Computer for navigation

[shauncagiva]

Have a look at visit my harbour I use there charts etc it's great deal and real folk on end of phone if you have issues

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by Bill O

While you are still in the planning/building stage for your boat, wouldn't over think what computer you'll need for navigation.

Your boat most likely will have a below deck dedicated nav. station that is generally protected from the outside environment. This computer should be a dedicated nav. computer only and really doesn't need to more than a raspberry pi. We've been running a rpi 3B for a while and it handles all of the sensor inputs, AIS, etc.. Its low power draw is great (can leave it on 24/7) and has plenty of speed & memory (32gb) card to store many charts. We will be switching our rpi soon to the newer 4B+ which as better graphics capability to handle opengl and a radar input. Do like the NUC, but think it is way overkill (= higher power draw) for what is needed as a computer for the nav. station.
The computer screen at the nav. station will be your next selection. We went w/a higher resolution 21" standard screen. We didn't feel we needed the touch screen here, but wanted the higher res. instead. Similar to the NUC, the higher res. screens draw more power and we tend to have it in stand-by mode (or turned off) unless we are sitting there using that computer. From a recent CF thread, these 12V screens were suggested and thought they were fairly good at a low price point. Here's a link on how we set up out nav. computer.

For use in the cockpit, we use a cheap 11" touch screen tablet (W10 based;~$100 at walmart) which is wirelessly connected to both the nav. station and AP. We've had it in our well protected cockpit for at least 5 years and is still working fine. Whichever tablet/laptop you get, try to get one w/good battery time between charging. (we have a 5V charge cord in the cockpit when we need to do a recharge at 8-10 hr. intervals). While a rugged/tough laptop may be better for some, we didn't feel it was worth the extreme pricing for our well protected cockpit. Also technology is changing rapidly, so the cheap tablet can be switched out to keep up w/the times. The W10 based tablet is a bit of a pain w/the updates, but can mostly be turned off/minimized (unless they are critical).

With our set up, one can independently look around at different chart views, AIS or other info in the nav. station or in the cockpit without compromising either computer. Similarly, the AP can be independently controlled by either station.
Since you are building your boat and will need an AP, look at the pypilot (that comes embedded in OPlotter). These work well w/a rpi zero w and completes the suite w/o breaking the bank. Ours was the prototype for the pypilot below deck hydraulic controller and again is still working great.

Bill O
Can you walk me thru downloading OCPN into the RPi?
I downloaded it into my laptop, my question is when you uncompressed it into the SD card, it has several folders and the instrucción is to take it out of the folder to create a root directory. That is where I get stucked as I have a Moitessier Hat and also downloaded that part but the Rpi only shows the first screen of Opencpn and nothing happens

Thanks

[rla]

I keep the nav computor off the internet while away from Marinas or land, it probably won't work well anyway, wastes power and makes you suscepticle.

[mporter]

On Barbara we use a built-in PC for navigation, but I know a few people who use toughbooks (mostly bought used) and have had great results. I am solidly in favbor of usong PCs instead of dedicated marine MFDs at several times the price and maybe half the utility.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Mr B

My new HP Laptop is empty, It has a 500 GB HDD, 4 GB Ram,
I just need a Nav Map system to put in it,

I don't know anything about navigation but I just ggogled "Nav Map" and got a whole lot of sites where you can download the latest 2020 Navigation map Disc but then realised they were for motor car GPS system!!


Do you know the proprietary name for your "Nav Maps" ?

[mporter]

I don't use proprietary maps. NOAA charts are free for the download, either raster or ENC, and OpenCPN will use either.

