Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Yearly Archive: 2010

Rob Eddy, model maker extraordinaire 6

Zany

Rob Eddy, model maker extraordinaire

Ojibway_model_courtesy_Rob_Eddy.JPG

I’m sure that Furuno folk are going to grin over these photos; I bet you all will.  You just must click them to full size, but also trust me that the phenomenal detail is even more so in reality.  This 18-inch model of a 1983 Jarvis Newman 36 took 1,100 expert hours to build — expertise not just at documentation and delicate hand work but also at 3D CAD, naval architecture, laser cutting tools, and jewelry making.  Adding in a lifelong passion for boats, an artist’s eye and the patience of Job gets you one of my local treasurers: model maker Rob Eddy…

My bad: Is EDC fuel flow accurate? 27

Electrical & Engines

My bad: Is EDC fuel flow accurate?

SteyrDisplay1000.JPG

Back in 2008 when I delved fairly deep into NMEA 2000 fuel management (1-Garmin, 2-FloScan, 3-Raymarine, 4-Maretron, 5-SmartCraft, and 6-Lowrance), I may have gotten a related concept wrong.  While I was mostly experimenting with how fuel flow data gets integrated into an overall system,  I noted a couple of times that if you have such data coming out of an electronically controlled engine, it should be more accurate than what can be measured by flow sensors.  Well, as suggested by that “Assumed Fuel Consumption” label on that Steyr Motors display above, maybe not…

USCG AIS mandates, get’er done, please! 33

AIS

USCG AIS mandates, get’er done, please!

USCG_AIS_rulemaking_3-2010_courtesy_USCG.JPG

I’ve been wondering what happened to the Coast Guard’s plan to require AIS on lots more commercial vessels plying U.S. waters, first discussed here in December ’08.  Unfortunately the legalese around federal rulemaking means that the normally very informative Jorge Arroyo — project manager in the CG’s Office of Navigation Systems — can only say that the comments collected in early 2009 are being analyzed.  I hope the Final Rule comes out soon, because looking at that slide above I see that compliance after the rule will take about half a year and, man-o-man, I’d like see those particular 17,442 vessels transmitting AIS ASAP…

Garmin BlueChart g2 & g2 Vision 2010, lots new? 12

Charts

Garmin BlueChart g2 & g2 Vision 2010, lots new?

Garmin_BlueChart_g2_2010_sample.JPG

Today Garmin announced that updated 2010 g2 and g2 Vision BlueCharts are now available, apparently with some interesting changes.  If you recall, the company got pretty excited about the 2009 edition, but then suffered some grief when a processing error caused a global recall.  I’m not sure the 2009 charts ever got out, but I’m darn sure that all new editions go through some serious quality control.  I can’t really tell from the screen shot above what the “redesign” talked about in the press release is like, because it largely involves “transitions between zoom levels” and other possibly valuable improvements that you need to see in use.  But I did immediately recognize that busy harbor as Little Creek, VA, because I once departed to Bermuda from there, and there are a few new features that print can describe better…

My Bad: EnGenius EOC-2610 vs Wave WiFi Comet 34

Wireless & Apps

My Bad: EnGenius EOC-2610 vs Wave WiFi Comet

Wave_WiFi_Comet_cPanbo.JPG

“It’s the firmware (and customer support), stupid!”  That’s the lesson I learned when I bought an $75 EnGenius EOC-2610
high-power WiFi system in December, 2008 (when I was staying in NYC, cadging Internet from neighbors).  I got far enough into its dense menu systems to see some good hot spots, but I never got the damn thing to actually connect.  And at first my hubris was such that I simultaneously took to task a small company called Great Boat Gear for selling a “marine” version of the same hardware at more than double the cost.  Well, my bad…

Monitoring & Control Apps: InteliSea & Maretron 5

Wireless & Apps / Handheld

Monitoring & Control Apps: InteliSea & Maretron

InteliSea_iPad_Alarms.JPG

Ah, so there you are stretched out in a teak chaise on the skydeck of your mega, but are you bored and/or uncomfortably out of touch?  Hell no, not with an iPad full of books, videos, games, work tools, internet connectivity, and even an app that connects you directly into your elaborate InteliSea vessel monitoring and control system.  There’s a nice demo of their existing $99 iPhone app at the InteliSea site, and I can tell you from on-phone testing that it manages complexities like those mimic screens above better than demoed, but won’t this app shine on the iPad? And if you’re a geek, or the yacht’s engineer…

Jotron AIS SART, & the L-3 Protec 19

Safety & SAR / AIS

Jotron AIS SART, & the L-3 Protec

Jotron-AIS-SART.jpg

I once heard a gentleman who probably knew what he was talking about complain fairly bitterly about the electronic radar reflectors called SARTs.  He said they’d been pushed on the GMDSS by a member nation where they were made and that they’d never proven themselves effective in search and rescue operations.  Which is just one reason why the new Jotron AIS SART is an interesting development…

NMEA 0183 over Ethernet, on Mar Azul 25

Network & control / What's on board...

NMEA 0183 over Ethernet, on Mar Azul

Mar_Azul_NMEA_0183_diagram_courtesy_Bob_Ebaugh.JPG

Bob Ebaugh got some GX2100 installation help over on the forum, and that gave me a chance to bug him for some more information on the interesting system he’s put together. Check it out above: two laptops connected wirelessly and simultaneously to MFD, AP, VHF/rxAIS, and Internet. Bob’s a pilot and ex-networking engineer who didn’t think he could write up the project well, but I think he did just fine…