Router for boat

[Heckler]

My, not used now, relatively new Orange router is powered by a mains to 12v transformer. So, with some tweaking, it should be useable on board as a wireless provider of data? This idea is driven by the thought of squirting NMEA data wirelessly around the boat. I notice that digital yacht are doing something similar using TCP/IP.
Question for our IT geeks, this router has a USB port on it for sharing files, how could I feed NMEA in so that I could squirt it wirelessly?
Stu

 

[gregcope]

My, not used now, relatively new Orange router is powered by a mains to 12v transformer. So, with some tweaking, it should be useable on board as a wireless provider of data? This idea is driven by the thought of squirting NMEA data wirelessly around the boat. I notice that digital yacht are doing something similar using TCP/IP.
Question for our IT geeks, this router has a USB port on it for sharing files, how could I feed NMEA in so that I could squirt it wirelessly?
Stu

Not sure it is as simple as using a USB input for NMEA when the USB port is expecting a block device (disk) to appear.

 

[Heckler]

Not sure it is as simple as using a USB input for NMEA when the USB port is expecting a block device (disk) to appear.

Perhaps a rasberry pi? feed nmea to that then some black arts to feed by rj45 to the wireless?
S

 

[prv]

Perhaps a rasberry pi? feed nmea to that then some black arts to feed by rj45 to the wireless?

Plausible, with the right knowledge and skills, but then you're mostly just using the router as a bulky and power-hungry wifi card. I'm sure there are any number of wifi adaptors for the Pi directly.

Pete

 

[Heckler]

Plausible, with the right knowledge and skills, but then you're mostly just using the router as a bulky and power-hungry wifi card. I'm sure there are any number of wifi adaptors for the Pi directly.

Pete

Point taken and I found this, http://www.maketecheasier.com/setup-wifi-on-raspberry-pi/
however I want a transmitter, not a rcvr
Was mulling with the idea of using serial to usb adapter, but would need some code for it to recognise nmea and retransmit it
Stu

 

[prv]

however I want a transmitter, not a rcvr

That doesn't make any sense. A wireless network is bidirectional, there's no such thing as a transmitter versus a receiver.

Was mulling with the idea of using serial to usb adapter, but would need some code for it to recognise nmea and retransmit it

You'll need that regardless.

Pete

 

[BruceDanforth]

Just reverse engineer the router then rewrite the firmware from scratch. It should keep you out of mischief for a couple of years.

 

[sailorbenji]

Depending on the complexity of your boat systems, you may want to look at transmitting NMEA over UDP rather than TCP/IP as this allows multiple listeners to the data.

 

[Heckler]

That doesn't make any sense. A wireless network is bidirectional, there's no such thing as a transmitter versus a receiver.



You'll need that regardless.

Pete

Wrong words
server? perhaps?
S

 

[Heckler]

Just reverse engineer the router then rewrite the firmware from scratch. It should keep you out of mischief for a couple of years.

ha ha! point im making, the router is designed to use the usb point to share files across a wireless network.
See the specs
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Features:
Remote assistance
Supports multiple devices
Secure - Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) to ensure your wireless connection is protected.
4 ports - Four 10/100 Mbps Ethernet ports for wired connectivity.
Personalised to the customer and exclusively for the EE network.

USB port for connecting other devices to your home network.

Sleek and compact design and it fits through your letterbox.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
4 x 10/100 Mbps Ethernet ports.
1 USB 2.0 Host.
Support PPPoE, PPPoA, RFC1483 Bridge.
Traffic shaping (UBR/CBR/VBR).
OAM (I.610) F4/F5 support.
Wireless IEEE802.11b/g/n.
Wireless encapsulation WEP/WPA/WPA2.
Wireless QoS, WMM (Wi-Fi Multi media).
WiFi Protected Setup (WPS).
Supports up-to 300 Mbps data transfer.

So, software to share nmea stuff
S

 

[Heckler]

Depending on the complexity of your boat systems, you may want to look at transmitting NMEA over UDP rather than TCP/IP as this allows multiple listeners to the data.

Aha, some common sense, ok how do we do that please?
S

 

[BruceDanforth]

From a pi it is easy enough to open a socket and send out UDP packets with your nmea in by knocking up a bit of C++ as per this guide: http://beej.us/guide/bgnet/

But what is going to listen to them at the other end? Another pi?

I'm not really sure what your goals are.

 

[Heckler]

From a pi it is easy enough to open a socket and send out UDP packets with your nmea in by knocking up a bit of C++ as per this guide: http://beej.us/guide/bgnet/

But what is going to listen to them at the other end? Another pi?

I'm not really sure what your goals are.

No not a pi, an ipad. Digital yachts and others do apps that display ais amongst other things
S

 

[BruceDanforth]

This might be a start: http://www.stripydog.com/kplex/examples/piap.html

Not tried (or done more than skimmed over it) but it might give you some ideas. You'll probably need to hack it about a bit.

My boat is too low tech and too small to worry about wifi....off to grind off a bolt now.

No not a pi, an ipad. Digital yachts and others do apps that display ais amongst other things
S

 

[CreakyDecks]

Am I the only one who read orange router and thought woodworking tool?
Getting old!

 

[BruceDanforth]

You could skip the wifi dongle bit and use the orange router. Connect the pi with a network cable and let it get its network settings from the dhcp on the router.

This might be a start: http://www.stripydog.com/kplex/examples/piap.html

Not tried (or done more than skimmed over it) but it might give you some ideas. You'll probably need to hack it about a bit.

My boat is too low tech and too small to worry about wifi....off to grind off a bolt now.

 

[nigelmercier]

You need one of these:

http://amzn.to/1v0FHze
http://amzn.to/1q3PTJu

 

[BruceDanforth]

twice the cost of the pi but a black box solution

You need one of these:

http://amzn.to/1v0FHze
http://amzn.to/1q3PTJu

 

[prv]

You need one of these:

http://amzn.to/1v0FHze

Looks like a good choice, particularly since Stu wants it to talk to an iPad - "includes iOS demo code".

Now he just needs to sign up for an Apple developer account and learn Objective C.

Pete

 

[prv]

Wrong words
server? perhaps?

Alright, I'm being slightly facetious, but the point is that if you don't know this stuff inside out and backwards, with substantial experience of developing embedded firmware, you're not going to be able to make it do what you want. The fact that you have a piece of hardware with approximately the right connectors on it, does not mean you can simply set a couple of switches, download an app, and have speed and depth showing up on your iPad.

It's like someone who can't reliably tell one end of a spanner from the other, owns only a "B&Q My First Tool Kit", and lives in a terraced house with no drive or garage, saying "well, I have a car, it has an engine and wheels, and I can probably lay my hands on some wings somewhere. Why shouldn't I turn it into an aeroplane?"

Pete