Handheld VHF Questions...

[snotnosetommy]

So...... Since the VHF has only bare wires for gps connection, one would need to buy a cable to fit the GPSMap 76, then whack off the USB end (or RS32 or whatever), then solder the bare ends to the VHF.....right?
I was thinking of doing that with my GlobalSat puck, but it wouldn't have 12v power. (I think)
So Sum's idea with the Map76 sounds about right for me. Much more features than a puck would offer, and power's not a problem. Also easily disconnected.
Or am I missing something?

[kevinnem]

Yea, you havee the idea, it is jsut a matter of what sort of soldering you want to do, and how much you want to cut in to cables and stuff.

The units will work on RS 232 (technically NMEA and RS-232 are different, but people have been "stealing" RS-232 for years and re purposing it for there own needs, it is used in tons of industrial machines and in more places then you can imagine). There is good reason for this, if you have to get a stream of data from one place to another, RS-232 is the easiest way to do it. it also has a big brother, I can't remember the name RS-484 I think. USB is completely different, and not the same thing at all. The only link between them is that new computers, namely laptops, do not have RS-232 ports on them; so you use a USB device to make a RS232 port - some call this a converter, but that is not really right. "translator" might be a bit better word. Expander would be best I think.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=519

This item form Garmin would be what you want (I think), it has the 4 port "hub" on one end, that has been used by a ton of Garmin units over the years (my GPS V has it), the 4 ports then go to power, and data.
this would just be a matter of getting this wired in to your radio. the 9 pin serial cable would also work. Keep in ming you can always slice open a cable and splice wire together.

PS they list the detachable antennae as working with the &6map, but I don't think they do, cause your antenna is buildt in.

[snotnosetommy]

Yeah, I can see that's gonna work just fine.
I see Garmin says GPSMap76CSx is discontinued. Does that cause concern for anyone

[Sumner]

.... https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=519

This item form Garmin would be what you want (I think), it has the 4 port "hub" on one end, that has been used by a ton of Garmin units over the years (my GPS V has it), the 4 ports then go to power, and data.
this would just be a matter of getting this wired in to your radio. the 9 pin serial cable would also work. Keep in mind you can always slice open a cable and splice wire together...

Yep that cable would work. I got one that is like this one....



http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMBO-CABLE-GAR ... 53ddc599be

and use it between the computer and the Map 76 and it also supplies the 12 volts to the 76. Now the computer I built has a serial port so it just plugs into that. I'll still use that combo on the Endeavour for the chart plotter, but won't have the Cuda 350 for the GPS location on this boat for the VHF. I'll get another of the plugs shown above and cut the serial connector off and find the 2 wires inside that I need to go to the radio for the DSC and patch them to the radio. The wires should be easy to identify with a VOM meter hooked onto one wire at a time with one probe and the other probe inserted into the 4 outlet plug that goes into the 76. The 76 manual should show the pin-outs on the 76.

Yeah, I can see that's gonna work just fine.
I see Garmin says GPSMap76CSx is discontinued. Does that cause concern for anyone

I think the "C" is the color. Ours or the older ones that aren't color and I believe have been discontinued for some time. Since we don't need charts for them I don't care that they are discontinued (hey they are cheap) and I'm trying to buy a third one now. Lost an auction on one today.

Good luck,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

[snotnosetommy]

This is just what I need. I would have thought the VHF manufacturers would have made it easy. I guess they'd rather you bought their integrated instrumentation.
Now just need to get used to running Seaclear, good to go. I figured the Garmin would make a great backup. I think "Seaclear Unleashed" will save me a lot of aggravation.
Great to be able to talk to those who've been there, done that.

[Sumner]

This is just what I need. I would have thought the VHF manufacturers would have made it easy. I guess they'd rather you bought their integrated instrumentation.
Now just need to get used to running Seaclear, good to go. I figured the Garmin would make a great backup. I think "Seaclear Unleashed" will save me a lot of aggravation.
Great to be able to talk to those who've been there, done that.

As I think I've stated, we run SeaClear and love it. The only thing missing is that we can't see it at the helm, especially with the Endeavour. With the Mac and to some extent with the Endeavour I can sit at the companionway and direct Ruth if we are in a really tight spot. Other than that if we have a couple hundred feet to work with and can be off that much from where we really are she just watches the handheld 76 and goes from waypoint to waypoint. They are downloaded into the 76 at any time via the serial cable between it and the computer with SeaClear running on it.

I've looked for a "cheap" way to have a screen with SeaClear on it in the cockpit at the helm and I think for us at least I have it solved. The trick was finding something that could be seen in daylight conditions and that didn't cost an arm and a leg. What we now have and that I've only tried out at home is a....



.... RCA 7 inch indoor/outdoor TV that has a screen meant to be viewed outside. It runs on 12 volts, and you can send a picture to it with an ordinary coax cable over a long distance.

The parts I have are the TV which was $80 at Walmart...

http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-7-Portabl ... 3/15042277

...$60 online .

