NASA AIS Engine 2, as screwy as #1
OK, admittedly I’m in a foul too-much-work mood, and maybe that’s why I find NASA’s new AIS Engine 2 so totally exasperating…
Monthly Archive: March 2008
Capt. Joe crew rescued, AIS helped
Last Wednesday night, the 97′ clam dredge Captain Joe sank suddenly 30 miles off Point Pleasant, New Jersey in 10′ seas. Air and sea temperatures were in the low 40’s and the wind NW near 30 knots (according to a nearby C-Man buoy). You can hear some, maybe all, of the bone-chilling…
MatysOnBoard, all-in-one offshore comms
Here’s a reversal: I tested this Matys OnBoard Iridium/GSM distress/SMS/voice/email communicator months ago, and my PMY write-up is already online. There you can see the reassuring way…
HotMaps Explorer, 10,000 lakes for $20!
Well, hot damn! How about a full featured PC planning product that includes maps for 10,000 U.S. lakes, all on a $20 DVD? I just heard about it this morning, but my first impression of Navionics HotMaps Explorer is “who wouldn’t?” Well, I suppose…
ST70, STng, & N2K, an ironic tale
So I hope yesterday’s goofy contest made a point about Raymarine’s STng cabling system. I do think the design has merit, particularly for production boat building, and there’s more of interest, like heavier gauge power wires, that I’ll get into eventually. But today I’m going back to the larger point that NMEA 2000 cabling is not that big a deal…
Raymarine STng, the pin mystery
I’m on deadline today, and may find no more time for posting, but here’s a puzzle to ponder…
Raymarine E-Series V4, tons’o’freebies
If you own a Raymarine E-Series MFD, you are about to get a lot of free new features—and some new accessory shopping possibilities!—thanks to a V4 software update coming this month or next. The screen above…
SPOT’s call center, a bunker near Houston!
My PMY March column about the SPOT satellite messenger is now online, and you’ll see that I gave the company guff for what I thought was “hyped-up fear marketing.” But in fact they’ve toned that down quite a bit recently.
Engine shut-off systems, Autotether most attractive?
Who’s going to argue with that? I first noted MariTech’s use of the female form to sell the Virtual Lifeline wireless engine shut-off back in ‘05. These days they’ve switched body parts, but the system seems pretty similar, a good sign of effectiveness really. But it looks like they’ve got a serious new competitor in Autotether, which…
Icom combo VHF/AIS, at least a concept
A month or so ago reader Derek Love (thanks!) wrote in about an interesting combination VHF transceiver and AIS receiver previewed by Icom UK at the London Boat Show. It got a little coverage plus there’s an Icom UK web page about it, though…
