The original plan for 2023 had been to crane out and hard stand for "The Winter" defined in my case as between the end of December 2022 and "Easter". This was part of a plan connived with the marina as early as Jan 2022. Instead of going back into the water I would be craned onto a lorry and dropped in the Midlands. In the event, Easter came and went but the boat stayed put. Somehow a crane and a lorry were never available at the same time.
I had got used to marina wintering: with mains power to charge computers and keep batteries healthy. I never had to run my engine but the option was always there. Solar helped when or if the sun shone and actually it shone surprisingly often. I had enough charcoal to run my heater through an average winter but we got a mild one.
I've been living off-grid for years but always had shore back-up. I wondered what would be need to be done if I lost that option.
All of my writing 'on the boat' was actually done at that time in libraries where my laptop would charge as I worked. Could I get communications totally on board and dispense with libraries?
During the winter, a plan was hatched to become totally independent of land in communications. I would need onboard WiFi and a way of charging my laptop without mains power so I dusted my electronics qualification and started research. The only aerial I could locate that fed my needs was joint-ventured between PRC and RSA. A Poynting aerial was identified as essential and I settled for the 600 model. With the router I was able to avoid PRC by opting for a Lithuanian Teltonika 244. The Poynting unit is very sophisticated. Two aerials and embedded software seek and interpret vertical and horizontal signals and send on a composite to the router. The 244 then analyses what coes in to it and decides on the best output from its aerial to the wifi devices within the hull.
The Poynting was set obliquely on the roof to ensure air draft clearance and we were ready to go.
[20230515_Pointing600 650]
I would need 24v DC to charge the laptop so a Norwegian "Mascot 8600" was acquired {at a price) from RS Watford and given a lead and plug compatile with the socket on the laptop. Voltage smoothing was unnecessary as the Mascot 8600 had everything built in ... {that is what 'at a price' means!) .... WiFi went on trial in June and delivered excellent results in that I never recorded a null signal at any mooring on the Leicester Arm. The Poynting did what it said on the box and router digested and delivered everything supplied by the aerials ... Yes! I said aerials. Poyntings have two aerials talking to each other one polarized horizontally the other vertically. Having discussed what they are doing among themselves they send separate outputs by hardwire to the Teltonika which then beams a composite signal from its own aerial to be used by the laptop and other devices.
My system is ultimately designed for 5G NR. 5thGen is very advanced script, conceived in 2015, introduced in Qatar in 2018 and not yet in general or particular worldwide use in 2024. But it is wired into Pentargon as part of future-proofing and I was looking forward to a time when I would get to see it working. Teltonika use an LED array which serves a similar function as the bars on your mobile/cellphone. One LED means the router is analyzing signal of 1G grade. (1G is slightly above semaphore with flags but not quite as efficient). I sometimes saw one LED under a bridge or in a gorge to tell me that although the system was sensing data it would not insult me my presenting it. TWO LEDS was an occasional experience which would not deliver best speed but was usable for the most basic of uses and often my needs are very basic. THREE LEDs showed up quite often, meaning I could actually work with my laptop. Downloading on 3 took forever and uploading a bit longer but at least I was not freed of bus-rides to libraries which could save me as much as three hours per session. This was beginning to deliver tangible benefits.
FOUR LEDs indicate fully functioning "LTE" and is the commonest return I get on board. At that level I can do anything I want with any linked device and is equivalent to 4G that all modern phones work with.
FIVE was to be the future, the internet of things, downloads in nanoseconds. From satellites even. I had never seen FIVE LEDs until the day after I pulled in at Nether Heyford. On Sunday 28th January 2024, I moved the boat down a bit from Bridge 32, to where the cut was wider and boats going through the bridge would have a better sight line if Pentargon was NOT there. When I powered up the Router it showed FIVE LEDs. Hello? I have never seen five LEDs. Five LEDs means the boat is receiving next year's WiFi this year. I had sniffed out a 5G node entirely by coincidence and my system had locked into it
There I was, listening to Paul Brady singing 'The Island' on my old mobile phone when I realized the clarity was superb. I could hear his fingers on the strings and his intake of breath as he sang. I mean. This is what I used t experience at live gigs in smokey folk clubs in the '70s.
