Chartplotters

[Guest]

Waterproofing IMO, is not so important down below. Your electrical system is not waterproof!

You big boat sailors living the life of dry luxury

 

As my beast can get as wet downstairs as outside, admittedly that's generally only while racing, I've (or more correctly Otto's) designed a near waterproof electrical system. The water level can be 5-600mm above the bunks (which is above cockpit floor level) and all the electrics shouldn't be compromised.

 

When you think about it and are starting from scratch it's knot hard to do and with a little more tweaking it could be damn near totally waterproof.... but we are thinking that if you're in your saloon and the water level has pasted your belly button and is heading fast to your moobs, it's probably time to play with a liferaft not be standing there admiring your dry wiring.

[Island Time 1,235]

Km, the boat almost certainly won't be stationary! Water over the floorboards means up the hull sides, slopping everywhere.

If you have water inside, over your knees, I think you're likely at or near the point of down flooding. Electrics will be the least of your problems! Except maybe the epirb!

I've never seen an electrical system that I'd expect to survive an immersion. Switch panels, circuit breakers etc all are likely to crap out. Lead acid batts contaminated with salt water, or loss of acid and inoperable, etc etc.

If you expect this, buy everything to ip67 or higher...

[wheels 543]

The water level can be 5-600mm above the bunks (which is above cockpit floor level) and all the electrics shouldn't be compromised.

Assuming you don't get knock down or rolled over

[Guest]

To true IT, assuming you wire up your boat in 2014 as they did way back 1930, just as they still do with 99.9% of them. But there are other ways of doing it. Come have a suss when it's done and all will become clear.

 

All I have to do to get liquids over my floor boards is spill 1/2 a Stieny.

[On tilt 0]

So I.T your obviously a fan of the laptop based nav system, On my boat at present I have nothing. I like the idea of getting a panasonic toughbook with OpenCPn and a tablet for the cockpit.

Do you know if this is sufficient for cat 3 and do you have any recommendations for what model laptop and tablet are best paired up. It would have to be an older toughbook as the new ones are a bit pricey.

Any info much appreciated

[too_tall 15]

Whatever you use in the cockpit, make sure its not going to easily be dislodged from where it is located, and also that its not going to go flat.

 

I have found that the gps in tablets and phones is fine in good weather, but can be very average in an electrical storm, to say the least. The external antenna GPS's with a double helix antenna appear to be far more robust with regard to the reception in poor conditions.

 

We always use openCPN when planning a route or for "big picture" stuff - a 17" high resolution display is far superior to a 8" chart plotter. But there is no way we would be without the plotter at the helm. Tried a toughbook ( they are not as tough as they claim either, just by the way! ) and did not enjoy that at all. Also tried my brothers ipad, but visibility in direct sun was hopeless, and battery life meant that it was not suitable to be an "always on" type of device for longer trips with limited visibility.

 

We also have navionics on our smart phones etc but its just not the same as openCPN on the laptop nor is it a substitute for the b&g/simrad slave app.

 

IMO, sometimes the cheaper option is not the most convenient or user friendly.

[Island Time 1,235]

First, a handheld gps and charts is sufficient for cat 3. You don't need a plotter.

If you want a screen in the cockpit, I agree with TT, a tablet is normally a fine weather device. It would have to have a fixed mount, be powered, and be a ruggedized model to be otherwise.

Personally I use a fixed screen in the cockpit - its ip67, sunlight viewable, and is just a repeater from the PC below. It also can be turned to face fwd, so we can watch movies in the cockpit at anchor! Proper, waterproof, sunlight viewable displays start at $460 NZD - see the Neptune's Gear add along the side of this forum.

I use a standard office laptop below, connected to a proper GPS (furuno gp31). Never had an issue with cat 1, and never had to replace the laptop due to water in over 40000 miles. I do carry at least 1 spare though.

On Tilt - are you in Auckland? You (or anyone else interested) would be welcome to come by for a beer and a look at my system if you like...☺

[Absolution 7]

While I'm a fan of OpenCPN I much prefer my primary GPS to be using "real" vector charts rather than raster charts downloaded from the likes of LINZ and then calibrated for use with plotting software like OpenCPN. Any mistakes made during the calibration process could result in significant navigational issues!

[Island Time 1,235]

No longer required Fineline, charts produced by Linz are directly readable by opencpn now. No calibration required. AND they are scans of the real charts, not someone's vector representaion...

[Absolution 7]

No longer required Fineline, charts produced by Linz are directly readable by opencpn now. No calibration required. AND they are scans of the real charts, not someone's vector representaion...

 

That's good to know! Calibrating the charts was a pain in the ass and I had found errors in charts that other people had calibrated and made available for download. Having said that I still like the ability to turn on and off layers of information in vector charts.

[Island Time 1,235]

You need to try again Fineline, you can do that as well!

[Absolution 7]

You need to try again Fineline, you can do that as well!

 

Will do, thanks!

[On tilt 0]

IT I'll take you up on that offer, it would be good to see the system first hand as there are a lot of different options out there.

Yes I'm in auckland and I can bring the beer

[Island Time 1,235]

No worries On tilt, I sent you a PM -we can arrange something...

Matt

[Jon 360]

Hi Tilt

It really comes down to your personality

I've done both over the years

Matt is obviously into computers and lived on his boat, built it up himself, so understands it inside out

If you on the other hand are a weekend sailer, race with a random crew, may need a system that anyone can operate, may be better off with a stand alone plotter

 

Definatly have a look at Matts system, but also think about how it will be used as much as the costs and extras

 

And don't forget that if something happened to you, can your crew easily find their postion, ping a MOB them find their way back to you.

 

It's not all about finding your way into an anchorage

 

But then again I usually run atleast 2 smart devices, a laptop and a stand alone plotter

[too_tall 15]

I am generally one who would DIY and use computers/laptops/tablets for anything that I can. My cowshed is controlled by a pc with a custom linux distro I have developed over the years. I am not at all someone who does not like computers.

 

But I also will spend money on a dedicated device when I really think that it gives a better result.

 

With regard to chartplotters ( which this thread was originally about ):

IF I only want a chart plotter, open CPN on a laptop down below is probably the most suitable setup IMO. I plug my Garmin handheld into the laptop via usb and that not only keeps it charged, but it appears to get a lock far faster than usb gps dongles and also appears to have a higher level of accuracy for some reason ( although the usb ones are pretty good in this situation.)

If I want a device that can be used as a chart plotter, but also something that will do a lot of other stuff, and be waterproof and mounted, I would always go for a multi function unit that is built to do what I want. So for an at helm autopilot controller, plotter, fish finder, instrument display repeater, radar display, etc, a laptop is not really what I consider ideal. Nor is a remote touchscreen overly useful.

 

If having a movie able to be displayed in the cockpit is important, bring the laptop up. Its clearly nice weather if your wanting to watch a movie!.