Underway Monitoring
Across Ocean Systems products were born from Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific crossing experiences. Their pedigree is in passage making. They are irreplaceable on ocean crossings or on a day trip around the bay.
Here is some alarms that could be easily configured on any vessel: low oil pressure alarms, high coolant temperature alarms, bilge alarms, other low / high temperature alarms, fire/smoke alarms, battery alarms, door/hatches alarms and many more. A Maintenance page can be easily setup based on running time to remind of items needing attention or replacement such as oil changes, belt changes, filter changes etc.
The more advanced features include rule based alarms, integral alarms, differential alarms, profile based alarm handling, timers and counters, logical and arithmetic function, SMS notifications, master/slave capabilities on multiple locations throughout the vessel, WiFi connection to the boat/marina Wi-Fi system, duplicate screen display via web browser on smart phone and many more.
The Pulse VMS is reasonably priced right and features “out of the box” functionality compared to other systems. A full array of standard PGN output NME2000 sensors and expansion modules are also available. The NMEA2000 sensors and expansion modules can be used in conjunction with many multi function displays from Maretron, Navico, Garmin, Raymarine and others.
Quick Overview
Every time an alarm sounds, it takes time to isolate what has occurred. Most alarms in today’s electronics output a similar sounds. In emergency situations this present problem to the skipper of the vessel. Quite often it is difficult to distinguish where the high pitch sound is coming from. Even more so if the sound disappear, as the issue triggering the alarm is was only temporary. Then sound stops and there is no way to find out what system was the system that generated the alarm sound and in particularly what went wrong with it. Therefore:
- Proper vessel monitoring system can provide early warnings on potential equipment failure
- It can help to identify and avoid a problem that could lead to a catastrophic failure
- the system will keeps record of what went wrong. It will keep alarming till the skipper acknowledges the issue and is aware of what went wrong.
Bilge pumps panel is shown above. The status if the bulges are clearly indicated. The standard “bilge” symbol is used. At the top of the symbol there are two numbers. The first number indicates the number cycles for the specific pump, and the second number indicates the total amount go time that bilge pump has been running since the last reset.
Great "off the shelf " connectivity
What you get from the competition
The competition offers expensive modules that do only one type of inputs. Then you need Multi Function Display (MFD) or a computer screen and software to display the measured parameters. MFDs lack sophistication in their alarm capabilities as this is not their primary function. Computers and laptops take significant amount of power compared to embedded dedicated systems. They are usually not running 24/7 on board, due to high power requirements.
What we offer
Our Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is combination of 7″ touch screen and many fully customizable inputs. The VMS is ready to provide sophisticated alarm monitoring and easy alarm handling. The built-in inputs similar to ActiSense, Maretron and Combi interface units, can measure any vessel’s system in conjunction with NMEA0813 and NMEA2000 input and outputs. Measured parameters can be shown on the display via fully customizable electronic gauges. Certain ranges can be defined as warning or alarm ranges. If the measured parameters fall into these ranges, the system, will generate a warning or an alarm. And this is just scratching the surface of our great and sophisticated alarm fine- tuning capabilities.
Versatile and Capable VMS
Our unit has multiple built-in inputs and it is ready to interface (RPM, Oil Pressure, Coolant Temperature, Tanks Level) to twin engines on a vessel. Optional expansion modules makes our system future proof. These expansion modules will come handy once you outgrow the functionality of the built-in inputs and would like to interface to more systems on your vessel.
The unit has the lowest power consumption in its class – 150mA in dark screen mode and 250mA with illuminated screen. This will allows the users to run the Vessel Monitoring system 24/7 even on vessels with small battery banks.
Unique built-in inputs and functionality
Below is the list of the available inputs on the back of the unit:
- Four analog inputs that can measure from 0 to 32V DC. They are used to measure existing oil pressure, coolant temperature, etc. sensors
- Eight digital inputs that can be triggered with 8V -32V signal. They are used to measure when circuit is on or off, such as bilge pumps, electrical switches, navigation lights, etc.
- Two RPM inputs – measures RPM from inductive RPM pickup or fro “W” output of an alternator
- Two resistance measuring inputs – easy to connect to existing thank floats to measure your fluids levels capable of measuring 0 to 1,000 Ohm resistance
- SmartBus for connecting multiple inexpensive Digital Temperature Sensors over 3 wire SmartBus interface. Monitor the temperature of multiple points of interest around the vessel, such as engine room, outside temperature, Refrigiration temperature, propeller shaft stuffing box temperature, Compressor temperature, alternators temperatures, etc.
- NMEA2000 Interface with extensive PGN input and output support. The unit can be configured to send to the NMEA2000 network the signals that are measured on the built in ports and act as an engine getaway.
- NMEA0183 Interface for GPS input for the “anchor watch” functionality, or to interface to SMS remote monitoring communicator
- 3 Watt Audio output for clear warnings and alarm sounds that should not be ignored
- Alarm output Solid State Relay 0.5A to interface to external systems or alarm strobe light