Integrated navigation system.

[Allan]

I've woken this morning with a new idea! Plotter in the cockpit, for a robust, viewable screen linked (wire, Bluetooth, WiFi?) to a device below(laptop, tablet, low voltage PC?). The screen below could be a monitor/TV which is only turned on when it's being used and on Grand Prix weekends gets turned around and used as a TV.
Allan

 

[pmagowan]

I've woken this morning with a new idea! Plotter in the cockpit, for a robust, viewable screen linked (wire, Bluetooth, WiFi?) to a device below(laptop, tablet, low voltage PC?). The screen below could be a monitor/TV which is only turned on when it's being used and on Grand Prix weekends gets turned around and used as a TV.
Allan

It sounds like you just need an off the shelf solution. What you are asking for involves just buying a plotter with wireless functionality (any of the big brands do them) and a laptop. You can use the laptop as a 'TV' if you want, or for any other computer function.

 

[prv]

Almost fully agree. Having wind data displayed on the plotter is so useful. Being able to set the autopilot to follow a complex route automatically is also a big advantage. But I also value having depth data always on display in one corner of my plotter. I have multi-function instrument heads, one at each side of the cockpit, by the helms, and these are usually set to display wind data, so having the depth constantly to view on the plotter is vital - but maybe it's an East Coast thing!

Depth constantly visible is important - but to me that means a dedicated 4" display, not a fiddly window on the plotter which might or might not be visible depending on the mode and whether somebody is sitting in front of it.

The main depth display is above the hatch, but the autopilot controller on the binnacle can also show it, for use in shallow water when people are standing in the cockpit.

Pete

 

[pvb]

Depth constantly visible is important - but to me that means a dedicated 4" display, not a fiddly window on the plotter which might or might not be visible depending on the mode and whether somebody is sitting in front of it.

My plotter's right at the aft end of the cockpit table, between the 2 wheels, so people don't sit in front of it. And I think it's configured so that depth is always shown in one corner. It's quite legible, like this...

 

[bitbaltic]

I've woken this morning with a new idea! Plotter in the cockpit, for a robust, viewable screen linked (wire, Bluetooth, WiFi?) to a device below(laptop, tablet, low voltage PC?). The screen below could be a monitor/TV which is only turned on when it's being used and on Grand Prix weekends gets turned around and used as a TV.
Allan

That's pretty straightforward. If you wanted to link to a tablet you would only need the wifi function which most modern MFDs already have.

If you wanted to go down the TV-as-large-display road ou would need a 12v mini PC connected via a HDMI lead to an avtex or similar 12v TV. Then your only issue is getting the NMEA data into the PC. Most PC applications need 0183 so an 0183 to USB converter is probably necessary (you can make something up yourself, but you can get a lead for the purpose from Digital Yacht, or better still an inexpensive USB multiplexer from ShipModul).

If installing a new MFD type plotter you would probably find it has no 0183 port so would need an N2K to 0183 converter to connect it to both the PC and any existing 0183 instruments; usually an Actisense box gets recommended here but there are cheaper alternatives like a Simrad AT10.

I have a very similar system to the above and it is not expensive to make. The costs are in the plotter and the 12v TV.

Cheers

 

[Allan]

Many thanks for all the input, lots of things to think about. Bitbaltic, that's particularly interesting, I have a 12v TV, I bought it from Aldi for ~£100 a few years ago. It sold as a mains unit but comes with a 240vac to 12vdc power supply.
If I input 0183 into a laptop/PC I wonder if I can WiFi them into a plotter?
Allan

 

[pmagowan]

Many thanks for all the input, lots of things to think about. Bitbaltic, that's particularly interesting, I have a 12v TV, I bought it from Aldi for ~£100 a few years ago. It sold as a mains unit but comes with a 240vac to 12vdc power supply.
If I input 0183 into a laptop/PC I wonder if I can WiFi them into a plotter?
Allan

Seems a bit backward. Normally you connect everything to the plotter using their proprietary kit and software and then wifi it to the pc/laptop/tablet/phone. This is what these systems are designed to do. I don't see any benefit in doing it the other way round as it would be very difficult and require code skills and knowledge of the proprietary codes that come with the plotter etc. If you buy a large laptop then you can use it like a tv when you want. Alternatively you can connect your laptop to your 12v tv monitor and use it as a screen. If you are going to buy a plotter, which has this functionality included it would seem odd to recreate it just to reverse the direction the information flows.

