anchor alarm that calls/texts my cellphone?

[Herbieville]

Say I anchor the boat and dinghy into a restaurant. The anchor starts dragging. Any electronics that can detect the drag AND call my cellphone or text me?

Thanks!

 

[bushway9172]

Wow what an interesting question. I've never thought of this, but this would be very useful. I'm curious to see if someone has the answer.

 

[tobnpr]

There are monitoring/security systems that might do it, but that would be only one small part of a more sophisticated system. This one says you can have website access (could be via web-enabled cellphone) for gps location info. Whole lotta overkill for what you're looking for though...
http://www.marineguardsecurity.com/?gclid=CJCFz8XU7Z0CFR0Cswod1h-yKQ

Doesn't sound like it would be difficult for a knowledgeable electronics guy to set up, where the signal from the remote anchor alarm- set an anchor watch radius (most plotters have a connection for an external alarm)- would trigger a dialer connected to another cellphone aboard, maybe?

 

[mvoellinger]

Ive been thinking I should develop a small computer based system that monitors boats. With enough battery built into it, and the addition of house batteries, it could run for a long time - at least long enough that you could leave your boat unattended in a strange anchorage for a day or two and have it monitor doors, bilges, etc, or especially when at dock on shore power.

Hmmmmm.

 

[Skyhigh82]

Has anyone tried this?

iPhone

Category: Navigation
Price: $9.99 (iTunes (http://appshopper.com/link/anchor-alarm))

http://images.appshopper.com/screenshots/304/892917.jpgDescription:

Anchor Alarm is a easy to use application that lets you set and monitor your position relative to an anchor point. It shows your distance from the point, and bearing to the point. If your current position strays too far from that set point, an alert will sound. The main use for Anchor Alarm of course is for setting an anchor drag alarm when you are at anchor on a boat. But the app can also be used anytime you want to monitor how far you are from a starting point.

Using Anchor Alarm is very simple... just set your preferences, drop your anchor (or if you are not anchoring, get yourself to your starting point), and press the "Set Alarm" button. Pressing that button will record your current position as the "anchor position", and Anchor Alarm will begin monitoring.

If your current position changes such that you are farther away from the anchor point than the distance you set in preferences, Anchor Alarm will sound an alarm. If the current accuracy of the position information on the iPhone (ie. the GPS in the iPhone) exceeds the accuracy tolerance level you set in preferences, a different alarm will sound. If both the distance and accuracy levels are exceeded at the same time, the accuracy alarm will take precedence. You can choose to have a silent alarm for accuracy so that it won't wake you up if the GPS loses signal once in a while.

Anchor Alarm will remember your settings if you exit, for example to make a phone call or send an email. When you start Anchor Alarm, if you have an alarm set, it will begin on the Monitor tab and if not, it will start on the Set tab. Remember that if you restart Anchor Alarm, it may take a moment or two for the GPS accuracy to improve.

Anchor Alarm includes a setting that will keep your iPhone awake, so that the GPS will continue to have good position data. Since the GPS and CPU will both continue to be active, we recommend that if you run Anchor Alarm for an extended period, that you plug it into a charger or computer so that your iPhone's battery will not discharge.

Anchor Alarm requires iPhone software version 2.0 or later, and also requires the iPhone 3G with built in GPS. Although it will run on earlier iPhones and even the iPod Touch, the position information on those devices is not accurate enough to be useful for anchoring. Anchor Alarm does not require that you have an active WIFI or 3G connection to operate.

The app features a dark colored user interface so that if it wakes you up in the middle of the night, the dark colored interface won't ruin your night vision.

 

[Turtlesboat]

Unless you have a whole computer based system on board with wifi or 3G access, your best bet would be to suggest to one of the iphone app developers to include an email option on their anchor alarm. iNavX has a built in anchor alarm, and the stand alone one mentioned above. The only thing is... you would have to have two phones because you would have to leave one on the boat.

 

[Chatuge]

Ive been thinking I should develop a small computer based system that monitors boats. With enough battery built into it, and the addition of house batteries, it could run for a long time - at least long enough that you could leave your boat unattended in a strange anchorage for a day or two and have it monitor doors, bilges, etc, or especially when at dock on shore power.

Hmmmmm.

I'd buy one!!!