Stuff That Works, Electronics & Software
Index
Bohlken Westerland Barograph
EchoPilot Forward Scan Sonar FLSII
Furuno NX-500 Navtex
Furuno Radar Model 1832
HF Radio Installation
The JRJ Group
The Joys and Tears of TurboCAD
Bohlken Westerland Barograph
www.bohlken.net/index_en.htm
In these days of readily available
weather forecasts and satellite- or HF radio-delivered GRIB files, it could
perhaps be argued that the barometer has been supplanted as a weather forecasting
device. However, in our opinion, that supposition would be a serious mistake.
On Morgan’s
Cloud we record
the barometric pressure at least twice a watch and have found that information
invaluable, particularly for assessing whether the weather is actually
developing as forecast, or diverging from the models.
Polaris,
the sailboat we looked after for a month
in Greenland, has a beautifully
implemented digital barograph from Bohlken Westerland that records and
graphs the pressure for the last 48 hours and also reads out the change
in the last one and three hours. A very neat feature is that the machine
beeps if the pressure drops more than 1mb/hour; usually an indicator that
something nasty is imminent. Unfortunately, it does not warn you of an
equally fast pressure increase, which it should. (For example, when we
had 50-plus knot gusts one night, it was the result of a 13mb jump
in pressure in just three hours.)
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EchoPilot Forward Scan Sonar FLSII
www.echopilot.com and www.pilotmarine.com
We
have found that having a forward scan sonar has made exploring in the high
latitudes safer and more feasible. Instead of feeling our way along at
2 knots when off the charts, we can now travel confidently at 6 knots,
since the forward scan reaches out up to 200 meters ahead. Also, the sounder
makes it possible to feel our way into tight anchorages, even when the
water is not clear enough to see the bottom.
This is first generation technology: the interface is clunky and non-intuitive; the buttons are difficult to use especially with cold hands; and it takes practice to interpret the readout. There are several other issues that are important to know: the transducer is vulnerable to damage from ice, so we carry a spare; and the sensitivity is variable between units. We went through 2 units and 2 transducers before we got a combination that reached specification. However, the British manufacturer and the American distributor (Pilot Marine) have been very responsive to our problems and their newer models fix many of our complaints about the FLSII, albeit with a shorter range.
The EchoPilot has made a huge
difference to our ability to cruise safely in the high latitudes. It isn't
necessary, however, to go to the high latitudes to get good use from a
forward scan sonar: We use it all the time, even in well-charted waters,
to guard against the consequences of a navigation mistake and when
anchoring it allows us to survey for anchor placement with much greater
accuracy and less hesitancy about getting too close to shore.
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Furuno NX-500 Navtex
www.furuno.com
Navtex
is an invaluable resource for weather and ice information. When our old
Furuno combined weather fax and navtex receiver died, we balked at paying
the high price (over a thousand dollars) of a new Furuno navtex and so
bought another brand (see Gear
Failures & Fixes). So started a long story
of not being able to receive navtex transmissions in places where we should
be able to. After many hours of frustration and labour trying out various
antenna and receiver combinations, the American dealer had to agree that
the machine we had purchased was not living up to its specifications. So
we ended up spending the money anyway and purchased the Furuno. We haven’t
been sorry for a single minute. While other cruisers anchored next to us
are not receiving anything on their navtex receivers (the same brand we
purchased initially), we receive vital weather reports loud and clear.
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Furuno Radar Model 1832
www.furuno.com
If
we had to choose only one piece of electronics to have on board Morgan’s
Cloud, it would be radar. We have installed electronic charting but
continue to use paper charts and take bearings with a hand-held compass
and ranges with radar. In areas that are prone to heavy fog, as the high
latitudes can be, this is an essential piece of equipment. We also use
the radar for anchoring in tight anchorages and chose the Furuno radar
for its short ranges that make this possible. Our old Furuno radar was
still working after 11 years in our open cockpit—great gear. We built an
aluminum housing for the new one.
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HF Radio Installation
Jim Corenman (AirMail & SailMail) and Eric Steinberg
(Farallon Electronics) www.yachtwire.com
In the winter of 2002/03 we decided to replace our aging Icom SSB with
a new Icom. You would think that installation on a metal boat would be
easy. Not so. We had many problems with stray RF resulting in low output
power and poor tuning. We were working with Eric Steinberg of Farallon
Electronics and even he was stumped. Finally Eric put us in touch with
Jim, the author of the AirMail program that serves as the e-mail client
running on PCs aboard member vessels of SailMail's e-mail-over-HF-radio
service. Even though we don’t use SailMail,
Jim got involved and solved our problem. If you have a SSB radio, particularly
on a metal boat, and are unhappy with its performance, read Jim’s article
at www.airmail2000.com/rfi.htm on
stray RF.
Based on Jim’s recommendations we installed line isolators from www.radioworks.com and
our radio has never worked so well.
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The JRJ Group
Jon Josephson of the JRJ Group was the dealer we used
when we replaced our KVH wind instrument system with a NEXUS system from
Silva Marine. We will report on the NEXUS system once we have used it and
given it a good work over. But, as always when installing electronics,
there were a few hiccups in the installation process (see Gear
Failures & Fixes) and Jon was a godsend! He knows his stuff
and his product and he is exceptionally helpful. Thanks, Jon!
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The Joys and Tears of TurboCAD
For the last few years we have been using TurboCAD for visualizing and designing projects on Morgan’s Cloud. TurboCAD is a great value, with much of the functionality of systems costing many times more, at just US$150, and you can often get it discounted to as little as US$80.00 by shopping around on the Internet.
We have used it for projects ranging from simple wiring diagrams to the computer workstation to go above our salon table, shown in the rendering below.
The joys include:
- The ability to see pretty much what you will get before cutting the first piece of wood or other material.
- That it is easy to make changes during the design process.
- That it is easy to come up with a good materials list thereby avoiding overbuying or the frustration of running out of something half way through a project.
- A clear and detailed design that will almost always save you money when having someone else, such as a machine shop or cabinetmaker, build something and save you time when you do it yourself.
The tears come in learning how to use it. Expect to spend at least a full day learning the basics before you will be able to complete your first simple two dimensional drawing and a week to become competent in 3D. (Phyllis calls herself a CAD-widow and expects to be answered in grunts for days at a time when I open TurboCAD.) If you don’t like computers, you may be happier sticking with a pencil and paper.
Having shed the tears of learning, we would not be without it.
We are even using it to work with the engineers at Hall Spars on the details
of our new mast design. So far we have been able to open all the drawings
they have sent to me prepared on their full-on AutoCAD system.
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