Boat Laptop power settings...reasonably boaty ;-)

[stefan_r]

Got a whizzy Toughbook laptop from ebay to run chartplotter, in Windows you have lots of power saving options including Turn Off Hard Disks.

Question...if I am going to be running this laptop all the time for charting and it's on most of the day what power settings should I use. I MUST have the screen on all the time (kind of defeats object to have chartplotter in hibernation or screen off!!!).

This ISN'T to conserve power (have 12v power supply and 4x180ah batteries!!) but to not run the laptop at full chat all day long.

I was also thinking that Turn Off Hard Disks might be useful because maybe the drive reader heads get parked and won't damage the disk if it gets bumpy and they slide about.

Ideas????


PS why don't replies get emailed to your email account as well as get posted like they used to??

 

[MidlandsOnSea]

I don't fully understand your objectives. If you're on a mobo, then battery power isn't going to be the problem, because the engine will be charging the batteries as quickly as you drain them. Using the laptop for long periods of time will do it no harm - in fact, ther's a school of thought that says PCs are better being left on all the time.

But, if you're using a PC on board for the first time, maybe these points will assist:

- Rather than using an inverter to get a 240v output (very inefficient), buy a 12volt power pack for your laptop - usually available on ebay.
- Better still, to avoid having cables everywhere, buy yourself a few extra batteries for the laptop and dispense with the need for external power at all. If you look after the batteries, the modern Li-ion ones can last for ages. I have a very average Dell laptop and I can get 5 hours use out of 2 batteries
- Turning off your hard drive is unlikely to make much difference - the chartplotting software will be processing the whole time and will be drawing on the hard drive frequently to access the graphical data for the charts
- The setting which would save most power is the screen hibernate function - but not very useful, as you say
- An altogether bigger challenge will be seeing the screen images in sunlight if you use the laptop in the cockpit of a sports cruiser or on the flybridge of a flybridge boat. The laptop screens simply are not bright enough, and beware of your laptop automatically selecting a low-brightness setting when running on battery power. Daylight-viewable screens are available, but they will cost more than the laptop. I've wrestled with this problem for a while, and have decided that buying such a screen is the only practical way to use my PC on a mobo (it was easy on a sailing yacht - the PC sat down below on the chart table).
- You also need to think about protecting the PC from the weather. I've designed something to do this, but the trick is to ensure you allow the PC to vent the heat produced from its fans
- Your choice of software, if you haven't already made it, is worth spending time on. Magazine reviews often point to packages which are high on ease-of-use but I personally have found the extra features on the less-easy packages are worth having. You certainly need to budget a good chunk of time getting to know the software rather than just expecting to switch it on and work intuitively without reading the manuals, at which point you will find it starts to become much better than a simple chartplotter.

Hope this helps

 

[mjf]

I agree, use 12v and get a thingy that produces the 15v required - and run it all the time.

Concur also on software too. I recently ended up with maptech stuff which I like as it interfaces with my PDA - therefore have the boats system(s), PC backup - and for passage planning etc, and a handheld (PDA) if the sh.. hits the fan. Frankly if you have the laptop already and a GPS enabled PDA its a cheap way to have multi-plotters.

 

[Stoaty]

I think your worrying unnecessarily. I have been using an IBM think pad laptop for 6 years now, not only as a chartplotter on the boat but every day as a navigator in my truck! I have never had any problems with it and it's seen plenty of shocks in that time. I have been running it from an invertor but last week I bought a 12v 120w multivoltage laptop power supply from Maplins.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=36836&TabID=1&source=14&doy=4m2

It was listed as £19.99 but I got it on special offer for £12.75.

The power consumption with the screen full brightness, laptop battery charging has gone down from 4 amps with the inverter to 1.6 amps with the 12v supply.

The laptop settings are for maximum performance and turn off screen and hard discs after 30 mins of inactivity.

What I have done for the boat is to make a red plastic screen overlay, with a bit of elastic on the back to fix it into place. So that I can use it at night. Otherwise the screen was way too bright even on it's darkest setting.

 

[DavidJ]

Damn, I bought a genuine adaptor (for my indestructable Thinkpad) a couple of years back and it cost £50. Still, I know where to go now if it goes pop.
Incidently, mine is about the same age as yours (pre DVD drive) and it became a transformed machine when I loaded Windows XP. (loaded from scratch not upgraded.)
David

 

[tcm]

Hi stefan

I don't agree that you need this thing on permanantly. As i understand, this wd be for you trip to the med fro N europe, yes?

