transpac electronics seminar 2002

8/6/2019 TransPac Electronics Seminar 2002

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SSS Transpac Electronics Seminar 1/9/02Copyright 2002 GoFast Marine

GoFast [email protected]

Agenda

Mindset & Preparation

Absolutely required: Basic navigational

tools

GPS EPIRB

VHF

SSB (yay!)

Instrumentation

Autopilot

Very nice to have Weather Fax

Satellite Comms

Radar (reflector

required) Computers & S/W

Subscribe to OceanNavigator!!!!

8 Issues for $26 www.oceannavigator.com Do the Nav Problems!!!

Sail Magazine is good too


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Mindset & Preparation

Make things easy foryourself If a 40-yr old woman can

race a SC50

Take care of #1 A Poptart is NOT a meal

Deal with small thingsbefore they grow into bigthings It is easier to shake out a ref

in light air than put one inheavy air

Dont plan to fall off theboat

If you spend the racewishing you had done X,Y, & Z; its not going tobe as fun The guy with the flood

lights shining on his boatuntil 3 am the night beforethe race usually doesnt win

Dont kid yourself that youare going to finish workduring 1st few days of race

Make a list & prioritizeNOW!

Work through list, dont putoff time-consuming ordifficult tasks

The time will disappearlike popcorn.


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Basic Navigational Tools

Clock (need GPS or SSB to set) Digital watch with 2 time zones - set one to UTC (Zulu)

Radio capable of receiving the Time Broad Servicefrom WWV & WWVH - required for race

Compass (swing) - required for race Sextant (& reduction tables, almanac, calculator,

practice!) - required for race

Barometer damn nice for confirming your

position from the high Charts & plotting paper, plotting tools - required

for race


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GPS

Options

Handheld

Fix-mount with NMEA I/F

Chart drive (or chart plotter) for either (or Laptop) Great for when youre really tired and cant do basic math or

navigating in tricky situations

NMEA Interface (see NMEA insert)

Interface to instrumentation for computing anddisplaying COG, SOG, waypoint range & bearing,VMC, and current set & drift

Interface to EPIRB & navigational computer


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GPS

Features:

I really like track feature - easy to see lifts and headers

Screen readability & easy keypad operation - try it out!!

Power consumption (how long batteries last)

Number of waypoints & routes

Some Options:

Handheld (& lots of batteries) ($150 - $280) Fix-mount w/chart drive & NMEA I/F ($600 - $1,400)

Handheld and fix-mount w/chart drive & NMEA I/F($750) -My choice


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GPS - New

VHF Distress and Position Request Display

Standard Horizon has integrated VHFDigital Selective Calling (DSC) into theirGPS

The GPS can decode and log either aVHF Distress Call or Position Requestcall when input is received from a DSCequipped radio capable of sharing thedata


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GPS Manufacturers

A GPS is required for the race

If you buy more than one, stick with one manufacturer to simplifyease of use

Garmin - http://www.garmin.com/marine

Magellan -http://www.magellangps.com Raymarine - http://www.raymarine.com

Standard Horizon - http://www.standardhorizon.com

B&G - http://www.bandg.co.uk

Datamarine - http://www.sea-dmi.com

Simrad - http://www.simrad.com

Furono - http://www.furuno.com

Si-Tex Marine Electronics - http://www.si-tex.com


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EPIRBs

406 Mhz EPIRB required for race

Options

Mounted or personal

Automatically or manually deployable

I/F to GPS through NMEA I/F & opto-isolator

updates position stored in EPIRB every 20 minutes

New: Integrated GPS

Race Preparation:

Register it with NOAA

Perform self test & ensure battery is up to date

ACR Electronics - http://www.acrelectronics.com


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SSS Transpac Electronics Seminar 1/9/02Copyright 2002 GoFast MarineGoFast Marine

[email protected]

Marine Radio

VHF Marine Radio Broadcasts Urgent marine navigational and weather information is

broadcast over VHF channel 22A (157.1 MHZ)

All ships in U.S. waters over 20m in length are required

to monitor VHF channel 16, and must have radioscapable of tuning to the VHF simplex channel 22A

NOAA Weather Radio The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration continually broadcasts weatherinformation on frequencies near 162 MHZ

(see Safety Broadcasts insert)


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SSS Transpac Electronics Seminar 1/9/02Copyright 2002 GoFast MarineGoFast Marine

[email protected]

VHF

Get masthead antenna, its line of sightcommunication (required for race anyway)

Run marine grade large size coax, RG8 (available atWest Marine) or RG13

Have emergency antenna available in case youredismasted (required for race) TEST IT!!!

