Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Panbo News and Reviews

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Fishing & Sonar / Wireless & Apps

Furuno FCV-600 and FCV-800, expanding the meaning of standalone fish finder

Last week, I helped judge the Technology and Best New Product awards at the National Marine Electronics Association’s (NMEA) annual conference. Furuno’s FCV-600 and FCV-800 standalone fish finders received the Best New Product award. I enjoy participating in these sorts of contests because of the opportunities I’m afforded to dive deeper into new products. The new FCVs are great examples of compelling new products I might otherwise have missed.

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Network & control / Navigation

Garmin’s new flagship chart plotters, the GPSMap 9000 series announced

It’s been seven and a half years since Garmin unveiled its flagship GPSMap 8600 chart plotters and more than 10 years since the 8000 series was announced. The new GPSMap 9000 series represents quite a few firsts and appears designed to anchor the top of Garmin’s line for many years to come. Let’s take a look at the new chart plotter, networking technology, and accessories.

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Navigation / Safety & SAR / The future

Raymarine and Avikus debut NeuBoat Dock, their joint surround view camera system

Raymarine and Avikus unveiled NeuBoat Dock, the first product to come out of Avikus and Raymarine’s partnership. NeuBoat Dock is a surround view system that enables the helmsperson to see 360 degrees around a boat up to 100 feet. The system will be demonstrated next week at the Cannes Yachting Festival and in early October at the International BoatBuilders’ Exposition in Tampa, FL. Raymarine and Avikus promise that this surround view product is just the first of quite a few announcements to come that will rapidly enable both awareness and autonomy capabilities.

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Wireless & Apps / Electrical & Engines / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K / Monitoring & Tracking

LXNav SmartShunt, WiFi and NMEA 2000 battery monitoring

As a regular reader of Panbo, long before I became involved, my favorite articles were the ones that introduced me to a new product or company. As the editor of Panbo, little excites me more than hearing from a new company and getting to introduce a product to my readers. Perhaps, for many readers, this review will serve as an introduction to LXNav and their SmartShunt WiFi and NMEA 2000-connected battery monitoring shunt. Join me for a review of the SmartShunt and a look at the rest of LXNav’s marine-focused offerings.

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LiFePO4 / Electrical & Engines

Victron Phoenix Smart IP43 Charger, charging perfection?

I’ve written a lot about Victron’s products. In fact, I’ve written enough that I sometimes fear my readers will see another Victron article and roll their eyes. But, yet again, I find myself with a compelling Victron product that I feel you should hear about. This time, it’s a battery charger. I realize you may not think of battery chargers as the most exciting piece of technology on your boat, but bear with me and read on to hear why I think you should be excited by this one.

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Mobile Apps / Wireless & Apps / Navigation / Handheld / Charts

Mobile navigation app roundup

Apps running on tablets and phones have come a long way from the first, relatively primitive charting apps that debuted shortly after the turn of the millennia. Not only have the existing apps gained big functionality, but we’ve also seen many new entries into the category. This entry will attempt to review the currently available apps and their capabilities.

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Sailing & Racing / Wireless & Apps / Navigation / Charts / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Orca offers smart navigation with your tablet or theirs

Orca makes some pretty heady claims about their CoPilot navigation app and hardware. Their home page is dominated by the tagline, “The ultimate navigation experience” and promises “Better boating with Orca.” Those are bold statements, but Orca’s goals are indeed ambitious. Orca aims to deliver a smarter, more automated navigation experience by leveraging both their own and off-the-shelf hardware. So, how far along the path to delivering the ultimate navigation experience has Orca progressed so far? Let’s take a look.

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Wireless & Apps / Network & control / How-to / Electrical & Engines

Maximizing solar production with Victron GX

After the loss of Have Another Day, my primary DC test platform is Harvey, my family’s RV. Over the winter we upgraded from our previous 35-foot coach to a 43-foot Newmar Dutch Star. With that upgrade, I’ve added 1,350 watts of solar to the new RV. With all that solar, I wanted to ensure I was taking full advantage of the potential production. That sent me diving through the settings in my Victron system to figure out the best way to manage my system. Currently, I’m using a Virtual Switch in the inverter to manage DC power sources and it’s working quite well.

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Navigation / Safety & SAR

Solid state radomes compared, part 3 – Furuno checks in

This article is supposed to be a thorough comparison of how Furuno’s DRS2DNXT compared to the other radars I’ve tested. Unfortunately, testing multiple radars on a 22-foot boat is challenging. The most recent challenge included snapping a freshly made mount before I was able to get offshore with the setup. The bad news is, I wasn’t able to complete all my testing scenarios. The good news is, I still have the radar unit and I’m working on more permanent and robust mounting options. But for now, here’s what I’ve learned.

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Wireless & Apps / Navigation / Safety & SAR

SIONYX Nightwave, strong low light performance

SIONYX’s Nightwave camera is the company’s first fixed mount, marine, night vision camera. It builds on the strong low-light performance of the company’s Aurora handheld spotting scopes in a more traditional marine form factor. I’ve had the camera out on some inky dark nights and been pleased with the performance.