New SmartPlug devices coming soon

[baz]

If anyone is in the market to purchase any of the SmartPlug devices my advice is for you to hold up for a bit. Why?... because they are very close to releasing some new products in next month or so.

Ref: http://www.smartplug.com/index.html

How do I know this you may ask... 🙂

I'm in contact with Ken Smith who's CEO/founder of SmartPlugs Systems LLC, and I'm a beta tester for his new products. I don't know all the details yet of the new/enhanced products at this time, but will post here when I get them for review etc.

 

[Hydraulicjump]

As per an earlier post: tell them to build an in-line galvanic isolator. Would be a great addition!

 

[baz]

As per an earlier post: tell them to build an in-line galvanic isolator. Would be a great addition!

Yes... good suggestion.

Also, how about a built-in Kill-A-Watt meter to measure kWh used... sanity checks what the Marina is charging you. :lol:

Another issue that kind of bothers me is that in my situation at my Marina permanent dock the shoreline connects to a shared pedestal. On this pedestal there are two circuit breaker switches that are vertically side-by-side. One for me and one for my slip neighbour. It's very easy for the wrong switch to be toggled. If my switch were to be turned OFF and my boat left unattended for several months I would be upset to say the least. I'm not sure how to address this issue, but I sure would like to be alerted if this condition arose. Can SmartPlug be made smarter I wonder ?

 

[Todd]

Does not sound like a job for Smart Plug. Check with the alarm companies. Their are several devices that can alert you to all kinds of problems such as power outages, high water in bilge, freezing temperature in cabin, and just about anything else you want to monitor. Can even watch video of the boat on your smart phone. All this can be done through wifi or cell network.

 

[HRowland]

I installed a Siren Marine remote monitor on my R27. It sends SMS messages and responds to SMS text commands using the cellular network. It can monitor battery voltage with an adjustable alarm threshold, shore power on/off, high bilge level, bilge pump excessive run time, door entry, or anything else that can generate a switch contact closure or 12V level. It also has an internal GPS and can alert if the boat is moved beyond a specified radius, it will then start sending periodic position/speed/heading reports with a link to google maps. It will also monitor cabin temperature and can alert at low/high thresholds.

It has a couple of relay outputs that can be used to switch items on, disable something, sound an alarm, etc. These can be triggered by events (such as moving to far) or controlled via SMS text messages, such as turning on lights to help find your boat at night.

I still need to install a high bilge level switch but it is currently monitoring shore power status, battery voltage, and GPS position.

One note, if you want to monitor cabin (or some other) temperature, get the Sprite version that has an external temperature sensor. The less expensive Pixie version has an internal temperature sensor but is tricked by the heat generated by the backup battery charger (it has a built in backup battery) and any heat generated by the electronics- cellular radio, GPS, CPU, etc.

http://sirenmarine.com/

Howard