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Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
When we left you, we'd finished with the physical installation of our instrumentation at the helm. Now it's time to wire it all up. Over the past several months I'd been in frequent contact with the technical support folks at Raymarine, trying to resolve the intricacies of NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) and SeaTalk (Raymarine's proprietary electronics buss) communications between instruments. An extremely long and convoluted genesis excluded, the upshot was that we couldn't really do what we wanted to. That was exacerbated by the discovery, as part of the below wiring discussion, that the AIS receiver we'd bought would not talk to Raymarine. The upshot was to do what was, to me, the minimally acceptable connection of the GPS to the chartplotter and the nav station radios (the GPS would allow emergency communication through both the SSB and VHF radios, with our location imbedded). My contact at Raymarine had given me very specific, wire-to-wire (with color codes) connections, so it was a connect-the-dots exercise in that regard. Our final step was figuring out where to mount the power supply for the charger/mount for our wireless extension for the nav station VHF. It had previously sat next to the chartplotter on the other pod, but our new plotter took all the available space on the new pod's face. After a lot of trial placement of the base with the hand-held remote mounted in it (no holes!), we settled on the space under the winch handles, next to the winch handle pocket. A neat, clean installation, out of the way. It, too, had been a warranty-return item, as it had not had usable reception or transmission with the prior radio. After wiring it up for power, allowing the internal battery to recharge, and establishing the connection over its wireless link to our new radio at the nav station, it came through loud and clear in both respects. In retrospect, the prior unit may not have been defective at all; it may have simply been the base radio at fault! Finally, we're finished with all the wiring pulls... However, like most aging boats, where new components had been added, the wiring was a rat's nest inside the pedestal. Getting ready, as I disconnected each old item, I labeled the connection point, identifying color codes for everything that came off. I also traced back the old wiring to where it terminated at the nav station terminal strip, and noted all the color-codes for the various connection points. With all connections bared and separated, I planned out my connection routes, and, in the end, wound up with a very much neater installation than before, with each individual cable labeled for future troubleshooting. Additionally, all the wiring is bundled, and the 30' cable which came with the GPS, bundled in the center, does additional duty by pushing against the rest of the bundle and the decorative panel with the Morgan logo which covers the front. This keeps all the wires from potentially contacting the projecting screw points which mount the protective decorative panel on their sides, an additional bonus. In case you're wondering, I kept all that cable in case we later decide to run it down to our terminal strip at the nav station for other integration duties. Holding our breath, we powered it all up. OH NO!!! The radar doesn't work!!! Back to the computer and Raymarine's help desk, the answer quickly arrived: we need a software upgrade for the chartplotter, as the radar's newer than when this unit was built. Shortening the story, again, while a new chip (with the software upgrade) was ordered, and on the way, a fellow cruiser, in discussion during a potluck hors d'oevres session at one of the local eateries, said he had the chip, and offered it to us. We gratefully accepted, and installed the upgrade. Voila!, it works, and all the chart colors and separations came along with the now-functional radar. Because we'd heard, in prior readings in various forums and lists, that he was truly the best there was, the local wizard, Pat, at Merlin's electronics, was scheduled to come to try to make all of our stuff work together. He agreed to allow Raymarine to ship him the chip for our pickup, but as seen above, we'd not actually need it... Better yet, however, while doing some chart cross-checking (this was our first experience with the charts on this new type of chip) against what we recalled on our computer navigation programs, we discovered that, through SeaTalk, the Raymarine proprietary information buss, connected to our nav station terminal strip's connections in our prior layout, our computer now showed the GPS as well!!! Hooray - the computer's USB GPS puck is now in backup mode, awaiting simple insertion in case the new one, for some unexpected reason, takes a dump. Even better yet, rather than being on the old GPS breaker, this new one's on the instrument breaker, which means that whenever we have the instruments on, exclusive of the chartplotter, which doesn't have to be on, we still get the signal to the computer! I LOVE redundancy :{)) Everything talks to everything else, and, the AIS issue aside (which can be solved with another unit more appropriately designed, and, perhaps, another piece of gear designed to overcome the dinosaur which is the current NMEA standard's limitations) all is well with the world. We call Merlin's, letting him know that we won't need his expertise, but that we need to arrange for the chip to go back to Raymarine when it arrives. He says he wants to buy the chip from us, as he's sure he can use it. We learn, when we go to settle on it a couple of days later, that Raymarine, despite having taken my credit card on a memo billing basis (use it, send it back, no charge other than shipping), has billed THEM for it. We all go away happy, and I've not had to pay a dime. I've also backed up the software so that should some other cruiser need it, and has a Compact Flash card, I can give it to them, too (a freebie from Raymarine, they encouraged me to do so). So, finally, it's time to mount our drinks caddy, which