Remote boat monitoring?

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.
 
Kaiqr said:
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.
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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.
 
GHA said:
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.
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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..
 
Minerva said:
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..
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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 😊
 
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.
 
GHA said:
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 😊
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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.
 
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.
 
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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…

352BE344-6259-4ABA-A181-8FC7062D117A.png

Chris
 
davethedog said:
Hi all,

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced remote boat monitoring system that can do the following:
  • Send data and alerts remotely of:
    • Battery voltage.
    • Bilge pump.
    • Security system.
Thanks

DTD
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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
 
I was an early adopter of Vircru, and continue to use it on my current boat. I have over time bought many of their sensors, as even though they are reasonably pricey, I do feel like the value of the system as a whole increases with the more I use it. This is probably boat maths though. looking at the general selection on the market, I think it's a v good contender.

The Vircru stuff is physically well made, and their sensors have a very long battery life (10 years estimated). Connectivity is via a built-in roaming SIM card in the Vircru hub - and worldwide connectivity is covered by a yearly license fee which is something like £10/month. As an ecosystem, it is pretty well plug-n-play, and designed to have a 'low fiddle factor' (my words not theirs). For some this might translate into minimal flexibility around customisation etc.

Something you can't do is connect the phone app directly to the hub when you're on your boat, so if outside of mobile signal range it cannot be used as a local boat monitoring system. It is very much aimed at remote boat monitoring, and it does a good job of that.

I also met the Vesscom guys at the Southampton Boat Show, and was really impressed by them and the system they are developing. I think it's well worth a look, and arguably offers more flexible / versatile monitoring options than Vircru.
 
I’d like a system that works well with Starlink. I suppose that’s going to be a standard domestic system as Starlink is really like being on a wired broadband connection. Any ideas?
 
I’m a very happy customer of Chargemetrix. About £200 for the box and £40/year.
Nice app, batteries, bilges and anything else you want to connect to an12v sensor - mine tells me when the fridge is on!
 
I’ve used one of these solar 4g cameras to check in on boat when on swing mooring. No issues in a year, customer support was good if a little slow. Has kept enough charge over winter so far but the odd visit to boost charge would help.

https://amzn.eu/d/d6wvfWR
 
samfieldhouse said:
I’m a very happy customer of Chargemetrix. About £200 for the box and £40/year.
Nice app, batteries, bilges and anything else you want to connect to an12v sensor - mine tells me when the fridge is on!
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This looks like a good bit of kit actually - I haven't heard of these before, probably because it's not boat-specific. The subscription is quite reasonably priced too.
 
MattS said:
This looks like a good bit of kit actually - I haven't heard of these before, probably because it's not boat-specific. The subscription is quite reasonably priced too.
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We have a couple of Blink cameras on our boat which is also on a swing mooring. One lives on deck and has survived two seasons of sea water dunkings. Subscription not required, just need a wifi connection, in our case a 4g router.
 
Just reviving this thread to see if there is anything new on the remote monitoring front as I want to put something on when I go back at the end of the moment month. Both Vircru and Chargemetrix seem fairly good although it is a pity they can't use existing data sim in my MiFi
I'm also looking at putting a couple of Eufy Cameras although I'm not sure if the will do what I want as both security and a reversing camera for normal use. I have a couple of the first gen ones at home and they suffer motion blur from low frame rate although the new ones may be faster
 
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