A very connected boat Part 2

This is what a Signal K system will typically look like on your boat. The boxes may well be different but the concept will not. This will be a beta site and I'm playing with ways to install the gear, make it unobtrusive, easy to access, and I'm documenting any issues along the way.

My mantra is it's better to be lucky than smart, although being both lucky and smart isn't a condition to be sneered at. The boat is a Searay 39 MY and in this case the lucky part of the equation is access is great. Below this panel is a large removable cabinet door where a couple of air conditioner units live. I can actually work myself into the void, sit upright and get at the back of the panel. It's also right next door to the new TV which made its installation easier. 

The things I'm looking at are wiring management, physical mounting constraints, packaging, securing the gear sufficiently enough to survive both a good rocking and rolling and easy day to day access to SD cards, idiot lights and power. Right now I'm using sticky pads and tie wraps for the wiring and good quality Velcro for the little server and Netgear router. I may well want to do some relocation in the future and I don't want to make holes until it becomes permanent. 

I'll start with the Raspberry Pi 2 model B. It may or may not end up as the overall preferred choice but it has many of the attributes needed to fill that role. This pint sized computer, like the Beaglebone Black and similar all have a lot of processing bang for a very small buck.

As an example this Pi 2 has a quad core ARM processor that runs at 700MHz, a gigabit of RAM memory, and supports up to a 32GB SD card along with four USB ports and more. The Beaglebone Black is no slouch either for a few dollars more. Just to provide some historical perspective my 4 function Bomar Brain pocket calculator cost me $150 dollars in 1972.

For the time being the Pi 2 will work fine for software testing and will talk to the Signal K Arduino yet to come with no problems. Others who are more technically nuanced than I will decide what the final recommendations for server hardware options are.

The Pi costs about $40 dollars plus shipping. The case and micro USB power cord were $10.00. My inside voice was yelling get the clear case Bill, it's cool. You can see the guts and everything inside it. My outside voice prevailed, and I settled for a dark brown case that blends well with the location it's going to live in. I am striving for hmmm...  the word tasteful comes to mind. I don't want a lot of clutter and it should be unobtrusive. I almost in an OCD way considered some cable change outs so they were all black.  As you can see I resisted this and just tried to be neat and tidy. I may change my mind about this yet. I did buckle and painted the shiny SS clam shell flat black. 

Likewise the same is true of the router. I wanted it to be elevated as much as practical with clean looking short as possible wiring. It should also be near the center of the vessel. It's just a bit aft of amidships and I have a strong WiFi signal from the swim platform to the forward V berth. I still have the change the password and that will get done this week. 

Power is required, both USB 5VDC for the server and 12VDC for the router. I had bought this dual 12/5VDC outlet but only recently installed it.

You have to be a bit careful when selecting the USB power/charger port. This one outputs 2.1 amps. It will be okay but to power all four of the Pi's USB ports 2.5 amps are needed.

When I installed the router earlier I used the original 12 volt outlet in the panel to power it. The coiled cable going to this outlet doesn't look as good as I would like it to. As a result I'm moving it to the other outlet with the USB charging ports. The install will look much cleaner.

I'm also going to remove the outlet's rubber caps. They aren't needed and get in the way. The spare USB charging port will be good for phones, tablets and ilk. To be honest I wasn't terribly impressed with the outlets price, power output and with the plastic locking nuts on the back side that don't leave much margin for hole cutting errors. I think a better and less expensive option can be found. It does look sharp though.

Here's is my initial summary. A Signal K system is easy to install, very DIY suitable and there is a lot of flexibility in how and where it can be done. The rough cost without the Rouge Wave portion (this isn't needed for a basic Signal K system) but including the wireless router was about $135.00. The labor time should be about three hours max or much less depending on how picky the installation requirements are. If it was less visible 1.5 hours would have done the trick. Add the gateway and you're ready to go forth into the connected world with your boat. Just fasten your seat belts first.

Next on the list is to add the Arduino with a case and connect it to the server. My immediate goals downstream are modest. I want to get the software into the server along with some logged data and try out a sample app. Later I want do something simple like using the Arduino to turn on a LED from an app to demonstrate IoT (Internet of Things) capability. I know my programming skills are very rusty, but with some WD40 squirted on them, and hopefully minor help from the group this will happen. What fun!

The Signal K forum is here. If you can help with the project, join. If you just want to watch join also. If you don't want to watch hoist the Signal K flag and show you too want to communicate and email me a pic. I'll post them all on a special page.