mounting bracket goes between the lower pod and the upper pod. I'd already drilled and tapped the hole in the binnacle (on the empty side!) for one of the mounts. The other, sitting in the crook of a curve of the binnacle on the radar-cable side, is pressure-held by the curve (so I didn't have to drill another hole in the pipe carrying the radar cable). Pressing against the pod with the back of the caddy keeps it stable. Now that everything at the helm is finished, it's time to reinstall the table, removed to allow access to the wiring section. Oops... The new forward offset of the binnacle means that the clip we use to keep the table secure against the binnacle is no longer long enough. Off to Dad's Hardware Store, my parts bins at the workbench, and, Bob's Your Uncle (a Britishism my English-raised wife brought aboard), the attachment point is shimmed out to the appropriate distance, and it's secure, again. Meanwhile, back to the morning Cruiser's Net, I put out the word that I have an available, new, computer-based (won't talk to most chartplotters but speaks computer just fine) AIS unit available for cost, no shipping (I'll eat it), duty paid (I came through customs with it!). A sailor with a real whiz-bang of a computer which he uses for his chartplotter (do a google search and check this out if you're not familiar with them: Itronix Gobook 260-3 made by General Dynamics.- it's nearly indestructible, and hundreds of them are coming back from Iraq, available cheaply on eBay), but no radar, jumps on it like a dog on a sirloin, and is thrilled, immediately chatting up incoming cargo ships, getting sea state information from those out at sea. He's thrilled, I'm relieved, and I'll revisit AIS at another time :{)) An aside and a teaser on these touch-screen computers in which I have absolutely no financial interest: They are completely waterproof, withstanding a 40 PSI water (like running a household hose directly on it) stream on all 6 axis for some astounding amount of time with no intrusion. Each component can be removed and replaced easily. Sand in the keyboard? - it laughs at it. Peel it up and shake it out and put it back. They have an incredible battery life (my buyer reports 22 hours on a charge, under way; recall he uses it for his chartplotter). With their titanium cases, they have impact resistance beyond anything you're likely to submit them to. A built-in GPS makes them ideal for chartplotter applications, and the WiFi antenna makes it the usual laptop equivalent - except that they're virtually indestructible. Given that they're expected to hold up in combat conditions in places like Iraq, it's no surprise that they'd do well in anything we'd subject them to. I found a very basic one on eBay at a Buy-It-Now of $299, and a tricked-out, loaded one at a Buy-It-Now of $795. Makes ToughBooks look wimpy and hugely expensive. I'm very intrigued. Even though this one isn't quite as verbose, here's a good place to stop, as it gets very interesting in short order, as you'll soon see. See you next time - Stay Tuned! L8R Skip and crew -- Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hand (Richard Bach) |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
On Feb 20, 6:33*pm, "Flying Pig" wrote:
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV An aside and a teaser on these touch-screen computers in which I have absolutely no financial interest: They are completely waterproof, withstanding a 40 PSI water (like running a household hose directly on it) stream on all 6 axis for some astounding amount of time with no intrusion.. Each component can be removed and replaced easily. Sand in the keyboard? - it laughs at it. Peel it up and shake it out and put it back. They have an incredible battery life (my buyer reports 22 hours on a charge, under way; With their titanium cases, they except that they're virtually indestructible. . Makes ToughBooks look wimpy and hugely expensive. I'm very intrigued. Ive had a CF29 for four years. I dont agree with your opinion. Your wrong on several product points. First the mil spec notebook has a battery life of SIX HOURS Not a titanium case its MAGNESIUM Cost new.............. $4369 Just about the same as a new ToughBook. Youre looking at one of the low end models. Ya get what ya pay for when ya buy new. Used........... humm not sure if Id want a military used. Better one used by a USGS or NFS or fisheries biologest or surveyor geek..... get your facts straight Skip. Bob |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:07:24 -0800 (PST), Bob
wrote: Ive had a CF29 for four years. I dont agree with your opinion. And I'm typing on a CF48 right now which I bought used 3 or 4 years ago for about $400. It is just about indestructible having survived several 3 foot drops, a lot of slamming around, and numerous salt spray incidents. Screen brightness is better than average and it dims down nicely for use at night. You can pick them up used at good prices and they make great navigation computers. |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:45:04 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote: On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:07:24 -0800 (PST), Bob wrote: Ive had a CF29 for four years. I dont agree with your opinion. And I'm typing on a CF48 right now which I bought used 3 or 4 years ago for about $400. It is just about indestructible having survived several 3 foot drops, a lot of slamming around, and numerous salt spray incidents. Screen brightness is better than average and it dims down nicely for use at night. You can pick them up used at good prices and they make great navigation computers. I've been using a retired police CF29 for several years. I leave it outside in all sorts of weather with no trouble. The only mantenance it requires is that you dump a cup of coffee on the ekeyboard occasionally to rinse it off. My wife has been caught standing on it to reach things. |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
On Feb 21, 5:47*am, wrote:
