by'eck

Roger that and

Yes its a mobile 3G dongle with the latest HSDPA so my comments above apply. Generally speaking a good WiFi connection to a correctly set up hotspot will always beat it for bandwidth/speed, but accept its horses for courses. Almost certainly and for wireless networks much further away as well.

By dongle I assume you mean the commonly available mobile broadband USB dongle which with SIM card inserted allows Internet access to your laptop. The problem is the bandwidth & therefore speed is severely limited (at present at least). Depending on your ISP it can be expensive & almost certainly will have a monthly cap on downloaded data. Mobile broadband is fine for your phone but just not tailored for heavy use on a laptop or PC. In answer to those querying the use of BTFON. BT offer to their wireless broadband customers a free opt-in service called BTFON. This adds an entirely separate wireless network emanating from your WiFi router & unimaginatively called "BTFON", which anyone with rights can access & obtain Internet connectivity if in wireless range. In return for providing this service for others you get the rights mentioned above to access any other BTFON wireless network. This involves auto browser re-direction to provide your BT email address & password to log in. Check your nearest BTFON hotspot via postcode here. Non BT account holders can access a similar wireless service called OpenZone working on a pre-paid credit basis. I apologise to those who thought my original post was "blatant commercial advertising spam". I was always lead to believe a picture was worth a thousand words & laid the explanation out as best I could with such.

Sorry WJM & Liam. I didn't think it necessary to include a disclaimer but your complete misinterpretation proves otherwise. Let me say therefore as a retired individual that I have no connection whatsoever business or otherwise with any company mentioned in my post. I am sorry but saddened by your quickness to jump to the wrong conclusion & sincerely hope you don't make a practice of this. I & many others have felt the need for Internet access whilst cruising on our boats. The presence of this forum & others suggest that cruising folk here may also be interested in Internet connectivity especially whilst on the move without the need to trudge up the towpath nb Inisfree, although if there's a pub at the end of the trudge isn't that a blessing? If such folk really feel WiFi Internet access directly on their boat is not necessary then please say so or ignore the post. I tried to explain the equipment in as simple terms as possible with illustrations, what it does, how it works, where to buy it in the UK. I have used such equipment myself with great success on boats both sides of the Atlantic to the extent that I now wouldn't be without it. I apologise if it baffles some but would be more than happy to explain more fully. Put as simply as I can manage, its equivalent to an external WiFi adapter of considerably greater power than the built-in one in your laptop. It overrides such with a cable connection from the device to your laptop or PC providing connection to wireless hotspots some distance away which would otherwise not be possible.

For some time now the cruiser/sailor community particularly on the other side of the Atlantic, have been using long range Wireless LAN (WiFi) equipment to provide Internet access whilst on their boats. High power external USB devices work significantly better than the feeble adapters built into most laptops, but the clever money is on using wireless LAN bridges. Ubiquiti offer a range of economically priced professional equipment for wireless internet service providers (WISP's). The cruising community have been quick to realise this highly configurable equipment can simply be adapted to provide access to wireless hotspots/access points (AP's) over great distances. Up to a mile is typical although working connections of up to five miles over open water have been claimed. The Bullet is the most popular choice from the Ubiquiti range. It consists of a high power, high sensitivity WiFi transceiver coupled internally to a LAN bridge. Its design allows direct attachment of suitable omni-directional pole antenna which when mounted, entirely supports the Bullet via its N type connector. A LAN cable connects your laptop or PC to the Bullet with simple "power over ethernet" (POE) passive adapter in between. As the Bullet works with 10 to 30 volts DC it can simply be hooked up to your boats battery system although a similar mains powered adapter is also available. Whilst sailing boats require connection to be maintained whilst swinging at anchor hence omni-directional antenna, narrow boats can take advantage of the NanoStation from Ubiquiti. Although a little more expensive it works in the same manner but with built-in cross polarised antenna's providing greater sensitivity/range & is supplied with mains power adapter, although the passive one above can be used as well. Although its antenna's are directional, pointing it within 30 degrees of the AP is acceptable to maintain a connection. Both devices share the same firmware & therefore set-up screens which are accessed through your normal web browser. Some initial configuration is necessary to set the device to a "Station" to allow connection to suitable AP within range. I have written a set of dumbed-down instructions for that purpose which apply to either device. Note that once configured you can plug the LAN cable into a local WiFi router for wireless distribution of Internet connection within your boat - or your neighbours if feeling generous. Obviously you should have permission to use any particular hotspot but would draw your attention to BTFON whilst on the move.

