LadyG
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Posts posted by LadyG
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2 hours ago, IanD said:
Unless you're moored in a good signal area and/or the router is near a window you're likely to need external aerials, definitely so if you want to move around the canals and have reasonable reception -- steel boxes like narrowboats are not good for mobile reception inside.
Three have worse coverage out in the sticks (meaning, many canals) than EE do, which will make your reception problem worse if you move around lots.
But if you only care about where you are right now and Three works there with the router inside, you'll be OK -- suck it and see is the only way to find out... 😉
Yes, im up North and usually have a signal on Three, though every so often it seems to crash for a few hours.
I suppose the new router might need a new sim card, i did not think about that. I could maybe try out EE on one and Three on the other.
Obviously it would be better to have good aerial eg Poynton, and i l ll probably try to get a magnetic mast sometime, that would be a solution.
The fitter who was here yesterday did say i have 12v, but i dont really understand, did he mean the round pin sockets.
I dont know if there is power to the round sockets, if the new router comes with round a round plug, and works that would be one step forward.
On 23/04/2024 at 12:29, IanD said:Decent MiFi are quite expensive; the Netgear M2 (which is often recommended) is more than £400 new.
You might be better getting a domestic router, there are plenty of good ones available secondhand (e.g. Zyxel NR5103E for £130 or so) which will even do 5G for "future-proofing"... 😉
(these can run off 12V via cheap DC-DC converter, about £10)
You don't need a screen, a phone app is a much easier way of managing them.
I dont understand where i could plug in a DC to DC, the only thing i am sure of is the single 240v socket which is fed from the invertor, and the four usb sockets.
There are also two round pin sockets and four square sockets, i thougt they might need shorepower.
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16 hours ago, IanD said:
If you're not going to have 230Vac available all the time to plug the mains adapter into, you'll also need a clean 12V 1A DC power supply for it, get a DC-DC converter for about a tenner. It can't be powered from a USB socket.
I envisage using my invertor to power the new router. Not sure if the indoor aerials it comes with will cope.
If the new battery will get the mifi working again, I would then have two systems.
I think the fundamental problem is getting the Three signal inside the boat.
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2 hours ago, LadyG said:
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On 18/11/2019 at 21:20, Arthur Marshall said:
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On 07/04/2024 at 20:32, Ewan123 said:
If you're happy to learn, you can save a lot of money by DIYing the engine service. Getting familiar with all that down there could also save an expensive engineer call-out fee for when when something goes wrong (and it probably will) if you can take a look, have a fiddle and realise it's an easy fix.
Ive got a reliable engine and have it serviced once a year by someone who knows about narrowboat engineering. I can change the oil myself if i have to, i cant check engine mounts or gearbox.
I dont know enough to say my engine is well maintained, i expect the professional to do that
I do the daily checks and always use a torch to inspect tbe engine and i clean the hoses etc.
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7 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:
Fair enough, just wanted to make sure you weren't being put off doing it by thinking it was too tricky (your mention of lack of skills and tools).
I was envisaging drilling in to the steel.
I ve ordered the router and will see if it works using my magnetic twin aerials.
If not , I'll regroup.
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20 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:
If you can pass the cables outside easily through a mushroom vent or similar all it requires is the ability to use a screwdriver to tighten it's clamp onto a suitable pole (we use a short mag mount one on the roof). Guess it depends on your perception of neat and tidy. The cables themselves just screw on so no special tools required. There's a fair length of cable attached, ours passes through a vent into the well deck void where the water tank is then into the cupboard by the doors, so all excess length is coiled in the void.
Yes, i could do that, ty, but my current set up, mi fi (needs new battery £19), wired through open window to twin antenae (£19.99) and a monthly sub to Three seems to work without my intervention, which is what i want.
I could try to get boat 12v usb stable , but it will either work, or it will die, in which case ill send it back. The usb sockets show some sort of rating, I assume tberefore that they have some sort of buffereing capability in order to output tbe rated output.
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2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:
You can unscrew the stubby aerials and connect an external one, you may need new adapters though as they will be SMA-Female on the back of the router.
