Gordon wrote:
Any advice on a boat computer? I think you bought a notebook a while
back. Good , bad, ugly?
Thanks
G

We'll have to wait to see what Lary says.

I've been leaning toward a mini-ITX fanless system - with a fan in the case
and a 12 volt power supply.

Heat is nearly as bad for electronics as water.
So we are running in a hostile environment.

The other issue is mounting. An ITX case is small and can be tucked in
almost any corner. The display can be wall mounted.
No need to take up precious horizontal filing space.

The screen is still a problem for me.
I've yet to find one at a reasonable price that runs on 12 volts.




--

Richard Lamb

In article ,
CaveLamb wrote:

Gordon wrote:
Any advice on a boat computer? I think you bought a notebook a while
back. Good , bad, ugly?
Thanks
G

We'll have to wait to see what Lary says.

I've been leaning toward a mini-ITX fanless system - with a fan in the case
and a 12 volt power supply.

Heat is nearly as bad for electronics as water.
So we are running in a hostile environment.

The other issue is mounting. An ITX case is small and can be tucked in
almost any corner. The display can be wall mounted.
No need to take up precious horizontal filing space.

The screen is still a problem for me.
I've yet to find one at a reasonable price that runs on 12 volts.

Get yourself a used Toughbook, and call it good....

--
Bruce in Alaska add path before the @ for email

Hi, Richard, Gordon, Larry, Bob (cc'd), et. al...

On Sep 15, 6:30*pm, CaveLamb wrote:
Gordon wrote:
* Any advice on a boat computer? I think you bought a notebook a while
back. Good , bad, ugly?
*Thanks
*G

We'll have to wait to see what Lary says.

I've been leaning toward a mini-ITX fanless system - with a fan in the case
and a 12 volt power supply.

Heat is nearly as bad for electronics as water.
So we are running in a hostile environment.

The other issue is mounting. *An ITX case is small and can be tucked in
almost any corner. *The display can be wall mounted.
No need to take up precious horizontal filing space.

The screen is still a problem for me.
I've yet to find one at a reasonable price that runs on 12 volts.

--

Richard Lamb

If you're a geek, you can probably build one like Bob Stewart, at
islandtimepc.com did for me (I'm a geek, but his CS is so amazing,
including getting me up and running in WiFi before I was even a
customer, at great personal effort on his part, when legions of
supposedly knowledgeable folks in several newsgroups and forums could
not, that I felt I really needed to give him the business - and you
already know how I feel about his WiFi setup which I use now). Mine
has 8xUSB (2 front), 5xserial, 2xLAN, hdmi, HDI, VGA, a dedicated
filtered 12V out (to power my 12V devices that won't run on boat
power, like my HDs - 1x 500G, 1T, 2x 2T, and my Vonage phone
chargers), front and back sound in-outs plus line in on the back, PS2
mouse and keyboard inputs and firewire (front). Dual processor 2GHz,
DVDRW, 500G 2.5" SATA, 4G RAM (ya, I know, windoze doesn't support
more than a little more than 3, but the parity/dupe in 2 chips made
sense). About 2.5A, unless my conversion to 2.5" from 3.5" drive (in
about 2 weeks), with their 2.5W vs 15W 5V draw makes a big difference
(dunno until it's installed and can check the in-use draw). He
includes a 135W 19.2V brick for when you carry it ashore, as I do, and
the pigtail for boat power. Of course, an OS (mine is XP), and all
the usual OEM add-ons for playing with.

LED monitors are mostly 12V, but require - if they have provision for
it at all - the newer, larger (vs the common 100MM VESA) mounts if you
want it on the wall. Not all that pricey. Some don't have removable
bases; that's a must because we watch our movies by moving the screen
from the Nav to a shelf, switching from HDI to VGA (nav station has
the HDI cable; aside from my current mouse/keyboard, which is IR and
has a puck on a USB wire, you see no wires in my installation),
picking up the VGA cord from under when we raise the shelf from a seat
back to shelf. My screen and (laser - inkjets run!) printer are all
that remain AC at the moment, and I'll seriously shop for an LED
screen when I go ashore again for a wedding in the spring. Router,
WiFi and computer run on house power (10.5-18.5V); I have a separate
5V PS for my powered hub and Vonage base. The only thing you see of
our computer is about 2.5"x4" out from our bulkhead of the 11.5"
square x 2.5" tall case, and even that's partly hidden under the
screen, which stands out from the wall.

You may not require all that functionality, but I did, so he built it
that way. Drop him a line at , or go to his
website and get his phone number - he answers his own phone - and give
him a call. Let him know what you want in a box, and he'll tell you
how much it will be...

