Author: jose

Posted on by

New PCB 1.4

After using the board for a while, we decided to develop a version with support for the SeaTalk bus, one of the most common (if somewhat old) data bus standards on leisure boats.

Caja sailoQ 1.4 cerrada con las bornas de conexión
Tapa y base de la caja sailoQ 1.4

We keep the NMEA0183 output and add the new SeaTalk one, so the board acts as a bridge between both, making data exchange between the two buses simple. As announced, the temperature sensor has been removed; a board can be attached via the I2C bus to read temperature, humidity and pressure (though not in a standard way).

Caja sailoQ 1.4 abierta con la placa, el Arduino y la antena GPS

Of course, we have developed new firmware to take advantage of these features and, while we were at it, optimised the code for better performance, gaining speed and error resilience.

We hope you like it.

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

Manual

We owed you a short user manual to help with the connection (although it’s only three wires) and, above all, with calibrating Raymarine displays, the most widespread ones, so they show the information correctly.

Well, now we have a mini manual.

sailoQ lite v1.3 manual (PDF)Download

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

New software version 1.3

We are announcing software version 1.3. This is a major revision, with significant changes to the code structure and new features, which we describe below:

  • Support for NMEA0183 sentences to communicate using this protocol, as announced in a previous post. This is probably the most notable change, as it opens up a wide range of possibilities for the device.
  • Optional BME280 weather station (on request) providing temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. The data is also sent over NMEA0183 and can be read by other devices on board, or even by a Raspberry Pi running OpenCPN and automatically logged at regular intervals.
  • More information about the start-up process sent over USB, so we always know what the device is doing.
  • 20×4 LCD with a well-designed layout so it can be used on its own.

We hope these changes are well received and live up to your expectations. As always, we are listening and happy to implement anything you’d like to have in the device.

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

NMEA-0183

The NMEA0183 data bus is still a widely used standard in leisure boating; most of the devices on our boats almost certainly communicate using this protocol, which is based (roughly speaking) on sending text messages over a simple serial port at 4800 bps with specific electrical specifications.

Although the electrical standard defines it as RS-422, it also accepts RS-232. The standard also requires isolated inputs and outputs, although in these first units we are connecting them directly, without optocouplers to isolate the output.

Well, after some trials and testing, we are now sending the speed log sentence and passing the GPS data through the NMEA output of the sailoQ-lite.

We hope you like this new feature, which adds a small extension to the device’s capabilities.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMEA_0183

Here is a link to Wikipedia, where the NMEA0183 protocol is explained, in case you want to learn more.

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

Enclosure for board 1.3

Making use of an old 3D printer, we designed an enclosure to make mounting on bulkheads easier.

Here you can see the first prototypes: we designed two models, one more compact and one slightly larger.

Caja compacta impresa en 3D para la placa 1.3
Caja grande impresa en 3D para la placa 1.3
Prototipos de cajas impresas en 3D en varios colores

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

New PCB 1.3

The previous board seemed a bit large to us, so we designed a more compact PCB with the inputs and outputs we were planning for our future software, allowing a more efficient assembly without so much wasted space.

After a long design period and a looooong wait, they have finally arrived. Here are the very first pictures.

Placa de circuito impreso sailoQ 1.3 sin componentes
Placa sailoQ 1.3 montada con Arduino Nano y bornas

As you can see, everything is very compact. Apart from the GPS, it accepts an external GPS input, or the on-board one can be used externally.

The NMEA output works provisionally, and we are still testing to output the speed log and GPS data (it isn’t soldered in the photos).

We have kept the SDA and SCL outputs (I2C bus) to connect a 2- or 4-line LCD display, although these screens are very small and the information has to be squeezed a lot, which looks odd; we’ll try to solve this.

The temperature input, although connected and working, may not be available in future versions, as we will use a more flexible system: the I2C bus.

Now it’s time to design an enclosure for the device, but we’ll leave that for another post.

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

New software version 1.2

Initially we focused on emulating a speed log that could be connected to a Tridata display and send speed log pulses, but now the software has been redesigned to add new features, which we describe below:

  • every time the device starts up, it runs a calibration test: it shows a speed of 3.5 knots (ramping up progressively to 3.5 knots, holding for a few seconds and returning to zero, ready to work), so we can compare it with the speed shown on the Tridata display and, if necessary, adjust the display’s calibration values (check your display’s manual for this).
  • it does not show values below 0.5 knots, as false readings could sometimes occur while at anchor.
  • The data refresh rate has been reduced so values don’t follow each other too quickly, avoiding that “jumpy” feeling.
  • it shows start-up information over the USB port, as well as GPS information and COG and SOG values.

We hope you find all these changes interesting, and please send us any others you think are necessary or would like to have.

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

And the first boards arrived

Well, the first boards have finally arrived, and we have already assembled some, as you can see in the photos. This is a prototype to check our supplier’s quality.

They are a bit large for our taste, but they make building a new device much simpler, and several people have already asked us for some.

You just solder the components and you’re done. What’s left is working out how to fix it to a bulkhead or wherever we want it. I think we’ll need some kind of enclosure to solve this, as otherwise it’s a bit tricky.

Primera placa sailoQ montada con Arduino Nano

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?

Posted on by

How it all began…

Someone on the Taberna del Puerto sailing forum came up with the idea of simulating a speed log with an Arduino Nano. I was interested in a device like that; although I got in touch with him, I couldn’t get one, so, taking advantage of the build instructions he had shared, I decided to make it myself.

The signalling part took some effort, but in the end, with development boards and a spaghetti of wires, I had a working model (if a bit rough), so the first step was done.

We installed it on my friend Pepe’s boat (he was our guinea pig, what we’d now call a beta tester), connected to a Raymarine ST60 system. Later I adapted it for my own boat, which uses a rather old B&G Network system.

But those development boards and cables didn’t look the way I wanted, so, knowing the models were fully functional, we decided to order printed circuit boards that would simplify assembly and give a professional look.

We also thought the processor could do a bit more, for example connect over the NMEA 0183 network to serve other data such as temperature, pressure and humidity.

Anyway, keep reading and you’ll find out more.

Interested? sailoQ devices are available in the shop: the sailoQ cube-micro, speed log only, and the sailoQ cube-lite, with NMEA 0183 and SeaTalk. If you're unsure which model to choose, see Which sailoQ do I need?