Settings

Boat Information

In the Boat Information page, you can configure specifics of your ship like physical dimensions, communications information, and the name. This is primarily used to show specific information in various screens, though the GPS and depth sounder information can be particularly useful in certain circumstances.

Signal Connections

NMEA-2000

By default, NMEA-2000 is enabled. Additionally, all information that the Boatcontroller receives from sources like your Autopilot is published on the NMEA-2000 bus.

USB

By default, USB is configured in Ethernet mode. This is the recommended setup as it works with most devices and provides the most functionality. On Windows you may need to install this driver. On Linux, you will need the cdc_ether.ko driver, though most distributions have it installed by default.

Alternatively, you can enable Serial mode. You must select a preset: the recommendation is "All" as the USB connection is usually fast enough to carry a lot of data. The baudrate is automatically determined, and you can configure any value on the connected device. Serial mode does not appear to work on MacOS.

Networking

By default, the Boatcontroller is a WiFi access point named pcnautic_BC without a password. On the networking page, you can either configure a different name and password or connect the Boatcontroller to an existing WiFi network. It is recommended to use the Boatcontroller as an Access point, as it is then much easier to connect to the autopilot too. If you connect to an existing WiFi network, bc.pcnautic.com and ap.pcnautic.com will not work.

Presets

In this screen you can configure connection presets. Presets are sets of NMEA PGNs or sentences that can be output on an NMEA connection. It is recommended to leave this alone and always use the pre-configured "All" presets as most connections will be fast enough to carry all data. If you, however, run into bandwith trouble, you can define a reduced set of data in a new preset here, and configure that preset for an output in the Signal Connections page.

System Info

This is a purely informational screen. Here you can see information about the software running on the Boatcontroller as well as some system metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, and disk usage.

Backup, Updates & Support

On this page, you can download and upload configuration backups. Additionally, it is here where you upload updates. Lastly, if there is trouble with your Boatcontroller, we may ask for the logs, and you can download them here.