You'll need to connect to the router with a laptop/tablet/phone to switch the setting to external aerial too for best results (connect to wifi, type 192.168.1.1 in a browser window). Don't think the Huawei app gives you that much control if memory serves.
I have the same router paired with an external Poynting aerial.
I have considered the Poynting but it requires tools and skills i dont possess.
I should now have three options: mooring near good signal/new router/original mifi.
I hope the new router arrives before the boat fitter who is due here this week, and should manage the internet stuff.
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Ive ordered Huawei B535-232 which is about £87, saving £55 , aparently. (Amazon).
Its supposed to be 12v and has twin aerials attached, not sure if i can replace them with my outdoor aerials.
Ive got great internet from the pub next door ( they sell White Rat, a rather nice IPA style beer).
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2 hours ago, IanD said:
Decent MiFi are quite expensive; the Netgear M2 (which is often recommended) is more than £400 new.
You might be better getting a domestic router, there are plenty of good ones available secondhand (e.g. Zyxel NR5103E for £130 or so) which will even do 5G for "future-proofing"... 😉
(these can run off 12V via cheap DC-DC converter, about £10)
You don't need a screen, a phone app is a much easier way of managing them.
Yes, Im sure there are better gadgets, ill have a look at the one you recommend.
I think its a matter of getting a better signal, not sure if it does that , its probably Three problem most of the time.
I prefer not to have to use two gadgets to access one, if you see what i mean.
I probablydont do downloading stuff or uploading stuff.
Todays problem is getting a delivery to somewhere i can walk to, a lot of sellers wont clik and collect high value hi tech gadgets.
I think the pub Im moored at is providing my internet, who knows .......
PS i tried to paste that number and it came uo with lots of items, maybe £600.
My budget is £120
UPDATE I ve managed to order a replacement battery to be delivered to an amazon counter tomorrow.
I still want to replace my huawei E5785 which is now about five years old, but its a nightmare.
I need to use amazon due to ease of delivery.
I am just guessing that if they cost about £120 they are worth looking at.
I want a battery that will last for ten hours, and have twin Ts9..
I cant see how to google the difference between those that cost £600 and £60, i assume that the bigger ones can run an office and the little ones cant. I only have two gadgets, and use a usb socket.
The first fatal flaw seems to be the female socket on the gadget. I think this is built in obselesence and very annoying.
After all my recent problems i now need to buy new cables, must be a common probkem as the local Shell garage has a stand full of expensive options.
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3 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:
Totally off the wall idea and happy to be shot down in flames. How about two narrowboats? Use them as a motor and butty on the narrow canals, then bolt them together to form a catamaran for wider canals and the sea.
Or build a narrowboat with swivel lee boards (or a centreboard as found on the Mirror Dinghy).
You could have wooden outriggers for crossing choppy seas.
Its a pity horses are no longer allowed on the towpath, they would save the CRT a fortune in grass cutting costs if we all had one, it would save the cost of mining lithium.
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28 minutes ago, Peugeot 106 said:
I know very little about phones but understand that swollen lithium batteries are dangerous if left on charge and the cause of many fires. As Bizzard says they are easy enough to replace if you google them. It’s just not worth the risk
I know, that is why i am replacing the router.
Its not easy to replace things if i am out in rhe sticks
Its impossible to get on the net without having it plugged in.
Its faulty, that is why i am replacing it with an updated mi fi.
Its not easy as it keeps dropping the signal.
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OK well ive decided to buy a new mifi.
What a mess of potage: E5785 has a dozen or more variations, and there are other gadgets which have different numbering, possibly designed for houses with several rooms.
Looking up up best deals gives me a clue, but apart from thinking i want twin aerial sockets Ts9, and a biggish battery, a screen that shows me what is going on, and costs about £120, im stuffed.
I assume i want unlocked and LTE (the latest models have this).
There are some that come with external aerials, but more of the puck design not masts, and often not waterproof to industry standards.
PS Delivery might be an issue: there is an Amazon counter nearby.
Ty
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Yummi,
Ive got all the ingredients, subbing lamb chops for pork.
