Sea-Me, look BIG out there
The Sea-Me active radar reflector has been around for a few years, though it’s not well known in the States. I was just reminded of it by an article in the British publication Yachting Monthly, which...
Monthly Archive: August 2005
The magnetic compass, yay or nay?
At right is a aft-looking view of the Eastbay helm I visited last week. You can see some serious wood work that puts the steering compass right where you’d want it. The problem is that this compass...
DVD on a plotter, not bad
I tried plugging a regular household DVD player into two video capable plotters last week, and the results were quite viewable, confirming the value of helm stereos that can also play video discs. That’s a...
Hurricane warnings, oldee style
Hurricane Katrina whacked south Florida fairly hard yesterday and now it looks likely that she’ll power up and smack the northwest section of the state early next week. Per usual, there’s an extraordinary amount...
Navman M300, GPS as a pedometer?
I’ve been trying this Navman M300, the marine model in a new line of small GPS “Sport Tools” designed to strap to your arm while you windsurf, skate, ski, run, or walk. It delivers speed,...
Cruising on the high end, w/ Northstar
Sorry if there’ve been too many “what’s on board” entries recently, but these are the high days of summer here, they don’t last long, and I’m enjoying them! Yesterday I took a little spin on...
Onboard PC, what’s the ideal?
Over at rec.boats.electronics there’s a great thread underway about the ‘perfect’ built-in onboard computer. I’m particularly interested as I’ll likely go that route if and when I ever manage to finagle a larger cruising boat....
SART, what’s that on my radar?
If you see the distinctive twelve pulse signature above on your radar screen, it means that someone in trouble has activated a Search and Rescue Radar Transponder (SART). You’ll find them at the pulse closest to you....
Photographing LCD screens, a challenge
My PMY column about testing NMEA 2000 is in print and online now, but something odd happened during the production process. It opens with a picture of the NMEA test setup aboard my little outboard boat,...
Jensen MDV, splash resistant DVD plus
I’ve already noodled on my theory that the proliferation of video capable plotters will stimulate more and more boaters toward helm stereos that can also play DVDs. Well, here’s a new one from Jensen that would fit the bill even installed...
