Monthly Archive: March 2007

Si-Tex eLoran, some mysteries 4

Si-Tex eLoran, some mysteries

I’m sure I haven’t investigated deeply enough, but I’m mystified by Si-Tex’s eLoran, and maybe you can help. I got excited about the eLoran when first announced, then discouraged that, according to Si-Tex, it only...

Faria WatchDog 750, multi mode comms 1

Faria WatchDog 750, multi mode comms

I just finished a June PMY column about how the gauge manufacturer Faria is busting out into marine electronics. I visited their Connecticut factory in January and then saw more of their Maestro do-it-all touch screen...

Jeppesen C-Map, the press conference 0

Jeppesen C-Map, the press conference

It wasn’t surprising that Jeppesen Marine’s Miami press conference was meatier than Navico’s. Jep’s acquisition of C-Map had been through a many-month due diligence process and had already closed before the boat show. I came away thinking...

Done deal, Navico never sleeps 1

Done deal, Navico never sleeps

Just a month after the announcement in Miami, Navico closed its deal to buy Northstar, Navman, and MX Marine. I attended the post-announcement press conference in Miami, and even had a few words with Navico CEO...

Top-flippin flip-flops, a W.W. 2

Top-flippin flip-flops, a W.W.

  You’re probably going to see a lot of cute headlines like the above, as West Marine had the wisdom to supply many a marine writer with a pair of Fanning Thongs, which are not only...

Simrad A150 Class B AIS, color yet 0

Simrad A150 Class B AIS, color yet

Simrad introduced a Class B AIS in Europe today, and it looks very cool indeed. Besides the obvious, if unique, color plotting screen, this unit has a “Buddy Tracking” feature whereby you put in...

GrandCentral, maybe cruiser cool 1

GrandCentral, maybe cruiser cool

Yesterday David Pogue of the New York Times wrote a pretty glowing review of a new Web-centered phone and voice mail management service called GrandCentral. The central idea is one single phone number for life,...

Coastal Explorer AIS, plaudits! 11

Coastal Explorer AIS, plaudits!

How cool is that? In this cropped screen shot, Coastal Explorer is plotting a SAR aircraft that’s using the special AIS message discussed here the other day. Rosepoint’s Jeff Hummel, who sent the screen, says they’ve never actually...

How big a radar, anyway? 10

How big a radar, anyway?

You don’t have to hang around old salts too long to realize that many consider radar to be the primary electronic navigation tool (even before solid state performance), but I’ve wondered for some time if...