PC based electronics?

[thoward]

I am starting to see PC based electronic software like this sounder http://www.cruzpro.com/pcff20.html There is some stuff on the market right now. So, will the market for this expand? Who are the big players in this field right now?

 

[Boatsb]

Tod the big downside is monitor brightness. I sell lcd monitors for field video production and the high brightness ones are expensive. If the unit is not in the sun it's much easier.

 

[Pascal]

it's hard to beat the simplicity of marine electronic when it comes to interface; keyboard and mouse/trackballs aren't as easy to use on the water.

then as mentioned above, most monitors dont' work well outside, they're fine in an enclosed pilothouse.

by thy time you had bright monitors and possibly touch screen capabilities, the prices make conventional electronics appealing...

 

[Boatsb]

But if you have a PC on board it make a decent back up for GPS and chart plotting..


I just got the new USB based Verizon wireless broadband adapter that has a $30.00 remote cable and antenna available. I will see how far out it works. If I get it to work 10 miles out I will be happy.


FWIW its for the work laptop. Vessel use is just a perk.

 

[luckydave215]

The long distance cruisers (sail mostly) seem to be in love with pc based navigation due to it's capabilities and low cost. They have nav stations below where screen brightness isn't an issue. That would be the case with boats like thoward's as well (enclosed bridge).
Chris (couregous) gave me an old sony toughbook to try on the boat -thanks- and the screen brightness, or lack of, is a problem on my open bridge even with a huge hardtop.
I looked into buying a new, faster, brighter toughbook to use the new cheap software that uses free uscg charts, but the price ($3700!!!) scared me off.
Maybe in the future.

 

[Starman]

I know a person who has interfaced his PC with the electronics.

He can use his laptop to control these items and display the outputs of the electronics on any and all TVs on board.

I have no idea which system he is using, or exactly how he configured this, but it is cool.

 

[thoward]

I like the idea of being able to see all the info from the boat in 1 spot and being able to save it for furture use. If you find fish/dive spot you would have the time, depth, water/air temp, barrometer,tide, boat speed, etc. You would also have a log of engine and other readings so if any thing broke you could show the mechanic what happened. You could also have your maintenance log with daily popups for needed maintenance.