The Raymarine warranty #1, truth and fiction
OK, so about a year ago Raymarine made an interesting change to its warranty practices. In addition to the standard two-year “send it back to the factory and we’ll fix it” policy, Raymarine also...
Yearly Archive: 2006
Mind the flares, a product recall
Apparently there’s a bad batch of Paines Wessex white collision warning (Mk7) hand flares out there, specifically batch numbers 2045 through 2046, which were distributed in the U.S. and Europe. You really don’t want to...
Zeus (4), IPS joystick, and what does it all mean?
Volvo also introduced an omni-directional no-thruster-needed joystick at the Miami Boat Show. It has a computerised control module running a pair of independently turning IPS drives, like Zeus, but doesn’t have Zeus’s nervous system. That’s me...
The power of Zeus, part 3
So what do I mean that the new Zeus propulsion system has nerves as well as brains? Well, hooked into the drive controller is an ultra high precision GPS and inertial navigation sensor which feeds it fast updates on...
The power of Zeus, part 2
Above is the Zeus demo boat, which has just departed a slip at Miami’s Sealine Marina and now—instead of the normal hard right, hard left exit—is going dead sideways down the channel. Leaving those bow lines...
All U.S. raster charts and a charting program, fifty bucks!
Maptech’s freeboatingcharts.com is now offering a DVD with all current NOAA raster charts, all Corp of Engineers river charts, and a real charting program for $50. The charts are organised on the disc into...
Panbo and I, a first anniversary
Yesterday a product development manager at a major marine electronics company said to me, “Thank you for Panbo; you’re making it easier for me to do my job.” That felt good! I also enjoy...
Zeus 1, the most innovative electronics at Miami was a propulsion system!?!
Above is a 42’ Maxum that Brunswick, specifically the Cummins MerCruiser division, was using as a special demo boat at the Miami Boat Show. Obviously (bigger here ) it’s loaded with Northstar’s new 8000i multifunction...
Airmar Weather Station, really here and really works
I’ve been posting on Panbo for almost exactly a year now, and one of my first entries was about the sailing version of Airmar’s WeatherStation. While I’m sorry to report that that product still does...
Settling into Boston, with a few gizmos
The boat in the screenshot (bigger here) shows the location of my rented fifth floor apartment in Boston’s North End. It’s wonderfully close to the Harbor (and a lot of great Italian food), but does...
