoya and looked on the reverse side. It is about 5x5 inches, maybe 2 inches thick and it is 12 V (regulated).

I know their new thing is SSD and will make an even better boat computer.

The one here is 500TB HDD and costs EUR 250 (can be had for less online).

The SSD new thing is seen at EUR 400 (from Germany).

I think I may be getting the SSD for our new boat computer (nav center and entertainment) once it crops up here (in Spain).

I think I will match it with a USB screen.

b.

[bfloyd4445]

Originally Posted by Quincofish

Hope I am not duplicating here, here goes:-

Been cruising the South Pacific for more than 10 years in a 40 foot sloop. Navigation has improved so much in this time, particularly since Opencpn, prior to that, Cmap and Maxsea were used.
About the 12 volt computers. I have now had 3 different ones, the latest is the smallest and most power efficient and runs Opencpn wonderfully!
The hardware is an Intel NUC, in my case it is a NUC Kit DE3815TYKHE. It has an Atom single core and runs on 12 - 19 volts DC, so straight off your boats 12 volt power. With 8gigs of RAM and a 240gig SSD plus a 4 gig eMMC drive inbuilt it runs Windows 7 from the SSD and Linux Lite from the eMMC (flash drive). See this link Support for the Intel® NUC Kit DE3815TYKHE

Linux Lite boots up with Opencpn running in less than 60 seconds from cold. I get the GPS and AIS data via an Edgeport USB to 4 x serial port adapter. All works great under Windows and Linux Lite.

are you interfacing ais and radar as well? what about depthfinder info?
thanks

[Quincofish]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Quincofish thank you for the report



Do you know how many watts it uses?
What screen & specs and how many watts? Is the display used below or under dodger or in the open? What is your impression about image and useability?

Which GPS & AIS are you using with the Edgeport USB?
Is the Edgeport USB one of their Serial-USB adapters? Model?

Thanks

The NUC draws about 1 amp at 12 volts. The screen I use is an old Mitsubishi LCD 12 volt monitor and it is down below, where I can see it from the cockpit, so sunlight is not a problem. The edgeport is 10 years old and is self powered by the USB and has 4 x D 9 serial ports (RS232). GPS's are both Navman but that doesn't matter much, as long as you can get the NMEA output from them. AIS is the NASA AIS Engine..

[bfloyd4445]

Thanks Gary. Yes they are an annoyance, and so are chart plotters with small screens and price tags in the thousands. What a rip off. You have a beautiful boat, what does it look like from the outside<smile>. So the Advantech doesn't have the internet capability without your netbook? Is the netbook used as a hotspot then?
Will this work with any radar, depth sounder, gps, ais unit or do you have to use certain models?
Britt

[bfloyd4445]

I had more than enough RS 232 serial ports to input AIS, Nav instruments, GPS, VHF Radio and Depth sounder through an NMEA 0183 feed. As the RS232 plugs are easy to wire the only hole I needed to drill through the bulkhead was the diameter of the small multi-strand data cable. The plugs were then attached to multiple leads from a data terminal box. In all I only needed one +ve lead from each sender and I used a common -ve. The RS 232 sockets meant it was easier and much cheaper to connect than expensive serial to USB converter cables.

By not running a -ve to each sender you risk losing all senders if something interrupts the -ve. Marine wiring code requires both for good reason. Then you only loose the one sender if there is a break.

Britt

[sobraon]

To answer your questions Britt and Ed.

The model I have is an ARK-3389. It is an older model. A similar unit is the Compact Embedded Computer With Atom™ Processor, 4 COM and Dual Display. Looking at the site if I was purchasing now I would go for the smaller, cheaper and less power consuming. Intel® Atom™ N455 Fanless Ultra Compact Embedded Computer with Mini-PCIe Expansion

You can customise the units to what ever features you require. The ARK-1120 unit has 4 RS 232 input ports and 2 USB ports. This would allow you to hook in 4 NMEA senders, ie. GPS,Sonar,Wind Instrument and Radar. The USB's could be used for a bluetooth dongle for the mouse to control the unit and leave the other free for wifi, memory sticks, etc.

I have a wifi hub on the boat, however I no longer use it as we now find we use the Samsung 10.1 Tablet as a wifi hotspot. As we travel from one country to another it means we only need to buy 2 sim cards. One for our iphone and one for the tablet. This gives us two phones, so that if I am away from the boat I can call back and the tablet allows us to hotspot all of our computers and laptops to access the net.

I don't have radar hooked into our opencpn as we are using Raymarine Digital and a plugin is not available for it yet.

So far as the -ve wire Britt. NMEA 0183 uses a common -ve. You can even use ships -ve if you wish. Losing it is not a concern and it would be an easy fix in the unlikely event that it did happen. The data cable has more than 20 cores so it would mean selecting another and hooking it up.