 

[bitbaltic]

If I input 0183 into a laptop/PC I wonder if I can WiFi them into a plotter?
Allan

You would need to be running some software on the PC that can take NMEA data from the serial (usb) port(s) and re-transmit it to the ethernet (TCP or UDP). I believe (but am not sure) that OpenCPN may be able to do this, but have not tried anything like that. Perhaps one of our OpenCPN gurus here will be along in a minute and might have done it.

If you want to broadcast NMEA via wifi and, in a complete setup, are probably going to have to multiplex your 0183 beforehand anyway, the better solution is to buy a wifi-equipped multiplexer, which means you don't have to be running the PC down below in order to stream you NMEA wifi data. Something like the shipmodul MiniPlex-2Wi http://www.shipmodul.com/en/index.html would do this; they also have something coming out which can handle N2K conversion as well, which would be worth considering for futureproofing.

As pmagowan says though, one would not normally broadcast into a plotter; the above is more for broadcasting NMEA to tablets or smartphones. You would tend to stream your data either hardwired from the plotter to a multiplexer (if there are non-compatible things you also want streaming aside from whatever is on the plotter's stream)or directly via its wifi.

 

[bitbaltic]

You would need to be running some software on the PC that can take NMEA data from the serial (usb) port(s) and re-transmit it to the ethernet (TCP or UDP). I believe (but am not sure) that OpenCPN may be able to do this, but have not tried anything like that.

Turns out this is much easier to do than I imagined. If you have a PC with NavMonPC all you need do is enable the TCP/IP server in the software. If you then download the Tucabo boat instruments app (£4.99) to an iphone connected to the same wireless network as the PC, all you need to do is give the app the IP address of the computer and the port number assigned to the TCP server in NavMonPC and you are away. tried it tonight with an NMEA test file at home, should work with no problems on the boat.

Don't know whether the boat instruments app is available for what tablets and I assume there are chartplotting apps out there that can take this data too.

Guess this stuff has been doing the rounds for a while and I am a bit behind the times with it but it's pretty impressive!

 

[gjgm]

I've woken this morning with a new idea! Plotter in the cockpit, for a robust, viewable screen linked (wire, Bluetooth, WiFi?) to a device below(laptop, tablet, low voltage PC?). The screen below could be a monitor/TV which is only turned on when it's being used and on Grand Prix weekends gets turned around and used as a TV.
Allan

Just to say simrad have a newish plotter..not so multifunction..7 inch WiFi and navionic plus charts-a very large area for 580 quid. Note though it doesn't take radar or Ethernet and only nmea 2000,so may not fit your bill, but that seems quite a bargain.
However, how integrated do you need this..you can add Navionics to a tablet for about 40 quid, and that applies to all your devices in one go.
So, might not be as integrated as you need maybe, but that's a lot of aid for 620, I reckon.

 

[NickRobinson]

Paddling in the shallow (cheap) end, My setup came with an ancient Garmin 128 plotter indoors with a NASA repeater.
After some fiddling, I've got Memory Map on PC laptop and 10" Motorola tablet and the above talking to each other. (Laptop shut down after passage planning)
The tablet does not come on deck, it lives clamped to the saloon table on passage and I use a BT mouse if I want to zoom etc without going below. I've customised to give large boxes for SOG ETA etc
Works for BBC Iplayer later too. Redundancy too,
I'm trying to get to grips at home with OSMC/KODI on a RSBP2 and failing to network devices uPNP/DLNA/SAMBA etc etc networking to Win/Linux - not intuitive.

 

[Amulet]

I have a "system" which I'd not dare to call "integrated" for fear of sneers. It's idiosyncratic, but it suits me well and might give some ideas for someone else.

