tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72564065771336057852024-10-04T21:13:23.541-05:00A project to turn a Netbook into a low priced, high feature touchscreen Chartplotter with Mobile Internet access and customizable mapsLong Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-80677658550122150732016-05-12T21:19:00.000-05:002016-05-20T19:31:53.943-05:00

I guess I'll start out with the undocumented web browser interface I found. If you use a device that supports WiFi and web browsing then you can access this webpage. First pair up your device via WiFi like you do when using it with the Android or Apple Lowrance Go Free App. Then start up a web browser and type in the IP address of your unit. You should then get a page that looks like this:

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-25296786586873647242016-05-11T07:29:00.000-05:002016-05-11T07:45:28.775-05:00

After the first of the year I had a $1000 in my "Boat Improvement Fund" and knowing the HDS Gen 3 units were out and Lowrance was getting ready to end new production on the Gen 2 Touch I decided to see if I could find a setup for under a grand. While searching for deals on the Internet I stumbled across the just released Elite 7 Ti which was not only cheaper than the Gen 2 Touch it uses a single

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-76469696742492203352016-05-03T23:39:00.001-05:002016-05-03T23:39:55.097-05:00

I haven't made any changes to the unit over the winter since I got a new Lowrance Elite 7 Ti which has Structure Scan (AKA sidescan) so I don't know yet how much I am still going to need this for depth sounding in the flooded trees out at Lost Grove Lake (I have some new maps I'll be posting soon on my other blog) So I'll just document what I have already which works well as is. The main drive

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-22693563900930070102015-10-08T16:59:00.000-05:002015-10-08T16:59:35.429-05:00

The Wireless Aquatic Science Platform based around a project out of Spain called the JALC Boat. I have modified the design and added GPS and depth logging capabilities and will be doing a final design over the winter and hopefully also add APM (auto pilot module) to make it autonomous or RC controlled Here are some quick shots I took the other day and I'll have more details after the season is

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-74406691832124360812015-06-06T02:08:00.000-05:002015-06-06T02:08:57.957-05:00

Went out today for a few hours and did some calibration runs mapping depth in Dr Depth with the "Black Box" while using the Think Pad Tablet 2's internal GPS for general navigation. Depths were mapped using both the rear (main) transducer as well as switching to the one up front. Here are some pictures of it mounted and set up Here is Dr Depth displaying position on a pre-existing map.

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-5896039271718304472015-05-23T06:26:00.000-05:002015-05-29T08:27:19.693-05:00

Let's start out with the "Depth Mapper in a Box". The front panel consists of a red power on LED, a green GPS Fix LED, a power switch (USB power only) a SD card slot, a USB type 'B' jack and a barrel jack for power (7-12V) On the back panel is a 2 conductor "microphone" jack for the NMEA serial output from one of my fish finders and the other is an SMA jack for an active (amplified)

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-68977961478269846022015-01-29T08:01:00.000-06:002015-05-29T08:27:41.971-05:00

Yeah I know it's kinda lame but it sounds better than the Winpad2Chartplotter Project although that's technicaly more true since I've upgraded to a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 ($300) running the Big Boy's version of Windows 8.1 Pro. It has a slightly faster but dual core Atom processor giving me roughly twice the computing power of the original, at least double the graphics and has capacitive

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-81784822381058614752015-01-17T01:22:00.000-06:002015-01-17T01:29:14.391-06:00

I made a couple of upgrades/improvements to my boat last summer and I wanted to get them documented before I start with the major upgrades I'm in the process of designing and installing this winter into the spring. First is actually part of the upgrades I made in 2012 along with the anchor winches but I get a lot of questions about my pole holder serup so I took some more detailed pictures. It's

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-8202768922979918832014-09-22T04:05:00.000-05:002014-10-02T08:10:32.601-05:00

First I'd like to point out a new feature on both of my blogs over on the right ---------> That's live data from my personal weather station and if you click on it it will take you to my personal weather station webpage on Weather Underground. I'm getting ready to 'retire' the original Netbook2Chartplotter at least as a chartplotter and it will have other duties such as logging data from the

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-62610255448152606332014-07-15T00:52:00.002-05:002014-07-15T00:54:47.422-05:00

I've started a new blog documenting the now over half full Lost Grove Lake in Scott County, Iowa. I'll be posting photos of the filling process that I took earlier this year and any new ones in the future. You can find the new blog here Posts on general mapping and boat electronics will still go on this blog but near record flooding since April of this year has kept me off the river and it'll

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-74766404214503277822014-05-02T20:48:00.001-05:002014-05-13T02:08:43.304-05:00

Here are some screen captures and videos of the test run for my new Vexilar Sonar Phone T-Pod using a Nexus 7 (2012) running Kit Kat 4.4.2 and test it's new screen recording API. Although the videos get a little jerky in places because the recording software is dropping frames (Limitations of the ARM processor) it's smooth as silk 'live'. First some screen caps and a video of the first run

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-76517766438603442772014-03-22T12:00:00.000-05:002014-03-22T13:49:23.423-05:00

We have a new lake here just northeast of Davenport that is slowly filling right now called Lost Grove Lake. It's been 25+ years in the making but it's a well designed lake within a well managed Watershed to keep silt and fertilizer runoff from getting into the lake which will be 350 acres and 3 miles long when full. I plan on making detailed depth, structure and 3D depth maps of the lake but

