Still Sailing Digital for Less with Raspberry Pi Liveaboard Cruising | Sailing Balachandra E081

[@SailingBalachandra]

Our video on How to install a raspberry pi digital navigation system here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2TYlHhph91qitk

[@robertlee8042]

This is the most valuable sailing KZbin episode I’ve ever watched. I know how to sail. I didn’t know this although I am totally capable of implementing and enjoying this. Just never knew you could do it. Never messed with a pi. All my kids have though! Thank you. I am getting ready to live aboard. Kids are grown and then some.

[@SailingBalachandra]

So glad you found it helpful! You can go back and watch our first Pi episode to learn how to install it and follow the online instructions :)

[@LoanwordEggcorn]

Recruit some technical support and builders from the kids. Try to waterproof the electronics.

[@robertlee8042]

This is fabulous. Plus I made a living configuring Unix systems. It’s fabulous. So logical.

[@IanHobday]

Amazing, I had no idea there was a sailing ecosystem for the RasPi. Thank you!

[@gfimadcat]

There is a ridiculously large ecosystem for it - anything ranging from chartplotters to guys doing open-source hardware like wind indicators. On my boat I use a Pi as the "main brain"; it runs my charts, receives data from wind/depth/speed/gps/ais, makes it all available to any device. And a second raspberry pi runs my autopilot (PyPilot). All for less than 500 bucks :)

[@Cptnbond]

Thanks for the update.

[@brianwraight4966]

Awesome Video! You have opened my eyes to a whole new way to setup boat systems.

[@Cedandkikisailing]

Thanks for putting this together. I just started about this raspberry Pi.

[@gabrielmoreno1592]

Excelente video saludos desde Argentina

[@seandepagnier]

I think you are just missing the scanned paper charts for the carribean. You can convert the n avion charts to mbtiles or raster charts which opencpn can use and the whole world fits on in a few gb.

[@petenaylor1353]

That was very interesting but well above my pay grade. I will have to check out your other vid, Thanks!

[@davethemmp]

Great video, I am playing around with Open CPN on a Pi 4 and notice the Pi is getting pretty warm with an Aluminum case any issues with your waterproof case containing the heat? Pi’s throttle their speed when hot, this will slow it down. Any updates on the size of waterproof enclosure your Pi is in?

[@philsharples7151]

Awesome info watched both videos. Slightly confused on which serial to usb converter to use. We have N2K and wish to connect our Pi4 to it, any suggestions on which N2K to usb converter to use. Keep up the good work👍

[@nmjerry]

So, I was wondering on how you power the pi. One thing I like about the pi is it's low power consumption, but if one has to invert the battery power to 120V AC just to rectify it to 5V DC, I imagine the the power efficiency would go down. If you had a DC to DC power conversion using a buck converter, it would be more power efficient. Also, using a buck/boost converter may allow the pi's using when you don't have enough power to run "normal" systems. Have you considered having a buck/boost converter near the pit? Also how does the pi's power consumption compare to the normal nav system?

[@SailingBalachandra]

Barely notice the power drain. Most people plug the pi into a cell phone charging station but it will suffer with too low amps. I ordered an automotive 12v downstep to 5v to power my pi, and a second one to power the USB bus

[@LoanwordEggcorn]

The ARM chips that Pi uses are meant for mobile devices like phones and tablets and are very energy efficient (to give maximum battery life for them). It's highly likely they are more efficient than commercial chartplotters due to using much newer (and phone oriented) technology.

[@AfterDeath1986]

Good video guys ^^ :)

[@SomeTechGuy666]

Do you use OpenCPN to run your autopilot ? Or do you use pyPilot ?

[@callmebigpapa]

Question from a non sailor so go easy on me. Can the AIS give an audible warning at predetermined distance in case a sailor falls asleep?

[@SailingBalachandra]

Yes. With the PI and open cpn you will need to use an external speaker

[@JohnBraman413]

can you use navionics charts with this setup?

