Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Yearly Archive: 2010

iThing boating, Rose Point’s in, Maretron too 27

Wireless & Apps / The Trade

iThing boating, Rose Point’s in, Maretron too

I’ve been using an iPad for a week now and — sorry, Steve — I’m not yet feeling “the magic”.  But just the fact that I can envision so many improvements to something already so cool speaks to how amazingly fast this wireless, touch screen, app device phenomenon is moving.  My iPhone and iPod Touch have been almost magically transformed by iOS 4 (coming soon to the pad) and my Android phone is such a hotbed of fertile app chaos that it sometimes gets hot quite literally.  And almost everything that’s useful and fun about these devices is doubly so on my boat, with loads of room to grow…

Simrad BSM-2, Broadband Broadband sonar 5

Fishing & Sonar

Simrad BSM-2, Broadband Broadband sonar

Simrad BSM-2 Broadband Sonar.jpg

Just about the time that Navico introduced Broadband Sonar, Airmar began rolling out a series of Broadband transducers claimed to enable dramatic advancements in fishfinder performance.  Which was confusing, especially as no manufacturer offered a fishfinder able to take full advantage of their abilities.  Well, darned if Navico isn’t the first to at least announce such a sonar.  Meet the Simrad BSM-2 “broad band” Broadband fishfinder…

NMEA Technology Award, yike! 35

The Trade

NMEA Technology Award, yike!

BenE_at_NMEA_Conference.JPG

I don’t recall why I had my hand up like that, but do remember the scene — Furuno showing off NavNet on some sort of military grade head’s up display, I think — as one of many geek moments I’ve enjoyed at NMEA conferences.  In my experience, there’s no concentration of marine electronics expertise and enthusiasm anywhere that compares to the Conference’s trade-only exhibition hall.  But the affair became a dite more stressful for me last year when I got involved in the NMEA Technology Award, which went to Navico’s Broadband Radar with honorable mentions to Maretron’s N2KBuilder and Navionics’ Mobile (PDF here).  This year may be even harder…

Geonav, the giant roll out 17

Navigation

Geonav, the giant roll out

Geonav_GIS_MID_Console.JPG

Geonav has been talking about a Fall U.S. roll out for some time, but now it’s turning out they have a lot more to show than the G12 and G10 MFDs introduced in Europe last year.  Seen in the photo above is an even newer model called the GIS10, and while it and the 12-inch model include most all the features seen online for the G series, they also support NMEA 2000, Gigabit Ethernet, and, yes, the Side Imaging technology pioneered by sister company Humminbird.  And how about those sexy MID 110 multifunction instrument displays (and the matching autopilot head)?

RAPC Nautilus, toughest marine PC yet? 16

PC & peripheral

RAPC Nautilus, toughest marine PC yet?

Bob_Hilliard_RAPC_cPanbo.JPG

This is my favorite sort of show and tell.  The guy doing the showing, Bob Hilliard, is the chief engineer involved, and the location was the nav station of the 105-foot ketch Apache, which will be a beta site for Bob’s creation, the RAPC Nautilus marine PC on the chart table.  I admit to being a bit dazzled by the boat, which you can gander in this old charter listing, and the Pinot Noir, but I’m thinking that’s the most bullet-proof boat computer I’ve ever seen…

B&G Zeus, Simrad NSE for sailors 17

Navigation / Weather

B&G Zeus, Simrad NSE for sailors

B_G_Zeus_GRIB_display.JPG

Though it’s not mentioned anywhere, there’s no question that B&G’s new Zeus multifunction displays are re-branded Simrad NSE MFDs, with some special software sauce on top.  But that’s a good idea.  NSE has a lot going for it, and the more ways Navico finds to expand its scope — like the Simrad NSO system, also “soft launched” in Newport last week — the better for everyone, I think.  Besides, has there ever been an MFD that can do the jobs performance sailors usually use PCs for — like animate GRIB weather files, display data strip charts, and calculate lay lines?

Chuck Husick, a fond farewell 6

The Trade

Chuck Husick, a fond farewell

Chuck_Husick_courtesy_.JPG

I like this picture of Chuck — found on his personal web site, along some truly touching memorial material — because whenever I saw him at boat shows he was almost invariably decked out in a blue blazer and tie.  Now Mr. Charles Husick certainly had the gravitas to support a bit of formality; he was an accomplished electrical engineer who had also managed serious companies, written hundreds of magazine articles, and been a important advocate for sensible marine technologies…and he knew more about many subjects than many of us know about one.  But he was also a real boating enthusiast, and in this picture I can sense that large, curious intellect that must have had so much fun geeking out on his ketch Bonne Étoile…

Simrad NSO, the NSE series goes big 17

Navigation

Simrad NSO, the NSE series goes big

This week in Newport, and in Southhampton, Simrad introduced the NSO Navigation Series, a black box version of the NSE system, and while it’s hard to imagine an MFD faster than an NSE, even...

Digital Yacht iAIS, hello apps developers 41

Handheld / AIS

Digital Yacht iAIS, hello apps developers

I don’t have a good image yet, and some really interesting new products have revealed themselves in Newport, but I’ll bet a lot of readers will want to know about Digital Yacht’s iAIS, announced...