Ive been binge watching masterchef and its clear to me that one needs to dice onions, shallots and mushrooms as fine as possible to give sauce real body.
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Buy a decent Dutch barge which already has offshore certification, find someone who can teach you a bit about motor boat handling and pilotage.
Spend a year or so pottering about the coast, learning how to handle it, how to navigate, wihout modern navigational software. Use paper charts and pilot books.
Anchor up, (try tbe west coast of Scotland.
I've sailed with lots of people, and some of them were just plain reckless. Needless to say i only sailed with them once!
When you are young and fit, and adventurous its a rite of passage.
Once you are over 23 life takes a differ course.
I sailed rag and stick, for many a year, enjoyed every minute.
Motor boats also need skill to handle, it does not take long to learn how to steer, but ther's a bit more than that to it.
When I left Goole on my NB, my heart sank, its so boring, lol.
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On 16/04/2024 at 14:10, Higgs said:
Unless the charging of a suppliment is removed from CC'ers and the whole pricing is once again spread throughout, I see the present set up as ultimately shooting the boating community in the foot.
Your track record of posts on here suggest nothing else.
Which foot were thinking of, right or left?
My understanding is that if the CRT can't manage the organisation it will be replaced. What good will that do?
There is no boating community that has one goal, one strategy, one plan. Its just lots of people who have boats which happen to be on inland waters. Some dont even live in Englsnd and Wales!
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17 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:
Got to give the NBTA their due, they got their side of the story splashed all over the media . CRT just sound like the usual corporate nonspeak.
I dont know what the naysayers expect the CRT to do, if people are so unhappy with their circumstances they need to change them, not expect a navigation authority to do it for them.
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7 minutes ago, bizzard said:
Keeping them plugged in does shorten battery life and they can go bang. Yesterday a TUI Boeing 787 did an emergency landing, smoke in the cockpit again, possibly lithium battery problem, again.
My Samsung phone gets quite hot, I think its a design flaw, nowhere for the heat to disapate, I've no doubt it encourages people to buy a new phone every year or so...
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17 minutes ago, bizzard said:
You shouldn't leave em plugged in. Anyway, remove the battery take details from it and search ebay or Amazon for a new one.
I know you shouldn't, but ive been doing it for years.
I'm not convinced the battery alone is at fault, well it is faulty but I still get a signal. Its been swollen for years, I could buy a new battery, and if things don't improve comms-wise buy another E5785, then keep the batteries charged every alternate day. Its a lot of faff compared to leaving the mi fi plugged in.
Update: after fifteen hours of intermittent signal everything is back to normal.
I think it was related to boat 12v electrics as everything was undercharged, and voltage seemed lower than expected after cruising for about 4 hours, I reset all my battery isolators Off, then ON, reset all the DC breakers, and things seem to be back to normal.
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8 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:
Are you thinking of the Manchester Ship Canal?
Aha, yes, i am indeed, lol.
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23 hours ago, blackrose said:
If you are having to add more chain to get the fender to fit then yes I'd cut the chain off to the link sticking out of the fender and attach stainless with stainless D shackles. There seem to be different standards of galvanizing chain and I've had some go horribly rusty. The remaining galvanised links inside the fender may still go rusty of course, but at least they're hidden and they'll last for many years.
Also it's a good idea to add weak links when attaching fenders so that if the fender gets caught on a lock gate it will snap. People generally use (6mm) cable ties.
Yes, exactly, why replace the possibly undersized chain with strong chain and then insert a weak link of unknown strength. I'd just coat the existing links with paint, and attach with whatever linkage you have to hand. It can be redesigned at a later date if necessary. Personally I'd rather use a bit of cord rather than cable ties, easier to cut should that be necessary.
I'd say that fender looks a bit undersized, have a look at other boats of the same prow design and see what they have come up with.
In my opinion the main fender function is to prevent you catching on lock doors, which can have several designs to catch the unwary.
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I thought I'd like to have a few days on the Bridgewater, but it seems I need to pay for a boat safety tyoe Certificate, as well as a payment to use the water, is this so, I thought there was some reciprocal agreement?