[HankOnthewater]

But the time of page #5 of this thread one question has been answered: the original poster (Coopec) has purchased a Panasonic toughbook.
For others interested in the topic here is a link to a previous thread:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...er-217871.html

Some further comments:
- I have had computers on board since 1996, first big desktops and big they were then, then a few Shuttles, then a laptop, and now a little brick (NUC-like Asus) and none ever failed because of moisture, hmmm.. correction: once a big wave slapped the hull, and spray came through a hatch and soaked the saloon table with computer
- Dockhead spells it out in post #17, all very good information. The amp use of my computer is ~30 mAmp at rest/asleep), normal use 560 to 850 mAmp, plus 80 mAmp for the converter (19 to 12 volt), plus screen.
- Like Gilow said, don't worry about Windows 7 not being supported anymore, it will keep running for a looong time. My reason for downgrading form W10 to W7 was that W10 demands frequent use of internet (or does anyone know how to restrict that?)
- SSD is slightly quicker than HDD, but main advantage seems to me is that it uses less power, is smaller
- 250 Gb is big enough if one does not add too much music, photos and videos
- I use computer only downstairs, with Open CPN for planning purposes only. Have plotters in cockpit
- When boat is moving and bouncing, touchscreens are a pain, even more so when wet. To me touchscreens are only OK if there is also another way of controlling the screen
- Yes, an Ipad with Navionics charts is hard to beat for portability and user friendlyness, but waterproof they ain't

[GILow]

Originally Posted by HankOnthewater

But the time of page #5 of this thread one question has been answered: the original poster (Coopec) has purchased a Panasonic toughbook.

Only five pages? That’s pretty direct for CF.

[coopec43]

Hank

Thanks for your comments - they (and other comments above) are really helpful when I am new to navigation and feeling my way.

I live in a fishing village 150 km North of Perth in Western Australia. The local computer technician advised against a laptop as he said the local lobster fishermen have problems with corrosion. But I'm not surprised because I bet they do nothing to avoid corrosion e.g. covering it up when not in use. The technician suggested getting the Toughbook as he felt it would handle a marine environment better than a normal laptop

I have just received my second-hand Panasonic Toughbook which is like brand new. Not a scratch on it and I had to load Win 7 updates from 24 thru to 167 so I don't think it was used too much. I've down loaded the manual on the computer so I have a lot of reading.

I am expecting a 256 SSD in the mail on Tuesday so once I fit that I will download OpenCPN and then maps.

I am really chuffed that an experienced yachtsman (who set up his own computer system for navigation, AIS, GPS(?)) has just PM me and offered to help me set up my own system.

Thanks everyone.

[coopec43]

I've got a lot to learn about my Panasonic Toughbook computer.

Apparently the monitor is a WiFi monitor so I could take it up to the cockpit without wires (tell me if I am wrong) and I can have a larger "external" monitor at the chart table.

How to Connect an External Monitor to ToughBook CF-18

https://itstillworks.com/connect-ext...-12147101.html

(I cannot stand the "mouse pad" on laptops so I have bought a $5 WiFi mouse with a USB dongle(?))

[coopec43]

Someone was querying the power consumed by various types of computer but after a thoough check I can't find the comment (Maybe it was a different thread?)

Can anyone point me to the comment #?

But anyway I wonder if this is useful?

Computer Power Consumption Calculator Instructions

https://www.matthewb.id.au/power/com...alculator.html

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by carlosproa

Bill O
Can you walk me thru downloading OCPN into the RPi?
I downloaded it into my laptop, my question is when you uncompressed it into the SD card, it has several folders and the instrucción is to take it out of the folder to create a root directory. That is where I get stucked as I have a Moitessier Hat and also downloaded that part but the Rpi only shows the first screen of Opencpn and nothing happens

Thanks

Yeah, I had that problem at first also.

What I ended up doing was first download a good zip extractor (7-ZIP)

Then a good sd formatter. Then use win32diskimager to send this extracted image file over to the sd card

I downloaded THEN extracted the large 1.6 gb image file from openplotter using 7-zip
https://nx8035.your-storageshare.de/s/sL9doDML7P4CQDo

it will extract into the same folder you downloaded it to. (Then format the SD card and make sure the size formatted is near the size of the sd card using a good formatter)

After extraction, use win32diskimager to send the extracted image file over to the sd card. Then put your card in the raspberry and it will boot up to the raspberry open pi screen

After this I downloaded a few charts from OpenCPN (after having practiced doing this on my Windows machine) then good then displayed. Then I is connected my gps dongle and got it's port turned on.

