Upgrading Old Electronics (Circa 1995)

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

As I posted above, being old is not a problem. If it is still working it will acquire the satellites and calculate your position. The basic public GPS has not changed, or at least not enough that would be a problem. My brother is a developer for the GPSd project and maintains the code for some of the very old receivers - which are being supported.





Most knotmeter transducers can be removed and replaced with a plug, so first look for a plug. Many even have check valves that stop most of the water flow inwards when the transducer is pulled out. So pull out the sender, clean the paddlewheel and check that it spins freely. Finally have someone watch the gauge as it is spun. Do this first before checking wiring, etc, as stuck paddlewheels are very common. It is not unusual to find broken paddlewheels but usually these can be replaced.



Greg

Old gps will work albeit not as good as the latest multi channel units that can receive all four GNSS systems. So there is merit in upgrading.

Secondly where this is integrated with a chart plotter as in a GPSMAP product range , old means you will not get firmware updates or potentially chart sets or upgrades either. Again an upgrade is desirable

[thomm225]

GPS cost is really a non-issue these days.

I just bought one for my laptop chart plotter for about $12.00.

I got tired of messing with the wires on my old one which cost $17.00. (it can be a backup)

Not sure which priority I'll assign to it yet though. I also have the GPS coming in via NMEA 0183 from the SH VHF Radio

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-G-Mou...ps%2C75&sr=8-4

[clausont]

NOTE: I realize the Axiom 7 DV has the depth w/ transducer.

[clausont]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

As I posted above, being old is not a problem. If it is still working it will acquire the satellites and calculate your position. The basic public GPS has not changed, or at least not enough that would be a problem. My brother is a developer for the GPSd project and maintains the code for some of the very old receivers - which are being supported.

That's good to know. It does power up and appears to function. Right now it will not acquire satellites becase the cable is pulled loose from the BNC connector on the back of the unit. Easy fix or inexpensive GPS / BNC antenna replacement ($17).

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Most knotmeter transducers can be removed and replaced with a plug, so first look for a plug. Many even have check valves that stop most of the water flow inwards when the transducer is pulled out. So pull out the sender, clean the paddlewheel and check that it spins freely. Finally have someone watch the gauge as it is spun. Do this first before checking wiring, etc, as stuck paddlewheels are very common. It is not unusual to find broken paddlewheels but usually these can be replaced.

Greg

I need to look more closely for the transducer. I haven't looked closely for it yet. It is a thru-hull as were the ones on our Cal 2-29 and our Ingrid 38. Both of those were as you described: easily removed and serviced without hauling the boat. There is one thing penetrating the hull which I can't identify and the PO (Original builder) doesn't remember what it is. I'll try to attach a pic of it from the bilge. Thanks

[clausont]

Originally Posted by George_SD

Get the Axiom 7 DV with built-in sonar module ( that's what I have). It came with a CHIRP transducer, that I've mounted inside the hull without making any holes and it reads the depth just fine.

The Axiom 7's that I have looked at have the transom mount transducer. I am curious how you mounted the Chirp transducer inside and it still operates correctly. I don't know much about how transducers work, but I was under the impression that thru hull or stern mount required water contact for the signal to propagate correctly. Thanks

[dan104]

Being a systems/software engineer and knowing that everything fails some place and laptops are right up there in the failure rate, her is what I did with same Raymarine equipment.


1. Installed a easily reachable Raspberry Pi 3B with a screen at the NAV station with a Daisy+ ASI receiver ($60), GPS Puck ($30), RS485 USB Serial port ($12)(NEAM183). The TRIdisplay has a 183 output port so it echos everything on the seatalk buss. For wind I have a TACK-Tic wireless which I use a SDR ($20). This Pi is running OpenPlotter distro (free) and I configured Signal-K to accept all of these data points and 183 as Bi-Directional. Openplotter included OPENCPN, so just configured the opencpn to read from the Signal-K network. Now everything talks together, including driving AutoHelm from Opencpn. Plus here is the fun part, PI supports VNC remote desktop so I just use an old ipad or cheap android pad as my cockpit screen.


2. Now I said things fail, so I have a second PI (Pi4) with a 15" screen that sings down from cabin roof with a 500gb SSD with similar load plus Kodi media center and tons of movies and music for entertainment needs. and being on the same network as the rest of the system it has access to all the data streaming from signal-k.


For network I have a local wireless router, with a long range WIFI acting as the WAN side, and the rest of the boat all living on the LAN side.


And just for backup Spare PI's , Pucks, and SDR along with preloaded SD cards.