I have a $30 converter box that has VGA in and a VGA output so you run a VGA cable from the computer to the box and plug the computer's monitor into the box. Then the box also has S video and RCA video outputs. I go from that box with a short S video cable to another box that cost $16 at Walmart. It takes the S video or RCA and converts it into an output that you can hook a coax cable to that can run to an older TV.

The RCA 7 inch TV will either receive the newer digital signals with an antenna that comes with it or it will receive the older signals via a coax cable. So I run the coax cable from the last box to the TV that will be in the cockpit. I've run over 50 feet of cable with a good picture.

Now how good is the picture? Well the picture is a composite picture so no where as good as say a VGA monitor. I'm not home now, but think it is about 480+ X 240 or about the same or better than the 4 inch chart plotters on down. With SeaClear if I have it zoomed so that I can see the chart about 3-4 miles wide and about 2 miles high on the 7 inch screen I can clearly read all of the depths and other text. If I zoom out further then things become fuzzy.

If you try and run the SeaClear menu items you had better have them memorized as they don't zoom in like the chart does and are quite small depending on how you have the computer monitor screen set.

The real plus with this is that with SeaClear running so that it updates the boat's position all of the time we will be able to see depth's and where we are within about a 2 mile radius of the boat at all times and still have the option of really zooming the screen in and seeing exactly where we are in tight situations. All on a screen that can be seen in direct sunlight and really well under the bimini.

It also has a battery that runs it 3 hours or so which leaves the option of just pluging in the coax cable. We won't leave it out all of the time, but I'll make a somewhat weatherproof box that it will fit into and will have a 12 volt plug and the coax in it.

If there is interest I'll put it on our web site. To get to a chart plotter with a 7 inch screen you would have to spend over $1000 and all of this is less than $150, with SeaClear being free and the NOAA charts being free, but you do need a computer to run it on.

The box that coverts the VGA to S video runs on 5 volts using a USB cable that is plugged into the computer. The $16 converter box runs on 9 volts, so I'm using one of those cheap DC/DC converters that plugs into a 12 volt cigarette outlet and has a switch on it that lets you set it at different DC voltages (usually around $15). I'd like to find a converter that just runs on 12 volts or I'll figure out what this 9 volt one needs and just put a dropping resistor in a line to it from a 12 volt source.

One final benefit from this is that we will now have a TV on board. We are up by Provo, UT right now and I picked up about 6 stations last night in the motel room. The picture is good, but it needs a better antenna,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

[mastreb]

Sum, if your laptop has wifi you should consider using a cheap android-based tablet like the Amazon Kindle ($200) and one of a number screen-sharing apps. Basically it sends the screen display to the tablet and acts like a remote monitor, keyboard, and mouse. You'd setup an ad-hoc wifi network served from the laptop and join that with the tablet. Then use an RDP or VNC screen server on the laptop (RDP is built into Windows pro editions) and a compatible app on the tablet.

With this setup you'd have perfect resolution and no cables to run except power which you can easily break out of the helm.

Matt

[snotnosetommy]

More and more betterer. Cockpit display would be really cool in unfamiliar waters, as I am always single handed. May have to augment my basic 12v power supply, tho.

[Sumner]

Sum, if your laptop has wifi you should consider using a cheap android-based tablet like the Amazon Kindle ($200) and one of a number screen-sharing apps. Basically it sends the screen display to the tablet and acts like a remote monitor, keyboard, and mouse. You'd setup an ad-hoc wifi network served from the laptop and join that with the tablet. Then use an RDP or VNC screen server on the laptop (RDP is built into Windows pro editions) and a compatible app on the tablet.

With this setup you'd have perfect resolution and no cables to run except power which you can easily break out of the helm.

Matt

Thanks for the input. When you say do we have wifi, do you mean can we setup a wireless network on the boat? We have long distance wifi that I've been able to receive 4+ miles at time, but we only run it when anchored and it is available. We do use the Bullet 2HP radio for it and also a router so that both of us can get connected at the same time.

The way I have things setup now with the chart plotter below and the TV in the cockpit you just hook the cables up once, a couple minute one-time job, and then anytime you turn the TV on you are seeing the computer screen. Pretty simple with no other apps needed.

We just bought Ruth a new Nook color tablet for Christmas, but I'm not sure you can get to all of the android apps on it even though it has the 2.3 OS. Just got it yesterday. Even if it would work I don't think it is going out in the cockpit . I kind of promised Ruth that it really was her's .

The screen on the TV is not that bad and the only cable going to it will be a coax cable and 12 volts. Setup to view a 2 X 4 mile area you can see all of the detail on the chart. That is a lot more area than we can see clearly with our handheld's small screen and more than you are going to see on a 4 or 5 inch screen. Even using our 10 inch or 16 inch screen down in the boat we usually don't look at an area much larger than that while moving. I'll still plan the route below and will still send the waypoints to the handheld. That way even if the large computer failed while underway we have the handheld as backup.