Handheld is a convenience

No longer need a radio license for recreational

marine VHF operation, but if you have an SSB,you register your VHF, radar, etc., also

(see VHF Frequencies insert)


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SSS Transpac Electronics Seminar 1/9/02Copyright 2002 GoFast Marine GoFast [email protected]

VHF - New

Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Part of the new Global Maritime Distress and Safety System

Sends automatic, unattended, continuous, digital distress alert

May include vessel identification, Latitude / Longitude and time

Will also allow mariners to initiate or receive distress, urgency,safety and routine radiotelephone calls

On February 1, 1999, the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)Convention, required all passenger ships and most other ships 300grt and larger on international voyages, including all cargo ships,to carry DSC- equipped radios. Ships were allowed to turn off their2182 kHz radio listening watch on that date, and their VHFchannel 16 listening watch on February 1, 2005.

It may not be possible to initiate radio Communications with these vessels outside theU.S. territorial limit without DSC-capable radios after these listening watches aresuspended. These ships, however, will still be required to keep watch on the VHF bridge-to-bridge voice channel 13, and the U.S. Coast Guard plans to require these ships tocontinue their channel 16 watch within U.S. territorial waters, at least until VHF DSCfacilities can be established on shore.

(see GMDSS insert)


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VHF Radio Manufacturers Standard Horizon - http://www.standardhorizon.com

Icom America - http://www.icomamerica.com

Raymarine - http://www.raymarine.com

Standard http://www.standard-radio.com Uniden America - http://www.uniden.com

West Marine - http://www.westmarine.com



Furono - http://www.furuno.com



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Instrumentation

Basic

Depth - required for race

Boat speed (fun meter!!!) - required for race

Wind direction & angle (apparent & true)

Battery voltage

Analog (good for app. wind angle) - optional

Ability to display both at nav station from a single displayand multiple, selectable, big, easy to read displays on deck

Ability to set high & low alarm limits

(see Instrumentation insert)


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Instrumentation

More better (need NMEA I/F with GPS for these):

VMC, SOG/COG, waypoint range and bearing

Current set & direction

Required for even moderately serious racing: Polar information & ability to update

Ockam U book ($25) and website are helpful resources

Preparation:

Calibrate instrumentation!

Check to see if any fuses required & bring spares

(see Polars insert)


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Instrumentation

My favorites:

Big: VMC (for reaching & surfing - keeps you honest),mag heading, polar angle (from polars) or wpt bearing

Small: True wind speed & direction, actual and target

boat speed (from polars - keeps you more honest)

Analog: 360 and magnified app. wind angle

Handheld GPS to see boats track


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Instrumentation Manufacturers B&G - http://www.bandg.co.uk

All components are waterproof

Ockam - http://www.ockam.com

KVH - http://www.kvh.com/products/index.html

Have heard that it can produce RF interference



Nexus Marine - http://www.nex-marine.com Horizon - http://acs.nv.net/marine


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Autopilots

Requires significant time to select, install andtune, dont leave this until last

Selection requires a lot of due diligence

May require professional installation Race Preparation:

Parameter tuning

Practice

Fuses

Spares!!

(see Autopilots insert)


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Autopilots

If you cant do it, they cant do it An autopilot can only steer a boat downwind if a

human can

Boat must be driveable and in good trim

If you want to carry a kite The pilot must be able to drive

You trim

Same if you fly a jib

Want an autopilot that can compensate for theeffects of surfing down waves Need to be able to compensate for change in AWA

Needs to know to drive down, but not jibe


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Autopilots

Small cockpit mounted pilots Relatively inexpensive, not especially waterproof

Low response time - on most boats, have real difficultysteering in rough weather or fast boat speeds

Ideal for occasional use in light to moderate conditions Not intended or recommended for the oceangoing boat

Under deck pilots - recommended More expensive than smaller cockpit-mounted pilots

Much more heavy duty, faster response time

Often need professional installation

Failure is most often caused by overstressing orgetting a unit too small for the boat


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Autopilots

Considerations:

Response speed/rate of turn

SC 70* 6 - 7 deg/sec

SC 50 8 - 9 deg/sec

Cal 40* 10 deg/sec

Moore 24* 20 deg/sec

See a trend here?