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I'm looking to buy a replacement mi fi, as the existing one (E 5###) is five years old, the battery is swollen and is struggling, it is always plugged in to a USB socket. It seems to need the corr3ct battery installed
I have twin antennae which sit on the roof, and is satisfactory.
Is amazon the best place to buy one, I'm out in the sticks, but I expect I can find a locker.
I've looked at the mi fi, it's E5785 , it cost about £120 and has a big battery.
Looking for a replacement I assumed E5785 would all have twin sockets which is what I am interested in.
But these things don't seem to be mentioned in product details.i assume they are not provided if not mentioned.
But I wonder if they are not mentioned because they are open to breakage if used frequently, as they do look fragile?
Needless to say the help lines are no help finding the twin socket types
PS I use a USB socket, there are different ratings, but I just ignore that.
Is there a gadget that can plug in to a USB socket that will stabilise the output to meet the needs of the router As I fear that the electrics probably don't have much stability?
Looking at some technical stuff it seems that LTE is the new Internet access, so I think I should get a router that has it, but not sure about 4g or 5g, I thought 4g was the standard for fastish data and 2,4 or some such had a broadbrush approach.
PS I've bought a new Samsung phone and tablet r3cently. Do I have to turn LTE on?
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On 04/04/2024 at 13:13, Emc said:
Thanks so much for getting back to me - so many useful responses!
The Crick boat show looks great, so I'll try to get along to that. And going to a brokerage is also a great idea. I've been Googling some near-ish to London or East Anglia and will try to visit from next week hopefully.
I'm currently living in south east London but for a while I lived in a flat overlooking the Grand Union canal and every day would walk past all the boats thinking how lovely it would be to live in one.
If I buy a boat, I would hopefully be on the Grand Union or Regents Canal travelling up and down rather than a mooring (I work in London several days a week so need to be based close by but I think moorings seem to be difficult to get?). I would also love to be able to travel over to East Anglia and the River Lark and around Cambridge and Ely but it looks like the stretch of canal from Milton Keynes to Bedford isn't completed yet (or maybe only for widebeams) which is a shame.
My budget isn't huge relatively - up to around £80,000 (and only because a parent recently passed away, so I want to make sure I'm using that money as wisely as possible and preferably don't lose money if I need to sell etc).
I love the interior look of widebeam boats (although from doing a bit of research, other boaters don't seem to be huge fans of people who have widebeams - and as a single woman potentially living on one, getting any sort of hostility from other boaters would be difficult). I also really love the idea of designing and creating an interior space myself (and learning some carpentry skills along the way), so have been tentatively looking online at widebeam sailaway boats which seem to sell for around £70,000. However I realise from reading other forums that fitting out a boat is a huge undertaking and not always the fulfilling project experience I'm hoping for.
But anyway, the search begins!
Thank you so much for getting back on this, it's been really useful!
£70K buys a sailaway boat ( which maybe needs another £70K, spend), is not a good investment for someone without extensive marine type skills, a suitable location for construction, etc., and a year or three to finish. The problem is, by then you will likely be exhausted, and you may not get your money back if you decide its not for you. Its really tough living on a boat which is being fitted out.
There are other routes to consider.
1) buy a well maintained narrowboat which needs a bit of a refresh. Expect to spend a small wad of cash on refurbishment as one persons idea of decor is not likely to be the same as yours. A boat which is ten to twenty years old may need new upholstery, and curtains say £2000, new batteries and solar, say £1,500. If the boat is by a good hull builder and is not a rusting hulk, then money that you put in to it, could be considered an investment , but its difficult to remember that when faced with another bill for £1200, for what seems like a minor upgrade. You will find plenty to do on a boat without starting from scratch.
2) buy a GRP cruiser which is under budget, you will need to search hard to find one suited to liveaboard.
Improving onboard Mobile communications
in Boat Equipment
Posted
Oh dear, just found a flaw in my plan.
At the moment i have a sim card in my mi fi, i probably have one in my phone, i pay Three two contracts, but ive no idea which payment is which or about usage.
If i now add a mains router, do i have to buy another sim. I think 1pmobile charge about £10 per month, so that would be three contracts, which has to be excessive.