Tips for Maintaining Your Computer

By Daniel Piltch, Marine Computer Systems
 
See Also:

Choosing an Onboard Computer

The NMEA Standard
 

In addition to the items discussed in the article entitled "Choosing an Onboard Computer", there are a few ways you can extend the useful life of your computerized nav station. Here are some suggestions.

Let the drive acclimate to temperature changes to avoid condensation. If you bring your computer aboard a cold boat after a long stint in a warm home (or a warm boat after a long stint in a cold car), let it sit for a while in the boat before you turn it on. The temperature change may cause some condensation inside your hard drive. If you're bringing it in from a 40°F car into a 70°F boat, you should let it acclimate for 13 hours before turning it on. Acclimation times increase with greater temperature differences. While I've never lost data due to condensation, this recommendation comes straight from the manufacturer's packaging.

Send your laptop through the x-ray machine, not the metal detector. Many people are wary of putting a laptop through the x-ray machine at airport security stations. In fact, the low level radiation emitted by the x-ray machine is less harmful than the metal detector you might otherwise bring it through. If you're really paranoid, you can have it hand checked. I've sent my current laptop through about 50 x-ray machines in the last two years and haven't lost a single byte of data on my hard drive.

Backup important files. Carry original CDs for reinstallation. If you have important files that you would hate to lose, make a backup copy on a floppy disk or better yet onto CD or onto another computer. A good example of an important file is if you have your entire finances, or the boat's maintenance schedule on a computer file. By the same token, bring the original CDs for any software you have on your computer. In the event of a computer disaster, you can reload the programs from the CDs. If the programs originally came on floppy disk, you can bring the disk(s) instead, but a better alternative would be to have a friend or a local technician copy the disk(s) onto a CD as it will withstand the marine environment longer. Most software licenses will let you make a copy of the program for backup purposes, but prohibit treating the backup as another licensed copy of the software. Check your license to be sure.

Install an opto-isolator between your computer's serial port(s) and any devices connected to it to prevent high voltages from damaging your computer. In the event that one of your electronic devices short circuits and isn't properly grounded, it's possible for it to send an abnormally high voltage down the communication line to your computer's serial port. In some cases, this could destroy the input and output or I/O circuitry behind the serial port. To prevent this from happening, you can buy an opto-isolator to install in line with the communications cable. This little device converts the electrical signal into an optical one, and then back into an electrical one again. The good news is that if the initial voltage is too high, it won't damage the optics inside the isolator, and it will be rectified to a normal voltage when it's sent out of the isolator.

See Article: Choosing an Onboard Computer

See Article: The NMEA Standard

 

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