Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 08:46:21 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

I've been using Cap'n Mariner; do you have experience with any of the
other suites? Interestingly, ALL the hardware one needs for such an
installation is half the price of a $2500 dedicated chartplotter, plus
you get a much larger screen, a real keyboard and the ability to perform
the usual computer functions.

Any advice?
=====================================


I've also used one of the small form factor PCs with good success,
coupled up with a small rubber keyboard that is waterproof (CompUSA).
In theory it would have run straight from 12V ships power but have
always ran it from a small 50 watt inverter instead (better voltage
stability).


There's an electrical cabinet inside the cabin of our Parker, and right
below it there is plenty of room on the bulkhead to mount and protect a
small form factor PC and an inverter. From there, it's easy access to
the main cabin control panel and some sort of keyboard. I've got a
Furuno fishfinder/bottom plotter mounted on the cabin overhead, but I
could easily move that to the dash where the Standard Horizon 170 now
resides, and attach a 15" LCD to the overhead. I like your idea of the
super baggie to protect the monitor...

Most of the nav program input can be handled with a trackball/pointer
device.

Perhaps a winter project.




--
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in
Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me -
you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept.
17, 2002

Wayne.B wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 15:11:38 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

The problem with computer based operations on a boat, even one like
your Parker, is shock mounting the computer.

======================================

Maybe I've been lucky but I've never found this to be a problem. It
is true that Mrs B likes a soft ride however.



It seems to me with one of the small "Shuttle" PCs, so long as you
arranged for cooling access, you could mount the box itself inside a
carved block of shock-absorbing foam, and then attach the works to a
gimbal bracket. But I haven't spent any real time conjuring this...yet.




--
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in
Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me -
you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept.
17, 2002

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:01:06 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

It seems to me with one of the small "Shuttle" PCs, so long as you
arranged for cooling access, you could mount the box itself inside a
carved block of shock-absorbing foam, and then attach the works to a
gimbal bracket. But I haven't spent any real time conjuring this...yet.

=====================================

Foam (large sponge?) might be a good idea but the gimbal would be
overkill in my opinion. These things don't really care if they are
perfectly level or not. My laptops would have stopped working long
ago if that was the case.

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:05:13 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

I haven't used charts in years, since the Lake Ontario chart basically says
"deep", "deeper" or "holy **** it's really deep". Doesn't anyone use paper
charts any more?

========================================

You've got to stop navigating with those placemats from the
restaurant.

Wayne.B wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:05:13 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

I haven't used charts in years, since the Lake Ontario chart basically says
"deep", "deeper" or "holy **** it's really deep". Doesn't anyone use paper
charts any more?

========================================

You've got to stop navigating with those placemats from the
restaurant.


They certainly were popular in NE Florida. Every season there was at
least one tale of missing boaters who were later found and who said they
simply "followed the map on the placemat..."

--
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in
Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me -
you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept.
17, 2002

Wayne.B wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:01:06 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

It seems to me with one of the small "Shuttle" PCs, so long as you
arranged for cooling access, you could mount the box itself inside a
carved block of shock-absorbing foam, and then attach the works to a
gimbal bracket. But I haven't spent any real time conjuring this...yet.

=====================================

Foam (large sponge?) might be a good idea but the gimbal would be
overkill in my opinion. These things don't really care if they are
perfectly level or not. My laptops would have stopped working long
ago if that was the case.



I think I'll make up a nice little open top polymer box for inside the
cabin for something like the Shuttle, as soon as I figure out exactly
where I'd stick the monitor and whether it would work OK there.



--
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in
Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me -
you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept.
17, 2002

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:50:43 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 08:46:21 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

I've been using Cap'n Mariner; do you have experience with any of the
other suites? Interestingly, ALL the hardware one needs for such an
installation is half the price of a $2500 dedicated chartplotter, plus
you get a much larger screen, a real keyboard and the ability to perform
the usual computer functions.

Any advice?
=====================================

I use Maptech Offshore Navigator with the Maptech BSB chart CDs. My
hardware varys but most often I use a small Compaq Pentium III laptop
with an external 15 inch flat panel monitor. The P3 laptops are
available used/reconditioned these days at very reasonable prices so I
don't worry too much about them getting wet. As long as you're using
an external monitor, screen size and quality on the laptop is not
important. I once took an old IBM P2 wrapped in saran wrap to Bermuda
on a sailboat. It survived just fine even with lots of spray finding
its way below decks. I use a large plastic envelope to protect the
flat panel display in stinky conditions. These are sold at W-M as
protection for chart books.

I've also used one of the small form factor PCs with good success,
coupled up with a small rubber keyboard that is waterproof (CompUSA).
In theory it would have run straight from 12V ships power but have
always ran it from a small 50 watt inverter instead (better voltage
stability).

When you say "form factor" PC, you are talking about motherboard
configurations, right?

What would be the difference between your computer and a laptop for
instance?

Later,

Tom

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 15:07:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:01:06 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

It seems to me with one of the small "Shuttle" PCs, so long as you
arranged for cooling access, you could mount the box itself inside a
carved block of shock-absorbing foam, and then attach the works to a
gimbal bracket. But I haven't spent any real time conjuring this...yet.

=====================================

Foam (large sponge?) might be a good idea but the gimbal would be
overkill in my opinion. These things don't really care if they are
perfectly level or not. My laptops would have stopped working long
ago if that was the case.

Do you not use a disk drive?

Later,

Tom

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:03:52 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 08:46:21 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:


~~ snippage ~~

Any advice?

Actually, I can address this.

The problem with computer based operations on a boat, even one like
your Parker, is shock mounting the computer. It's almost impossible
to do correctly on a small boat with a store bought computer. I've
seen some gimbal type shock mounts, but on anything less than 40 feet,
they are useless.

I tried to use one on my Contender and gave up. I couldn't get the
computer to stay up long enough to do any good unless the water was
like glass and even then, the vibrations from the outboards would
cause it to go berzerk evey once in a while. Even remote mounting the
computer in a box with pads everywhere didn't help.

There's a bunch of marie laptops out there, but from the reviews I've
read (and that is by no means complete), this type of application for
laptops is not the greatest in the marine environment.

I went with the dedicated chartplotter - it does what it's supposed to
do.

Take care.

Tom

"The beatings will stop when morale improves."
E. Teach, 1717


There are some very small PCs out there now, such as the small footprint
units made by Shuttle. Perhaps it would be easy to vibrate-isolate.

I've used my laptop on Yo Ho a couple of times, and it wasn't much fun,
though it did become easier when I substituted a good trackball for the
mouse.

I tried that.

Then again, the Contender is a very different boat than a Parker.

Later,

Tom

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 21:08:16 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
=====================================

Foam (large sponge?) might be a good idea but the gimbal would be
overkill in my opinion. These things don't really care if they are
perfectly level or not. My laptops would have stopped working long
ago if that was the case.

Do you not use a disk drive?

=========================================

Of course.

Do you think a laptop disk drive cares about which way it's oriented?

I'm not recommending that you pick up your laptop and shake it or drop
it, but try picking it up and turning it in different directions. It
doesn't care. They would be unusable for their intended purpose
otherwise, and would come equipped with a bubble level on the cover.