Marine Electronics

Go minimal!

I’ve been writing this blog for over a decade now, and many of you know I research, research, research before I buy or build anything.

I travel the world with far less financial means (less than 8k a year) than 95% of the sailors I know. And when I do buy something for the boat it is usually of the highest quality or a smart alternative to conventional thinking.

My old uncle Sasha is a free-thinking minimalist hippie. A Ukrainian gypsy that I really looked up to during my childhood. When I was a child (5’ish), I thought he was so cool because everything he did was off the beaten path and unconventional. One of the things he did, or didn’t do in this case, was to carry a wallet.

“Why won’t you carry a wallet, uncle Sasha?” I asked him.

“Because if I lose my wallet, I lose everything that is important to me all at once. If I have money in one pocket, and my papers in another, it’s unlikely that I will lose both at the same time”.

Needless to say I’ve never carried a wallet. This free-thinking (radical) philosophy can be -and should be- applied to most things.

Today we will be applying my old uncle Sasha’s philosophy to marine electronics.

My argument is: why would anyone over-complicate marine electronics with multiple computers, screens, and sophisticated networks?

I’ll tell you why, BLING, not practicality. Many think it’s cool to have shiny computers all over the boat. One for analyzing the wind, another screen for analyzing the depth, another for speed, and yet another screen for radar. Many “cruising” boats have a more similar resemblance to the starship enterprise than a practical cruising yacht.

My uncle Sasha might say “well, at least they all won’t break at once”, but then again he wasn’t a sailor that had to contend with convection (lightning) and insanely expensive electronics packages.

This is the first blog in a series of blogs focusing on marine electronics, and an alternative that I believe to be vastly superior to conventional thinking in regards to viewing and working with NMEA data.

This all started a few weeks back when my fish finder/depth sounder (Garmin 400c) quit. After inspecting the system I found that the only problem after 5 years of service was that the connection between the fish-finder’s cable and the transducer’s cable corroded. Simple fix I thought, cut off the plugs, solder and shield the wires. Well, to my surprise, the wire colors between the transducer and fish finder didn’t match. So I contacted Airmar (manufacturer of the transducer) and Garmin. There was a bit of urgency to my email as navigating the reefs and shoals in my area can be quite tricky.

Airmar quickly responded to my email with the color code, Garmin never did. At great expense (from Panama) I called Garmin support (long hold) and was not given any answers, but was able to connect with someone via email. My support representative spoke with the senior support team and nobody was able to tell me what the blue, green, white, black, red, yellow, or purple wires did, or how I could connect it to the transducer. I became quite angry that such a big company as Garmin couldn’t supply me with basic technical support, especially when it was a matter of urgency, and in regards to the safety of my ship. Then it dawned on me, perhaps they want me to buy another system, wiring harness, or transducer?

That being said I navigated half way around the world with my Garmin GPSmap 176, and now have a GPSmap 276c which is fantastic gear. As with all big companies they grow lazy to help with time as profit gives way to customer service.

I never really realized but the big marine companies don’t produce their own transducers (depth, wind, speed, temperature, etc.) They are rebranded and fitted with a proprietary plug that works with their specific brand of electronics. Then they buy a screen and system board from a Chinese manufacturer, assemble it all up in some country with low wages, install their software, and slap it into a sexy weatherproof housing before bringing it to market. And somewhere in this process the technicians forget how to offer basic technical support, or choose not to for financial gain?

It’s easy to spend over $10,000 in marine electronics for a cruising boat. I’m going to show you how to spend about $1,000 for a far superior system (speed, depth, wind, radar) and AIS if you want.

I won’t be talking about AIS because I don’t like or believe in the product. Far too many cruisers use AIS as a cost-effective radar replacement, and don’t realize their mistake until they hit a non-AIS transmitting object (like me). I also don’t like transmitting my personal data to whoever wants to see it. I’ve been informed by a friend who works at DHS (Department of Homeland Security) that “receive only” AIS units do transmit, just not publically. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe in protecting my privacy. AIS however is easily installed on this system.

So what do we want in a marine electronics package?

I can only tell you what I want.

I want a GPS chart plotter with radar overlay. I’d also like to see my depth on the same screen. I don’t currently have wind instrumentation (direction, speed, or angle), speed over water, or sea temperature. I’d like them but could never afford all the gear associated with them, but now I can. How is it that I can? By cutting out the middle man.

This article is primarily targeted at reading NMEA data: depth, speed, wind, temperature, barometric pressure, and so on. I have and love my Raymarine S3 Smart Pilot autopilot and I’m eager to plug it into this new system. I also have wind-vane steering and a small Raymarine tiller pilot which I can connect to it for motoring and light wind conditions. It’s all about redundancy!

I want my ships electronic system affordable, easily upgradable, and I want to carry spares aboard in case a screen or system board fails.