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-62286986268026047402014-03-21T04:30:00.000-05:002014-03-21T04:30:29.701-05:00

Making depth maps for a river is always problematic due to the constantly changing water levels. So what I do when I make these maps which were made over a period of several trips is to get the water level at Lock and Dam 15 just up river a bit and name the data by Location, Date, and river level. Then I can take each trip data individually and load it into Dr Depth and subtract whatever level is

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-28188520713097936202014-02-26T03:13:00.000-06:002014-03-19T00:48:46.125-05:00

The Netbook2chartplotter is really the central piece to a larger system but I've never really documented and detailed the rest of the system. Last year I did some upgrades including front and rear anchor winches, an aftermarket Tilt and Trim package,  an access door to the front battery and a Minnkota onboard charger. Also a new removable rack for my pole holders for fishing and new pole

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-73279543347245008242013-08-29T04:40:00.000-05:002014-03-19T01:16:35.756-05:00

Gee guess what, the problem didn't magically fix itself but I've never seen IGNORING a problem to ever get positive results, just a little Fact of Nature. Currently the City of Davenport is trying to figure out what to do with the insurance settlement for the lodge that burnt down this spring. Rebuilding on the Flood Plain doesn't make a lot of sense but Emotion rather than Logic will decide that

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-43611862718960233652012-09-15T01:15:00.000-05:002014-07-12T16:11:27.475-05:00

UPDATE! Photos made in late October PROVING this bridge project is still WAAAYYYYY out of compliance with the Corps of Engineers Permit. It's both a boating hazard and an Environmental Hazard which is accelerating the silting in of the Harbor by impeding the flow causing silt and sediment to be dropped in front of the boat ramp     ... Unfortunately the Corps got scammed by the

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-61325547619477937832010-08-20T09:35:00.004-05:002013-04-13T04:54:21.940-05:00

The base unit is an Acer one AO531h netbook with WWAN modem and the 6 cell extended battery. This is the same unit sold with a data contract at AT&T although this particular unit was a refurb that most likely only had a bad webcam which is why they were returned to AT&T and Acer. So the basic specs are the same except for a few subtractions and additions. Items Removed: 1. Webcam

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-1523694653821167232010-08-19T14:02:00.001-05:002014-03-19T01:19:11.254-05:00

First a few pictures then I'll go into the final details They don't make a touchscreen kit for this particular Acer One model (AO531h) and it is so slim there was really no place to put the touchscreen controller. Since the keyboard was essentially worthless now with the screen flipped like a Tablet PC I removed it and put the touchscreen controller in there. I got a 3-in-1 screen

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-49705612274865863462010-08-10T16:25:00.000-05:002010-08-10T16:25:56.731-05:00

Both projects have been completed since late June, I've just been too busy with other projects and trying to enjoy the summer (despite the record levels of rainfall and heat) to gather everything together and do an update. But since all this rain has kept me off the river lately I've had a chance to catch up and get my home improvement projects done. Here's a couple of quick pictures of the

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-35197244835193777522010-04-26T09:20:00.002-05:002010-04-26T09:25:57.559-05:00

A slight update to the livewell timer circuit. I changed the value and way I switched the On Time resistors. The other way it was 32 and 64 seconds, this way it will be 30 and 60 seconds. I couldn't split 150K because they don't make a 75K resistor and it didn't dawn on me until this morning to just put another 150K in parallel to get my 75K ohms. I also moved the motor on indicator LED so it

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-57045047323718938122010-04-26T02:55:00.001-05:002010-04-26T02:57:45.955-05:00

I updated my livewell timer design originally made in 2004 for my previous boat. I have yet to find another livewell timer circuit on the internet so I figured I'd put mine up on the blog. All the parts should be available at any Radio Shack. The circuit features a manual fill override, 30 or 60 second switched On Time and 1-8 Minutes infinitely variable Off Time. The 555 timer must be a CMOS low

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-47331454518008357962010-04-04T03:56:00.001-05:002010-04-04T04:05:59.616-05:00

Sorry about no posts lately. The controller board for my touchscreen kit was bad and I had to spend several days trying to get a warranty replacement. Actually I damaged the controller board by hooking it up to 5V instead of the 3.3V that's at the camera port. For most of the kits for computers other than Acer Ones they grab 5V from a USB port but the internal ports (Camera, Bluetooth) on the

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-58615570469966986722010-03-15T00:10:00.001-05:002010-03-15T00:11:51.044-05:00

I haven't done much on the project in the last week, I bought a used boat and motor on the 5th and brought it home Monday. But here is a shot of the LCD screen assembly with all the wiring run and ready to install and test. I just need to hardwire the touchscreen controller as soon as I finish this post. And now my next project, gotta have something new to put this Netbook to Chartplotter

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-43689944118571895002010-03-03T00:16:00.001-06:002010-03-03T00:16:58.921-06:00

Just about finished, I had to make some minor adjustments on the plunger height of the switches with a file but all I have left is the wiring to the switches and LED. Just a quickie

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7256406577133605785.post-66907651676453918042010-03-01T00:27:00.000-06:002010-03-01T00:27:43.280-06:00

Things are really starting to come together now. I'll start out with a shot of the switch array ready for wiring. The way the LED is mounted may seem strange but the last thing I want when I'm out navigating the Mississippi River at night is an LED shining directly in my face. So it's mounted sideways which will give it a nice glow without being in your face. I just want something to indicate

Long Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10835162935515719974noreply@blogger.com0