12vdc Marine Computers

[goboatingnow]

The recent Pixel Qi announcements have caught my eye as well. I've been waiting (and waiting) for an inexpensive, sunlight-viewable display to mount on the pedestal of my old C&C 33-1. Seems like a USB-powered display (low wattage = low heat = no fans and few, if any vents) should be easy to waterproof.

Theres a lot of confusion around re the Pixel Qi. When the backlight is turned off and the device is operated in sunlight reflective mode, its a monochrome screen designed for e-readers. Its not a sunlight readable colour display.

Dave

[Patient]

Originally Posted by Subtandard

The LG E2350 does not have a VESA mount. This will be a problem and may require some amount of duct tape to correct.

The Dell G2410 monitor has a VESA mount but does not have a 12V input.

There is a smaller version, the G2210 (22") that on paper specs:
AC 100 to 240 VAC / 50 or 60 Hz + 3 Hz / 2.0A (maximum)
<18w when in use and <0.15w in standby.

Its VESA compatible as well.

[nowiki]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Theres a lot of confusion around re the Pixel Qi. When the backlight is turned off and the device is operated in sunlight reflective mode, its a monochrome screen designed for e-readers. Its not a sunlight readable colour display.

Dave

Monochrome Opencpn works for me at least for the activities I do in full daylight. I keep waiting and waiting to see Pixel Qi screens in products.

[Brent Swain]

The power supply on my last computer said 19 volt output. A friend who knows computers said "Try it on 12 volts. It can't hurt anything."
I tried it and it worked. Doesn't work with my current computer, which also has 19 volt input.
Try 12 volts before you make any assumptions. Can't hurt anything. It just may work on 12 volt.
Some do.

[Larry]

Hi Guys
I have an ASUS 23 monitor. the power supply is 2.1 amps at 19volts. so I assume it pulls less than two amps. Very thin quite nice. Here is it's little brother for 168 bucks. Asus in my opinion builds quite good equipment. The power supply is quite small if you want to run of AC.

ASUS MS228H


$166 new from 107 sellers
1 review
PC, Black/blue, 1920 x 1080, 0.248 mm, 250 cd/m2, 10000000:1 (dynamic), 16.7 million colors, 3 years warranty
With global resources becoming scarcer and the environmental impact on the planet becoming increasingly visible, green computing has become a critical issue in recent times. The mercury-free MS228H LED monitor is planet-saving that adopts LED backlight panel to delivers high contrast images and achieves 45% power savings. Alluring high glossy piano-black finish makes the MS Series the centerpiece of every living space. Sleek geometric design combines straight lines and curves with an ultra-slim profile. Unique ring stand design features the ASUS-exclusive Ergo-Fit Technology; allowing for easy tilt adjustments with one finger.

[keyspc]

solved my problems cheaply!
22" samsung on a multi swivel mount from ebay for 20 bucks, swivels out two feet a bungie holds it in place and man can i see it good from cockpit looking in!
two golfcart battires with thier own 150 watt inverter charged by thier own solor panel run it and acer revo 1600 qiute nicely with some to spare for watching movies

[goboatingnow]

The future OLED

Dave

[BluegillBoy]

Here's my solution for a daylight and sunlight viewable touchscreen monitor - buy used Panasonic Toughbook monitors from eBay. Several years ago it seemed to be retirement time for the VDL01 10" monitor from police cars which were upgrading.

Now a whole other wave has it. These are 12", 1200nits!, color monitors model VDL02. They're going for $35 - $60 each. There are at least 50 listed right now. What a deal! I run two of them - one with OpenCPN and one as a media computer/back-up nav computer on board.

BTW, these say 16v but run fine on straight 12v, although I do have a separate battery bank - not the startng bank.

[jonasaberg]

yes, bright, but hungry. 50W, thats more than 4 A of current draw. Ok for motoring, maybe not for a sailingyacht...

Panasonic CF-VDL02 specs

[BluegillBoy]

True on both counts. But really no worse than running an inverter to power an AC monitor as some (below) are doing. and the Samsung is 40W and less than one-quarter as bright. the ultimate power-saver is a monochrome LCD, but then you lose a lot of information that color charts convey.

it's all a trade off. (Easy for me to say with twin diesels driving balmar alternators!)

[bdbcat]

BlueGillBoy....

Interesting thread.

Two questions:

1. I am very interested in your observations regarding operating OpenCPN by touch screen. What works? What doesn't? Any optimizations for touch come to mind?

2. On the Panasonic VDL02: When you dim the display for night running, does it dim right down to black? Or is it sort of grayish? It has an LED backlight, so the dim range should be quite wide, depending on the design of the LED driver board. Most LCD monitors with CCFL backlighting have a very limited BL range, so that even with OpenCPN night colors enabled, they may be too bright for preserving night vision.....

2.5 What is the polarizer angle of the VDL02? Hold an average pair of fishing sunglasses up to the screen. Rotate the glasses. Find minimum brightness. What is the angle (roughly) of the glasses. This is an item that electronic manufacturers get wrong a lot. My Icom VHF has it wrong, so I have to look over my sunglasses, or twist my head to read the display. What were they thinking?