[@joaoteixeira6276]

Thank you for your very inspiring video! After view (and review several times!) both of your videos I put my hands on one Raspberry PI4 and started to try to build one system like yours! Ordered 2 converters from DTech (just like yours!) to "import" NMEA data both from my old Raymarine ST60 system and from AIS350, also Raymarine, offered from one friend that had upgraded is boat to a AIS650 transmitter. However, I do not managed to see any NMEA data into the OPENCPN!!!!!....I tried thousands of possible configurations, restarted the system over and over and, despite being able to see the yellow "RX" blinking on the dongle, it seems that I can't read that info from the USB ports!....neither from the AIS nor from the old plotter!.... When I connect the AIS350 directly via USB cable, I managed to "see" the surrounding vessels....but the output do not send any other info!.... I ordered, as well, one dongle to try to get the info from SEATALK, but did not arrive yet..... Do you have any clue, or have any hint that can help me to understand what am I doing wrong?.....PLEASE!!!!!!! I spent the last 3 days battling "against" it! eheheh! Keep Sailling and posting your videos! João

[@allynonderdonk7577]

I loved the original video on your SBC installation of the chartplotter. I wanted you to know that Amazon has Iconikal Rockchip RK3328 SBC boards with everything included other than a mouse, keyboard, and monitor. They are actually a Pine64/Rock64 board. Price $15. I use them for data backup and a movie servers. Buy an 8tb external hard disk and two Iconikal board and you have a movie and file server. You might be able to get both servers to run on the same board but they only have 1gb of ram. I run the old OS build of armbian off the pine wiki for the boards with zero problems. One board runs Openmediavault and the other Plex. Plex accesses the other board over a wired network. So for like $150 you can load thousands of movie and tv shows not to mention a low power upload for KZbin Videos. With Pla yon streaming DVR I have been able to download thousands of hours of video for my boating adventures.

[@SailingBalachandra]

Just checked that out- it was only a matter of time before more clones of the raspberry pi arduino showed up. I have a friend who uses his for Video/TV as well, AND for security cameras on board that you can access at home through the internet... so cool! I'm considerring some add-ons...

[@allynonderdonk7577]

@@SailingBalachandra With Plex you can access your videos at home as well. You need to spend the tiny bit of money for a plexpass, or know how to set up a VPN or port forwarding. Yes those Rock64 boards from Pine...rebranded as Iconikal are awesome. I run webservers, mailserver, all kinds of stuff. I am a computer consultant though, I bought like 50 back when they were $8.00. I think they can run Raspbian as well I hear but haven't tried it. They do essentially run Armbian which is much the same thing as I have Armbian on them mostly. I have been harvesting videos for about 8 months now and have 5000 videos between what I've been getting from the Freemake youtube downloader and playon. I figure I'll have something to watch at anchor while quarantined for the next Covid panic next week,

[@redwood1957]

Could you if you wished hard wire instead of using wireless. Did you have any types of schematic drawings ? Thank you

[@SailingBalachandra]

The only wireless part is the wifi signal out to a mobile device which i think is best for us as we can see our charts on the phone without going over and checking at the helm. A helm mounted hard wired chart plotter is also great but very expensive.

[@callmebigpapa]

Liked and sub'd for this amazing content!

[@nickmalone3599]

What is the cost savings when all added up?

[@logdonac]

what is the resistor on the analog to usb at 8:15? Thanks.

[@NaveenGanesan]

The boat name is Bala Chandra?!!!

[@Siravingmon]

How did you waterproof the USB cable connection to your waterproof tablet bag in your cockpit please?

[@SailingBalachandra]

Great question! I bought a flat usb cable and the bag I use has a folding/sealing flap so when i close the bag the cable just gets folded as well. Not a perfect solution but it hasn't leaked in 3 years!

