Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Yearly Archive: 2010

A World Magnetic Model reminder, courtesy Maretron 22

Navigation

A World Magnetic Model reminder, courtesy Maretron

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Is your boat’s World Magnetic Model up to date?  Does it matter?  It may be a sign of Miami new product overload (here and here) that I got intrigued with this subject yesterday, but it was actually a Maretron press release (pdf here) that led the way.  The company is proud that their latest GPS200 now outputs magnetic compass variation based on the latest WMM2010, and that a firmware update will bring the same precision to their existing GPS receivers.  Heck, I thought GPS units just got variation from the satellites, and was reminded how much we take compass technology for granted…

MIBS, AIS edition 19

AIS

MIBS, AIS edition

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When we got excited about the Standard Horizon GX2100 AISrx/VHF (now well documented at SH), did anyone realize that the already versatile CP30 RAM3 remote station would also show the targets?  Well, there it was in Miami, looking pretty much like the photo above.  And GX2100 love hasn’t waned; the set was one of West Marine’s show highlights and it won the NMMA Innovation Award in the Electronics category.  Of course there was plenty more going on in the AIS department…

MIBS ME, lots happening, all good! 22

The Trade / Zany

MIBS ME, lots happening, all good!

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Instead of being released, my cranium got completely stuffed in Miami last week.  Now, there is a phenomenon whereby the more I cover marine electronics, the more developers I know and the more they want to tell me about their latest projects.  But there’s something else going on, too:  I believe the pace of innovation is increasing and some healthy trends are emerging.  I’ll try to hit a few today, but it may take weeks to detail all the good things I saw at the show…

MIBS, the Tweet edition 7

Zany

MIBS, the Tweet edition

I tried using Twitter to cover the Ft. Lauderdale Show a bit, maybe I can do better here in Miami. Follow me!

Garmin AIS 300, first NMEA 2000 receiver 23

AIS

Garmin AIS 300, first NMEA 2000 receiver

Today Garmin announced the $500 AIS 300, the first receiver to output NMEA 2000 as well as 0183.  Which means that if you’re in Miami like I am, you can not only check out...

Welcome MTA, MI for ME at last! 19

The Trade

Welcome MTA, MI for ME at last!

I’m not the sort of guy who usually spends time looking for diagrams and explanations regarding a field like Market Intelligence (MI), but I’m pretty darn sure that the Marine Electronics (ME) industry could...

AC33, Communications Challenges 11

Communications / What's on board...

AC33, Communications Challenges

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From Dan Corcoran in Valencia, SP:  Because of the great speeds of the two sailboats, this America’s cup will be held further from shore and on a longer race course than those of recent memory, causing tremendous challenges communicating on the race course. Even the judges are unsure that they will be able to communicate successfully in boats equipped like the one pictured above with retractable towers for VHF communications and satellite dishes.

Navionics Mobile Marine, a great app made better 32

Handheld / Charts

Navionics Mobile Marine, a great app made better

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I think it’s safe to presume that Navionics Mobile Marine is the best selling iPhone charting app in the U.S. and many other countries. In fact, as I just wrote in an April Yachting article, many iPhone boaters consider it a “no brainer” even if they also use other nav apps. But lookee here, they’ve rebuilt the entire thing, substantially improving both features and value. Today you can buy the US East Marine and East Lakes versions for $10 each, a steal really, but they are 166 and 535 megabyte files, which is a bit of an inefficient pain for all concerned.  By contrast, the new $10 Marine&Lakes:US will be an easily updated 2 MB because it doesn’t come with data.  BUT you’ll be able to download charts and lake maps for anywhere in the entire U.S., quite easily, and fresh direct from Navionics’ own servers. The greedy download illustrated above — note the chart and POI detail of Newport — took about 10 minutes on my home WiFi, and a much smaller download went fine even over AT&T’s poky Edge service.  And there’s more…

Furuno NN3D, now with C-Maps by Jeppesen 35

Charts

Furuno NN3D, now with C-Maps by Jeppesen

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When MaxSea bought Nobeltec from Jeppesen last Fall, there were hints that one somewhat counter-intuitive result might be a new partnership between Furuno/MaxSea and Jeppesen, but I didn’t think we’d see results this quickly.  Today Furuno announced that NavNet 3D displays will soon support a worldwide portfolio of “C-Map by Jeppesen” MapMedia charts, in addition to the NOAA raster and vector and “Datacore by Navionics” MapMedia charts they already support, thus making them “the most versatile” chart plotters available.  It sounds great, but there are some details to note…