My current LCD monitors were selected after lots of testing in computer stores with sunglasses. Samsung 912N has the ideal polarizer angle. Sadly out of production, but I eBay'ed two backups for dirt cheap.....

Anyway, I am intrigued by the vdl02 at the price, especially for, say, the flybridge.


I'm cruising aboard a pilothouse trawler, so I'm with you on power consumption... More is not necessarily better, but not enough is not enough....

Thanks
Dave

[BluegillBoy]

before I answer anything, THANKS! for all the OpenCPN effort. I used to swear by Garmin nRoute. But they've discontinued that, and I also needed better charts of the Illinois Waterway - and when I translated USACE PDFs to raster charts, OCPN is THE way to view. As in the ONLY way.

So to the touchscreen use with OCPN - 90% wow! only issues I have are having trouble getting the AIS object window. the right click function is easy by tapping an icon in the taskbar, but i usually have to try and click on an AIS icon 3 - 6 times before i hit the exact right spot to open the info window. i'd suggest enlarging the clickable area around the AIS ship icon.

to also help (with and without touchscreen) how about when the AIS target list window is open, make it possible to click on a target line, and then have that target's window open.

dimmable? all the way down to black, but sometimes I find the lowest lit setting still a little bright for night running. i haven't used the OCPN night colors yet tho, so a combination of the night colors and low monitor setting would probably be great.

polarizing - i believe the monitor is so bright that polarization doesn't make a difference - if it's polarized at all. i've never noticed any polarization effect, and i've used these for 3 years with my big frame polarized glasses. i know what you mean - my old GPS units used to make me twist my head around to view. but with the panasonic i don't even have that "one eye different from the other" feeling that polarized glasses so often bring.

overall, these are great. at $1200 new, they'd better be. but the $50 eBay makes it a no brainer, even if just as an experiment.

i run two. and have two spares/experimantal units since i build single purpose mini boards.

btw, an intel D510 ($79) with a gig memory ($29) plus a panasonic monitor ($50) makes a dy-no-mite nav computer. OS might cost you too if you don't own one, but everything else needed is free. i put these systems together and sell them for $400-$500 depending on configuration. and that's still a deal.

[Tia Bu]

Cool stuff and lots of good info here. But in case anyone is reading and scared away by all the fancy tech speak here, just about any old laptop and an inverter from Walmart will work just fine. (The wattage on the inverter has to be enough to handle the wattage printed on the back of the computer charger.) I went on a three month cruise this summer with just that arrangement. The reality is the computer is asleep most of the time offshore, so power draw isn't really a problem. It stays on most of the time in the ICW, but you're motoring there, so power also isn't a big issue.

[Skua]

BluegillBoy how do you power the monitor, with a brick, inverter, or something else? Also does the Intel board accept a CD or DVD drive for the install of OS? Also where do you get the drivers for monitor and keyboard?, I plan on snagging one of those too. It seems that you have got almost exactly what I have been trying to figure out how to do. Thanks!!

[BluegillBoy]

the monitor i currently run (VDL01) says 15V but runs great on straight 12V boat system as long as i don't hook it up to the starting battery. i'm testing the new VDL02 i bought next weekend and i'll let you know if 12V runs it too. (Given that what we call 12V is at a minimum 12.8 or 13V and with an engine running it's 14.1V that's a strong probable.

before i figured out that 12V would work, i ran it on a belkin universal power adapter with a cigarette lighter input and the toughbook tip output. about $70 but turns out it wasn't needed. panasonic also sells a 12V to 15.6V adapter. some of the monitors on eBay include that.

i power the MOB which is much more voltage sensitive and needs 5V as well off of a Pico DC to DC power supply from Short-Circuit.com. they run from $50 - $80 (which i forgot to include in my first post cost total). i have one that's "wide voltage" which they say is necessary for the automotive universe with not-running, while starting, while charging voltage differences. and i have one that's not wide voltage, but both work fine for me. 'course i run 2 8Ds in parallel as a house bank, so voltage variation isn't going to be huge.

the intel D510 board accepts a SATA HD. i run a 2.5" drive with no probs, even tho i ultimately plan on replacing it with a solid state drive. OS and applications install from a USB CD/DVD drive.

keyboard doesn't ned a driver of course - either a PS2 or a USB works. same with mouse.

the touch screen drivers are available in several configurations for free of course. UPPD being the most common downloadable one. i also just found a new 2010 driver on te panasonic website i'm going to try with the new VDL02.

check ut the MOB here although i've always found them cheaper at newegg.
Intel Atom

the reason i particularly like the D510 is it's duo core and has 2 serial headers - one needed for the monitor touchscreen and the other i use for AIS. most MOBs these days only have one, and then reqire a PCI board for more or a USB to serial adapter which costs money, and is not 100% always stable in my experience.

so i think i've got the perfect system, i've built 6 variations of MOBs and periferals to get to this point, so it's been pretty well tested and refined.

feel free to holler back at me with any specific questions as you proceed too.