Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Yearly Archive: 2010

DSC VHF channel changing SAFETY ALERT, depressing! 9

Communications / AIS

DSC VHF channel changing SAFETY ALERT, depressing!

DSC_channel_changing_safety_alert_cPanbo.JPG

Sorry, but I’m going to start off this week with depressing news:  The U.S. Coast Guard — which I’ve always thought of as a major proponent of DSC VHF — recently issued a Safety Alert that treats one of its core features as a hazard.  In fact, the Guard now “strongly recommends
disabling the automatic channel switching feature…”  Does this mean that placing direct DSC calls to AIS targets — a function that seems to be nicely designed into the DSC system, and one that many of us are enthusiastic about — may not work well?  Yes, it probably does.  But, then again, the USCG found itself between a rock and a hard place…

Azek PVC board, great for electronics panels? 23

How-to

Azek PVC board, great for electronics panels?

Gizmo_main_helm_project_cPanbo.JPG

At first I was just going to replace the electronics panel at Gizmo’s lower helm, but I got carried away!  And at this point I’ve got a boat that I can’t start — because the engine instruments, and much else, are disconnected — in a slip that I’m just bumming until the real occupant’s boat is launched (which accounts for slow posting here).  But the project is going well, and I’m particularly pleased with the Azek expanded PVC board product I’m experimenting with for the dash panel(s)…

Minn Kota’s i-Pilot robot, & Geonav for real 2

Gadgets / Electrical & Engines / The Trade

Minn Kota’s i-Pilot robot, & Geonav for real

Minn_Kota_I-Pilot_demo_Miami_cPanbo.JPG

The Miami demo of Minn Kota’s new i-Pilot technology got somewhat humorous.  After some time with that trolling motor head turning this way and that as it automatically retraced a GPS track or pulled us along to a waypoint — where it could even maintain station — I started thinking of it as a faithful, friendly robot.  If I owned one, I might paint eyes and a smile on it to heighten the sensation.  And in retrospect it might have been whispering, “Hey, bub, I represent Johnson Outdoors technology prowess; wait until you see Geonav!”

AIS on fire worldwide, & hello AIS MOB tech 6

AIS

AIS on fire worldwide, & hello AIS MOB tech

Class_B_AIS_in_Turkey.JPG

Turkey is mandating some 25,000 commercial vessels to carry the unusual Class B AIS transponders seen above, which function like conventional ones but with some special added features. Note the extra SRM message buttons which should help nearby boats and SAR authorities to react quickly to collisions, fires, etc.  Also built into these units is a tracking scheme such that the Turkish government can identify vessels trying to avoid taxes by buying fuel in Greece!  Not only are safety, security, and even revenues driving a rapid increase in AIS mandates, but some amazing new AIS technology is just around the corner.  I learned a lot during a recent lunch with a man who may well know more about the worldwide state of AIS than any other…

Distributed Power over N2K, and goodbye E-Plex? 14

Network & control

Distributed Power over N2K, and goodbye E-Plex?

Lowrance_HDS10_with_DSS.JPG

This HDS-10 is showing off Lowrance’s new relationship with Digital Switching System’s distributed power system.  While the interface is NMEA 2000, I think DSS uses its PowerGate 2000 gateway for this purpose, instead of using N2K for its internal network.  But that may not matter, as I understand that DSS uses standard N2K PGNs whenever possible.  In fact, I’ve seen Krill Systems software working with its gateway and switches just fine.  But that was just a demo, and I suspect that it will be a long time before we see easy, full-featured integration between DP and other boat systems, except by partnership or design… 

eLoran deader, GPS wounded 14

Navigation

eLoran deader, GPS wounded

Port_Clarence_LORAN_tower_dies.JPG

How horribly ironic!  The screen above is grabbed from a USCG video showing the demolition of Alaska’s tallest structure, a Loran tower that might have hosted an eLoran backup to GPS, maybe already was.  Just three weeks earlier, Intelsat let it be known that it had
“lost control” of one of the two WAAS satellites, and that it would “drift out
of orbit over the next two to four weeks.”  And Alaska will be the place that suffers the most loss of WAAS, though all North American navigators should take note that WAAS redundancy just went away.

ON AGAIN! Garmin makes offer for Raymarine 23

The Trade

ON AGAIN! Garmin makes offer for Raymarine

Garmin_offer_Raymarine.JPG

Amazing!  Garmin just announced a very public and serious offer for Raymarine.  The Wall Street Journal has the 30 page (!) announcement here, but this London Stock Exchange link is easier to read. Garmin is offering 15 pence per share, which is way up from what we’ve heard recently (see comments here), and it’s waived any further due diligence.  The only way this deal won’t happen is if either Raymarine’s board or the European anti-trust regulators don’t like it.  And by being so public with the offer, Garmin is expressing a lot of confidence that both those parties will find the offer acceptable.  Maybe it’s time to think about a marine electronics world where two of the biggest brands are one.

BEP CZone #1, “distributed power”? 11

Electrical & Engines / The Trade

BEP CZone #1, “distributed power”?

BEP_CZone_sample_system_diagram2.JPG

I’ve been looking through a lot of material on BEP’s new CZone system, and finding it impressive. But its descriptive subtitle — “Networked Control and Monitoring System” — seems a little vague to me.  In fact, Simrad changed that to “digital switching” when they showed off their nifty CZone integration with the NSE series (covered briefly in a Miami Show entry).  It does seem like the handful of manufacturers who dare to compete in this complex niche can’t agree about what to call it, but I like “distributed power”.  You can see why in the simplified CZone sample diagram above; like the competition, those OI modules efficiently distribute an electrical system’s core power feed and circuit protection functions to where they’re needed, while networking the switching and much more. There is no central breaker panel on this boat, and a lot less wire.  The following diagrams tell more about the concept…

DY NMEA 0183 to USB, looks handy 16

Network & control

DY NMEA 0183 to USB, looks handy

Digital_Yacht_USB_NMEA_0183_Adaptor.JPG

That’s Digital Yacht’s just announced NMEA 0183 to USB adapter, all of it, and it’s just $49.  Wire it to a multiplexer, AIS, or some other 0183 RX/TX port and any 0183 message will purportedly be seen by software running on the attached computer.  The adapter has LEDs that flicker for transmitted and received data, and it can be set to either 4,800 or 38,400 baud. The included software is said to work with PCs, Macs, and even Linux-based systems, and there’s a bonus…

Garmin visit #3, WFO 11

Fishing & Sonar

Garmin visit #3, WFO

Fishing_w_Garmin_Ben_Snapper_cPanbo.JPG

Phase two of the Garmin extravaganza — a fishing trip off Texas with pro angler Bill Platt — may not have gone quite as planned, but I don’t think you need much more than this image of calm seas, blue sky, and a huge ass red snapper to know that it was truly a blast…