Extrapolate for your boat

* Stan Honeys favorite boats because they are the easy to steer downwind


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Autopilots

Considerations

Ability to steer to polars

B&G

Alpha Marine or W-H with Stan Honeys S/W

Ability to I/F to rate gyro

If you already have an autopilot, you may be able to add a gyro

KVH makes a good one


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Autopilots

Considerations:

Steering force

Depends on rudder size, boat speed and speed of turn

Measure on your boat using a scale (or, yuck, do the math)

Power consumption

Dependant on how pilot operates, not size of pilot!

I/F capability with instrumentation & computer

Make sure youre happy with user I/F, engage,disengage & dodge functions (not all physicallydisengage & can add friction when not in use)

Remote control


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Autopilots - Below Deck Drives

Mechanical/linear

OK if boat can be easily steered with a tiller

Translates rotary motion into highly geared linear motion inthe arm, essentially a much more powerful version of thecockpit tiller autopilot

Hydraulic/linear

A hydraulic pump drives the push rod

Constant running or reversing pump

Mechanical/rotary

Chains & gears

Dedicated Hydraulic

Linked into hydraulic steering systems


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SSS Transpac Electronics Seminar 1/9/02

Copyright 2002 GoFast Marine

GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Autopilots

Power Consumption

Based on:

Brand

Vessel size

Steering arrangement

Speed and frequency of corrections

Sea state

Should have the ability to chose the rate of responsebased on conditions

An autopilot can draw between 2 and 10 Amps perhour, so 24 hour use can add considerably to the totalonboard power consumption

Check power consumption on hydraulic pumps


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Autopilot Manufacturers

Course Master - http://www.coursemaster.com Used by all Australian finishers in the BOC Challenge since

1982

W-H Autopilots - http://www.whautopilots.com


Alpha Marine - http://www.alphamarinesystems.com

Simrad/Robertson/Navico - http://www.simrad.com



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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

SSB Now Reqd!

Emergency communication

Race position reporting

Accurate time signal

Ship to ship

Text messages - Email, SITOR, NAVTEX

(see Radio Definitions insert)


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

SSB

Ship to shore

Marine radio telephone

AT&T pulled the plug

WLO is the only operational radio telephone service inthe U.S.

You mustmake advance arrangements

They can not make collect calls into California

You must pre-register with a credit card

http://www.wloradio.com/


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

SSB vs HAM

Requires only a radiolicense easily obtainablefrom the FCC

Duplex or Simplexoperation

Can not transmit on HAMbands, except inemergency Can listen

Legal to discuss business Ordering parts, arranging atow or other privatebusiness

Requires a General ClassLicense

Simplex operation

More bands on which totransmit, can talk with other

HAM operators Can participate on Marine Nets

Illegal to discuss business

License Restructuring: Effective April 15, 2000, the

number of license classes droppedto 3. In addition, the new Morse

code proficiency test, which isrequired to hold either of the twohighest license classes, is set atfive words-per-minute.

http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

SSB

Dont forget you need an FFC radio license!

Application forms in PDF are on the web,http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html, you need form 506

Transmitting on frequencies other than permitted by your license isillegal

Good antenna (incl. Spare if you lose your rig), goodpower, good ground are critical

Race preparation: fuses, configure frequencies, get transmission schedules

See booklets on propagation, antennas, power &grounding, and frequencies

(see SSB Basics and SSB Frequencies insert)


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

SSB Manufacturers

Icom America - http://www.icomamerica.com

Kenwood Communications Corp. -http://www.kenwood.net

Furono - http://www.furuno.com Raymarine - http://www.raymarine.com


Si-Tex Marine Electronics - http://www.si-

tex.com


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Weather Fax

Equipment

Can use computer & S/W with demodulator ordedicated equipment

Dont want to have to baby-sit & worry about being in

front of the radio at the scheduled broadcast time

Images, Schedules & Users Guide

http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/ptreyes.shtml

SSB frequencies are assigned frequencies. To convertto carrier frequencies, subtract 1.9 khz from theassigned frequencies.

