Protecting your boat

Most leisure sailors invest a considerable amount of time and money into their past time.

As well as the original purchase price of the boat, the tweaks and gadgets, the modifications and regular repairs all add up in both time and monetary value.

That investment is worth protecting. From theft, from loss of ecternal power or from mechanical failure.

EMM-Tek products can be used in a variety of ways to help you protect your boat.
The photo below is from http://www.flickr.com/people/8043800@N05/

Perhaps you want to measure the temperature too?

Location

It's reassuring to know where your boat is and a GPS reporting system is ideal for this purpose. Our own MarineGuard product is an extension of our RMC301 that adds a GPS system. This uses the GPS satellite technology used by TomTom and Garmin to get a position fix on the boat when you arm the MarineGuard.

If the boat should move from this position, an alarm is raised, and you can be alerted by a text message. The internal relay can also be activated to power a siren or similar warning device.

But why a text message? Isn't email better?

Probably not. Modern mobile phones are amazing allowing you to send and receive data almost anywhere; it's the almost that is important.

In a city centre you'll probably get a strong 4G or 3G signal for any mobile device but that's not where you sail. In the harbours of Cornwall or the more remote areas of coastline the strength of the data element (GPRS, EDGE, 3G or 4G) drops away quickly. Eventually it can be a struggle to make a voice call. But, even in these conditions an SMS message will often still get through.

When you really want a message to get through send it by text and that is exactly what our products do.

Power

If your boat uses a mains power connection to keep electrical and electronic equipment going whilst you're away, what happens if that power is interrupted? Pumps stop, refrigerators get warm, alarms become useless. So you need a warning system.

Our RMC301RC has internal Supercap reserve energy technology that means it can send messages when power is interrupted. It can monitor its own DC power feed or even monitor the mains with an adaptor and optional I/O board. (Ask us about this for your application).

Result? You know within seconds if there is a power failure, wherever you happen to be.

Theft

It's a sad fact of life that there will always be a thief willing to take the risk of stealing from your boat. However add a PIR sensor or magnetic reed switch to your boat; hook it up to the MarineGuard or RMC301RC and you'll have an alarm system that will notify you by text and scare of the would be thief if you have it linked to a siren.

Temperature

Winter is here and it's possible that you are more concerned about the interior of the boat getting too cold whilst unattended. Our SENS2 temperature sensor can be connected directly to the RMC301RC or MarineGuard units to provide a warning if the temperature gets either too hot or too cold. It's a simple way avoid frost damage.

EMM-Tek products are designed to used in a wide variety of flexible ways. A little thought or a phone call/email to us can often be the basis of a very workable protection system for your boaty investment.

Can you have a solar only installation?

Can you have a completely solar based installation of a GSM controller or alarm?

The EMM-Tek RMC301RC is very small and very adaptable which means that it is often pressed into service where installation of other systems might be a challenge.

Let's think about protecting an outbuilding; perhaps it's a stable or storehouse.

We'll assume that there is no main electricity available to make this an easy task.

We'll also assume that the stable is in the London area (latitude, that is distance from the equator changes the amount of daylight we get).

What we need is a calculator to help us with all the tricky details of working out the solar data; fortunately there is an on-line one here http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solarcalculator.aspx.

We'll use this for our calculations. It's a free service and the results are delivered to you by email.

Once we have named our project it asks us to list all the power consuming items in our 'off-grid'; in this case it's just the RMC301RC. From the data sheet we know that the average current draw is about 35mA (0.035amps) so at 12V that 0.42watts. Let's assume we have a 0.5watt load.

Then it prompts us to enter our cable lengths, shorter is always better to avoid losses.

Then it asks for a location and what direction the panel will face. The further south you are the better the light will be and a south facing panel will be better than a north facing one. However life is rarely that easy, walls tend not to be movable!

But we'll assume that we can use a south facing wall.

Will you use the system every month of the year? Do you need the system battery backed in case the panel gets covered with snow and produces no usable electricity?

Let's assume we want round the year use and a 3 day power reserve.

So that's all the basic details in, just request the report.

The first thing the report does is to recommend the best angle from vertical to mount your panel. If it is to be fixed at one angle then the winter setting is the one to go for, in this case 22 degrees from vertical.

22 degrees from vertical

We then note that it recommends a 20-Watt panel  with a 4Ah (Amp hours) battery. Not too bad then.

A quick check on the web shows that http://www.grantsolarpanels.co.uk/ can provide us with a 20 Watt panel and charge regulator for £95 (ex VAT)

A small 12V gel style lead acid battery will be perfect as our back up supply. A quick look on the Maplin web site shows that we can get a this for £31.99 (inc. VAT) from here http://www.maplin.co.uk/sealed-lead-acid-batteries-19363

So for around £146 (excluding any brackets needed) plus the RMC301RC we can have a very practical solar only installation to protect your 'off grid' building.

Is a solar installation possible? Yes it is.

We're under cyber attack!

Britain's infrastructure is being cyber attacked every day by foreign, hostile states according to the UK Government. http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/49106

These attacks are attempts to disrupt networks that control our energy infrastructure and seem likely to continue as the UK energy grids become increasingly web based and IP enabled.

The result for end customers is likely to be unpredictable power cuts or brown-outs where the power grid 'dip's and causes problems.

So much of what we do today needs continuous electrical power and whilst for small installations like a computer file server a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is ideal short term protection, this is impractical for larger installations such as chiller units.

Of course it's not just cyber attacks that take down the mains grid, recent high winds and floods have caused millions of pounds worth of damage through power being interrupted.

Whilst EMM-Tek does not have a line in portable power generation, our equipment can warn you of a rise in temperature of a chiller unit and warn you if the power is disconnected for any reason.

How?
In our RMC301RC controller system there is a power reserve provided by Super Capacitor technology. These capacitors (used in hybrid cars to store energy) provide a power reserve, so that even when the main supply goes off, up to three warning text messages can be sent. Unlike a rechargeable battery these capacitors last for the life of the product.

It may be that a temperature controlled system has failed for some other reason, our optional temperature sensor can provide you with an immediate warning, potentially saving you an expensive bill for spoiled goods.

For less than £200, with an RMC301RC you can monitor and control your systems to insure against these threats.