I think you should
1) decide the waypoints you plan to use, and writem down.
2) Get some else to check thsoe waypoints.
3) plug them into the chartplotter
4) Set off, using autopilot at thos waypoints
5) Occassionally log the compass bearing so if you somehow lost the chartplotter you'd know the approximate bearings anyway
6) if the PC blows up (and lots of people have boats purely BECAUSE computers blow up or go wrong, ahem) then you have the waypoints, charts and (hopefully) another gps which to use. On a long trip you don't need this thing to work as much as you think - radar and tempreature guages are where you look a few times every minute.

oh ok, look, the waves shouldn't be so wavy as to ding the hard disks, so don't worry about that. You dropping it might do so, though, and actual water landing on it, or a cup of tea or suchlike would bustit. That's where the care is needed. Most puters get busted by people: leave the thing and don't touch it and they nearly never ever go wrong.

 

[MidlandsOnSea]

The message from the previous post is: don't just rely on the PC. I couldn't agree more. But, that's true of any electronic nav. Never mind waypoints, make sure you have paper chart and know how to plot a course to steer, estimated position etc. And keep a log and EP worked up even while the PC is running, rather than waiting for it to fail.

Using PC nav is about much more than just seeing your position on a chart. Unlike chartplotters, you can get accurate ETAs, watch you redicted C.O.G. change in real time, set alarms for hazard zones, use weather and tide overlays.

 

[Oldhand]

Your Maplins link is to a converter which is stated as having 3.5A output which is most certainly not a 120W adapter as you claim. I considerd this unit too marginal on power output for a ThinkPad, if for example a near flat battery was being chaged at the same time as the laptop was in use. I thus went for a 6A unit also for under £20 at http://www.primepc.co.uk/index/html/cm_id/1057/action/product_detail/p_id/14129. This unit apears to be very efficient as it doesn't seem to generate any noticeable heat.

 

[Stoaty]

Yep your right should have read it more closely. Thats the 70W model, which is marked up at 14.99 in out local shop and is selling for under £10.

I can't find the 120w model on their site.

The manufacturer is Vanson and the model is SDR 120

Auto DC power regulated adaptor

Input 12-16v DC 11.5Amp Max

Output 15/16/18/19/20v DC 6A
22/24V DC 5A 120w max

I am afraid your link is producing an error and will not display.

 

[stefan_r]

quite right...and laptop is 3rd part of nav stuff with paper and Raymarine HHeld plotter being one and two.

Wanted the PC on as I have got chart stuff and useful 'second opinion' to glance at PC plotter as well as compass and paper.

Quite right about the 'don't touch' it's actually hidden under helm seat with 2xVGA feeds - one fly one lower helm position with two cheapie LCDs at each position...no danger of cup of tea accident locked in there.

I'm sure you're right about the waves n stuff....jut wanted to be sure i wasn't gonna have HDD reader skating across my disk...!!!

Cheers AGAIN for your help!

 

[stefan_r]

uite right - as I say I have 12v power supply and 4x180ah batteries...it was more about being kind to laptop and HDDrives

Got 12v supply off ebay £12!!! Pucker panasonic too!!

For the screen though I have mounted it in a box....not prettiest thing until I work out what really to do but makes it sunlight viewable (actually shady viewable!!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

What did you do to your screen to view in daylight??

I am running Tsunamis Navigator....if I had my time again don't know what I would have bought - but the vector charts on TN are great.

 

[stefan_r]

zacly why I have PC and paper....and discipline not to rely on PC, really just about 'what's the best way to run the laptop if it's going to be on while underway'.

Got Tsunamis Navigator incidentally...not great interface but cracking charts.

 

[RocquaineBay]

Re: Boat Laptop Power Supply Question

Power supplies from onboard generators, transformers and the like (inverters too) all make the many gadjets work which we want to use aboard but am I making this up?

I thought I've read somewhere that the electricity supply generator must have or produce, a modified sine wave, not castle, or saw tooth? Failure to ignore this, I am told, shags your pc laptop battery in no time at all. True or false, I would like to know. Please tell me.

Mike