OTOH, if you want something you can drop in the ocean or take a
boarding wave while you've got it topside for your nav program like a
boater I met does, check out Itronix laptops which are coming back
from Iraq, on eBay. Touchscreen, waterproof, sandproof, dropproof,
swappable HDs, GPS and WiFi, yada yada (see prior discussion in this
space about them)...

L8R

Skip

Hi Skip,

Yeah, I think we're on the same wavelength.
That's pretty much the kind of system I'm specing out for Temptress.
We don't have your power budget, being so much smaller, but it pretty
much takes that kind of horsepower to do heavy graphics processing...
Like moving around a chart (with 2 or more open simultaneously)
That's one strong reason for dual (or more?) displays.

I have eight USP ports on my desktop system, with 3 or 4 hubs (who
knows for sure any more - I'm not going back there!)
That's just for a home computer.
No GPS, wind and water sensors, depth scanner, etc.

And so the question arises - how to keep USB connections - connected?
Even on this stationary box they tend to work lose over time.

Richard


PS:

Strange how it works out that way so often.
I no sooner asked about 12 volt monitors -
than I came across one - at the local CVS, of all places.

Craig 13" TV, but has all kinds of inputs (including VGA).
$149.99 - on sale for $99.99

I don't know how well it works.
No brightness, contrast or field of view numbers on the box.
But it did claim 8ms update rate.

And it uses a 12v wall wart (2.5A) for power!

Paradise is no inverters?


Skip Gundlach wrote:
Hi, Richard, Gordon, Larry, Bob (cc'd), et. al...



If you're a geek, you can probably build one like Bob Stewart, at
islandtimepc.com did for me (I'm a geek, but his CS is so amazing,
including getting me up and running in WiFi before I was even a
customer, at great personal effort on his part, when legions of
supposedly knowledgeable folks in several newsgroups and forums could
not, that I felt I really needed to give him the business - and you
already know how I feel about his WiFi setup which I use now). Mine
has 8xUSB (2 front), 5xserial, 2xLAN, hdmi, HDI, VGA, a dedicated
filtered 12V out (to power my 12V devices that won't run on boat
power, like my HDs - 1x 500G, 1T, 2x 2T, and my Vonage phone
chargers), front and back sound in-outs plus line in on the back, PS2
mouse and keyboard inputs and firewire (front). Dual processor 2GHz,
DVDRW, 500G 2.5" SATA, 4G RAM (ya, I know, windoze doesn't support
more than a little more than 3, but the parity/dupe in 2 chips made
sense). About 2.5A, unless my conversion to 2.5" from 3.5" drive (in
about 2 weeks), with their 2.5W vs 15W 5V draw makes a big difference
(dunno until it's installed and can check the in-use draw). He
includes a 135W 19.2V brick for when you carry it ashore, as I do, and
the pigtail for boat power. Of course, an OS (mine is XP), and all
the usual OEM add-ons for playing with.

LED monitors are mostly 12V, but require - if they have provision for
it at all - the newer, larger (vs the common 100MM VESA) mounts if you
want it on the wall. Not all that pricey. Some don't have removable
bases; that's a must because we watch our movies by moving the screen
from the Nav to a shelf, switching from HDI to VGA (nav station has
the HDI cable; aside from my current mouse/keyboard, which is IR and
has a puck on a USB wire, you see no wires in my installation),
picking up the VGA cord from under when we raise the shelf from a seat
back to shelf. My screen and (laser - inkjets run!) printer are all
that remain AC at the moment, and I'll seriously shop for an LED
screen when I go ashore again for a wedding in the spring. Router,
WiFi and computer run on house power (10.5-18.5V); I have a separate
5V PS for my powered hub and Vonage base. The only thing you see of
our computer is about 2.5"x4" out from our bulkhead of the 11.5"
square x 2.5" tall case, and even that's partly hidden under the
screen, which stands out from the wall.

You may not require all that functionality, but I did, so he built it
that way. Drop him a line at , or go to his
website and get his phone number - he answers his own phone - and give
him a call. Let him know what you want in a box, and he'll tell you
how much it will be...

OTOH, if you want something you can drop in the ocean or take a
boarding wave while you've got it topside for your nav program like a
boater I met does, check out Itronix laptops which are coming back
from Iraq, on eBay. Touchscreen, waterproof, sandproof, dropproof,
swappable HDs, GPS and WiFi, yada yada (see prior discussion in this
space about them)...

L8R

Skip


--

Richard Lamb

I don't know why you bother to look for DC driven display.. They will be very expensive and as you know rare. I have purchased a
sinusoidal DC to AC converter. It is high quality, electrically quiet and 88% efficient. Your LCD screen needs about 35 watts.
What problem?
Steve

"CaveLamb" wrote in message news
Gordon wrote:
Any advice on a boat computer? I think you bought a notebook a while back. Good , bad, ugly?
Thanks
G

We'll have to wait to see what Lary says.

