Boat Forum / Electronics / August 2004

I have to admit that in the 2 yrs that my boat has been in commission, I
haven't been able to fully complete an Equalization charge.
When ever I set the charger/inverter to Equalization Charge it never
gives me any indication that it completes this function. I always

We're not completely new to the boating game as we have owned a 43'
Narrowboat, but we never got the use out of it so we have just bought
ourselves a S/H Viking 23 Custom, which is moored very near to home so we
should get to use it more. As we're not use to GRP and outboards we ...

Im not a sailor but I have a question out of curiosity.
Is it possible to use small form factor desktops on boats with DC
systems rather than use laptops?
Bottom line.... can one use and modify a desktop to run off 12 vdc

I have seen some comments recently about boats with hydraulically
driven alternators but have been unable to locate a source or any
additional information.  
Does anyone here know where to locate either?

A friend is considering the purchase of a slightly used Cruisers Inc. boat
32 - 34 feet long.  He asked my advice, but I have no experience with these
boats.  Anybody have any comments -- good or bad -- that they would be
willing to share?

I have a 2002 Smokercraft.  I was doing some testing for my
downriggers and I noticed I have a negative flow through my boat.  Is
this normal?  I found this by un-hooking my negative lead from the
battery.  I then hooked a test light between the post and the hull and

I'm going to install a ST5000 pilot and want to use the optional
Handheld Remote Control (Z101). However there is not details in the
ST5000 manual on how this is accomplished and I can't find a manual for
the Z101.

Anyone have any insight into the comparison of Raymarine's ST40 vs ST60 line
of instruments? The feature set seems very similar but the price is
considerably different. I'll looking for depth and speed only.
Thanks for the help

Having several devices using these "packs", and seeing the prices on
buying new packs; I was wondering if there is any way to safely rebuild
these things and save some money.
Are there simply individual batteries inside plugged into the pack or what ?

I've owned a DieHard battery for a few months now and am wondering if I'm
supposed to be doing anything to it periodically, like adding water or acid to
it.  I'm really a novice at this and could use some help.
Here are the battery specs:

Hello group - This is my second post regarding SSB installation
Three quick questions if I may.  First, I understand that round wire is
invisible in the grounding system and flat sheet or screen copper is
required/preferable. If screen is used, what are the critical

Nobeltec 7.0.822 does handle BSB Ver 4.

For the past several weeks I have been trying to sort out which
navigation software works with which charts. Some chart-producing
compainies list some of the compatable software, but not all, and
others do not mention any. Same for software -producing companies.

I am about to start a major rewire on the boat.  Which brings up some
ideas and questions.
Idea/question 1.  I have seen those expensive power filters for boating
electronics.  Why can't I just build a dedicated power buss and drop

how can i make a back up of my chart, ive tried and transfer of data is the
same, but it wont work in my 320 intelimap, any help or pointer appreciated,
KB