I'll post some screen pictures when we get back home,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

[mastreb]

When you say do we have wifi, do you mean can we setup a wireless network on the boat?

Any wifi laptop is capable of acting as a "router" to itself in a mode technically called 802.1x Ad-hoc network mode. Essentially there's no router, and no Internet, just a network connection served up by the laptop itself that other wifi devices can "see" and associate with. So it doesn't take any hardware beyond just the laptop. You can most easily enable it in Windows by setting up Connection Sharing or Internet Sharing (I don't remember what it's called and I'm typing this on a Mac) but it will let you network tablets or smartphones directly to the laptop. Once the wifi ad-hoc routing service is setup on the laptop, other devices connect to it and can then be used to view or control the screen.

But the TV with a cable is definitely hassle free and if it works, do it! The tablet is true screen control though so you'd be able to do things like set waypoints and move the chart around rather than simply having a "view only" display.

If anyone is interested in knowing exactly how to do this, let me know and I'll start a forum post on steps to configure it for Windows XP and 7. I don't use computers on my boat (My boat is for getting away from computers) or I'd set this up myself.

Matt

[Sumner]

....If anyone is interested in knowing exactly how to do this, let me know and I'll start a forum post on steps to configure it for Windows XP and 7. I don't use computers on my boat (My boat is for getting away from computers) or I'd set this up myself. Matt

Hey if you get time and want to post it. I always like trying to learn something new.

I have at a motel been connected to the internet with an Alpha 1000 radio connected to my laptop running Vista and then had Ruth's running Windows 7 networked to mine with an ethernet cable and she was connected to the internet through my connection. Not what you are talking about I don't think??

We bought an LG Optimus Slider Android with 2.3 at half price Monday for $99 through Virgin Mobile that we will use to access the internet when we can't get it with the long distance WiFi and cell service is available. I've read a little about connecting the computer to it so that I can use the computers larger screen and keyboard when I need to. So I'm just beginning my education or 'rooting' and 'tethering' and such, so whatever you can add will help. Once I can setup a 'hot spot' with the phone Ruth's Nook should also see it.

The boat's computer is a 12 volt 10 watt running Windows 7 and not a ....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... Index.html

....laptop, but one I put together. Still it uses the chip set that is in a lot of notepads, so should do what you are saying.

Also if the 'automatic' is turned on with SeaClear, which we do 90% of the time, the chart is repositioned constantly to keep the ship visible, new charts are loaded as needed and the boat is always visible on the screen so once I set the zoom below in the cabin the boat will always be visible about the middle of the screen.

Know what you mean about not wanting to use the computer. When I sold my computer store in '90 for the next 10 years I only turned one on when I absolutely had to. Then along came the Internet and I was hooked again . Also down in Florida in unknow waters having the chart plotter is invaluable. In the west it hasn't been that way. If it is the day time you can see where you are and figure it out with a chart/map, even someplace like the canyons of Lake Powell. In Florida everything looks the same and you just can't see cuts going in that do so at an angle as they just blend in. Access to weather can be vital any time you are out and a couple days go by and you want to know what is coming, but down there having the wind direction and the wave height along with the tides is really vital to your safety, so the Internet sure helps to fill that void. Here is a link to what a guy has done....

http://www.geoffschultz.org/weather_map.php

...that gives you access to lots of different date all using the same location map.

Thanks for any info that can help with the above,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

[snotnosetommy]

Yeah, Matt,
I run Windows 7 and would like to see how you set up a cockpit display. Don't have a Kindle yet, but will probably get one for Christmas.
Thanks
Tom

[Catigale]

Its a 10 USD per month option to add tethering to an Iphone, which will give you a mobile internet connection and WIFI on your boat wherever there is cell signal. Ive probably only sailed out of cell range once or twice in my life.

I also carry the Verizon 4G HotSpot device for work, so Im always connected essentially

[Sumner]

Its a 10 USD per month option to add tethering to an Iphone, which will give you a mobile internet connection and WIFI on your boat wherever there is cell signal. Ive probably only sailed out of cell range once or twice in my life.

I also carry the Verizon 4G HotSpot device for work, so Im always connected essentially

Hey good info for an iphone user, but we don't have one . We also don't have a monthly contract except for Net10. Our problem is that we only use the cell on trips, so go months at home where we don't need one, so don't want monthly plans. I'm hoping the $35 monthly plan with Virgin with data takes care of us for the couple months we are out on the boat.

I also hope you can get down into the 10,000 Island area and Everglades at some point where you are out of cell coverage and enjoy it or come out and visit us in Canyon Country where you also won't have that phone ringing very many places . I was on the phone 8-10 hours every day when I had my computer business and still don't like to hear it ring 20 years later after that experience,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

[Catigale]

Cell coverage at Cuttyhunk isn't good...wonder if that's why I go there s o much???



Looking forward to it Sum. I'll bring a present for Ruth....something that needs a sunbrella cover.....