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I'm probably going to show my ignorance; but here goes - has anyone considered using a blackbox fishfinder and some type of gps (maybe one of those navman's that connect to a pda) and connecting them to an older color laptop and mounting the laptop in the cabin where it is viewable from the helm as a display?
It seems to me that you can pay $2000+ for a color screen gps that is much smaller than many laptops. Could you potentially get an older laptop for $200-300 and get the same or larger display for half the cost? I realize laptops aren't designed for the damp of a cabin, but even if you got a few seasons out of it and then replaced it you might be ahead of the game.
You need to have a TFT display to use in sunlight. I use oziexplorer that read BBS charts. I hook the serial port to a Magellan 315 or my GPSMap 180. This beats anything I have seen including GPSMap 182 with Bluechart. The use of a standard laptop on a rough day at high speed might not be a good idea. You can get good laptops for 400 on ebay. A very cheap handheld waas gps with mount around 200. 300 for software and serial cable and you are in business. Max 900, 300 if you have a diposable laptop. The hookup is the NEMA out wire gets hooked to the PC serial port data in line. Oziexplorer is really easy to use and other than durability of chartplotters there is no comparison. If you intend to save tracks, waypoints, routes on the PC you will need to connect the serial port data out pin to the NEMA in wire. There is a lot of how-to info avaiable on the net. The ground wire/pin also can be connected.
I saw a segment on PBS or DiscoveryChannel last year that had something like that. The articel was about a tug boat and the captian had a PC-Monitor on the dash just besides the chart-plotter. It was showing the same screen only larger.
I would think the processor was somewhere in the cabinetry underneath. He must have had one of those interface cables too.
I know they make PC/TV interface display devices because we have one at the office. Perhaps they make them for chart-plotters to monitors as well.
The laptops have a video out for using standard monitors/flatscreens. I forgot the laptops will require an adapter for running w/o battery, available off ebay. these adapters step up the 12v boat power to the 18v DC used by the laptop or a DC to AC inverter can be purchased allowing the AC laptop adapter to be used as the source. Save the battery as a backup. Some companies are now interfacing the fish finder, instrument panel and radar to laptops. This is expensive but the way things are going.
I have a laptop with raytech software and raymarine equipment. we also use maptech charts that work with the raytech. I have all my waypoints in a program my brother in law wrote. I can load waypoints and routes into gps from laptop. I can also run the auto pilot from the laptop. You can also see your positon on a chart. It is a pretty cool set up. I dont have to carry around all my fishing spots in a notebook anymore. I keep 1 hard copy at the boat in a drawer. The laptop also allows me to update data on fishing spots right now. Estillion1@aol.com
I'm working on a marine PC project right now. I didn't think a laptop would last 5 min on my CC so I decided to go another way. I'm going to use a Fanless VIA mini-ITX 800Mhz motherboard ($135.00)that supports a local Active Matrix LCD. I'm going to use a 40G 2.5" HD, 512 GB of ram, Internal GPS/Antenna, and 802.11G wi-fi card. I'm having another company actually mount the components in a sealed wedge shaped waterproof case 10"x8"x3" with a gasketed cover over certain Input/output connections (firewire, 2 USB, RS-232, Dolby 5.1 Digital 6 channel audio out etc.) the essentials like Keyboard, Audio and Mouse will be bulkheaded waterproof connections. The waterproof roll-up keyboard will be velcroed to the front and the mouse is a trackball you wear on your index finger like a pistol trigger. I'm also getting a USB powered external DVD/CDRW drive and battery pack for when I don't have a cig lighter jack handy. The whole thing should come in around $900-$1100.00. If I let this company put it together they'll make sure all the parts play well together and hopefully warranty them. Anyway, as technology progresses I can crack this box open and update as needed. I plan to run a navigation program (have not decided yet Fugawi, Nobeltec, GPS Utility are on the short list) Cruzpro Black box bottom machine and eventually RadarPC by Sitex. Nobeltec is supposedly writing an interface for the Cruzpro bottom machine that will let you save bottom snapshots along a track plot. I'll also use it to head end an amplified sound system for MP3's and watch DVDs with it. When I'm home I can sit on the couch and use the Wi-Fi connection to surf the net. Pretty cool stuff.
Here's a link to some similar projects: http://www.via.com.tw/en/VInternet/carpc.jsp
"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy"
[This message was edited by wahoome on 09-19-03 at 01:00 AM.]
Great info guys. This ad is what made me think about it: "panasonic toughbook with a superdisk drive - pentium 150 mhz, 2,1 hardrive - perfect for outdoors as it is water resistant and armored. Bought it for $165 shipped, will sell for $125 shipped obo."
Obviously its an older machine, but sounds like it is set up with some shockproofing and weatherproofing. The question is would it run the software for a gps, charting program and a black-box fishfinder.
I dug out some of my Powerboat Reports and read up on charting software last night. Did you know that you can download very good vector charts for FREE from NOAA? If anyone wants I'll get the address for downloading.