To learn more: http://www.hffax.de


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Weather Fax

Products SURFACE CHARTS

Analysis NE Pacific (Part 1) 20N-70N, 115W-175W

00Z Surface Chart, 06Z Surface Chart, 12Z Surface Chart, 18Z SurfaceChart,

Forecast 20N-70N, 115W-135E 24HR, 48HR & 96HR Surface Charts

UPPER AIR CHARTS (For Advanced Users)

500 MB Analysis Analysis 20N-70N, 115W-135E

00Z, 12Z

500MB Forecast 20N-70W, 115W-135E 48HR & 96HR

The further out the prediction, the less accuracy

(see Weather Fax insert)


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Weather Fax Manufacturers

S/W

Navcom Digital (formerly Coretex) 800-444-2581

Xaxero - http://www.xaxero.com

SSC HF Fax - http://www.waypoints.com/ssc.html OCENS WeatherStation 2000

Mscan Meteo Pro - http://www.mscan.com


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Weather Fax Manufacturers

Dedicated, stand-alone

Furuno - http://www.furuno.com

Will both control radio power (off/on) and tune radio


Requires separate printer (but that also means that it usesnormal paper

SSB Integrated


Has PC data port on their SSB


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Satellite Weather & Comms

Weather yachtSOFT.com - http://www.yachtsoft.com/ann8.htm

Xaxero - http://www.xaxero.com OCENS SeaStation 2000 SFWX -http://www.sfwx.com/softworks/prod01.htm#

http://www.saa.noaa.gov Email Orbcomm Magellan GSC 100

Phones Iridium not dead yet

Globalstar Contacts

Personal Satellite Network, Inc. - http://www.skyhelp.net Mobile Satellite Users Association (MSUA) -

http://www.msua.org


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Radars & Deflectors

Selecting A Radar System

Buy the biggest radar your budget and boat can support

Output power, beam width and display size all improve as yougo up in size

More features (such as two EBLs instead of one) and improvedplotting functions are usually included with larger units

While all sailors abhor weight and windage aloft, resistthe temptation to go for the smallest antenna you canfind

Larger scanners have a narrower horizontal beam width

(see Radar insert)


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Radars & Deflectors

Can see storms as well as traffic (wind hits first)

Alarm and adjustable guard zones

NMEA & Ethernet I/F

Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (MARPA) Provides important anti-collision information like the target's

speed, bearing and range, closet point of approach and time tocloset point of approach. The information and targets can betransmitted to other equipment via NMEA

Race Preparation: Be sure its well tuned

Fuses


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Radars & Deflectors

A Radar reflector is required for the race

For radar to work effectively, a strong, repeatableradar return is required

Small vessels, especially those with non-metallic hulls,

often go UNDETECTED on radar because of the weakradar returns they produce

A cheap one is $20, a good one is $60, this is NOTthe place to save $40!! Your life could depend on

it. Mount it properly at least 6 high and rigidly in the

catch rain position - it makes a difference!


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Radars & Deflectors

Radars Furono - http://www.furuno.com


Si-Tex Marine Electronics - http://www.si-tex.com Simrad/Robertson/Navico - http://www.simrad.com

Reflectors

Davis - http://www.davisnet.com


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Computers & S/W (& I/F to

Instrumentation) Autopilot control

Navigation & racing tools

Instrumentation display, graphing & calibration

Weather fax

Radar plot

Celestial sight reduction

Internet & email

(see Computers insert)


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Electronic Navigation/Charts

Vector Charts Database of navigational

information Buoy locations, soundings,

etc. Can create intelligent

Digital Nautical Charts(DNC), for example, canwarn of shallow watercoming

3-D bathymetry

NOAA using S-57 format

See Ocean Navigator

Article in Jan/Feb 2001issue

EC Weather Display Can download weather data

from Internet, email, orSSB which will display inanimated form on electronicchart

Nobletec RayTech

MapTech

The Capn

MaxSea


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Dedicated Computers

Weather proof PCs & Flat-screen displays Multi-function displays

On-board cams

Both B&G and Ockam makes a weatherproofcomputer that runs a special version of theirsoftware to be used on deck.

Autonav Marine Systems - http://www.autonav.com

Ocean PC - http://www.oceanpc.com


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GoFast Marine

[email protected]

Mfgrs:


Nobeltec - http://www.nobeltec.com

Ockam - http://www.ockam.com

B&G Deckman - http://www.bngusa.com

The Captain - http://www.thecapn.com

Maxsea - http://www.maxsea.com

Maptech - http://www.maptech.com

CompuSail - http://www.compusail.com

transpac electronics seminar 2002

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