February 26, 2020

Battery cables for cars & boats, DIY


At higher outputs, current, from the batteries I had detected an increasing voltage drop. So I decided to change and update the supply cables from the batteries, see picture, to a more correct solution. 

The solution was
  • Cable lugs on all cables
  • The lug is crimped and soldered to the cable
  • Heat shrink tubes, with glue, to cover the transition between the lug and cable
  • Battery terminals with M10 distributer

February 24, 2020

OpenPlotter V2, NMEA or SignalK data TO file

newer post on the same subject !!

If You want to capture Your data from a sailing trip there are several ways. Here I will check out these
  • SignalK delta, via plugin signalk-data-logger 
  • NMEA 0183(N1), via netcat
  • NMEA 2000(N2), via actisense-serial
If you then want to use these files as input for OpenPlotter, OpenCPN or SignalK check out this post.

February 23, 2020

OpenPlotter V2, NMEA or SignalK data FROM file

newer post on the same subject !!

The easiest way to test Your OpenPlotter, OpenCPN or SignalK(SK) applications is to use the supplied sample files in SK.


Another way is to capture Your own data from a sailing trip, which is described here. Then You can use them instead of the supplied sample files.

February 17, 2020

Node-Red & Mosquitto quick install


A fantastic way to distribute data between devices is using MQTT. In this post I will do a quick and simple setup with Node-Red(NR) and the Mosquitto(MQ) broker on a Raspberry Pi.

Very short, the Broker, installed on a server, handles incoming Publishing and Subscriptions from clients. Every published Message is "linked" to a Topic. All Subscribers use a Topic to "link" to the right Message.

How to install Node-Red(NR) is found here and the MQ manual here.