Raspberry Pi qtVlm setup on board with AIS via wifi

I have tried the setup onboard and have found some areas that need adjusting for the mounting - the french cleat works but it needs some additional support for when the boat heels and also bangs or pounds as I am sure it will - 

I am going to redo the bulkhead part of the french cleat with some slots to keep the units support board more secure, using the same shape as I did for the desktop  stand - maybe adding some slots to the mount to stop the unit sliding sideways when the boat is heeled. The positives of the system is that the wiring to the left with the USB socket powers the raspberry pi well and the small plastic distribution box has a on off toggle to turn off the RPi and also has a 12v socket to power the screen - I have also added XT60  connectors that will mate with a fan, the ghetto blaster, 12v LED red green nav lights that can be fitted to the mast in case the masthead lights fail, as well as anything else that needs a 12V supply.

The only downside is that the USB socket in this distribution box has blue LEDs while all the others in the boat are red -  not a biggie but it would have been perfect if they were red - next time I will take better care when ordering.

Another positive is that he data from the ONWA AIS is really simple to send to the qtVlm and openCPN programs here you see it on the RPi qtvlm & opencpn and on my old android mobile phone opencpn so there is 3 redundancy options ONWA chartplotter ,

RPi and mobile phone 

qtVlm is a super powerful program you can load gribs, polars, charts, ais data, NMEA integration, it does routing and tons more and is regularly updated. It comes with a pdf manual and although the learning curve is quite steep it is really worthwhile to take the time to work through the manual and try it - there are also youtube videos which showcase the software with tutorials on its features. It accepts various types of charts and the developer has charts which can be purchased. You can use S57 S63 CM93 and MbTiles and raster charts in KAP and Geotiff. 

It is available in Windows MacOS Linux and RaspberryPi Linux versions  with paid versions to unlock features on Windows Tablet and and paid vesions for Android and IOS devices from the relevant app stores.

I have been using Linux for years- over 25 years but I find that it has got easier and easier and on the RaspberryPi 4 I can have a really low power consumption computer that is extremely powerful and runs really well and boots very quickly.

A bonus is that when you boot up your computer while connected to the net it tells you there is a  newer version and you download the newest version and with a few lines of linux command line commands it replaces the old version with the new version while keeping all your settingsand  chartsetc.  intact. BRILLIANT

Click this link to see more about qtVlm

RPI qtVlm

RPI OpenCPN

Android OpenCPN

 qtVlm setup for Cagarro

I have finished my setup for using qtVlm on Cagarro using a Raspberry pi 4 and a 10.1 inch screen and using a usbgps puck that plugs into the Rpi. I have also made a desktop stand so that I can use the setup at home if need be to reinstall/reconfigure the setup using home Fiberinternet.

Portable system in the desktop stand for use at home

The USB GPSmouse on top of the Rpi

Removable stand for desktop use at home

All that is needed  is to unplug the Rpi power cord and screen powercorrd and the setup is removable.
On the boat there is a dedicated output for the usb C connection that powers the Rpi and also a connection for the 12v for the screen. The AIS will be available on he Rpi on both OpenCPN and qtVlm via wifi from the the Onwa AIS wifi connection, as that it possible when I use openCPN on my old mobile phone - it overlays AIS on the charts on my phone.

The French Cleat that mates with the French Cleat on the bulkhead

On the boat I have added a French cleat on the bulkhead where the removable Rpi setup is sited and there is the dedicated power distribution box on the bulkhead .

on the screen shots you can see the grib files for weather that can be downloaded directly from inside qtVlm and overlay on the navigation charts

I will add the pictures of the Rpi system on the boat in the next post.

until then 

Here is the latest position of Alessio Campriani on his round the world non stop adventure on a class globe 580, just about 50 0r 70 cm longer than cagarro

Replaced the Blocks with a low friction cascade

on the boom vang

I am always looking at better ways to optimize things and seeing as I had some spare low friction rings I replaced the blocks on the boom vang with a cascade system made of the low friction rings it is lighter, simpler, neater and has super mechanical advantage.The 3 lowfriction rings make a theoretical mechanical advantage 0f 8:1 but with the friction from the rings it is probably more like 6:1, maybe more because I am using slick dyneema. It could even be possible that the the block at the mast base may even make it a 12:1 or a 16:1 system ???? all I know is that it is real easy to add huge downward force  -  feel free to clarify if you know.

The Twin Mainsheets may make a boom vang redundant but the mainsheets and the boom vang make it really easy to trim the mainsail shape in my opinion.

and Alessio Campriani postion for today