Boatguard

[boatguard-blog]

CAN I HAVE LIGHTS ON WHEN I GET TO THE BOAT?

Sure, that's easy! There's an app on your smart phone that has the "Turn Lights ON" button in it. Tap that button and enjoy spectacular illumination when you get to the boat. You don't have that app? There are some nice ones on the market for both iOS and Android devices.

One of the nicer aspects of contemporary boating is owners ability to control on-board devices from far away, for instance while driving to the boat for the weekend.

Be it deck lights, hull LED's, air-con, refrigerator to cool your drinks, music player etc. Why waste half an hour after you come to the boat until everything is set if I can have fresh air, cold drinks and music playing already when I get there?

All you need to do is set up a remote monitoring system like Boatguard on your boat and you will be able to control one or more devices from your smartphone, wherever you are.

[boatguard-blog]

ARE YOU AWAKE WHEN ANCHORING OVER NIGHT?

Anchoring over night in a quiet bay is a great experience, at least in most cases. Sometimes it can turn into a disaster, especially if the anchor starts drifting without anyone noticing it until it is too late. This can result in catastrophic consequences, so the captain will usually spend such nights only half asleep. What comes handy in these situations is an alarm that will warn you when the boat has moved more than you think it should.

 Sophisticated anchor drifting  alarm device should take into account water depth, distance of anchor attachment to water level and length of the anchor rode, but setting a "safe area" diameter manually will offer basic protection. Since optimal length of the anchor rode is defined by conditions of anchoring, it is advisable to change the diameter of the "safe area" every time you anchor.

 While most remote boat monitoring systems rely on presence of GSM network to deliver this alarm to your phone, Boatguard will work also when the network is not present.

  When Anchor Drifting Alarm is turned on, Boatguard constantly checks GPS coordinates of the boat and alerts the user in a matter of seconds if a boat leaves the "safe area". When GSM network is not present, an on-board buzzer will go off as soon as your boat is out of the "safe area", helping you to a timely reaction.

[boatguard-blog]

WHY LOW-POWER ELECTRONICS?

Besides basic things like VHF Radio and GPS Navigation gear, we are mounting more and more electronics aboard boats. All of these devices use power and while we might not even think about power consumption when installing one of them, it can become an issue when they all add-up.

The math behind it is simple. Power draw of 5 Amps will empty a 100 Ah battery pack in 20 hours, at least in theory. In reality, about 5 hours earlier.

So it is important that boat electronics use as little power as possible.

But with remote monitoring systems, low power operation is absolutely essential. The main purpose of these systems is to monitor a boat when it is left alone at the dock, so they have to be able to operate for months at a time, using only battery power. While we are used to shutting down all electrical and electronic devices on board, it doesn't make much sense to shut down the one that is keeping an eye on your boat while you are away.

So let's presume a system draws 50 mA on average, which means it will use 50 mAh in one hour. After a month, your battery will be half empty. That is definitely not something you want from your remote monitoring system, so check the tech specs for power consumption before deciding what to install.

Ultra low-power operation was one of the most important goals in designing Boatguard. This resulted in power consumption of just 2 mA on average, which is truly unique. This means you can connect Boatguard directly to the boat battery and never worry about battery drain. Some of our customers boats are left in marinas for six months during winter, with a voltage drop of 0,2 V. And even that can be attributed to battery self-discharge.

[boatguard-blog]

Monitoring the presence of shore power

It has become a standard in many places around the world to leave your yacht connected to AC shore power when leaving the boat for a few days to return home or make a land trip. This is very useful or even necessary if you want to have your refrigerator, air-con or similar device turned on to give you the same level of comfort when you return.

But what if someone accidentally unplugs the mains from the socket? Maybe they just needed the socket for a short while and forgot to put the plug back in? The above mentioned devices are heavy power users and could drain the whole battery in a few days, making your return to the boat a nightmare. The time and hassle caused by that little incident is going to make you remember it for a very long time.

This is why most remote monitoring systems include the ability to monitor shore power, a feature possible also with BoatGuard. It is quite simple to set up by using one of the digital inputs on the main unit. You will need an AC power relay to signal the presence or absence of shore power to the main unit.  Every time shore power connection is lost, you will get an alert, and when it has been re-established, you will be notified. This way you will rest assured that no unpleasant surprise is awaiting you when you come back from your land trip.

[boatguard-blog]

BILGE PUMP MONITORING

Water leakage is one of the most dangerous situations for any boat owner. If unnoticed, it can result in damage to the boat interior and in worst case, sinking of the boat. And if there is a leak while the owner is away for a long time, it could be really small and still cause terminal damage to the boat.

So long as the bilge pump is functioning properly and the battery has enough power to run it, the boat might still be safe. But in most cases, that will not be enough. The battery will eventually run out of power and the bilge pump will stop pumping. Or the pump might get clogged with sand, algae or some other kind of debris, and burn. And all this will happen without the owner being aware of it.

Because bilge pump is so critical to boat safety, we set out to monitor more than just presence of water in the hull via a float switch, we wanted to monitor actual functioning of the pump. We created a bilge pump controller that senses when the pump is working normally, when it gets clogged or when it is running without any water in the bilge (running dry).

If a pump gets clogged, the motor within the pump will face strong resistance from the propelling shafts and could eventually burn-up. BoatGuard controller senses that this is happening and immediately turns off the pump and sends an alarm to the owners mobile device.

Sometimes it happens that the float switch stays in an upright position or that it keeps the pump switched on due to some other fault, and the pump will keep running even after all the water has been pumped out of the bilge. Most standard bilge pumps must be submerged in water to function properly, because the water that runs through the pump is also used to cool the electrical motor within the pump. If there is no more water, the motors will slowly heat up and eventually burn, ruining the pump. Next time water in the bilge will rise, the pump will not start and the consequences could be disastrous.

[boatguard-blog]

GET THE MOST OUT OF BOATGUARD

Since we are on the market with BoatGuard I had many discussions with boat owners that had one installed on their boat. What I have learned is that they often don't use Boatguard to its full potential. I decided to write a series of posts to help current BG owners get the most out of their system. At the same time I will provide in-depth information on Boatguard to those still thinking about installing a boat monitoring system on their boat.

First I will cover some of the Boatguard's features that are different from what competitors have to offer. I will explain the purpose and concepts behind a feature and how it should be used to maximize the benefit.

We created Boatguard to enable boat owners to "stay in touch" with their boat while they are away.

Because of the fact that most boat owners are away from their boat most of the time, we focused our development efforts on minimizing energy BG needs to function. When used properly, BG can easily be plugged directly into the boat battery all winter without causing any significant energy drain.

 How is this achieved? I will answer this question in my next post.