It uses:
- A Lenovo Yoga laptop on a custom built clamping table
as far forward as possible in the saloon (away from the wet).
It runs SeaClear.
- Wireless track ball to operate it with wet hands. It is rare to
need to touch the keyboard at sea, but you could have a wireless
one too.
- A Garmin GPS 72 in the cockpit visible to the helm and wired to
the laptop.
- A Sony Xperia waterproof tablet running Navionics.
- A Sony Xperia waterproof phone running Navionics.
- Chargers/power-supplies to run all of these off the boat's 12v DC.
- Spares of GPS, chargers, trackball, cabling so that I have basic
navigation unless all my devices fail.

The computer, tablet and phone are expensive items, but I use them for a million other things too.

The method in my hands:
- Input a route into the tablet while drinking my morning tea in my bunk.
- Bluetooth it to the computer.
- Send it from the computer to the GPS72 in the cockpit.
- Convert it to SeaClear format and load it into SeaClear.
- Tell the the computer (Seaclear), the tablet (Navionics) and the GPS72 all to navigate the route.
- Get on my way.

Mostly the helm will steer from the display of the GPS72 - it can be set to display almost anything you want - speed, distance to next, cross track error etc. If amps are in short supply all the other things can be switched off to conserve power, and only switched on when needed. In cases where I'm really nervous I sometimes load all the info into two GPS72's.

Usually the computer is running and displaying where we are. The tablet is taken into the cockpit in pilotage situations. It's true that it's not ideal in sunshine, but we manage OK.

If I'm feeling a bit poncy I convert the track from one or other of my devices to Google Earth format and superimpose it on Google Earth for a cute FaceBook picture. I also can get it into OS Mapfinder to display it on Ordnance Survey maps. Another toy is a route planner which I wrote in Excel (yes I know that's insane) into which I can import data. I am more than willing to admit that all of this is a bit of a fartabout.

I can tolerate failure all but one of laptop/tablet/phone and still have a navigation display. To continue to navigate a prepared route I need nothing but one GPS72 to keep working.

There are various stunts with bits of conversion software and choice of protocols to make all this work. If anyone wants to mimic any component of my madness I'll explain it.

 

[JMcKillop]

Recently I went to a talk at the cruising association by a guy from Digitalyacht. There were a number of interesting things discussed but it mostly got me thinking of nav systems.
If starting from scratch I would have a waterproofed tablet in the cockpit and something like a laptop or large tablet at the chart table. Both would run Navionics or similar. I have been wondering if its possible to have them linked, maybe by Bluetooth. The main reason would be to connect an AIS transponder to the lower one and view the input on the upper one. Does anyone know if this is possible?
Allan

Hi Allan,
During my thirst for knowledge regarding using a Raspberry Pi or Arduino for remote boat monitoring, I came across this article, "Enriching the NMEA stream using Java" which is an extract from Issue 30 of the MagPi magazine. Download free from: https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/30/
May be slightly off thread but should provide some interesting reading for any forumites who may understand it :ambivalence:. All the resource links are given at the end of the article :encouragement:.

 

[affinite]

I currently have a small laptop at the chart table running OpenCPN.
This will be replaced in 2 weeks time by a Raspberry Pi3 running OpenCPN/Openplotter with a 15" flat panel display. This is connected via a SeaTalk converter to the rest of my cockpit instruments and the autopilot.

Openplotter has a built-in WiFi hotspot so my splashproof CF-08 Panasonic wireless display can connect in the cockpit using VNC or Windows RDP. (So can my smartphone for whats its worth)
I prefer this arrangement of mirroring the main navstation computer to sharing NMEA data over WiFi as it maintains 1 "master" nav computer complete with all waypoints and routes. ie I don't have to ensure that different devices are synchronised wrt routes, waypoints, tracks etc

I also have a small (completely independent 5" chartplotter down below as backup)

I enjoy tinkering and I think Ive got a good solid navigation system.
Obviously, if you want off the shelf/turnkey, buy a dedicated plotter.