Oh and I keep a laptop on board also loaded with opencpn and configured to connect to signal-k data stream, so I can play freecell do real work.

[fogmachine]

Originally Posted by dan104

1. Installed a easily reachable Raspberry Pi 3B with a screen at the NAV station with a Daisy+ ASI receiver ($60), GPS Puck ($30), RS485 USB Serial port ($12)(NEAM183). The TRIdisplay has a 183 output port so it echos everything on the seatalk buss. For wind I have a TACK-Tic wireless which I use a SDR ($20). This Pi is running OpenPlotter distro (free) and I configured Signal-K to accept all of these data points and 183 as Bi-Directional. Openplotter included OPENCPN, so just configured the opencpn to read from the Signal-K network. Now everything talks together, including driving AutoHelm from Opencpn. Plus here is the fun part, PI supports VNC remote desktop so I just use an old ipad or cheap android pad as my cockpit screen.

For people facile with Open Source and the command line this is a few weeks of background research and an afternoon or two of setup but for everyone else it might as well be a NASA mission. For most of my techie friends the question isn't "can I make it work" - it's "can my wife use it without my help."

[George_SD]

Originally Posted by clausont

The Axiom 7's that I have looked at have the transom mount transducer. I am curious how you mounted the Chirp transducer inside and it still operates correctly. I don't know much about how transducers work, but I was under the impression that thru hull or stern mount required water contact for the signal to propagate correctly. Thanks

It's ideal if they have water contact, but they still work even inside the hull. The results are not as good as if it was in the water if you intend to fish, but for depth it works excellent. I use mine for both - fishing and depth measurement.

I've mounted it in a dab of wax taken from a toilet mounting ring found at Home Depot for $4. You can epoxy it to the hull too, but wax makes it easily removable. There are also dedicated "in-hull" transducers that sit in a small liquid filled container insider the hull. They are cheap and easy to install.

There are some requirements for it to work well:
1) non-cored hulls with just fiberglass between the transducer and water (no foam, no wood, etc).
2) ideally installed where fiberglass is thin (not next to the keel)
3) it need to read smooth flowing water, not turbulent water for best results. So 2-3 feet in front of the keel is often ideal.



Here is fish:

[Shaneesprit]

I went with Raymarine for most of my electronic equipment, as I bought an Auto pilot, then that needed a Raymarine display just to update the firmware before it would work. Not sure I am a Raymarine fan but I do like there SeatalkNG the cables and connections are plug and play. Before this I fitted some depth Wind and Speed log from NASA which I still have, Speed Log has never worked even when new, Depth has never been an issue. wind mostly only get direction not speed from it.
Raymarine really frustrates me
NASA great service but not sure.
I have 3 chartplotters
Lowrance with a small screen at the helm
Raymarine Axiom 7 MFD inside - if you’re thinking of Raymarine then plan for a MFD
Tablet 10” running charts only.

I think you should research and find out what equipment you would like to end up with, rather than thinking about what you have.
That way when you buy you have some idea of what you want.

[George_SD]

double post... deleted

[George_SD]

Originally Posted by Shaneesprit

I went with Raymarine for most of my electronic equipment, as I bought an Auto pilot, then that needed a Raymarine display just to update the firmware before it would work. Not sure I am a Raymarine fan but I do like there SeatalkNG the cables and connections are plug and play. Before this I fitted some depth Wind and Speed log from NASA which I still have, Speed Log has never worked even when new, Depth has never been an issue. wind mostly only get direction not speed from it.
Raymarine really frustrates me
NASA great service but not sure.
I have 3 chartplotters
Lowrance with a small screen at the helm
Raymarine Axiom 7 MFD inside - if you’re thinking of Raymarine then plan for a MFD
Tablet 10” running charts only.

I think you should research and find out what equipment you would like to end up with, rather than thinking about what you have.
That way when you buy you have some idea of what you want.

I was actually thinking about adding NASA marine Wind transducer (NMEA2000)....it's discouraging to hear it's not working well for you

[AKA-None]

I have both a nasa paddle wheel and a wind instrument they seem satisfactory

[clausont]

Originally Posted by fogmachine

For people facile with Open Source and the command line this is a few weeks of background research and an afternoon or two of setup but for everyone else it might as well be a NASA mission. For most of my techie friends the question isn't "can I make it work" - it's "can my wife use it without my help."

Excellent point.

[Tehani]

Originally Posted by clausont

Excellent point.

I think this question is more elegant: Can any crew member handle it without my help?

(I am thinking that our wife may be more capable than ourselves).