Nmea recording device needed

[rgleason]

Ron, kbox recording to sdcard is excellent idea, wish it were more common. I am going rpi route for cost and general utility reasons, also this something I need to become familiar with, rpi, linux, kplex, etc. Additionally we have some great support from the guys, so I am going to document each step for the supplimentary hardware manual for others to follow.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Ron, kbox recording to sdcard is excellent idea, wish it were more common. I am going rpi route for cost and general utility reasons, also this something I need to become familiar with, rpi, linux, kplex, etc. Additionally we have some great support from the guys, so I am going to document each step for the supplimentary hardware manual for others to follow.

Documenting this would be great

Since I'd like something similar I've started having a look at mysql/node-red. Would probably be easier to get at all the data afterwards rather than having one huge file full of NMEA sentences.

The Openplotter guys have logging on their radar as well so I'll leave a link to this thread on the openplotter forums.

[rgleason]

I've been reading up on rpi3 insructions and have some questions.
1. Mini Sdcard 8gb type 6 with reader (I guess it is a USB connection?) suggested as best. Will we want a larger or different one?
2. Load Noobs then select OS. Is this the best way to start
configuation? What OS -raspian?
3. Then Openplotter?
4. Since we want to have it powered by a 12vdc plug and at least 2.5vdc stable power supply, is there a good source? Would batterybackup included be good since 12vdc plugs are not very reliable? - perhaps use a different very simple reliable connector like for a trailer hitch?
5. I think I have Hdmi, disply/tv screen, usb mouse and keyboard. If we decide on 7" screen, which one would be best for cockpit? Below?
6. Should I just get the reccommended box? I think this will be located below in Nav station.
7. How to package and simplify all the wiring and wires.
8. Are there any other accessories I might need other than the switch to record?

I'll read openplotter install instructions next, then node red.

Thanks

[rgleason]

Some links
Rpi3 https://www.raspberrypi.org/products...-pi-3-model-b/

Openplotter http://www.sailoog.com/en/openplotter

Openplotter dwnld. Includes Noobs http://www.sailoog.com/

Node Red https://nodered.org/

[jeepbluetj]

Since 0183 is purely serial, one of these would work:

Logomatic v2 Serial SD Datalogger

You'd need to decode the NMEA sentences on reading, but it'd loggem.

[AedanC]

No need to load any OS before OpenPlotter. There is a NOOBS+OpenPlotter download that installs both together.

You can even install it headless if you want, just write the SD card as instructed, install it in the Pi and then wait for about 30 mins. You'll then see a WiFi network called OpenPlotter, password is 12335678. Use VNC to connect to it and you are in action.

Good luck. :-)

[conachair]

Originally Posted by rgleason

I've been reading up on rpi3 insructions and have some questions.
1. Mini Sdcard 8gb type 6 with reader (I guess it is a USB connection?) suggested as best. Will we want a larger or different one?

I use 16G cards so there's plenty of room for all the charts..
Usually sans disc ultra x10.

A usb sd card reader/writer is really handy to back up from a Pi menu as you go along.

pi@openplotter:~ $ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/root 13G 5.6G 6.8G 46% /
devtmpfs 458M 0 458M 0% /dev
tmpfs 462M 0 462M 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 462M 6.7M 455M 2% /run
tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock
tmpfs 462M 0 462M 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p6 65M 21M 45M 33% /boot
tmpfs 93M 4.0K 93M 1% /run/user/1000
/dev/mmcblk0p5 30M 397K 28M 2% /media/pi/SETTINGS

2. Load Noobs then select OS. Is this the best way to start
configuation? What OS -raspian?
3. Then Openplotter?

From memory the installation autoruns so you don't even need a monitor, it will load the OS then reboot straight into OpenPlotter

4. Since we want to have it powered by a 12vdc plug and at least 2.5vdc stable power supply, is there a good source? Would batterybackup included be good since 12vdc plugs are not very reliable? - perhaps use a different very simple reliable connector like for a trailer hitch?

Pi's do like good power so one area where it's best not to skimp - I use an ebay buck boost DC converter set to about 5.2v.

5. I think I have Hdmi, disply/tv screen, usb mouse and keyboard. If we decide on 7" screen, which one would be best for cockpit? Below?
6. Should I just get the reccommended box? I think this will be located below in Nav station.

I have a 19" monitor down below but don't use it that much, underway it's a sony xperia tablet in the cockpit and down below often it's easier to use the laptop either SSH into the terminal or VNC to echo the Pi desktop on the laptop.

