Screwball 5 Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 I'm in the process of slowly sorting out the electrical system of our Carpenter 29. We had a couple of cheap AliExpress shunts with LCD displays for battery monitoring but their accuracy was questionable at best, esp for amp draw. We already had a victron mppt solar controller and a small Phoenix inverter so decided to stay with the victron ecosystem and fit a smart shunt to monitor starter and aux batteries. After doing some research I found you can run Victron's Venus OS (what their Cerbo system monitoring unit runs) on a raspberry pi. So loaded that onto a spare board I had, added a 7 inch waveshare screen and hooked everything up using ttl/USB converters. Does take some trial and error in Python but you can also roll your own GUIs, which I did since I find the standard one is a bit cluttered with data I don't need. Works great and very happy with it. Only thing I would say is that if you do plan to use all the hardware of the Cerbo (relays, resistive tank sender pickups etc) the Cerbo may be more cost effective. Next addition will be to add a canbus board so it can be hooked into the NMEA bus as well. 1 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LBD 128 Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 45 minutes ago, Screwball said: I'm in the process of slowly sorting out the electrical system of our Carpenter 29. We had a couple of cheap AliExpress shunts with LCD displays for battery monitoring but their accuracy was questionable at best, esp for amp draw. We already had a victron mppt solar controller and a small Phoenix inverter so decided to stay with the victron ecosystem and fit a smart shunt to monitor starter and aux batteries. After doing some research I found you can run Victron's Venus OS (what their Cerbo system monitoring unit runs) on a raspberry pi. So loaded that onto a spare board I had, added a 7 inch waveshare screen and hooked everything up using ttl/USB converters. Does take some trial and error in Python but you can also roll your own GUIs, which I did since I find the standard one is a bit cluttered with data I don't need. Works great and very happy with it. Only thing I would say is that if you do plan to use all the hardware of the Cerbo (relays, resistive tank sender pickups etc) the Cerbo may be more cost effective. Next addition will be to add a canbus board so it can be hooked into the NMEA bus as well. I tried google translate... but it still comes out gibberish to me... Looks to a germanic language as I understand a few words... to, the, will, be, and so on 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,584 Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 Is it a sailboat or a space shuttle 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K4309 256 Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 2 hours ago, Screwball said: I'm in the process of slowly sorting out the electrical system of our Carpenter 29. We had a couple of cheap AliExpress shunts with LCD displays for battery monitoring but their accuracy was questionable at best, esp for amp draw. We already had a victron mppt solar controller and a small Phoenix inverter so decided to stay with the victron ecosystem and fit a smart shunt to monitor starter and aux batteries. After doing some research I found you can run Victron's Venus OS (what their Cerbo system monitoring unit runs) on a raspberry pi. So loaded that onto a spare board I had, added a 7 inch waveshare screen and hooked everything up using ttl/USB converters. Does take some trial and error in Python but you can also roll your own GUIs, which I did since I find the standard one is a bit cluttered with data I don't need. Works great and very happy with it. Only thing I would say is that if you do plan to use all the hardware of the Cerbo (relays, resistive tank sender pickups etc) the Cerbo may be more cost effective. Next addition will be to add a canbus board so it can be hooked into the NMEA bus as well. So are your batteries charged now? I've used a $30 volt meter for the last 20 yrs, and just graduate to a Junktek battery monitor for the house batts, cost about $80. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Winter 42 Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 Don't listen to the dinosaurs Snowball, that's a cool setup. I have the cerbo and do similar cool stuff. how did you do your custom gui? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Psyche 630 Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 21 hours ago, Screwball said: I'm in the process of slowly sorting out the electrical system of our Carpenter 29. We had a couple of cheap AliExpress shunts with LCD displays for battery monitoring but their accuracy was questionable at best, esp for amp draw. We already had a victron mppt solar controller and a small Phoenix inverter so decided to stay with the victron ecosystem and fit a smart shunt to monitor starter and aux batteries. After doing some research I found you can run Victron's Venus OS (what their Cerbo system monitoring unit runs) on a raspberry pi. So loaded that onto a spare board I had, added a 7 inch waveshare screen and hooked everything up using ttl/USB converters. Does take some trial and error in Python but you can also roll your own GUIs, which I did since I find the standard one is a bit cluttered with data I don't need. Works great and very happy with it. Only thing I would say is that if you do plan to use all the hardware of the Cerbo (relays, resistive tank sender pickups etc) the Cerbo may be more cost effective. Next addition will be to add a canbus board so it can be hooked into the NMEA bus as well. Awesome work, looking forward to the full guide! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K4309 256 Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 23 hours ago, Screwball said: I'm in the process of slowly sorting out the electrical system of our Carpenter 29. We had a couple of cheap AliExpress shunts with LCD displays for battery monitoring but their accuracy was questionable at best, esp for amp draw. We already had a victron mppt solar controller and a small Phoenix inverter so decided to stay with the victron ecosystem and fit a smart shunt to monitor starter and aux batteries. After doing some research I found you can run Victron's Venus OS (what their Cerbo system monitoring unit runs) on a raspberry pi. So loaded that onto a spare board I had, added a 7 inch waveshare screen and hooked everything up using ttl/USB converters. Does take some trial and error in Python but you can also roll your own GUIs, which I did since I find the standard one is a bit cluttered with data I don't need. Works great and very happy with it. Only thing I would say is that if you do plan to use all the hardware of the Cerbo (relays, resistive tank sender pickups etc) the Cerbo may be more cost effective. Next addition will be to add a canbus board so it can be hooked into the NMEA bus as well. This could do with its own thread. How do you get the data up on that screen? are you using the victron operating system and what is this cerbo device? As mentioned, I've just graduated from using a volt meter to using a very simply and cheap battery monitor. As per the comments, a this tech and capability is clearly way over the head of a number of users around here. Some 'beginner 101' explanation would be really handy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Winter 42 Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 The Cerbo is a box from victron, essentially a tiny computer for monitoring your boats electrical system.. 