My setup is a 24' w a cuddy. In the past with cuddies I've had ff and radars mounted in the cabin but visible from the helm. That way you are looking at a bright screen in a dark space. I've always had either a bimini or hardtop to shade the general helm area and companionway. This works except when the sun is at that perfect angle to shine beneath the hardtop and into the companionway. Of course with my luck thats the angle it would be at when I was headed right for a shoal and most needed to be able to see the screen.
[This message was edited by scratcher on 09-19-03 at 10:23 AM.]
I posted something last year regarding a company over-seas who has a black box connected to a laptop for a FF and I think it also performs fuel mgt functions.
I like the idea but:
1. It's hard to see a laptop screen in the sunlight.
2. Birdman brings up a great point- a wintel box crashes on dry land.
3. What if any amount of moisture/condensation gets in that watertight box? Will things rust?
An old laptop does not have a TFT display. Most have the TFT which can equal or exceed anything that Raytheon, etc use. If you cant get a box to work at home, what can I say. What is a Wintel box? I would not leave any elecronic piece aboard a CC or walk. They do make bulletproof PC's, but they don't cost a few hundred. Up in the Nortstar range. I thought the discussion was for cheap equipment. Laptops are made to be abused but water would be a concern if you run hoses over you stuff. You start talking Maptec or even Fugawi and the cost rises dramatically. I think if you go to NOAA you will be redirected to a Vendor. The Vendors get the stuff gratis from the US and charge what they can get. Ozi is probably the best and for fishing/travel it is unequaled. It can be downloaded and tried out, same as the others, I guess.
I had downloaded GIS free stuff from Russia (big in GIS) but free vector charts were not avail. The site is having problems today. Of course there are free viewers, but Fugawi has a $200 tag if you need to interface a GPS. I will send mail to Ozi and see if the handle the vector S-57 chart format. Thanks for rekindling my interest. The Fugawi on CD for the charts is a deal.
================================================== ==============
Fugawi View ENC
The Fugawi View ENC program allows you to view and query S-57 nautical charts.
The program requires Windows NT, XP or Windows 2000.
Click here to download the free FUGAWI View ENC program.
After downloading, unzip and run Setup.
Fugawi View ENC plus USA Charts on CD
The free viewer has a limit of 3 open S-57 charts. A viewer without these limitations together with all of the USA ENC charts as of January 31, 2003 is available on a CD for only US$19. Requires Windows XP or 2000
ORDER NOW.
If you guys find a source for inexpensive marinized high brightness color LCD or CRT displays (VGA or better) let me know. I'd like to have a mounted larger display onboard permanently and carry my Marine PC on and off. Raymarine lists their plotters as "VGA" but you have to buy the plotter, which I don't need. I don't see that they have external VGA input either, just HSB. Even if they are aren't marinized, I could probably do that job with a NavPod or similar case if the display price was right.
"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy"
Just for kicks I went on ebay and typed in "tft display" all kinds of stuff came up. I'm very sure none of it is marinized, but aren't those screens sealed anyway? They started around $50. I'm wondering if you could have the pc in the cabin and the tft display at the helm.
I've been configuring and installing these systems for Shrimpers, Crabbers and commercial fishermen for about 5-6 years. Some of the software will run just fine on old Pentium I's
of 100+MHZ. I would have never believed how long some of these systems last. I recently replaced a sysem that had been running continuosly for about 5 years.
The favorite Software among the Shrimpers is PSEA Winplot. This program is pricey at $700 not including charts, but is now rock solid and runs great on my old Toshiba 133mhz. The tech support is the best in the world!! (No I don't work for them)
Maptech is the software of choice for trappers and crabbers. I now have two systems working in non-air conditioned pilot houses running on Compac Laptops. The only caution on loading Off Shore Navigator, (Maptechs interface software) on the slower systems is to ONLY load the few charts that you intend to use. Yes I can successfully run Maptech Off Shore Navigator on my 133MHZ Toshiba. Navigator and all charts around $400.
If anyone on the West Coast of Florida wants to get involved with this, I can help.
Ebay also has a program called Worlwide Waypoints. At $45, its great. It's not as advanced as the others, but includes GPS software and the charts of your area. Yep, runs fine on my old Toshiba, I'm trying to find one that will run on a 75mhz IBM.
Location: Quebec, Canada and Pirates Cove, OBX, NC
Posts: 17,813
old laptop as ff/gps screen?
I've run the "Capt'n" software on my old laptop and it works very well . . . GPS and everything else including autopilot connected without a major problem . . . used on my previous boat
" The only boat without a ding or two, is the one that never gets used!!! "
I also run the cap'n (an older version) on an older IBM thinkpad 760c and its great- Interfaced with my Furuno GP 31 which wires up through a serial port. No real problem yet with sun, just turn the unit or tilt the screen is the beauty of a laptop. Got the PC reeeeeeeaaaaaaly cheap- its a 486 and was nearly free. So it can be done very cheaply if you already have a GPS that has an I/O cable for the application. Who makes the fishfinder software? I would LOVE to lose my huge furuno fcv 667 CRT which takes up alot of room in the pilot house. Good luck- visit http://www.thecapn.com for more info on the cap'n
old laptop as ff/gps screen? 
