Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Panbo News and Reviews

0

LiFePO4 / Electrical & Engines

WattCycle LiFePO4, value battery with a punch

You may not have heard of Watt Cycle before, but if you are in the market for a value oriented lithium iron phosphate battery, you should probably take note. Watt Cycle offers numerous batteries in multiple voltages at attractive price points. We have certainly seen batteries with low price tags and performance to match. So, the question is, how will Watt Cycle’s batteries perform? I have tested a pair of batteries extensively and have some pretty positive results to share.

2

LiFePO4 / Cabin & deck gear / Panbo & misc. / Gadgets / Communications / What's on board... / Electrical & Engines / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K / Good Gear (non electronic) / Monitoring & Tracking

Putting Panboat 2.0 to work with test gear from Epoch, Icom, Lenco, Scanstrut, Sensar, Tocaro Blue, and Victron

I have owned Panboat 2.0 for a little over 3 months. Unfortunately, I haven’t made as much testing headway as I hoped courtesy of a very busy fall with boat shows, speaking engagements, and dodging hurricanes. I leave for Amsterdam to attend METS shortly, but once home, I don’t have another show until Miami in mid-February. So, it’s high time I get to work outfitting the new Edgewater 280CX with the goodies needed for testing and begin rolling in some new technology.

8

LiFePO4 / Electrical & Engines / The future

IBEX 2024: Solid State Marine’s solid state lithium batteries

In a first for IBEX, this year’s show featured a startup pavilion for early-stage companies to display at IBEX in a cost effective manner. I spent some time checking out the exhibitors in the pavilion and was very pleased to come across Solid State Marine’s booth. I was quite excited to see Solid State Marine present with their solid state lithium batteries. Solid State Marine is, to my knowledge, the first company offering solid state lithium batteries to the marine electrical market.

1

Mobile Apps / Network & control / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K / Monitoring & Tracking

IBEX 2024: Siren 3

When Siren’s Founder, Dan Harper, introduced the Siren 3 Pro, it was supposed to be the first of three models of the Siren 3 series. That was more than four years ago and before Dan’s untimely death in early 2021. Since then, Siren has been acquired by Yamaha and a mid-priced Siren 3 Plus has been introduced. But, the low cost member of that series hasn’t materialized, until now. So, I was pleased to see an announcement at the beginning of IBEX that Siren will begin shipping the Siren 3 in April of 2025.

4

Network & control / Electrical & Engines / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

IBEX 2024: Egis’ XD Series NMEA 2000 remote battery switches

Egis Mobile Electric is a relatively new company with extensive marine industry experience and some creative ideas. Egis’ submissions to innovation awards over the last few years have highlighted their creativity. This year, they’re back with a new version of the their XD Series battery switches, but now with NMEA 2000 digital switching support.

2

LiFePO4 / Network & control / Electrical & Engines

IBEX 2024: Revatek Altion alternator regulators

IBEX 2024 was a show to remember for me. Starting with Hurricane Helene’s development and potential threat, it was unclear if the show would proceed. Fortunately, although there was some impact, the show was able to proceed. My show began Sunday morning, two days before the official open, with two days of judging the IBEX Innovation Awards. Every year, the awards afford me the opportunity to get an early jump on the new and exciting products displayed at the show. This year, the crop of entries was exceptionally strong. I’m going to write a series of entries covering the products that caught my eye. I. believe it’s a testament to the strength of this year’s entries that quite a few of the products I will highlight were not selected for innovation awards. First up in my list are Revateks’ Altion and Altion Max alternator regulators.

16

LiFePO4 / Electrical & Engines

SFK 275EX, space efficient and feature packed LiFePO4 battery

At first glance, the SFK 275EX looks like many other 275-300 amp hour internal BMS lithium iron phosphate batteries. With Bluetooth communications, heating, long cycle life, and a good warranty it seems to compete well with other batteries. But, closer inspection reveals a battery with features above and beyond anything I’ve seen in similar form-factor and priced batteries. Not only that, it comes with a thorough and readable manual.

6

Navigation / Panbo & misc. / Communications

A new Panbo test boat, more space for more stuff

A lot has changed since early 2020 when I took delivery of my first, outboard powered, small test boat. Since then, the world experienced a global pandemic, Hurricane Ian devastated Fort Myers and surrounding areas, and we lost Have Another Day. Also, though less dramatic, I found my testing shifted towards the small boat and away from testing on a 57-footer. At the same time, after four years of installing equipment on her, Panbo(at) was beginning to look like the proverbial five pound bag stuffed with ten (or more) pounds of… stuff. So, I did the only logical thing and bought a bigger bag!