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Configure direct alerts

Direct alerts call attention to a specific measurement crossing a limit or to equipment reporting an abnormal state. BoatKit evaluates these conditions aboard the vessel, presents active alerts in the Viewer, and can send them through separately configured remote notification channels.

The settings described here require administrator access. You can find them under Settings > Vessel & Data in Sensors, Engines, or Power System.

Before you start​

  • Make sure BoatKit has detected the sensor, engine, or power-system item you want to monitor.
  • Obtain appropriate limits from the equipment documentation or your installer. Do not treat example values from another vessel as safe limits for yours.
  • Enter thresholds using the units shown in BoatKit.
  • If alerts must reach someone away from the vessel, configure and test the desired delivery channels on the Notifications settings page. Those destinations are not configured in each measurement editor.

Configure a sensor measurement​

  1. Open Settings > Vessel & Data > Sensors.
  2. Find the detected sensor and open its configure control.
  3. In Warnings, set Low Warning, High Warning, or both to Fixed.
  4. Enter the threshold shown in your configured units.
  5. If needed, expand Advanced Monitoring and adjust the severity, dwell times, or hysteresis.
  6. Save the sensor configuration.

Choose None for a direction that you do not want to monitor.

Configure engine alerts​

BoatKit can monitor both numeric engine measurements and alarms reported directly by an engine over NMEA 2000.

Monitor an engine measurement​

  1. Open Settings > Vessel & Data > Engines.
  2. Find the engine and open its settings.
  3. Find the numeric measurement, such as oil pressure or temperature, and open its configure control.
  4. In Warnings, configure Low Warning, High Warning, or both.
  5. Choose Fixed and enter a threshold, or choose RPM-Dependent when that option is available and the appropriate limit changes with engine speed.
  6. Expand Advanced Monitoring if you need to change its monitoring behavior.
  7. Save the configuration.

An inactive engine clears its active direct measurement alerts. Configure limits for the normal operating states of the engine rather than deliberately creating an unsafe engine condition to test them.

Monitor alarms reported by the engine​

For visible, active engines, BoatKit monitors incoming NMEA 2000 engine alarms by default. These may include conditions such as low oil pressure, over-temperature, a check-engine indication, or an engine communication error when the engine reports them.

Use Alert when the engine reports a NMEA 2000 alarm in the engine settings to disable this behavior. When it is enabled, Advanced Monitoring lets you adjust its severity and dwell times. This setting does not define measurement thresholds; it controls how BoatKit handles alarm states reported by the engine itself.

Configure a power-system feature​

The Power System settings present each detected measurement or status as a separate named row. Numeric measurements support low and high limits. Alertable discrete status rows support an alert when the reported state is abnormal or when a named condition becomes active. Mode, phase, algorithm, and AC source-type rows are informational because they do not have a single universally unsafe state.

  1. Open Settings > Vessel & Data > Power System.
  2. Find the power-system item and the named measurement or status you want to monitor.
  3. Open that row's configure control.
  4. For a numeric measurement, enable Low alert, High alert, or both, then enter each threshold.
  5. For a fault or availability status, enable Alert when abnormal. For a named condition such as overcharge, enable Alert when active.
  6. Expand Advanced Monitoring if you need to change the severity, dwell times, or numeric hysteresis.
  7. Save the configuration.

An unavailable power measurement clears the direct alert for that measurement. If losing the power device itself should produce an alert, configure Alert when abnormal on the item's separate Availability row.

Adjust Advanced Monitoring​

Advanced Monitoring changes how a direct condition becomes active and clears. It does not configure recipients or notification repetition.

  • Severity selects Warning or Alarm.
  • Trigger after requires the condition to remain beyond its trigger boundary for the selected time before creating an alert.
  • Clear after requires the condition to remain beyond its recovery boundary for the selected time before clearing an active alert.
  • Hysteresis, when shown for a numeric rule, moves the recovery boundary away from the trigger threshold. It does not change the threshold that activates the alert.

A low alert triggers below its threshold. With hysteresis, it recovers only after the value reaches the threshold plus the hysteresis amount. A high alert triggers above its threshold and recovers only after the value reaches the threshold minus the hysteresis amount.

The dwell times require a continuous condition:

  • Before activation, returning across the trigger boundary restarts the Trigger after timer.
  • After activation, moving into the hysteresis band keeps the alert active. The value must reach the recovery boundary and remain there for the entire Clear after time.

What you will see​

Both severities create a persistent active-alert banner in the Viewer and use BoatKit's configured onboard and remote alert paths.

  • Warning uses an amber presentation and the warning sound.
  • Alarm uses a red presentation, sorts ahead of warnings, and uses the alarm sound.

Sound requires an available and configured audio output. When the condition remains recovered for the configured Clear after time, BoatKit removes the banner and stops its sound. Clearing an alert does not send a separate recovery notification.

Confirm it is working​

There is no test control for a direct measurement or status rule. Do not create an unsafe engine, electrical, or sensor condition to test one.

After saving a power-system rule, confirm that its row summarizes the configured limit, says Alert when abnormal, or says Alert when active. On a compact display, reopen the row's configure control and verify the saved settings. You can similarly reopen a sensor or engine measurement to verify its saved limits and Advanced Monitoring choices.

The delivery test on the Notifications settings page checks the configured notification channels. It does not evaluate a measurement rule or verify its thresholds, dwell times, or hysteresis.

Offline and simulator behavior​

Direct alert evaluation and onboard alarm presentation run locally on BoatKit. Active banners and configured onboard sounds therefore remain available without an internet connection.

BoatKit Cloud is required for remote notification delivery. Delayed remote delivery after a BoatKit Cloud outage is not guaranteed, so do not use the local offline behavior as evidence that a remote recipient received the alert.

While the Training Simulator owns engine and general sensor telemetry, BoatKit suppresses their alerts. It does not suppress power-system alerts.

Alert settings are durable vessel configuration and are included in BoatKit's portable backup and restore.

If the expected alert does not appear​

Check the following:

  1. Confirm that you have administrator access and that the rule was saved.
  2. Confirm that the sensor, engine, or power-system feature is detected and currently providing the expected value or status.
  3. Verify that the correct low, high, abnormal-state, or active-condition rule is enabled.
  4. Check Trigger after. The condition must remain beyond the trigger boundary for the entire selected time.
  5. If an active alert will not clear, check Hysteresis and Clear after. A value inside the hysteresis band does not clear the alert.
  6. For engine or general sensor alerts, check whether the Training Simulator currently owns that telemetry.
  7. If the banner appears but no sound plays, check that BoatKit has an available and configured audio output.
  8. If local presentation works but remote delivery does not, check the BoatKit Cloud connection and use the Notifications delivery test to check the configured channel.
  9. If a power measurement disappears without producing an alert, configure its item's Availability row when loss of the device should be reported.