Building the Ultrasonic Antifouling Kit from Jaycar

[Fr J Hackett]

Both mine built yesterday, looking to pot the transponders this week.

 

[wizard]

Having cancelled the order at the beginning of December due to the £30 extra carriage I have bit the bullet resigned myself to the extra costs and reordered.

Guess what -they have accepted the order and it has now been despatched with just the £10 postage!

With just the import fees to pay now you can imagine how pleased I am and cannot wait to start building it when it arrives.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Yes got mine with no extra postage required for two units.

 

[Norman_E]

I wuz robbed

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I wuz robbed

Don't know if you saw my post on the PBO forum but I am now wondering about powering the system. I have never left my shore power on when away from the boat as I have never been sure of the effect on the batteries of being charged allbeit on float by the Mastervolt charger for weeks at a time. I still am not convinced and am thinking a 12 volt power supply direct from the shore supply leaving the batteries isolated and not on charge. Have you any thoughts?

 

[Norman_E]

My method of keeping the batteries up to snuff when I am away is the leave the battery charger connected via a seven day mechanical time switch, set to come on for about one hour, twice a week. This is similar to the type of switch I use, though mine is entirely mechanical and was a lot cheaper. http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TCCPU7.html. With the added drain of two antifouling units I might extend the time.

EDIT, I just found the type I use http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...418707/c_3/3|cat_14418707|Timers|14418710.htm

 

[fireball]

Don't know if you saw my post on the PBO forum but I am now wondering about powering the system. I have never left my shore power on when away from the boat as I have never been sure of the effect on the batteries of being charged allbeit on float by the Mastervolt charger for weeks at a time. I still am not convinced and am thinking a 12 volt power supply direct from the shore supply leaving the batteries isolated and not on charge. Have you any thoughts?

I would say this was reasonable if you have a shore power connection anyway.
We used to do this with our elecs on the last boat - no battery charger, so when connected to shorepower we had a rectifier and I connected that into the boats electrics (having isolated the battery!) then carry on using stuff without worrying too much.

 

[Talbot]

How do you decide how many of these you need for a specific boat - for exaple a 39ft catamaran?

 

[Norman_E]

The magazine article says one unit for a mono-hull up to 32 feet, therefore a 39 foot cat is probably going to need 4 units. I say probably because the article was basically considering relatively wide beam motorboats, with the unit placed well aft to give best protection to props and rudders. On a 39 foot catamaran it might work with one unit in each hull, placed about two thirds of the way back behind any stub keels or dagger boards. I base this on the fact that if you put one unit in a 32 foot motorboat, aft of the propellers as they illustrate, it is also trying to protect the bow part of a boat which is over 25 feet away.

 

[Plamen]

2 Jaycar ultrasonic kits for sale (Germany)

Hi All
just to let you know, I have 2 Jaycar ultrasonic kits for sale, sitting now on my shelf in Germany. I ordered 6, 2 of them I don't need anymore. I payd just the standard shipping 20 GBP for 2, plus 19% German VAT & some clearance service (similar to UK costs). I just want to cover my costs, If somebody wants them drop me a PM.
I will than breakdown the exact costs (for me they are in EUR)
but again I don't want profit out of it, just fair cost coverage.
Best regards
Plamen

 

[Plamen]

Hi All
just to let you know, I have 2 Jaycar ultrasonic kits for sale, sitting now on my shelf in Germany. I ordered 6, 2 of them I don't need anymore. I payd just the standard shipping 20 GBP for 2, plus 19% German VAT & some clearance service (similar to UK costs). I just want to cover my costs, If somebody wants them drop me a PM.
I will than breakdown the exact costs (for me they are in EUR)
but again I don't want profit out of it, just fair cost coverage.
Best regards
Plamen

so here are my costs :
2 kits + 20 GBP freight (£159,50)=188,40 €
Mastercard charge=1,88 €
2 kits 19% VAT+clearance=44,00 €
Total 2 kits=234,28 €, 1 kit=117,14 €
registered parcel to UK=16,00 € (per kit)
total 1 kit delivered UK=133,14 € (around £115)
total 2 kits delivered UK=266,28 € (around £229)
there will be no VAT or anything else ontop in the UK of cource.
I also could unpack the original box into 2 max letters, so shipment may come significant down...
Let me know
Regards
Plamen

 

[Norman_E]

Cheap Controllable Temperature Soldering Iron

I do not know how good this is, but Lidl are getting a variable temperature soldering iron kit on sale on 31st January. Details here

 

[mcafzap]

Modification

I'm impatiently waiting for one of you to tell me how effective this kit is now you've fitted it to your boat... .

Here's a poser; would it help if the transducer(s) ran continuously if the boat was on shore power?


Steve

 

[wizard]

Now eagerly waiting for my parcel to arrive and for all those who are making this project I recommend paying for the first article in the Australian magazine 'Silicon Chip' as you can download the actual program for the main IC that Jaycar puts on the chip- it might save grief in the future if for some reason through a malfunction the chip got corrupted etc.

You also get the circuit board layout diagram.

 

[Norman_E]

....Here's a poser; would it help if the transducer(s) ran continuously if the boat was on shore power?

That is what I intend to do, the two units will be run all the time the boat is in water.

 

[SolentPhill]

Out of all you clever people would you be interested in making one for someone else for a few quid???

 

[nigelmercier]

I recommend paying for the first article in the Australian magazine 'Silicon Chip' as you can download the actual program for the main IC that Jaycar puts on the chip- it might save grief in the future if for some reason through a malfunction the chip got corrupted etc.

You also get the circuit board layout diagram.

You can get all these without paying for the articles, just click one of the photos in the article and you get the whole gallery of the circuit boards. Similarly for the article on the encapsulation of the transducer.

The PIC code is also on a seperate download page from the articles.

 

[nigelmercier]

leave the battery charger connected via a seven day mechanical time switch, set to come on for about one hour, twice a week...

Not sure this is a good idea, unless it is a trickle/float charger. Otherwise the batteries get a boost charge with no time to absorb it. Might be better to do it for a couple of hours once a week.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Well it's all assembled and next time down the boat it will be installed possibly this weekend. I have thought long and hard about the connection to the hull and am not convinced that the described method using silicone grease will ensure a fit that excludes air so I have decided to bond the potted transducers to the hull with epoxy a once and for all fit and forget, because of hull shape there is no near horizontal surface. Have done it once before with an internal echo sounder transducer and it was OK. Rather than leave the battery charger on all the time I have decided to use a mains powered stabillised 12 volt supply, then possibly fit a solar cell at some time in the future. Will let you know how it goes.

 

[wizard]

Just finished potting up my transducer so will be ready to move tomorrow, so all is now done except the fitting in the yacht in two weeks time and switching on.

Cant wait to hear the screams and wailing as the algae and barnacles give up the ghost



PS Hopefully!