Mobile broadband dongles provide slow & expensive Internet connectivity via your phone service provider. Monthly download limits are capped to maybe 1GB as the service is really just for phones. WiFi hook-up is better if you can get it. Whilst most marinas offer WiFi hotspots, BT offer to their wireless broadband customers a quick to set up service called BTFON. This adds an entirely separate wireless network emanating from your home WiFi router & unimaginatively called "BTFON", which anyone with rights can access & obtain Internet connectivity if in wireless range. In return for providing this service for others you get the rights mentioned above to access any other BTFON wireless network. This involves auto browser re-direction to provide your username & password to log in. It seems this would offer an excellent opportunity for canal users on the move, particularly if they have access to long range WiFi equipment given the huge number of BTFON hotspots. Check your nearest via postcode here

Anyone looked here for Lister, Gardner, Kromhout? They plan to have the fully rebuilt 1947 Lister JP2 at the Crick show.

Click image for info custom made gauge. vertical scale mercury thermometer If you want an oil pressure warning switch suited to low pressure on vintage engines try Applications Engineering part # APA-1-G1/4-NC-SP-N-ZN

Got it - thanks Mark.

Ask Martyn at MPS he has rebuilt a Kelvin P2R & P4R

For several days now just get server not available message. Anyone know what's happening?

Yes I agree. Do you know if Skype has video calling for Symbian phones yet? Fring offered this over a year ago with Skype as a third party client & it worked! Unfortunately it must have embarrassed Skype & they killed the fring association without offering video calling themselves.

Which do you think is at fault, the billion dollar GPS system driven by atomic clocks giving accuracy with 3 metres or your phone?

Doh! - its the River Crouch

This is my tale of woe following failure of a Valeo 55 amp alternator fitted to 1993 Volvo TMD31B. Just finished successful sea trial during sale of my yacht when the prospective owner decides he wants to see the alternator charging the batteries for the third time that day. Sod's law at this point it fails Consult with boatyard manager in Antigua who points me in the direction of the only company on the island capable? of fixing it. Tells me they are highly experienced & I should have no concerns....... Drop it off & following day hear that its "fixed" for a mere £20. At alternator place they are just about to take my money when I query the repair. Eventually sent round the back to talk to “Africa”. Thats not his real name which is unpronounceable, but its apparently a novelty that he was actually born in Africa despite most of the population being of African origin. Anyway he starts to demonstrate that it works on a motor driven test rig but with half the peripherals removed. Flashes & bangs as he dabs exciter wire on the D+ terminal & I see unloaded output pass through 20 volts! at which point it starts making a funny humming noise requiring quick disconnection from test rig I explain to him that volts need to come out of the built-in split charge system with two connections both labeled with large “+” which ought to be a clue. Things start to go downhill fast then when he tells me that cant possibly happen. Another guy jumps in & tries to demonstrate that I'm wrong as well with a dirty multimeter. My protests that its worked this way for 18 years fall on deaf ears. Shortly after the light dawns & he agrees that I am right after all. As it turns out all “Africa” did was to clean it, so second guy then insists he test the regulator which proves faulty. Things are looking better – we have a fault although probably induced by them. Things start to look up…… then down again when he returns after a 30 minute wait with a regulator that will fit but wont work because the original has separate exciter wire Get sent up the road with old regulator to Battery shop where they stock a huge range of regulators (but not one to match mine). They quickly find one which looks like it might have a fighting chance of fitting though, right number of wires etc. but then they can’t find the price. Wait a full 20 minutes to be deprived of nearly £40. Take new reg back to Africa who says it will be ready & working tomorrow. This assumes he can find all the nuts/bolts/connectors presently mainly on the dirt floor & that he doesn't break any more plastic parts as there won't be anything left to bolt together. Following day its ready, "fixed & tested". Africa has even done a half decent job of soldering field wire to one of the brushes on new regulator to allow connection of Sterling alternator booster. Bit suspicious that the repair charge is still only £20, but not complaining Back on the boat, after great difficulty re-fitting it in confined space (its on far inaccessible side of engine) feel gutted when it shows no sign of producing any volts. With nothing to loose take it apart myself. Find missing spacers allowing potential short & trapped wires on new regulator which of course is not the correct one anyway. Drill holes in plastic regulator housing to allow safe passage of wires, re-assemble & re-fit. Yippe! both start & service batteries showing charge volts although still haven't reconnected Sterling reg. After this is connected even more charge volts New potential owner is disappointed he is not getting new unit out of me but after four consecutive demonstrations (he is very disbelieving fellow) it remains working. Good job! Lessons learnt: Valeo alternators (and probably most others) withstand outrageous abuse. Unless there are true professionals around always trust yourself Alternators aren't that complicated