I also wired the monitor using CAT6 twisted pairs cable so that I could pass the cable through bulkhead with out the need for drilling a large hole for a VGA cable. The great thing about this is that you can site the monitor a long way from the computer without loss of quality.

To answer your question regarding the boat Britt.

This is a shot at anchor:


And this one under sail prior to fitting the windscreen.



I hope the information helps.

Garry
Spirit of Sobraon
Home Page - www.sobraon.com

[Quincofish]

Originally Posted by bfloyd4445

are you interfacing ais and radar as well? what about depthfinder info?
thanks

AIS but no radar or depth..

[bfloyd4445]

[

Garry
Spirit of Sobraon
Home Page - www.sobraon.com[/QUOTE]


thanks Gary. she is a pretty girl. i love the under sail shot.
In my boat repair days much of my effort went into rewireing owner wired systems. I did it mostly cause i loved boats and enjoyed a challenge. Most common problems involved wiring a boat like they would a car and useing the wrong kind of wire for the job. The marine spec for wire is there for good reason. Please keep in mind that on a boat your life may depend on system operation and in a storm it could mean life or death. For me with boats over kill is a minimum standard.

best wishes
Britt

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by hasse_A

I know there are trials being done with the Rasberry Pi2 but I understand that the 1 GB ram is a bit of a problem.

It should not be a problem for opencpn. When I evaluated memory consumption, I found that 100 megs of ram and 16 megs of video memory is all that is required for 30 frames per second panning and zooming. This requires using the compressed texture cache for raster charts.

The issue with the RPI2 is more likely the broadcom video accelerator. The one in the regular rpi didn't work so great compared to other boards. The bananna pi is much better.

Originally Posted by sobraon

I replaced our 240V PC with an Advantech embedded fanless 12V unit last year. I was up to my 3rd 240V PC and was not happy with there performance nor longevity. Running the Mastervolt Inverter just for the computer was also a waste of power.

Most desktops have psu that output 12, 5, 3.3 -12 etc correct? I know you can get psu to replace 240v ones for desktop pc that are designed to run off 12v or 24 or 48 etc...

Originally Posted by Sailorman Ed

Sobraon - very nice job. which model did you get (not clear on the web site)?

Dauntlessny - read the review about very poor mounting stand - what did you do?

Are there plugs to plug open USB ports to keep the salt air out? Cables are cheap to replace but ports on the computer are not.
Ed

Yes, you can get plugs to cover un-used usb ports. Another way maybe is to cut an old cable and just stick the connector in as a plug. Also what I like to do is plug a cheap hub in the usb port and seal this really well, then you can just plug into the hub and when it stops working can replace only the hub.

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I have picked up a Medion Akoya and looked on the reverse side. It is about 5x5 inches, maybe 2 inches thick and it is 12 V (regulated).

I know their new thing is SSD and will make an even better boat computer.

The one here is 500TB HDD and costs EUR 250 (can be had for less online).

Am I missing something? Is it really 500TB? I want that. I just got a 2TB drive for 100 USD.

[tico]

Has anyone of you considered installing a Shuttle XS36V4? It's a fanless x86 system for industrial usage and can be had for ~160 EUR (ex. RAM and SSD). Power consumption is stated as 8.7 W (idle) up to 16.3 W (max).

Shuttle Global - XS36V4

PROCESSOR: Intel Celeron J1900 Quad core processor
MEMORY: up to 8GB
VGA: Intel 7th generation Graphic engine
D-sub port, HDMI port, Display port: can run dual-head
ETHERNET: Realtek RTL8411, Supports Gbit
802.11b/g/n WLAN support (1T1R)
STORAGE: Support 1 x 2.5" SATA HDD

USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, Line out, Mic In, SD Card reader
1x RS232/RS422/RS485 with 0/5/12V
1x RS232 with 0/5/12V

Powered with 19V, which can be easily provided from 12V by a buck converter

I am looking for a system which logs some environmental and consumption data (24/7), does anchor watch (OpenCPN), navigation (OpenCPN and HomePort) as well as serves music and movies. AIS, GPS, … can be easily hooked up by the two COM ports, and consumption is low enough to have it always on.

I was first considering one of the ARM boards; however, savings in required battery capacity (~10Ah vs ~25Ah daily consumption) as well as in initial cost (a setup based on cubietruck would be 100 EUR cheaper) do in my opinion not justify the much more complex setup and maintenance of such a system.

[Neddy]

Lenovo 16 inch screen, runs of usb port. 5 volt. Not so good in the sun. Maybe new screen is better, but at 450$