[@chrispressa]

Great Videos on your Raspberry-Projekt! I have one question: How did you solve the power supply to the Raspberry? USBC-12V adapter? Which solution works best for you? ✌Chris

[@SailingBalachandra]

You just need a down converter from 12v to 5v... double check the amount of amps your Pi version needs as well before buying.

[@ve7yan]

Where's the AIS receiver monitoring 161.xxx and 162.xxx ? I saw a AIS receiver dongle on your earlier video. Was that it?

[@SailingBalachandra]

I showed the dongle because it's an option for people. My friend who also has a Pi system uses one. We have an ICOM Ais receicer on board that I connect to the pi using another RS422 serial to USB bus.

[@ve7yan]

@@SailingBalachandra A cheap $20 RTL-SDR dongle and AIS Deco2 would do it, but it's the HAM approach. Well, if you started the title with Pi, you just don't want to blur the focus with ICOM, Actisense, or Digital Yacht.

[@Vincent_fast_Stop]

Hello, did you know you could have all the map and définition map you need to sail with Sasplanet. With Sasplanet you export your map (Google land) , with a second layer ( marine navionics) for exemple. Sasplanet can generate all map for Free. Especially the ENC map are not free in Europ. But no problem with Sasplanet 😉

[@bill2292]

You mention Pi can transmit NMEA 2000 data.. Can the Pi transmit radar images over charts?

[@SailingBalachandra]

Great question- I think so, however we have a dinosaur radar with a CRT screen so can't really test this out!

[@robertlee8042]

I’d spray it with wd40 or dip it in eProxy?

[@JohnBraman413]

did you upgrade to the 8gb ram version out now?

[@xbioman7882]

You can waterproof a Raspberry Pi using CorrosionX

[@SailingBalachandra]

There are a few options. For me a plastic case and a sealed compartment is keeping it free of corrosion since 2018 fingers crossed!

[@robertlee8042]

Always surprised why people don’t spray their diesels with wd40

[@SailingBalachandra]

If you spray it on the engine it will have to be shampood off again later if you need to paint, otherwise it's a great idea, i've done it in places :)

[@tiborkiss9186]

Sorry, but the provided info is not correct. i just built my own nav system using raspberry pi and now trying to sell the Raymarine rotavecta z195 wind sensor as he pi - well, the pypilot weather sensor designed for the pi - cannot hande a wind sensor with only two wires. this actually caused me over 100 usd loss.

[@SailingBalachandra]

wow, I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. It took me over a month to get my first pi system up and running. I've never used pypilot. To get wind data you just need the NMEA0183 wind sentence. If your anemometer or cockpit displays don't translate to NMEA0183 you'll probably need to by a different anemometer or cockpit display (like we did). If you're trying to read seatalk or NMEA2000, you will probably need a bridge.

[@gfimadcat]

The Raymarine masthead unit probably talks Seatalk or SeatalkNG (NMEA2K), so you need a converter. PyPilot really only talks NMEA0183.

[@iamblaineful]

Any Raymarine Wind instrument display (cockpit or nav station) will output NMEA 0183 to your Pi. The Z195 Masthead sensor does not natively send NMEA 0183 or NMEA 2000 data, so one of their displays will output what you need.

[@seandepagnier]

@@gfimadcat pypilot talks nmea0183 as well as bidirectional signalk. The pypilot weather sensors convert analog wind sensors like davis or homemade ones with a hall sensor to output nmea0183. The rotavector is not a very good sensor for wind direction because it uses spinning cups to determine wind direction which is not really good enough for an autopilot, and it's known to give erratic wind direction readings.

[@Robinlarsson83]

Tibor, which info is wrong according to you? That your system didn't work as you hope can't very well be Sailing Balachandra or PyPilots fault, from what I can see? If you're anemometer isn't compatible with the available solutions, that not anyone else's fault, is it? No one said that any potential sensor works with this system, they said that NMEA0183 and NMEA2000 signals work, either direct from sensors or from instruments or converters like the Seatalk - NMEA ones. And PyPilot even offers a cheap way to get simple anemometers to work with these systems :)