Triangulated cell tracking by its very nature is not very accurate & is generally only used to give approx position (+/- 500 mtrs or greater) - usually used to kickstart assisted GPS (aGPS). GPS signals come from a network of satellites although cell towers re-transmit local GPS almanac data, again for the benefit of aGPS. Bottom line - if you want accuracy you need a GPS receiver.

I use Aspicore GSM tracker on my Symbian phone. It has auto-configure to the free GpsGate.com server although you do have to register first. Below is the result of a tracked bike ride. Aspicore was set to update position to server automatically every minute.

Thanks for all your replies. Seems like an RCD on shore power inlet & another on inverter output should suffice. Yes I admit I did miss the "or" The "Note" below 8.3 also threw me a little. Still think they could have laid out the regs here better.

Thanks Gibbo, I'm still a little unsure of the logic of connecting in series though. My old school answer to being provided with two (nominal) 12 volt panels was to connect them in parallel to the controller and hence to the batteries. Indeed that's what the Blue Sky manual suggested as well. I have had absolutely no problems with such an installation which has if anything exceeded the quoted power output. I understand that an mppt controller is designed to present a variable load to the panels to hold them at their most efficient 18 volts and present a three-stage charge at appropriate voltages to the battery bank. What I don't understand is the logic of putting two nominal 12 volt panels in series. Given the off load voltage of over 20 volts this means that potentially over 40 volts are presented to the mppt controller. Firstly there must be an upper limit to the input voltage of the mppt controller so do two panels in series equate to this limit? Secondly if two panels in series are more efficient why don't mppt controller manufacturers recommend connecting two (or more?) in series? Thirdly following from above and my first post, if series is the way to go why don't panel manufacturers make them with a higher raw output voltage by wiring more cells within panel in series?

I'm just intrigued if this is the case why panels aren't sold with more cells in series within the panel, i.e. higher uncontrolled voltage. My experience relates to two Kyocera 130 watt panels linked in parallel to single Blue Sky mppt controller. I regularly saw up to 18 amps going into service bank which equals or exceeds their claimed power output at bulk charge 14.5 volts.

Sounds like the sensing wire (red) on the Sterling regulator was not making good connection with battery(s). This regulator would then force alternator output up to the point where it exceeded 15 volts, at which point high voltage alarm would trip (red light) shutting down alternator until engine re-start. It may even explain the strange behavior requiring tunnel light to be on. BTW the Sterling regulator can be effectively disconnected by breaking the connection of its (green or white) field wire, leaving just the alternators built-in regulator. As well as being useful for fault finding, its a neat way of seeing what improvement in charge rate/voltage this alternator booster gives.

ISO 13297 (Small craft-Electrical systems-Alternating current installations) states (8.2b) It does add the following note to paragraph 8 though I find this a little ambiguous. Does it mean that I can have a daisy chain or ring of AC outlet sockets (including galley & machinery space) without individual RCD's as long as they are protected by a single RCD at the beginning of the chain?