Remote Boat Security and Temp Control

[POD II]

I'm trying to find a system where i can remotely check on the temp/humidity on board over the winter.

I've got a heater and de-humidifier on board but if someone were to unplug the shore power then i'd be without either and would have no idea until i went on board maybe many weeks later (Even if the shore power was plugged straight back in again it needs an access code inputing to switch it back on again)

What i'm after is a system that i could access over the internet and via the marina WiFi to remotely check on what the temerature/humidity is on board. Even better would be a system that alerted me if the temperature fell below a certain value, or if the shore power were disconnected.

I've heard of security cameras that you can set up and access remotely over the internet this would also be of interest if cost were not too much.

I've come across this system http://www.filesthrutheair.com/categories.php?category=336 and have emailed the company to see if it'll do what i want.

Any advice, recommendations and experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[neale]

Thermotxt will monitor shore power and temperature and will txt you if power is lost or temp goes outset your preset parameters, can also be used to turn an electrical item, such as tube heaters, on and off remotely,

http://www.tekview-solutions.com/thermotxt.php

 

[Dirtyrat]

+1 for thermotxt.

Really excellent, and cheap once you have set it up. Love the feature that you can text it just to check in (not that you need to).

I once confused my harbour master by calling up to say the electricity had gone off on my boat... He said that he'd only just unplugged it to use my socket for 5 mins, and how did I know?

I also considered buying another one, and plugging it in to a fan heater, so that i could text it to come on 30 mins before i arrived at the boat... just never got round to it though.
Great!

 

[Harpsden]

Here's another system you could look at:-

http://www.yacht-sentinel.com/

 

[jfm]

I use the above yacht sentinel. It will do whaT you're asking.

 

[Firefly625]

Same but cheaper than thermotext…

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=171444125556

 

[Gentlemanracer]

I use thermoTxt, one in the cabin, one in the engine room both connected to tube heaters. Can dial up for temperature update and power status and, as has been said, spot when you get unhooked!!

 

[EugeneR]

Another +1 for THERMOTXT although they are expensive for what they are; also, you get the same product under a lot of different brands e.g. TEKVIEW, ENERGENIE, etc.

The one firefly linked to, seems yet another one... less than half the price of other brands for the identical thing.

 

[POD II]

Same but cheaper than thermotext…

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=171444125556

Tekview tell me that the eBay one is a Chinese copy and their firmware has been improved/updated since. You can tell if you have a Chinese copy by looking at the BS number printed on the back which says BS573 instead of BS5733.

Tekview are also doing a new lower cost alternative called Envirotxt which gives all the 'report' functionality but doesn't offer the 'switching' capability.

If i use heaters with thermostats, then if something fails Envirotxt will tell me and i can either phone the marina or pop down - can't see when i'd need/use the switching capability(?)

 

[neale]

How much is the saving? The remote switching can be used for many things. You could turn on some heating before you arrive, you could switch on your electric blanket as you are on the way back from the pub. You could even fill the kettle before you leave to go to the pub and have it boiling as you are walking back down the pontoon. Once you have it, you'll be surprised what uses you find for it!

 

[jfm]

The envirotxt thing seems a bit limited. The yacht sentinel does everything being talked about here, including switching on the kettle, but will also text you if the door to your boat opens or if the bilge water goes high or if the boat moves outside a geofence. You can set the geofence centre on the fly, ie if you leave the boat at anchor and go to the pub it will text you if the anchor slips

 

[neale]

The envirotxt thing seems a bit limited. The yacht sentinel does everything being talked about here, including switching on the kettle, but will also text you if the door to your boat opens or if the bilge water goes high or if the boat moves outside a geofence. You can set the geofence centre on the fly, ie if you leave the boat at anchor and go to the pub it will text you if the anchor slips

I guess if the OP is looking at saving a few quid going for the Envirotxt, rather than the Thermotxt, the £400 for a Yacht Sentinel might be stretching it a bit. Although it does look like a useful bit of kit, for not a bad price.