Then down to the boat and connected nmea transmit wires from sh GX2200 and set up everything to display AIS. My boat is the big red one close to land

I just did this and it's a totally temporary setup as you can see.

Basically it's a chart plotter for $110.00 if you didn't include AIS inputs from the SH GX2200 VHF

AIS in photo shows unknown at the moment but it soon updated to show that it was a pilot boat headed out to a ship. It will also show SOG, COG, and CPA. Orange arrow is tide/current direction

[DeValency]

With all due respect to the efforts and improvisation in using laptops, including the Panasonic tough book etc. with free nav software and charts, I have fund it time consuming setup and maintenance with a heavy/bulky outcome.
iPad (better) or Android tablets are way more versatile with tons of other apps you can (and want) to use on board almost immediately not only for nav, but also weather, communication, AIS etc. and if you have a single MFD (I use Raymarine Axiom at the nav station) you get a full display and functionality (Radar, auto pilot, instruments) through any iPad on board.
Cost: Used iPad (in my case an iPad I stopped using 3 years ago) max $200, rugged (almost water proof) case $30-50, Navionics including full updates per year $30.
There are tons of accessories for iPads at marginal cost and the easy, friendly and stable operating system enable us to focus at other technical matters while sailing rather than electrical/software engineering (my ‘other’ day job...)

[thomm225]

I believe it's good especially for the older generation that did not grow up using computers to learn to make the free online software work for you.

If you already have a monitor you can make your own chart plotter for about $110 or so with a Raspberry Pi, a GPS USB , and OpenCPN Charts

If you already have say a VHF radio with GPS and AIS you can display that AIS on the monitor also via the Raspberry Pi and have backup GPS info

Also since the Raspberry Pi has wifi that allows for much more onboard comms to see what's on the monitor from the cockpit with a tablet etc

[Sailor279]

I've been in tech my entire career and cybersecurity for the last 15 years or so. I've also been sailing since I was a teen (primarily racing, both ocean and inshore) and running nav software like Expedition and previously MaxSea for about the last 15 years as well -- so this topic is really intriguing to me. I'm really glad to see OpenCPN and will check that out for general nav but for performance optimization, there's no better than Expedition. That said, unless you're racing, stick with OpenCPN or your chartplotter. I love the Rasberry Pi suggestion above and may try to hack together my own.

On the SC52, we run a cheapie W10 Lenovo w/16GB, an 250G+ SSD, 15" screen that we got from eBay for $300. Extra memory always translates into faster performance (even more significant than i5 v i7 processor, etc.). I prefer the touchscreen as it helps me be more efficient, and would recommend.

I also bring a second laptop (similar specs w/identical software, fully charged and sealed in a waterproof bag) in case the first gets wet/dies. I would not waste money on a Toughbook or some physically hardened equipment so long as it's going to be on the Nav station and not getting splashed. That said, computers die for many reasons and as primary tactician/navigator, the last thing I need is a dozen crew mates ticked off at me for not being able to forecast the next front/shift. We depend heavily on the laptop heavily for analysis and they are cheap enough to buy two. For cruising, an updated chartplotter would do just fine for nav, but be sure you have a redundant source for weather.

Both laptops get updates/patched before we leave the dock and are running Defender AV/anti-malware for protection. It's built into Win10, consumes the fewest resources and is one of the leading endpoint protection software on the market. Oh, and it's free. If you're running anything but the latest Windows 10 - and fully patched at that, you are asking for trouble. It's easy enough to disable to updates while on a metered connection but update once you're on wifi again. If you don't like doing updates, you'll hate it when a crypto-miner starts consuming your valuable resources via malware - or worse. Add computer updates to your boat maintenance list.

I also load each laptop with pdf manuals of all the ship systems (paper=extra weight=slow!) for reference on how to reset or perform maintenance if something goes awry.