Airmar makes the transducers for every marine electronics company I’ve researched. They are the scientists that make all the cool modern technology available to us today. Their transducers send NMEA data to whatever computer or instrument we choose. Check out all their marine transducers here:

http://www.airmartechnology.com/2009/marine/product-search-results.asp?show=all

I choose a native 12v low-amp-draw PC. At the moment I’m running on a windows system but moving over to Linux in the following weeks. So what exactly am I choosing? I’m choosing freedom and dependability. Linux is a free and very stable operating system, and Open CPN is the chart plotter.

Open CPN is free open source software brought to us by a team of people dedicated to providing sailors with the best alternative in marine navigation. With Open CPN I can easily view my charts and position, plan my routes, overlay a radar image, as well as wind, speed, depth, temperature and grib and weather fax images. There is also a climatology plugin that I use to view historical weather data (pilot data) in order to plan my voyages. If you use Open CPN please send these guys a donation.

As far as my 12v PC goes it only costs a few hundred dollars, and in my humble opinion it is the smartest way to go.

Most sailors carry laptops aboard and I assure you my uncle Sasha would frown upon it. Why would you put all of what is important to you in one basket? If one element (power supply, motherboard, screen, memory, or storage) of the laptop goes, all your eggs are gone at once. Not to mention the fact that laptops are expensive, not native 12v, and not easily repairable. They are also the first target of theft on a boat.

Mini ITX, is the word to remember. You can build your own 12 volt mini-ITX system or have one inexpensively built for you by the guys at Mini Box. Check out Mini Box for systems and parts.

I would also recommend carrying a spare motherboard, memory, and power supply aboard. Once your system is up and running clone your hard drive (go solid state) and toss it in the closet as well. Repairing a computer is super easy and a priceless skill to have. The other good thing about a system like this is parts are easily found in remote parts of the world if you don’t choose to carry them onboard.

Okay, what about a waterproof screen for the cockpit? If you research waterproof marine screens you might choke on your biscuit at the expense.

If you’re at all handy, build your own waterproof screen out of teak or stainless.

I just ordered one of these screen kits online.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111115624120?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

It includes all the electronics to convert an old laptop screen or new bare one into a natively powered 12v monitor. Encase it in whatever fashion you wish. I’m choosing to buy a new hi-resolution WXUGA monitor and put it in a custom built stainless and Plexiglas (HDMI) case. Add a waterproof wired or Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you have the sexiest of marine PCs.

I’ll have two monitors in this system. One at my nav-station, and the other outside at the helm. If any of you have ever done any late night watches you know watching a movie to pass the time and keep you awake is a welcome friend along with a good strong tea or coffee. Baddabing, Bob’s your uncle (Sasha in this case), and waterproof.

Okay, now let’s get into the meat of the system: NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association).

NMEA 0183 is the language that is used by marine electronics to communicate with each other. Your depth, speed, wind, etc. transducers (talkers) send NMEA signals that NMEA receivers (readers) turn into graphical data that we see on our screen.

In order to receive NMEA data on our PC we need to wire all of these transducers into a NMEA multiplexor. The multiplexor will coordinate and send the NMEA signal to your computer via either a serial (RS-232) cable, USB cable, network cable, or even wirelessly via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection if you choose. The cool thing about wireless transmission is the ability to read NMEA data on your mobile device. Personally I’m looking for a simple multiplexor with a USB connection as serial ports are becoming a thing of the past.

I’m looking at multiplexors from these companies:

http://brookhouseonline.com/nmea_multiplexer.htm

http://www.shipmodul.com/en/index.html

http://www.actisense.com

www.nomatronics.com

Simplicity, Minimalism, and practicality. As far as my GPS goes, I use a $30 BU-353 puck USB GPS. At that price it’s easy to carry a spare or two. And as far as choosing a radar dome I’m going to refer you to the OpenCPN supplementary hardware page as I have no practical knowledge and therefore can’t recommend one. Garmin network domes seem to be the ticket.

http://opencpn.org/ocpn/garmin_radar

In the following weeks I’ll be researching multiplexers and hopefully have Carla bring one back from the states.

Once my research is done, I’ll make a nice video combining all of this information and provide step by step instructions along with a parts list.

Just a note: when building your Mini-ITX system don’t get caught in buying the latest, greatest, and fastest system. It doesn’t need to be fast, it needs to draw little power while carrying out its functions. I’ll make more recommendations on this system at a later date.

I will also cover how to receive weather fax at sea via HF radio. A simple SSB receiver can be bought for around $100. By connecting it’s audio output (headphone jack) to your mini ITX computer’s mic input, you can receive weather fax from anywhere in the world. I’ll also show you how to receive it on your iPhone or Android device.

That’s all for today guys. I hope this information helps some of you.

Sail far and live slowly.

Peace.

alex.

Published in Alex Dorsey