Working from boat/fax capabilities?

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

You'll be relieved to know that the FCC have recently and formally petitioned the FAA to revise their rules in the belief that cell phones pose ZERO danger and a great deal of convenience to passengers.

The irony is that originally it was the FCC that wanted the restrictions. Due to the issues you mentioned earlier, the FCC was worried that a cell phone in an airplane would wreak havoc by lighting up cell towers for hundreds of miles around. The software is better able to handle that sort of thing now, so the FCC is okay with lifting the restriction.

The FAA, on the other hand, would like to see proof that every passenger using their cellphones, all at the same time, cannot affect the plane's electronics before they will lift the restriction. Of course, proving a negative like that is a darned difficult thing to do. So they cling to the restriction. And, of course, it might have more to do with their desire for the passengers to pay attention to announcements in case of an emergency.

I also have to say that I'm not sure that it's a bad thing for the FAA to be super-cautious about stuff like this.

[hellosailor]

d0n, I totally agree that the FAA should err on the side of caution when it comes to things that might airplanes fall out of the sky. In fact, their current system of "is is cheaper to fix, or to pay wereguild for the deaths if you don't fix it?" kinda sucks for an institutional safety process.

The center fuel tank explision that brought down TWA800 (?) was in fact one of a dozen well documented ones that the FAA and Boeing ignored, and after something like ten years the FAA gave the airlines another decade or two to put corrective measures into effect. Hmm, twenty years, maybe by then they'll all be sold to someplace where lives are cheaper.

The flip side of the coin is that, as I've said, it is so easy to disrupt the electronics with so little power, then it is about time someone required hardened systems. To protect them from accidents AND from intentional mayhem.

Since there still are people who want to bring down airliners...maybe it would be in the public interest to make that harder to do? FAA, TSA, FCC, DHS...If any of these guys ran a donut shop, you'd hear "D'oh! We forgot to jelly fill the donuts!"

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

skip-
I suppose we're totally OT

What would make you think that?

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Or maybe a mod could split these off.

If we keep this up someone might insist.

Originally Posted by hellosailor

A good stainless lobster pot, a nice tight lid, might not even need the Lavac-style gaskets. Ya think?

I had a Lavac and it was classic love/hate. Not sure if the lid had warped or what since the gasket looked good but to get a vacuum inside you had to lean on the lid just right. The other thing I never did figure out, when you pumped the "stuff" out of the bowl sometimes it would splash all over the inside of the lid. Tried pumping faster and slower, longer strokes, shorter strokes. No matter what I tried about 20% of the time the whole inside of the bowl, lid, seat, everything would be covered with splash residue.

Might be worth the big bucks for an Airbus commode. What do you think it would cost for a high capacity vacuum pump?

[zboss]

Originally Posted by xymotic

For me literally the ONLY time I send a fax is to my mom, who flat out refuses to get email.

Tell her that getting a FAX can crack her bank account. The "latest" hack!

[kampaholic]

Originally Posted by Capandmrswood

Mrs. Wood here....

Does anyone out there know how I would go about getting fairly inexpensive fax/internet/phone service for our boat when we make the move onto one? I will be starting a job soon where I will be working from home and will be required to have fax and internet service. We will most likely be at a marina and most marina's offer wifi... however, I would like to ensure that I will have fax/internet/phone mostly for use in the Gulf of Mexico in and around Florida waters...

I realize this post is slightly dated; but i figure it's only right to add my 2cents to this. Most of the answers i saw in here were great, but could be considered dated. magicJack it plugs into your USB port on your computer that has an internet connection (G3 or faster, or DSL or satalite, etc etc (NOT dialup). plug your fax or land line telephone in, select the telephone number you'd like to use (from nice choice of options) or use an existing number (I think). and Bingo, you have a very land line as reliable as your internet connection for FAX or Telephone. I don't recall the selection on international calls but it seems that i was able to choose two different countries for international calls at no additional cost. but if it was a US number and my computer was in Austrialia i could call US for free but a charge for Australia. One Draw back, as of last year it was still federally regulated that Credit cards couldn't be processed via wireless connections. So that's out. But we now have Apps for that to install on our Smart phones.. (they send reciepts to emails to be printed.) here's the Key. I think $29.00 a year total cost!!!. I was doubtful but had a friend a bit further north than me, in an "incorporated city" where as the local phone company for a landline was around 60ish a month before long distance. So i got it for them as a gift (both of us knowing it was an experiment) it worked great.