101 video explaining They give the software away free so you can run it on a cheap raspberry pi if you want, but then you need to DIY all the interfaces to your gizmos 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,584 Posted August 15, 2023 Share Posted August 15, 2023 Visited our old home in SF 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 19, 2023 Share Posted August 19, 2023 Well, finally decided that I needed my own starlink system, as customers have them and/or are asking about them. Bought it from Noel Leemings - about $350. It comes with a router for WIFI and powering the antenna, a power cord, and a router to antenna cord. That's it, and that's all you need for a 230v setup. It's really easy to do, basically go to starlink.com, and create an account. It asks for the KIT number for your antenna, and then credit card details. I chose the basic local roam plan, $199/month. Setup was easy - basically plug it in, name your WIFI network, and allocate a password. 5 mins later, all working.. So, what does it do? Well, it's internet. Fast internet. Actually it's faster than the fibre to my house! The roam account lets you move anywhere in NZ, incl 8-10 K offshore, but if you want further out, simply toggle priority data ($2 GB) to ON in the app. Don't forget to toggle back off once you are back in the standard land area! Now, the standard Starlink is mains powered, and is up to 70w including the router. The next stage is to make it all 12v. I have the parts for that on order, including a replacement router. Cost for the parts for that is about $250 - coming from Amazon. I'll update when that is here and going. Meantime I've removed an old WIFI long range antenna from the Wind Gen mast, and made a Starlink antenna mount adapter. The plan is to be able to simply remove the Starlink antenna from the boat, and attach to the House - so I can cancel the house Fibre connection. That way the Starlink cost will actually be $100/Month more than the std house fiber connection. The benefits afloat are significant. Wifi calling on cell phone anywhere, no cell service required. Full internet at speed, so netfilix, predictwind, crew.org, Weather from any source, video calls etc etc. Anything you can do on fibre, incl work! Got to say that even though I knew this was what it did, and I've set it up for customers, and used it myself on other boats, I can't help but be impressed to have it on my own boat. Tech is really moving on, and what a huge step forward for anyone in a remote location, cruising or ashore! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 19, 2023 Share Posted August 19, 2023 1 minute ago, Guest said: Can you subscribe only when you need it, or is it on an annual basis? monthly - switch off/on when you like... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southernman 73 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 You can 12 volt it also. Plenty of tutorials on Youtube about it, i've just ordered a flat mount CNC kit as well. Should make the mounting a whole like tidier. Just be aware of the geofencing that they are putting in place if you go with the monthly rather than the 'RV' plan. Great product, will be interesting to see what pricing does once they have competition soon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 Yep, done the 12v conversion. Pretty straight forward, with a 12-48v dc-dc adapter, then a poe adapter, then a ethernet to starlink cable adapter. All available online. I had to cut my starlink cable to get it (physically) thru the stern mount, and then shorten for the install. Pretty easy, and been on the boat this weekend using it. Speeds been variable from about 60 Mb/s to about 170. Netflix, TV on demand, whatever all works great, as does wifi calling from the boat when no or poor cellular connection. 😀 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 Oh, the plan for the boat is now "local roam" local is NZ.. $200/m Stupid pic is sideways... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 So the 12v conversion is like this, these devices are smaller than image depicts, and i used a little usb c powered router to replace the starlink (not the one in the image, thats a pic from online, not mine) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 My understanding currently is that you just subscribe to priority data $2 GB. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CarpeDiem 430 Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 22 hours ago, Island Time said: Stupid pic is sideways... I thought you were installing the flat in-motion dish. I will be very interested in how this holds up in a blow and what connectivity is like when rolling around in a sea state. We did some trials, driving around with both dishes. For new in-motion installations I would recommend the flat in-motion dish over this model. It has 140deg (vs 100deg) view of the sky and a superior GNSS chip for determining which satellite to use. We damaged the tracking motors on the Gen2 dish, it didn't like 100kph on the motorway It isn't designed for in-motion use. 19 hours ago, Island Time said: My understanding currently is that you just subscribe to priority data $2 GB. Yep. Worldwide, until you end up in some territorial waters where the local govt hasn't granted an in-motion license... Incidentally there's a couple of sectors in the middle of the Hauraki Gulf which SpaceX have, in their infinite wisdom, decided are international waters. In theory you'll need to subscribe to priority in those locations too. Will be interested to hear if that's actually the case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 I've disabled the motors. Dish always points up. Worked fine on the wind in 15-20 knots across from waiheke to GH yesterday. This version will disconnect at about 10 knots, seemed fine and good speed at 8 knots... 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jon 360 Posted August 30, 2023 Share Posted August 30, 2023 Many yachts in Fiji this season have it, probably better than half. Spoken to a few that sailed up with local plan and they said it worked fine. ‘I’d say most if not all will have it next year Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LBD 128 Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 On 28/08/2023 at 4:50 AM, Island Time said: I've disabled the motors. Dish always points up. Worked fine on the wind in 15-20 knots across from waiheke to GH yesterday. This version will disconnect at about 10 knots, seemed fine and good speed at 8 knots... Does this mean a dish could sit discretely flat on a coach roof?... without pole. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.