Showing posts with label I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I. Show all posts
Saturday, 22 April 2017
I have no comm port so I must scream
Six weeks ago I embarked on what should have been a fairly mundane task of getting NMEA data from a GPS and some older Simrad gear imported into a laptop running Nobletec's Odyssey Time Zero navigation software. This wasn't my first time at the NMEA data rodeo, and the results were pretty typical. Using the existing Prolific serial to USB converter I could only have one talker, and one listener, not that I didn't try to get a second talker to work. Alas, but not unsurprisingly one talker only for you, and some of the older NMEA version data was getting lost in translation. To help with these issues a Actisense NDC-4 was purchased.
The little box arrives, and I install it. It's a pretty straight forward job. The NDC control panel software loads up from the CD, The comm, and USB port drives get installed. I find the comm port (6), and set it for 36,400 baud. Open the control center, and click on port 6, and also 36,400, and it all works as advertised.
I connect the GPS, and data flows to the Nobeltec system. Excellent methinks. I create various configurations to learn how to do them, and whoa, it's almost five. The lure of happy hour tugs at me. Everything gets shut down, and I'll come back in the morning to wrap this install up. That was six long weeks ago, and until yesterday I couldn't get it to work for love or money.
A fresh new day sees me on the boat. I fire up the computer, and add a second talker to the Actisense box. I open the control panel, and it's there, but now insidiously ghosted. Something must have gotten changed. Control Panel/Device Manager/Ports, and there it is on comm 6 labeled as Actisense, just like yesterday. I check the speed, and port configuration. That's all fine. I look at the USB port. That's fine also, and it says in both cases "The device is working properly." No it isn't you piece of claptrap PC junk. It ain't working properly at all. Back to the control panel and check the speed, and port. Both are correct, but the little box won't connect to the comm port. The PC knows it's there, if I unplug it from the computer, it disappears from the port list. Plug it in and it reappears. It's just mocking me.
An email goes off to Actisense in my usual windy fashion describing what I have done and how I wired the little box. A response comes soonest suggesting I shouldn't have really connected 12 volt power to the little box, ground looping may occur causing my connection problem.
The first aha moment occurs. It seems the manual in the box, is not the full user manual. I download the full manual which discusses powering the box in greater detail, and ship's power is promptly remove from the box. But this doesn't solve the problem. More emails, uninstalling, and re-installing occurs. Crap, I take the disk, and the little box home and install it on my computer. It works perfectly on my computer. More emails, and then the question appears can you verify the drivers you are using are version 2.8.24.0.
Back to the boat I go for the umpteenth time and check. Yes it is. So what do I now know? It doesn't work on the boat's laptop, but it does work on my computer at home, and now my little net book also. It has to be a problem with the laptop unit, although I don't know what. The owner gives the laptop to an IT guru, and it gets scrubbed clean, updated, and all of that promotional stuff you get on a new computer is removed. Meanwhile I'm yachting on the Salton Sea. I get back and try the computer again, nope, same thing. The little box is there, but it isn't. It acts like it can't connect, because it is already connected.
I'm running out of options here. There is one more thing to try. The IT guru did not have the little box when she cleaned up the computer, so I arrange to meet her with the computer, and little box in hand. I plug it in, and show her how to set up the ports, and how it's used. I also show her that everything seems to configured correctly. She takes off fingers flying, and then gets a little frustrated, and confused. Then the really big aha moment occurs. On a whim she rolls back the driver for just the USB port back one generation to 2.6.2.0, and the little box works. It was an orgasmic moment, in a geeky sort of way, and I now know what happened.
When I took the little box back home, I plugged it into my computer, and it no longer worked. Mr Gates had been my undoing. When I first installed the little box, the CD was the source for the drivers, and the USB driver was version 2.6.2.0. Both my computer, and the boat's laptop had an automatic Windows 7 update, which noticed the out of date USB driver, and did us the favor of updating it to a current version. This was not currently compatible with the Actisense NDC-4. Subtle it was. See it you could, but work it would not. PC's just drive me nuts. Six freaking weeks. The really smart IT guru set up the laptop to never allow an update for all time to come, and I'm fine with that.
The Actisense products are great, and their tech support people stuck by me in spite of my mildly acerbic emails at times. I understand they are working on this quirky little automatic update wart.
Sunday, 16 April 2017
What a dumb idea stupid why I oughta
This should have been a simple job. A Raymarine E-120 wasn't getting a fix, and the investigation begins. Let's check the power, and antenna wiring. The wiring is by the book, and we have good power. The Seatalk cable is plugged in, so let's make sure that it is the master, and it is. I do a software upgrade, and follow it with two factory resets, and still, the GPS page is blank. So where is the GPS? This is the question of the hour.
It's not on the top of the T-top, and it's not in the electronics box. I looked under the combings, nope, I chase the antenna cable, and find the antenna must be mounted on top of the electronics box. You can see the wire passing through the hole. I had to clear the wiring away just to see this much.
So I reach my hand up to feel where it was, and I couldn't feel it or see it, because someone at the factory had covered the entire area with two part foam, I guess to seal the two small holes passing though the electronics box. The actual GPS was fully encapsulated in several inches of foam. This is one of the areas in a boat, where you can look, or you can get one hand in, but you can't do both at the same time.
It took about an hour to excavate around the GPS enough to free it from the box. Two part foam is very tenacious and the GPS was well adhered to the electronics box, but with the judicious application of numerous explicatives, and some hard digging with my fingers, the GPS finally was removed. The point of the exercise was to see what the little LED on the Raystar 125 was telling me. It couldn't tell me anything, because the chemicals in the two part foam, had obscured the clear port you look through to see the LED status.
