is this old hat or not?

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Sailingsaves

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I am really excited about it.

Mate's boat, lovely sail and I fitted some different lights to his boat.

look at this web cam
http://blackwatersailingclub.org.uk/webcam/northey.html

dial 07800560773 and let it ring twice only and hang up. costs nothing.
watch web cam.

be amazed or not.

Let me know what you think.

If it is good I will add it to my shop (now prototyping is mostly done)
If it is old hat, I won't.

If you sail tomorrow have a good one - I have paper work to do, but today was great.
 
well, I am having a lot of fun with it. It is BRIGHT, bright HUGELY bright.

At 1 amp I should stop soon or his battery will be flat.

You can't stop growing old, but I certainly am not growing up.
 
Yes, of course. Is that novel? Is it new? Is it fun? I'm waiting for darkness to try it again. I'm also going to be seeing if the power generating set up I created will keep his 12.7 Volts up forever.

The point is when I was made redundant I attempted (still am) to start a small business in boaty stuff. It is a difficult market to break into and so far I haven't made a bean and that worries the wife, but I am happier than I have been in ages doing something I enjoy.

It is also amazing how we have been able to tighten our belts and make the little we do have go further.

I have fixed his boat up for him for free and I am teaching him to sail and I get to prototype a lot of my kit.

He is a great chap; one of those relaxed, never a bad thing to say about anyone type of person. I enjoy sailing with him and getting him sailing again after many years ashore.

This is prototype II on his boat now.

Of course, most people on here are so practical they can do most things themselves, but there are other people out there that I hope have more money than knowledge and will happily pay me for kit or devices or work. Here's hoping anyway. Not sure my website is up to speed as it has little UK traffic and my leaflets to local mariners and so forth have proved fruitless.
 
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gadget user said:
Yes, of course. Is that novel?
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Moderately so. Various people have done this kind of thing as a hobbyist project, and there are ready-made products available but only at silly prices for what they are. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any moderately priced remote control kits of this kind.

However, my point was more that it is conventional not to publish login details for any service (which is what the phone number above amounts to) where the entire Internet can read them. OK, I can't think of any immediate way for a Chinese cracker to cause harm through this, but then I'm not a Chinese cracker. At the very least, fifteen years ago I might have found it amusing to write a Perl script that would automatically flash the things on and off at the maximum possible rate (limited I guess by the time for two rings) and that's going to be annoying if nothing else.

Pete
 
dmmbruce said:
What is supposed to happen. I rang using my mobile, rang off, watched - nothing?????

Mike
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Do it again.

Have the webpage open on your monitor. The pictures refreshes every 30 seconds. The light stays on for 60 seconds.
So, when you ring it 2 or 3 times (and it does not pick up so costs £0) if you keep watching the webcam refiresh, you should see a BRIGHT white light top right ish of screen.
I did it at 21:30 with some ambient light around still and it was still VERY visible.
 
prv said:
Moderately so. Various people have done this kind of thing as a hobbyist project, and there are ready-made products available but only at silly prices for what they are. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any moderately priced remote control kits of this kind.

However, my point was more that it is conventional not to publish login details for any service (which is what the phone number above amounts to) where the entire Internet can read them. OK, I can't think of any immediate way for a Chinese cracker to cause harm through this, but then I'm not a Chinese cracker. At the very least, fifteen years ago I might have found it amusing to write a Perl script that would automatically flash the things on and off at the maximum possible rate (limited I guess by the time for two rings) and that's going to be annoying if nothing else.

Pete
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Fair enough, but I think you are in the top percentile of clever people and I don't think there will be many people able to do what you just mentioned.

I hope the benefits outweigh any negative effects.

On a dark stormy night, he'll be able to 'phone his boat and see if it is still on its mooring at least. Meanwhile I am testing heatsinks, current and voltage requirements, suppliers products, longevity, ability to withstand harsh conditions etc.

At worst, it will act as an anchor light for 60 seconds.

If you look closely at night, some boats to the left have silly little garden lights glowworming away a blueish colour/
 
I had assumed that this was intended to simply demonstrate remote switching and that it was intended to be used to turn on something like an Eberspacher. However, I really can't see that many would see much advantage in being able to switch a light on for a short while.

It is bright though. What have you used?
 
Rigger Mortice said:
I had assumed that this was intended to simply demonstrate remote switching and that it was intended to be used to turn on something like an Eberspacher. However, I really can't see that many would see much advantage in being able to switch a light on for a short while.

It is bright though. What have you used?
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Oh yes, it could do that too and is for that purpose_imagination and a few technical limits is all that holds this back from being used for lots of things. It will handle quite a few Amps - can't remember offhand. Have your boat warm as you drive down is a good idea. I have just fitted a light for now to test things.

It has various modes and configurations. You can set it so that it does not respond to a single phone call for example in case you had it on speed dial and sat on your phone by accident.

30 secs 1 min, up to an hour for on time I think, before you have to phone it again.

It can be configured to phone again to turn off.

The most expensive part is the plastic box to house it all in so far (not counting the labour in soldering). I think £25 as a ball park figure for me to post the item out to people. The yacht chandlers want it all boxed, labelled and looking pretty. I'm more of a function over form type of person, but I'll do what I have to in order to make a sale.

To fit it to devices for people would cost more of course.

Hopefully there will be middle ground whereby people will buy the box, plug it into a cigar outlet (fused) and then plug into the other side of the box the appliance they wish to control.

8W LED constant current driven. Draws a fair few amps, but less than 600mA. Heat sink on just in case. Fuses all over the place.
 
nigelmercier said:
So you have never rowed around an anchorage from midnight to 0100 looking for the boat your mate anchored there.
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Or even being rowed around by your mate looking for the boat you anchored there.

To the OP, switching on/off 240V equipment such as a battery charger/tube heater by mobile phone might be useful.
 
nigelmercier said:
So you have never rowed around an anchorage from midnight to 0100 looking for the boat your mate anchored there.
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That's a good one ! Especially after a few pints.

I have a really simple bit of kit for that though. Simple key fob in your hand with a range of at least 100m (tested in a friend's garden and that was the longest garden I could find). I must test the key fob range properly before I can start selling that bit of kit of course. £15 for that device I think RRP. Just got to find some cheap ABS or similar boxes _ surprising how much they cost compared to the clever electronic bits.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Or even being rowed around by your mate looking for the boat you anchored there.

To the OP, switching on/off 240V equipment such as a battery charger/tube heater by mobile phone might be useful.
Click to expand...

Yup, does mains voltage too. All via relays of course. De-humidifier would be a good one I imagine.
 
nigelmercier said:
So you have never rowed around an anchorage from midnight to 0100 looking for the boat your mate anchored there.
Click to expand...

No, because whenever I've been likely to be in that position I leave an anchor light on. I also have reflective strip stuck halfway up the mast which a torch can pick out very easily.
 
nigelmercier said:
So does this device have a SIM card in it, or does it detect the ringing of a nearby phone?
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Like many of my 'products' it is pretty simple. It detects when a mobile phone receives a call. I simply left an old mobile phone on his boat. I rigged it so the phone has permanent power so does not rely upon battery.
It does receive a signal even when tide is out at Springs and boat sits low below the marshland.
The phone only has to receive one ring and it activates the rest of the gubbins.
I know you'd be able to make a better product, but I am working with what I have and that is just a smattering of common sense and practical ability and a desire to make enough money to break even_ savings are dwindling away. Sold small cruiser, may even have to sell sailing dinghy next........
 
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