Thread: Weather resistant MP3 (for boat)?

I'm sure that there are solutions for mounting a touchscreen that would survive the salt water that would inevitably get on it, but I would say your best (and cheapest) bet would be to mount a non-touch screen, waterproof it, and use a remote control to access the computer that is safely protected somewhere else in the boat.

I have to agree on the sealed monitor, and wireless remote control (cheap so you don't cry when it falls overboard)

Originally Posted by Dave T

I'm interested in being able to play my MP3 collection on my boat. I'd like some kind of LCD based interface to pick songs by artist/album/song, that I could access from the helm. It would connect to my stereo system down in the cabin. One idea that I had that would be pretty ideal from my point of view would be to use an Apple IPod. But, I doubt that would last one season of the salt air, dampness, etc. Are there any MP3 systems that provide a powerful UI, and are ruggedized for something like a boat?

Thanks!

- Dave

You could go for an old Itronix notebook. Not powerfull, not really able to be an embedded system, but very rugged. You could get one off of ebay for probabaly around $200 USD.

I found this one for $150

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...7&category=177

Be prepared to lose any electronics that you take out on the ocean, Salt water will corrode the hell out of it, even if it is a "water resistant" piece. Just the air will do it too, you wouldn't even need to get it wet. My suggestion is to build a unit using a Mini-ITX board, (Just ike you see everyone on this board doing), But before you assemble everything, tear each component open, and give all circuit boards a good coating with a potting material. Once the coating has dried, the RAM will be permanently affixed to the motherboard, but at least it will provide some protection. A setup like this, I would think that it would double the service life of the components versus a non-coated system. The salt water will get to it, no matter what you do. The best thing you can do is try to keep the salt air/ metal interfaces to a minimum.

I am not sure how large is your boat but if you really want something cool you could get like a completely sealed rugged LCD touchscreen, they have bright versions of it too so the glare in the sunlight doesn't wash everything out.

http://www.stealthcomputer.com/monitors_flat.htm

dude anything boat/comp/mp3 related check out www.autonav.com. They've got ultra bright touch screens, gps , and water proof systems. Check it out. The sportboat PC is only DIN sixed

Yea, actually I think Autonav buys some of their rugged computer equipment from Stealth Computer.

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...sp?prodid=9192

Soundblaster has that for you if you have WiFi on your PC. The remote is RF and displays the info on it. You can protect the remote buy putting saran wrap on it.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I'd really prefer a solution that doesn't involve a PC. I'm thinking of what would basically be a ruggedized MP3 player, that you could upload songs to from a PC.