I've been leaning toward a mini-ITX fanless system - with a fan in the case
and a 12 volt power supply.

Heat is nearly as bad for electronics as water.
So we are running in a hostile environment.

The other issue is mounting. An ITX case is small and can be tucked in
almost any corner. The display can be wall mounted.
No need to take up precious horizontal filing space.

The screen is still a problem for me.
I've yet to find one at a reasonable price that runs on 12 volts.




--

Richard Lamb

Steve Lusardi wrote:
I don't know why you bother to look for DC driven display.. They will be
very expensive and as you know rare. I have purchased a sinusoidal DC to
AC converter. It is high quality, electrically quiet and 88% efficient.
Your LCD screen needs about 35 watts. What problem?
Steve


I take your point, Steve.
And yes, economics do have an important part to play here.

But my boat doesn't have a diesel with a big alternator to recharge the
battery. So we are very frugal with our 'trons.

That 10 or 12% difference over a few hours a day can make a difference.


--

Richard Lamb

On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 11:55:11 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

Steve Lusardi wrote:
I don't know why you bother to look for DC driven display.. They will be
very expensive and as you know rare. I have purchased a sinusoidal DC to
AC converter. It is high quality, electrically quiet and 88% efficient.
Your LCD screen needs about 35 watts. What problem?
Steve


I take your point, Steve.
And yes, economics do have an important part to play here.

But my boat doesn't have a diesel with a big alternator to recharge the
battery. So we are very frugal with our 'trons.

That 10 or 12% difference over a few hours a day can make a difference.

Is it possible to buy an outboard with a generator large enough to
charge batteries?

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 11:55:11 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

Steve Lusardi wrote:
I don't know why you bother to look for DC driven display.. They will be
very expensive and as you know rare. I have purchased a sinusoidal DC to
AC converter. It is high quality, electrically quiet and 88% efficient.
Your LCD screen needs about 35 watts. What problem?
Steve

I take your point, Steve.
And yes, economics do have an important part to play here.

But my boat doesn't have a diesel with a big alternator to recharge the
battery. So we are very frugal with our 'trons.

That 10 or 12% difference over a few hours a day can make a difference.

Is it possible to buy an outboard with a generator large enough to
charge batteries?

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)


I don't think so, Bruce.
The largest seems to be about 6 amps.

But a small generator would do it.

Know of any small 12 volt only gen sets?
(I think the manufacturers are missing a niche here)


--

Richard Lamb

On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:35:24 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 11:55:11 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

Steve Lusardi wrote:
I don't know why you bother to look for DC driven display.. They will be
very expensive and as you know rare. I have purchased a sinusoidal DC to
AC converter. It is high quality, electrically quiet and 88% efficient.
Your LCD screen needs about 35 watts. What problem?
Steve

I take your point, Steve.
And yes, economics do have an important part to play here.

But my boat doesn't have a diesel with a big alternator to recharge the
battery. So we are very frugal with our 'trons.

That 10 or 12% difference over a few hours a day can make a difference.

Is it possible to buy an outboard with a generator large enough to
charge batteries?

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)


I don't think so, Bruce.
The largest seems to be about 6 amps.

But a small generator would do it.

Know of any small 12 volt only gen sets?
(I think the manufacturers are missing a niche here)

I don't know about back there but they are fairly common here. I think
that most of them are actually 220 VAC generators with a rectified
circuit but they do charge batteries.

If you got a spare quid you might look into solar panels. I somehow
get the impression that most of your sailing is a week-end sort of
thing and a solar panel, or two, would certainly keep your batteries
charged.... as long as the sun shines.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

But a small generator would do it.

Know of any small 12 volt only gen sets?
(I think the manufacturers are missing a niche here)

I don't know about back there but they are fairly common here. I think
that most of them are actually 220 VAC generators with a rectified
circuit but they do charge batteries.

There are scads of those kind on the market.
But even the small ones are pretty fair sized - and pricey.
There is no real technical reason one couldn't make a 12 volt gas powered
charger no bigger than a weed-whacker motor.
(BTW, the 4 stroke versions are pretty quiet)



If you got a spare quid you might look into solar panels. I somehow
get the impression that most of your sailing is a week-end sort of
thing and a solar panel, or two, would certainly keep your batteries
charged.... as long as the sun shines.

That's true for now.
The marina has AC power, so keeping batteries topped off is no problem.
But a couple of days out of the marina gets to be a challenge.

I've converted most of the lights to LEDs.

The real current hogs are the pumps.
Like the pressure water system and wash down pump.

I have a couple of solar panels - 5 and 15 watts.
But I'm not quite sure how to work them with the existing battery charger.



Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)


--

Richard Lamb