On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:45:04 -0400, Wayne.B wrote: On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:07:24 -0800 (PST), Bob wrote: Ive had a CF29 for four years. I dont agree with your opinion. And I'm typing on a CF48 right now which I bought used 3 or 4 years ago for about $400. *It is just about indestructible having survived several 3 foot drops, a lot of slamming around, and numerous salt spray incidents. *Screen brightness is better than average and it dims down nicely for use at night. *You can pick them up used at good prices and they make great navigation computers. I've been using a retired police CF29 for several years. I leave it outside in all sorts of weather with no trouble. The only mantenance it requires is that you dump a cup of coffee on the ekeyboard occasionally to rinse it off. My wife has been caught standing on it to reach things. Ya, i bought mine used for about $525. Has worked flawlessly. it spent 3 of it years as a liveaboard then moved for a year schleping between every airport betwen MSY and PDX plus life on a skanky oilfield anchorboat. I do have one question...... Needless to say several slips off a desk, At the time the most RAM I could get to fit in my CF29 was 1mb. Do you know if any more RAM can be shoved in that sweet little 4 screw water tight hatch on back side? Or is 1mb still the max for a CF29? Bob |
Toughbooks and other indesctructibles (was) Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
"Bob" wrote in message
... On Feb 21, 5:47 am, wrote: On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:45:04 -0400, Wayne.B wrote: On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:07:24 -0800 (PST), Bob wrote: Ive had a CF29 for four years. I dont agree with your opinion. And I'm typing on a CF48 right now which I bought used 3 or 4 years ago for about $400. It is just about indestructible having survived several 3 foot drops, a lot of slamming around, and numerous salt spray incidents. Screen brightness is better than average and it dims down nicely for use at night. You can pick them up used at good prices and they make great navigation computers. I've been using a retired police CF29 for several years. I leave it outside in all sorts of weather with no trouble. The only mantenance it requires is that you dump a cup of coffee on the ekeyboard occasionally to rinse it off. My wife has been caught standing on it to reach things. Ya, i bought mine used for about $525. Has worked flawlessly. it spent 3 of it years as a liveaboard then moved for a year schleping between every airport betwen MSY and PDX plus life on a skanky oilfield anchorboat. I do have one question...... Needless to say several slips off a desk, At the time the most RAM I could get to fit in my CF29 was 1mb. Do you know if any more RAM can be shoved in that sweet little 4 screw water tight hatch on back side? Or is 1mb still the max for a CF29? Bob So, what's all this bull**** about getting facts right??? :{)) **** you :{)) I know that makes you feel good about me :{)) -- Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hand (Richard Bach) |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:24:07 -0800 (PST), Bob
wrote: On Feb 21, 5:47*am, wrote: On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:45:04 -0400, Wayne.B wrote: On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:07:24 -0800 (PST), Bob wrote: Ive had a CF29 for four years. I dont agree with your opinion. And I'm typing on a CF48 right now which I bought used 3 or 4 years ago for about $400. *It is just about indestructible having survived several 3 foot drops, a lot of slamming around, and numerous salt spray incidents. *Screen brightness is better than average and it dims down nicely for use at night. *You can pick them up used at good prices and they make great navigation computers. I've been using a retired police CF29 for several years. I leave it outside in all sorts of weather with no trouble. The only mantenance it requires is that you dump a cup of coffee on the ekeyboard occasionally to rinse it off. My wife has been caught standing on it to reach things. Ya, i bought mine used for about $525. Has worked flawlessly. it spent 3 of it years as a liveaboard then moved for a year schleping between every airport betwen MSY and PDX plus life on a skanky oilfield anchorboat. I do have one question...... Needless to say several slips off a desk, At the time the most RAM I could get to fit in my CF29 was 1mb. Do you know if any more RAM can be shoved in that sweet little 4 screw water tight hatch on back side? Or is 1mb still the max for a CF29? Bob I'm not sure it can even use a full gig of RAM. I run XP on mine, but it's really from the age of win 98 as far as speed and other specs. |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
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Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:32:37 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote: On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:33:41 -0500, wrote: I'm not sure it can even use a full gig of RAM. I run XP on mine, but it's really from the age of win 98 as far as speed and other specs. Yes but that's all you need for running nav software, checking EMAIL, browing the web, etc. Very true. The other advantage is that older, slower computers generally use less power. I'm glad it has enough poop to run XP, though. Its a lot more solid than 98 ever was. |
Cruising is... Nov 14, '09-Feb 14,'10, Part IV
At the time the most RAM I could get to fit in my CF29 was 1mb. Do you
know if any more RAM can be shoved in that sweet little 4 screw water tight hatch on back side? *Or is 1mb still the max for a CF29? Bob I'm not sure it can even use a full gig of RAM. I run XP on mine, but it's really from the age of win 98 as far as speed and other specs.- Hide quoted text - I stand corrected.... I wrote ...1mb... and should have said 1 Gb. I guess I had a DOS 3.1 flash back. Soooo back to my original qustion.... does anyoneknow how to shovel more than 1 GB or RAM in to a CF 29? On a esthetic note........ i dont like the Hummer styling. Just a bit over the top...... LIve from Utah Dell Tech Rep Robert Rexroth AKA Bob |
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