Bird zapper, a test undone
I’ve had a rotten day, and maybe you too could use a laugh (aside from the must-see “big ass table” video JT brought to comments). The other day I found…
Monthly Archive: July 2007
Garmin 5212, sexy time!
Um, speaking of 3D (and one very funny man), I just unpacked and powered up a 5212 and…wow!…
Surface and multi-touch charting, oh yeah
Continuing on about how we’ve just gotten started with electronic cartography, check out the demo video at Perceptive Pixel showing the developers exercising two handed control over Google Earth and other imagery. Then there’s…
Garmin NMEA 2000, good news!
I had a long phone interview with Garmin this morning and was mucho pleased to learn that the limited NMEA 2000 support in the 4 and 5000 series is only temporary…
PAS-Thru Box, a NMEA 0183 necessity?
I first heard about it at NavaGear, immediately contacted developer Paul Shirley about a sample, and now am an extremely pleased PAS-Thru Box user. You may already have read my whining about NMEA 0183 wiring difficulties. Many boats these days are spider-webbed with fine gauge wires carrying important data; they’re painful to install and often end up way too vulnerable to damage, not to mention poorly documented and hard to modify. Well, I don’t know how the Box could do more to remedy these problems…
Waterproof cameras, and gadget lust
In today’s New York Times, the inexhaustible David Pogue reviews three waterproof digital cameras—the Olympus Stylus 770 SW, the Pentax Optio W30, and this Sanyo Xacti E1. Now the first two are not exactly brand new. In fact, I tested the Olympus over a year ago. Then I actually purchased the Pentax last November. Contrary to Pogue’s conclusions,…
KVH TP V7, big news for big boats
Game change! This morning KVH announced the TracPhone V7, a marine VSAT system capable of delivering truly broadband Internet, including telephone (VOIP), to big-budget yachts cruising much of the Americas and Europe (including transatlantic, see below). But you don’t need a mega-size platform for the V7’s dome, which is an astounding 85% smaller than what it currently takes to get this level of service (and 65% smaller than slower Inmarsat Fleet 77 domes)…
Charts etc., we’ve just gotten started
Pardon a slightly meta sidetrack, but two bits of the massive media flow got my attention. One is a Wired article about Google Earth which in part makes the case that the future of cartography is user data…
Boston ferries collide, lack of AIS?
Interesting that an intrepid Boston Globe reporter figured out that AIS transponders might have prevented two Boston ferries from hitting each other in thick fog yesterday morning…
Nauticast B, the hardware
Apologies to ACR and Visions of Johanna! But here’s how I used duct tape and hose clamps, those old quickie install standbys—plus a new favorite, velcro tape—to marry the Nauticast B’s AIS tuned VHF antenna with its GPS antenna so I could secure both with a single rail mount. The antenna duo are not as compact or elegant as Y-tronic’s combo, but they seemed to work well. It’s also worth noting…