I had got used to marina wintering: with mains power to charge computers and keep batteries healthy. I never had to run my engine but the option was always there. Solar helped when or if the sun shone and actually it shone surprisingly often. I had enough charcoal to run my heater through an average winter but we got a mild one.
I've been living off-grid for years but always had shore back-up. I wondered what would be need to be done if I lost that option.
All of my writing 'on the boat' was actually done at that time in libraries where my laptop would charge as I worked. Could I get communications totally on board and dispense with libraries?
During the winter, a plan was hatched to become totally independent of land in communications. I would need onboard WiFi and a way of charging my laptop without mains power so I dusted my electronics qualification and started research. The only aerial I could locate that fed my needs was joint-ventured between PRC and RSA. A Poynting aerial was identified as essential and I settled for the 600 model. With the router I was able to avoid PRC by opting for a Lithuanian Teltonika 244. The Poynting unit is very sophisticated. Two aerials and embedded software seek and interpret vertical and horizontal signals and send on a composite to the router. The 244 then analyses what coes in to it and decides on the best output from its aerial to the wifi devices within the hull.
The Poynting was set obliquely on the roof to ensure air draft clearance and we were ready to go.
[20230515_Pointing600 650]
I would need 24v DC to charge the laptop so a Norwegian "Mascot 8600" was acquired {at a price) from RS Watford and given a lead and plug compatile with the socket on the laptop. Voltage smoothing was unnecessary as the Mascot 8600 had everything built in ... {that is what 'at a price' means!) .... WiFi went on trial in June and delivered excellent results in that I never recorded a null signal at any mooring on the Leicester Arm. The Poynting did what it said on the box and router digested and delivered everything supplied by the aerials ... Yes! I said aerials. Poyntings have two aerials talking to each other one polarized horizontally the other vertically. Having discussed what they are doing among themselves they send separate outputs by hardwire to the Teltonika which then beams a composite signal from its own aerial to be used by the laptop and other devices.
My system is ultimately designed for 5G NR. 5thGen is very advanced script, conceived in 2015, introduced in Qatar in 2018 and not yet in general or particular worldwide use in 2024. But it is wired into Pentargon as part of future-proofing and I was looking forward to a time when I would get to see it working. Teltonika use an LED array which serves a similar function as the bars on your mobile/cellphone. One LED means the router is analyzing signal of 1G grade. (1G is slightly above semaphore with flags but not quite as efficient). I sometimes saw one LED under a bridge or in a gorge to tell me that although the system was sensing data it would not insult me my presenting it. TWO LEDS was an occasional experience which would not deliver best speed but was usable for the most basic of uses and often my needs are very basic. THREE LEDs showed up quite often, meaning I could actually work with my laptop. Downloading on 3 took forever and uploading a bit longer but at least I was not freed of bus-rides to libraries which could save me as much as three hours per session. This was beginning to deliver tangible benefits.
FOUR LEDs indicate fully functioning "LTE" and is the commonest return I get on board. At that level I can do anything I want with any linked device and is equivalent to 4G that all modern phones work with.
FIVE was to be the future, the internet of things, downloads in nanoseconds. From satellites even. I had never seen FIVE LEDs until the day after I pulled in at Nether Heyford. On Sunday 28th January 2024, I moved the boat down a bit from Bridge 32, to where the cut was wider and boats going through the bridge would have a better sight line if Pentargon was NOT there. When I powered up the Router it showed FIVE LEDs. Hello? I have never seen five LEDs. Five LEDs means the boat is receiving next year's WiFi this year. I had sniffed out a 5G node entirely by coincidence and my system had locked into it
There I was, listening to Paul Brady singing 'The Island' on my old mobile phone when I realized the clarity was superb. I could hear his fingers on the strings and his intake of breath as he sang. I mean. This is what I used t experience at live gigs in smokey folk clubs in the '70s.
Survival at All Costs
Or at No Cost At All
Or at No Cost At All