 

[SammyB]

The envirotxt thing seems a bit limited. The yacht sentinel does everything being talked about here, including switching on the kettle, but will also text you if the door to your boat opens or if the bilge water goes high or if the boat moves outside a geofence. You can set the geofence centre on the fly, ie if you leave the boat at anchor and go to the pub it will text you if the anchor slips

Sounds like a great idea! How difficult is it to have fitted?

 

[EugeneR]

Yacht Sentinel seems expensive for what it is; yes, it is a low volume product compared to a smartphone for £50 or even a Raspberry Pi.

For that matter, so is the Tekview and equivalents at over £120. Having opened some of these up, they seem to be identical and quite basic inside, maybe with some minor firmware differences. You get a few apps that can talk to most if not all the different brands; also, you get them in many countries just with different plugs. So, I would buy the ebay one, if I need one more.

 

[Anders_P42]

I bought one of these last week, bit of a punt as its got some bad reviews reporting server issues. But for the reduced £40 worth a shot. I've got it connected to 4G router on boat, it transmits data via Ethernet port to an online server (Temp / humidity sensor transmits wirelessly on 433MHz to base station). I've just bought two more sensors so I can leave one in saloon where de-humidifier runs, install one in engine bay and one under cockpit rear seating to monitor outside temp.

There's an ipad / android app that plots graphs and shows currant and high / low temps for the day.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/oregon-scientific-lw301-anywhere-weather-kit-n05qn

 

[abraxus]

Same but cheaper than thermotext…

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=171444125556

Big thanks, was just about to order a Thermotext and saw this. Much appreciated.

 

[POD II]

Same but cheaper than thermotext…

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=171444125556

Knowing that it's a Chinese copy with out dated firmware at best means it's not the same.

I wouldn't take the risk, besides buying direct from Tekview you get a discount so the price difference is less.

 

[Anders_P42]

Here are the graphs, there's only one temp / humidity sensor connected I'll connect the next two this weekend. It will be interesting to see the delta between outside temp and engine room.

Temperature history for past few days, surprised how warm is gets in Saloon. The Meaco DDL8 De-humidifier kicks out some heat, when it operates but not much (about 300W from memory on medium setting).

Humidity for past few days - I spent Thursday night and Friday night on boat last week, the humidity increases while I'm onboard then settles out from Sunday onwards as Meaco goes to work.

 

[Hurricane]

The envirotxt thing seems a bit limited. The yacht sentinel does everything being talked about here, including switching on the kettle, but will also text you if the door to your boat opens or if the bilge water goes high or if the boat moves outside a geofence. You can set the geofence centre on the fly, ie if you leave the boat at anchor and go to the pub it will text you if the anchor slips

The trouble with the yacht sentinel seems to me that, to get the best from it, you need to wire it throughout the boat. Then it would be great.

The advantage of the Envirotxt is that you can just plug it in and its "job done"

For the last couple of years, I have been using a similar branded version called the Energenie https://energenie4u.co.uk/index.php/catalogue/product/ENER022
I'm sure that it was well under £100 when I bought it - I shopped round to find the best deal - didn't find Envirotxt at the time - I wonder who ACTUALLY makes it.
The big thing for me is something that monitors the shore supply and the Envirotxt type of device does that job nicely.
Occasionally, I will text it to confirm that it is still working - mainly, though, to keep the PAYG Vodafone card/service active.
I don't have anything plugged into the Envirotxt's control socket but it does send me the temperature whenever I text it.

Well worth the money and, as I say, dead easy to install.

 

[Scubadoo]

I use Alertpal (also called Minder), same principle as the Envirotxt i.e. text/sms message alert if power fails. It also has a infrared camera for security and if I want to check the cabin all by text. Also has wireless door contacts and smoke alarm. I then customized it to monitor temperature (if it drops below a set threshold I get a text) and wired to my bilge alarm float switch. The customization is not covered by the product, it was more something I learnt that you can buy and pair with the camera. There are also water sensors that I am looking to set-up e.g. by the seascocks, so I can detect a leak before the bilge pump comes on etc.