A step further. I have friends in a few different nations. they have installed the free Magic Jack app on their cell phones and call me for virtually free. Granted it sometimes takes a few calls to get through and we get routine drops, but still enough to get a message across and sometimes a nice lengthy conversation.

Good luck with it. One of My primary concerns of course will be internet while at sea, but With all the recent research I"ve done, I"m assuming that's a lost cause and I'll just have to take time off while floating and enjoy the ride.

Kevin
(newbie in training)

[kampaholic]

Just like our wood work, spray what you can down with Urethane it seals the components is not conductive.

Kevin

Originally Posted by mub

The modem I use seem to have a very short life. Something about salt corrosion. I bought one that ran of 9 to 24v DC and marinised it that has lasted two years which is good.

[hellosailor]

kamp, MagicJack is a mixed blessing. It is not magic, it is just another VOIP service, and that means it requires a broadband internet connection just like any other. Yes, it will supposedly handle fax (not all VOIP services do) but unless you are at a dock with a wire coming into the boat, or burning cellular datatime, you still need the broadband connection. And their newer version, MJPlus, seems to be getting very mixed reviews. That's the one that allows you to hve your computer TURNED OFF and still use the phone. Since MJ requires your computer to be turned on to be active--that's a lot of power consumed for just keeping the telephone working. Again, best used while you are tethered to land.

Spraying electronics with urethane is also very much a gamble. In the industry they refer to "conformal coatings" to make a board water-resistant. The problem is that when you spray any electronics board with any type of coating, you change the electrical characteristics of every tracing on the board, and these days the tracings on computers and computerized boards (anything with a processor on it) are actually active electronic components. So when you spray on anything, it de-tunes the circuit, and can kill it completely. If your urethane covers a simple transistor heat sink, it can also cause that to overheat and burn out.
Coatings can work very well--but you've got to heat stress test them, speed stress test them, and expect you may have destroyed the item instead of waterproofing it. That's one reason it isn't done more often, the "R&D" expense of trying to get it right.

[kampaholic]

Sailor,

I don't know about the MJPlus; so thank you for that information. and thank you for your added clarification to the regular magic jack.

As far as the Urethane, I was out of line, we used that in various settings but is dated knowledge. I haven't used it in the newer electronics that runs much higher temperatures and processes so much more data. Coating a newer processor or resister could easily be bad news.

Kevin

Originally Posted by hellosailor

kamp, MagicJack is a mixed blessing. It is not magic, it is just another VOIP service,

And their newer version, MJPlus, seems to be getting very mixed reviews. That's the one that allows you to hve your computer TURNED OFF and still use the phone.

Spraying electronics with urethane is also very much a gamble.

If your urethane covers a simple transistor heat sink, it can also cause that to overheat and burn out.

Coatings can work very well--but you've got to heat stress test them, speed stress test them, and expect you may have destroyed the item instead of waterproofing it. That's one reason it isn't done more often, the "R&D" expense of trying to get it right.

[DieselTrawlerGuy]

I run a couple companies and I do it all from a good laptop computer and a cell phone most of the time. I have used my cell phone 20 miles off the coast of Washington but that was pretty much 20 miles straight out from a cell tower. I use a web-based fax service (https://www.j2.com) and have been very happy with them but there are cheaper ones which I've been meaning to check out. I do a terrific amount of scanning and then email my docs to my clients usually in PDF format. I use an all-in-one printer-scanner-fax (and also have a laser printer for the big bad jobs) and have had great luck with the Brother MFC series. I use free wi-fi a lot and you can get antennas that will pull wi-fi up to 5 miles. Another option is to get a SmartPhone that will function as a Hot-Spot so you can do a wireless connect from your computer to your phone and use the 3G or 4G cell networks to access the internet. If you add a cellular booster/amplifier and an external antenna you can get even more range. Talk to the folks at BoatAntenna.com aka Cellantenna: Cell Booster, Cell Phone Repeater, Wireless Repeater, Wireless Booster, Digital Antenna products for boosters (I use a DA4000), antennas, etc.

You'll have to spend a few bucks but it can be done. Get the external antenna up as high as possible on your mast.

Good luck,
George on MV/Valhalla

[rancher44]

You can go to best buy and buy a great scanneer for well under 100 and they riun off you computer power then subscribe to one of the many internet fax services they give you your own number . You can send and recieve fax's
I use us cell but any carrier that has goo reception in the area you are sailing will work