
My name is Steve Mitchell and I write about marine electronics, technology, and internet connectivity. You can join my newsletter and get access to new articles and tidbits, check out my current boat Rendezvous, or just learn more about me and the site.
My latest articles are below, or you can check out my projects, read reviews, or investigate internet connectivity on the water. Let me know if you have any questions!
Latest Articles
Fresh water system improvements
In the last couple of months, I've made some improvements to my fresh water system in a number of areas. It started with the toilet, and progressed into filtering, pumping, and the shower itself.
Teltonika RUTX11 LTE router
The Teltonika RUTX11 is a single category 6 LTE router with a ton of features, extra services and connectivity, and all for an inexpensive price.
T-Mobile 100GB internet data plan
T-Mobile is offering a decent hotspot / router plan again for $50/month that includes 100GB of data, roaming, and more!
Vesper Cortex after a few months
The Vesper Cortex is an AIS Class B+ SOTDMA transponder combined with VHF radio and remote monitoring. It shows amazing promise after the first few months of use.
Actisense smart universal terminators
Keep your NMEA 2000 network running smoothly with a universal terminator that has an LED showing bus voltage, and can be used easily at either end of the bus.
NMEA 2000 powered Raspberry Pi
Easy to install Raspberry Pi computer that gets its power from the NMEA 2000 bus. Great for SignalK, OpenCPN, and OpenPlotter.
Poynting OMNI-496 WiFi antenna
The Poynting OMNI-496 is an excellent dual band WiFi antenna built for the marine world.
Furuno SCX-20 Satellite Compass
I've been using the Furuno SCX-20 Satellite Compass and am impressed. It has a super accurate GPS, compass, roll/pitch/yaw, and all in a tiny package.
Rendezvous Internet Setup for 2020
This is my Peplink and Poynting based internet system for 2020 aboard Rendezvous using LTE and WiFi sources, and marine grade components
Engine and power dashboards
I have discussed my weather dashboard before in Real-time weather from the boat, but I have always wanted more visibility into other areas. I have a couple of new dashboards for engine performance and the electrical system.
Isolating AC power
You may notice that this article is quite short. After a few comments (scroll down) and a number of email discussions on the side, I decided to remove the content of this article and replace it with this info.
Problems with T-Mobile voice+data plans and Peplink CAT18
T-Mobile have apparently blocked the T-Mobile One lines that have both data and voice from using a Peplink CAT18 router with the Telit LM960 modem.
Peplink MAX HD1 Dome
I am testing the CAT18 version of the Peplink MAX HD1 Dome and SIM Injector against the MAX Transit with Poynting OMNI-402 antennas, and recorded an overview video as well.
More router testing and initial results on the OMNI-496
I have been testing a lot of different LTE router and antenna combinations this year from Peplink, MikroTik, Teltonika, Poynting and more.
GL-X1200 Amarok Dual LTE router
The GL.iNet GL-X1200 Amarok router is a great dual-LTE device with lots of hardware, dual-band WiFi, and OpenWRT-inspired software.