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If I recall, my laptop seems to draw over 5 amps while "idle". That's a lot. I really notice it pulling the batts down when my son is on there playing games.

RussMT wrote:If I recall, my laptop seems to draw over 5 amps while "idle". That's a lot. I really notice it pulling the batts down when my son is on there playing games.

A typical laptop pulls 65 watts at load, a net-book maybe half that. A high-powered beastie such as a 17" MacBook Pro will pull up to 80 watts. Add another 20% for inverter losses unless you're powering directly from DC.

Sumner's DC PC is the lowest energy way to go on a boat, since it's not inverting power up to bring it back down and its not charging an unnecessary 2nd battery and thereby incurring charging losses. They're hard enough to find that you may find it's easier to make one using a DC-DC power supply designed for automotive and a motherboard. No PCs use anything more than 12 volts internally, but a lot of laptops require 18+ volts for charging.

A typical laptop pulls 65 watts at load, a net-book maybe half that. A high-powered beastie such as a 17" MacBook Pro will pull up to 80 watts. Add another 20% for inverter losses unless you're powering directly from DC.

To complete this picture, a typical chart plotter with built in GPS and fish finder uses on the order of 3/4 amp or 9 watts. And an iPad costumes less than 2 watts ( 25 amp-hour battery lasts 9 hours or more). My point is, if you are starting from scratch or upgrading, there are options besides the PC solutions we are used to.

CampCook wrote:

A typical laptop pulls 65 watts at load, a net-book maybe half that. A high-powered beastie such as a 17" MacBook Pro will pull up to 80 watts. Add another 20% for inverter losses unless you're powering directly from DC.

To complete this picture, a typical chart plotter with built in GPS and fish finder uses on the order of 3/4 amp or 9 watts. And an iPad costumes less than 2 watts ( 25 amp-hour battery lasts 9 hours or more). My point is, if you are starting from scratch or upgrading, there are options besides the PC solutions we are used to.

I'll agree with that. You have to access your needs and go from there.

We are on the boat for extended times and I need all of the programs I have at home, a full size keyboard since, I touch type and get wordy , a mouse, a large stand-up monitor, a DVD drive, lots of memory (using over 40 gigs now), a number of USB ports and at least one serial port. About the only thing that has all of that is the computer I'm using now.

I also realize that the above isn't the norm, so for a lot of people investing in say an I-pad or Android tablet will fill all of their needs fine,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Just to move this topic back a little ways towards the VHF issue, we picked up another Garmin Map76S on an e-bay auction for $60 the other day. It will be the backup to the one we use now in conjunction with the cabin computer and SeaClear.

We will use the original Map76 (not an S) to hook to the DSC on the VHF in the Endeavour since we might not use the Cuda 350 on that boat. There have been other Garmin 76 and 76S GPS's going for $50 to $70 lately on e-bay. If you have a choice get the S as it also has the altimeter (not real useful on a boat), but it also has the compass feature that can be useful. It also has a lot more memory if you ever bought maps for it.

Anyway these are a cheap way to get the GPS coordinates to the VHF and then still give you tides and postion and lots of other good stuff,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Thanks for all the replies and advice.
Some of the discussion was way above my head, but after studying the converstion I am better informed about this topic.
Since I'm new to this hobby, I think I'll follow the KISS principle for now, and then reevaluate as our needs change.

Rich

Main station:



RAM 3, pedestal station, remotely operating the main station. It features it's own micro and speaker. ( All wires hidden.)



The antenna is up the mast, with a PVC conduit runned through the three foam bundles packed inside the mast. I have the Grommex zener filter, so my AM/FM CD player is also hooked to the top of mast antenna.



I also have the portable station you got yourself.

Do not forget the power output of that unit is 6 watts and your straight line visibility with a surface antenna is limited to 20 miles at best (sea), due to the earth curvature. On the other hand, the power output of a base station is 25 watts and the antenna provides you quite an impressive range. I tested 5/5 with the Canadian Coast Guard, their antenna being located 20 miles away. I was on a lake with lots of small mountains separating our respective antennaes. Meanwhile, my hand-held unit didn't even reveive their carrier.