I happened to have a new GPS in the truck, and when I plugged it in, the unit immediately started to blink happy green, and within a minute, we had a position fix. So what was wrong with the original unit, we will never know, maybe the foam out-gassed fumes that got into the unit, or maybe stuff just happens.
Recapping the moral of the story, there had to be many other ways to seal the two small penetrations through this box, and I think the worst possible way to do it was to use two part foam. It made pulling new wires through the existing holes almost impossible, it was ugly, unprofessional, crudely done, and I'm going to revoke the boat rigging licence of who ever did this, if I ever catch him. I do have my sealing suggestion below, and don't confuse this with 3M 5200, or I will revoke your licence also.
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
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Thursday, 23 March 2017
Local boats I like the Eco Trekker
I didn't know what to think. At a glance my first thought was it seemed to be an anorexic trimaran sailboat that was demasted. I snapped a pic with my phone took a few more steps, looked again, and went back to the truck to get my real camera. There's more than meets the eye here, and the more I learned the better I liked it.
To the best of my knowledge this is a one off Kurt Hughes design and it's called a "38' Power Trawler". I guess technically it's a full displacement design, but unlike the more portly designs I associate with trawlers, this one only draws a foot and a half of water. The term long wetted waterline comes to mind.
So given the name of the vessel, with its very shallow draft. The fact that it's loaded with kayaks and paddle boards I can only agree as mentioned on the designer's website its mission is to comfortably deliver passengers to thin water locations to use small watercraft. A cool idea.
My eye typically disdains less than traditional designs but, the more I looked at this boat, the better I liked it. It has a sleek appearance, but at the same time exemplifies form follows function in a very elegant way.
Despite its initial skinny appearance it's actually more commodious than it appears. If you look at the website drawings and the rendering you can see it comfortably sleeps four in two double berths, with the aft one being the largest. I guess you you could sleep a fifth on the settee. It has a pretty substantial head, and galley configuration.
The cockpit has seating for four with a bimini and a smallish helm, but with room for the needed electronics. In general the layout is good, plenty roomy enough and no space has been thrown away.
The magic is in the power plants. Propulsion is provided by two 9.9 electric start Yamaha's with power tilt.
The website has a link titled "vessel range" that's worthy of a look. It's based on two 15 HP outboards, and this boat has a third less power. The range numbers are based on 100 gallons of fuel.
The website has a link titled "vessel range" that's worthy of a look. It's based on two 15 HP outboards, and this boat has a third less power. The range numbers are based on 100 gallons of fuel.
With the two 15HP engines at full power with a speed of 12.3kts it has a range of 435nm. That's 4.35 nautical miles per gallon. I don't know of any other boats at 38' that can achieve this.
At the other end of the range running one engine at low power the speed is 5kts with an incredible range of 2958nm. You could go from Florida to Maine and back with 100 gallons of gas. *Depending on where you started in Florida and where you went in Maine. I don't want to imply that if you started in Pensacola, and went to Eastport Maine and back you could do it with 100 gallons. You would probably have to stop in Savannah and buy another 30 gallons.
Running one engine at 3000 RPM gives you 8kts of speed and yields a range of 1965nm. Almost 20 miles to the gallon without feeling like you're crawling. The point is, "To say this vessel is fuel efficient is a gross understatement".
At the other end of the range running one engine at low power the speed is 5kts with an incredible range of 2958nm. You could go from Florida to Maine and back with 100 gallons of gas. *Depending on where you started in Florida and where you went in Maine. I don't want to imply that if you started in Pensacola, and went to Eastport Maine and back you could do it with 100 gallons. You would probably have to stop in Savannah and buy another 30 gallons.
Running one engine at 3000 RPM gives you 8kts of speed and yields a range of 1965nm. Almost 20 miles to the gallon without feeling like you're crawling. The point is, "To say this vessel is fuel efficient is a gross understatement".
Is this specific design good for me? The answer is yes with a couple of mods. The designer shows a trampoline spanning the aka's Those are the aluminum tubes that connect the ama, (the outboard pontoon) floaty part to the vaka, the main hull in the middle. Look at that, you just learned three Polynesian words and are now even more boaty. Now ditch the blazer and scuff up those boat shoes so you look like a real mariner.
On this boat the trampoline is missing and the small watercraft are bridging the aka's. I would replace the trampolines with a modestly cantilevered solid (perforated) deck on both sides with life lines on the fore and outboard sides. One side could be used for a dingy, the the other side would make a nice place to have an umbrella, with a table and deck chairs. A great little patio deck to enjoy the sunset, and have a good bourbon with the dulcet tones of Pink Floyd wafting in the background.
The other thing that would be nice to include in the design is room for a gen set, maybe built into the transom. Because there is no engine room per se because of the outboards, the interior gains all of that extra space. But if you use a boat in Florida, sleeping with with no air conditioning during the summer is akin to being staked out in Death Valley, and you will likely be charged for spousal abuse in the morning.
The other thing that would be nice to include in the design is room for a gen set, maybe built into the transom. Because there is no engine room per se because of the outboards, the interior gains all of that extra space. But if you use a boat in Florida, sleeping with with no air conditioning during the summer is akin to being staked out in Death Valley, and you will likely be charged for spousal abuse in the morning.
Despite my initial reaction on first seeing this little vessel, I have grown to really like it. You could likely scale the design up a little more and get an even larger version that would retain the majority of the fuel efficiency and give you some more room. It's a really clever design Mr. Hughes.
Kurt Hughes Multihull blog.
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