Medic
Member
Another endorsement from me for Vircru. Been using for over two years. Reliable and well-made kit.
Remote boat monitoring?
- Thread starter davethedog
- Start date
pyrojames
Well-known member
I put in a 4G WiFi router hard wired to the Victron Cerbo. Has worked mostly faultlessly, except the first Cerbo failed under warranty (Virtron replaced it). I monitor 3 bilge pumps, use one of the relays for remote heater start up, and can monitor batteries, solar and consumption )and temps and tank when I get around to putting in the sensors. The data requirements is a few kB, so I run a wireless network that allows streaming services or work connection whenever I am on board.
matt8442
Member
Another vote from me for VirCru, had it for 6 months now and works like a charm.
Kaiqr
New member
There's pitunnel (PiTunnel - Access your Raspberry Pi projects from anywhere) dedicated to this kind of scenario!
Free on the basic setting as far as I know.
GHA
Well-known member
openplotter comes with realvnc installed, create an account & log on then you can have the pi desktop available over the web anywhere. No port forwarding or anything to do, it works out of the box. Signalk will do anything you can think of with data as well, send as mqtt, email, send to a web page, pushbullet or even just use the Pi desktop directly online - pretty much anything really.
Minerva
Well-known member
Is there scope for being able to take a camera feed into RaspberryPi / open plotter?
I could see real benefit to 'dial into' a camera sat on the boat whilst I'm sat at home..
GHA
Well-known member
Not used it but the Pi has a dedicated camera input socket. Or maybe cheap usb webcam. Though there might be better ways to go.
Friend ran out of time setting up vnc so he left the screen on & pointed a cheapo webcam at it to do some remote monitoring
st599
Well-known member
VNC replicates the entire desktop on a remote machine, so as long as your camera is recognised, and you have some software on the Pi to display the feed, you will see it. What you may not see though is the camera output with full motion as it will throttle the Frames per second based on bandwidth.
Minerva
Well-known member
Thanks - I'm more thinking putting an outdoor CCTV camera on a pole at the stern or on the spreaders. Basically being able to see the the Genoa still furled nicely, when the boats' ashore that it's not cowped over on it's cradle or whilst on the mooring that the pick up line hasn't chaffing away to a perilous state.Not used it but the Pi has a dedicated camera input socket. Or maybe cheap usb webcam. Though there might be better ways to go.
Friend ran out of time setting up vnc so he left the screen on & pointed a cheapo webcam at it to do some remote monitoring
ash720
New member
I also use Vircru and it's great, for what it is, low power, self contained, etc. I have a CerboGX, but to run that constantly, along with a router I think would drain the batteries more than my existing solar panels would add back in on a winter's day.
I accidentally left my main power switch on and the parasitic drain (or possibly just the lone red indicator lamp), were enough to slowly pull the house battery down over a few weeks - as shown by the Vircru system.
I accidentally left my main power switch on and the parasitic drain (or possibly just the lone red indicator lamp), were enough to slowly pull the house battery down over a few weeks - as shown by the Vircru system.
AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
I did one but there was little interest...
Anchor watcher YAPP - remote boat monitoring from a mobile phone
No static IP address needed - all data transfer over the internet done via a free publicly available MQTT server. Mobile data costs lest than £3 per month using a 1pMobile SIM.
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chris-s
Active member
Camera wise, we have a couple of Amazon blink cameras onboard, one looking aft from under the sprayhood and the other tucked under the traveller which runs across the doghouse and is exposed to then elements.
Powered by a couple of AA batteries with a wireless connection to a blink hub which in turn connects to our mifi router. The cameras are weather proof and the deck one has been doused by green stuff many times.
Currently have one setup under the winter cover and the nighttime view is pretty good too…
Chris
Powered by a couple of AA batteries with a wireless connection to a blink hub which in turn connects to our mifi router. The cameras are weather proof and the deck one has been doused by green stuff many times.
Currently have one setup under the winter cover and the nighttime view is pretty good too…
Chris
mikegunn
Well-known member
I’ve just installed a system which would seem to answer your requirements Boat Monitoring System : Hello Sailor. From a users point of view it is very simple to install, there’s no WiFi involved and it just works!
Market research led me to device called “Hello-Sailor”. It uses the mobile phone network to communicate with my phone via SMS. If I send a text to the device, which is mounted in my boat, requesting “Status” I get a very speedy text response indicating voltages of two battery banks, confirmation that the bilge pump has not run and the status of a further two circuits, one of which could be shore power and the other a door switch for example. There is also a possibility to switch a relay remotely on and off, which could control a heater, for example.
Should the bilge pump switch on or the two additional circuits be energised, the Hello-Sailor device will send a text message to my phone advising the change of status. I’m a bear of very little brain when it comes to electronics but I found the system very easy to install thanks to excellent instructions. Running costs? 10p every time it sends a message, which hopefully won’t be very often.
Oh, and just to emphasise, I have no connection whatsoever with the company, just a very satisfied customer.
Mike
