by Steve Mitchell
SUPERCHARGE
YOUR BOAT’S INFORMATION GATHERING WITH SIGNAL K
P
eople today want to see the same level of information on their boats that they can for their homes and cars. Onboard questions abound, like: How much water and fuel am I using? How is the engine performing? And how much power am I consuming while at anchor? Well, there are a number of technologies that are easier than ever to get your hands on, which can help an older boat be more connected, and a newer boat be even better integrated. Most boats have a variety of different systems that are independent from one another, or simply aren’t connected in a way that would allow you to see trends or monitor things remotely. With some DIY spirit and elbow grease, and a few bits of technology, you can connect things together and end up with a very modern solution that allows active and accurate monitoring of lots of information—from on and off the boat—and potentially consolidated into a single, customized dashboard for easy use. The process to get you there might seem technologically complicated, but if you take it one step at a time, it should be as accessible as any other boat project. And once you’ve done
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the work to set this system up, you may be surprised what you can learn about your boat. The basic principles are to: gather data, process the data through the open-source software Signal K, and then customize the specific information your boat is sending to the system utilizing plugins, dashboards, and alerts or alarms of your choosing. ACCESSING THE DATA Getting access to the various info on your boat is usually the biggest challenge. This includes things like depth, wind speed, water tank levels, engine performance, and a wealth of other things your on-board instruments already track. If you have a NMEA 0183 or 2000 Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 network, then you can use WiFi Gateway
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SEPTEMBER 2020
