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02-03-2007
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Wandering Aimlessly
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Wishful thinking?
I found myself wondering this morning if it wouldn't be possible to have a software program for battery monitoring. Where instead of running the wires from the shunt to what in essence is a mini-computer, run them to the laptop instead. Or does something like that already exist? Or, is it even possible?
What say ye?
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John
Ontario 32 - Aria
Free, is the heart, that lives not, in fear.
Full, is the spirit, that thinks not, of falling.
True, is the soul, that hesitates not, to give.
Alive, is the one, that believes, in love. JCP
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02-03-2007
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Telstar 28
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A dedicated battery monitor would probably be easier to install, more durable and last longer, and probably cheaper in the long run. It would also use considerably less energy than having to have a laptop up and running... so the batteries would be more useful...
A laptop has to power a large LCD panel, which is really not necessary for the purposes of monitoring battery status; it has to power a hard drive, which is also not necessary for monitoring battery status; it has a cpu that is far in excess of the power needed to run the simple software necessary for battery monitoring and as such will use far more power than a dedicated device; the laptop becomes a point of failure for multiple systems—not only do you lose your laptop, word processor, e-mail, etc, but also your battery monitoring capabilty if anything should happen to the laptop.
Furthermore, most laptops are not hardened for a marine environment and are subject to failure from exposure to water, salt air, etc. A dedicated device could easily be made water-resistant or waterproof, as well as sealed against the corrosive effects of the salt air via a conformal coating of the electronics or sealing the electronics within an epoxy block. A dedicated device could be made much smaller, simpler and use far less power.
Finally, such a device already exists... see here, here or here for a few examples.
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Sailingdog
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Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
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Last edited by sailingdog; 02-03-2007 at 11:51 AM.
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02-03-2007
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Wandering Aimlessly
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I already use a laptop for charting, so it isn't as though I would be using one, just for a monitor. But mostly, it's just wishful thinking.
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John
Ontario 32 - Aria
Free, is the heart, that lives not, in fear.
Full, is the spirit, that thinks not, of falling.
True, is the soul, that hesitates not, to give.
Alive, is the one, that believes, in love. JCP
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02-03-2007
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Telstar 28
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Well, the other thing I'd point out is that you'd have to turn on the laptop, if it was off, wait for the OS to boot, and then run the program to check the status of the batteries, if the laptop were off... having a dedicated device means that you can see the status of the batteries almost instantly, whenever you want....
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Sailingdog
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Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts..
Still—DON'T READ THAT POST AGAIN.
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02-03-2007
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Senior Member
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by PBzeer
I found myself wondering this morning if it wouldn't be possible to have a software program for battery monitoring.
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PBeezer- are you trying to complicate your life? I thought you were going to start simplifying it. If your blog turns into a discussion of software battery monitoring I am going to stop reading it! 
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Robert Lee Castleman
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02-04-2007
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PB I think keeping it simple is the solution...as they said above.
here's simple...I have 4 batteries and 4 independednt battery monitors with high, low and low-low audible and visual alarms ....1 Volt meter 1 amp meter both with 4 position switches....the monitors can be adjusted to different voltages, for example the engine battery alarms low bat at a higher voltage than the house or the VHF battery.
My Garmin GPS also has battery monitor feature, and I can program it to alarm at given battery levels.
What do you do when the PC is off or decides it needs to reboot??
Here's part of the bat monitor system (here for 2 batteries only).
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02-04-2007
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Wandering Aimlessly
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Please reference the title of the post. Just some pipedreaming. (And no, not that kind of pipe!) I'm using a Link 20 and have 2 multimeters for backup.
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John
Ontario 32 - Aria
Free, is the heart, that lives not, in fear.
Full, is the spirit, that thinks not, of falling.
True, is the soul, that hesitates not, to give.
Alive, is the one, that believes, in love. JCP
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02-04-2007
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moderate?
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***
Last edited by camaraderie; 08-12-2009 at 10:31 PM.
Reason: dated
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02-04-2007
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Member
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PBZeer:
I am with you from a tech/geek aspect, I think it would be cool to monitor the battery the engine or anything I could off my laptop...would I use it instead of the more conventional monitors and marine gear on a long cruise...no...but it is fun to mess around and play with these things when bored...!
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1981 - 30' Lippincott cruise/racer Miami, FL
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02-04-2007
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Wandering Aimlessly
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Join Date: Nov 2002
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marinesniper - that's kind of what I had in mind, a way to analyze systems in one program. Something like what they do with cars now.
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John
Ontario 32 - Aria
Free, is the heart, that lives not, in fear.
Full, is the spirit, that thinks not, of falling.
True, is the soul, that hesitates not, to give.
Alive, is the one, that believes, in love. JCP
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