8. Are there any other accessories I might need other than the switch to record?

REALLY handy are ds18b20 thermometer sensors, I love having engine/alternator/exhaust elbow graphed and engine temp displayed in opencpn dashboard - but maybe that's running before walking...

A breakout board for the GPIO pins is really handy.

You might find a node-red dashboard switch is actually handier than a hard wired switch, then any device which can get a web page up can be used.

[rgleason]

Any suggestions?

Starter Kits
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit - 32 GB Edition includes 32gb microsd class 10 $70
or
Vilros Raspberry Pi 3 Basic Starter Kit, Black Case No microsd $49

MicroSD card
Samsung 32GB EVO Plus Class 10 Micro SDHC with Adapter 80mb/s (MB-MC32DA/AM) $15 or
SanDisk Ultra 16GB Ultra Micro SDHC UHS-I/Class 10 Card with Adapter (SDSQUNC-016G-GN6MA) $10
or a spare one

12vdc Power Source
Boost Buck Dc-dc Adjustable Step up Down Converter Xl6009 Module Solar Voltage $2

RPI3 GPIO Breakout Board
RPI3 kuman 830 MB-102 Tie Points Solderless Breadboard + GPIO T Type Expansion Board + 65pcs Jumper Cables wires+ 40pin Rainbow Ribbon Cable+100pcs resistance K73 $13

Breakout info
https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-gpio/
https://www.amazon.com/Cobbler-Break.../dp/B00OJEKNUK
https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspb.../dp/B011D06Y4G
Getting Started With GPIO On a Raspberry Pi

Other Items
VNC for remote access to RPI3

One Wire Digital Temperature Sensor - DS18B20

[AedanC]

Are you planning to receive the data from NMEA 0183? If so you'll need a USB to RS 422/488 interface. Basically a differential serial port.

Aedan

[Moo]

If the whole point of this is to log data to generate polars you can add environmental conditions with the addition of sensors such as the BME280 which gives pressure, temperature and humidity. The use the I2C interface is virtually plug and play in Openplotter.

[rgleason]

AedanC. The boat has an Artisense for 0183 which has a USB plug. For my boat I have a rs232 to usb converter and before that a seatalkconverter.

Moo That's very helpful to know and I'll find some sensors.

Do you guys think the box will hold the power unit and breakout board? This needs to be pretty tidy for my friends boat. Also I think a hard switch is going to be much easier for him to start recording.

[Moo]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Moo That's very helpful to know and I'll find some sensors.

Do you guys think the box will hold the power unit and breakout board? This needs to be pretty tidy for my friends boat. Also I think a hard switch is going to be much easier for him to start recording.

I housed all of mine in an industrial IP67 standard waterproof box with IP67 push buttons and connectors for power and sensor etc. I mounted the touch screen with a silicon gasket so it should all be pretty watertight still.

Inside the box there is the Pi with GPS hat, homebrew buck converter PSU, heading sensor, RTC, temperature sensor (to monitor temp inside the box) and interfaced outside 1W temperature sensors, the BME280, external GPS antenna, NMEA0183 interface, N2K interface and an external USB. It measures 22x15x7cm.

[conachair]

This looks like it might be worth a look for creating polars:

https://github.com/joabakk/signalk-polar

https://www.npmjs.com/package/signalk-polar-graphing

[rgleason]

Yes, Conachair, that would be a good way and there are several other utilities such as Polar_pi, Polauto (windows) which will sort out that data nest and make polars, and I even believe Sean's weather_routing may do it but have not tried it.

Interesting point that Motor Boats also can also use polars! Yes, they do have different characteristics based on the speed and angle of the wind and that can be mapped! This all adds up to fuel savings or not, and the polars can help make predictions for speed at certain RPM etc.

[conachair]

Update this end -

I now have openplotter recording data into a sqlite database, just some thermometers so far and haven't figured out what to actually do with the data, here's a few hours graphed in plotly..

I think it's well worth the effort sorting out a database to store in even if you record a daily file of nmea as well, so much easier to get at the data..

RRDTOOLS might actually be a better way to record as the databases are a fixed size, some data "falls off" the far end of the database as a new data goes in but it's a big of a slog to set up, though it does its own graphing as well. I'll leave this running for a few days and see how big the file gets, one bonus of sqlite is that everything is stored in one file so you can copy over to another machine to play with it.