Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Yearly Archive: 2011

Impedance-driven NMEA 2000, & SimNet gets a “Noise Filter” 29

NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Impedance-driven NMEA 2000, & SimNet gets a “Noise Filter”

SimNet_digital_scope_courtesy_Kees.jpg

Maretron’s Rich Gauer has repeatedly tried to explain to me how NMEA 2000 is an impedance-driven networking technique and that’s why it’s so important that the cabling have the right electrical characteristics with the proper termination. He can get quite passionate about the subject, almost poetically describing clean waves of N2K data bits getting distorted by reflections to the point that microprocessors along the backbone can’t recognize them anymore. But then again Rich is an electrical engineer and Maretron may well have more troubleshooting experience than any other company with the large N2K networks where impedance problems tend to show up. Installs or other manufacturer’s gear that cause trouble because the impedance rules aren’t abided to gets him upset! However, a guy like me is way better at visualizing the dynamics of a hull passing through ocean waves, and I couldn’t begin to fathom the “Transmission Lines, Reflections, and Termination” PDF Rich once linked me to. Which is why I am especially taken with the graphic N2K analysis (above) that our friend Kees Verruijt posted on his Yacht Electronics blog…

The Geonav writers event, part 2 at last! 5

Navigation

The Geonav writers event, part 2 at last!

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In January I wrote about the impressive business story behind Geonav, but I neglected to follow up on the products I saw demoed in Florida. It’s true I was disappointed that the GIS Series and MID 110 weren’t ready to show yet, but it was interesting to see the G11 MFD and the GSC 110 autopilot above in action. Note, for instance, the Jeppesen C-Map 4D cartography on that screen above, NOAA raster layer included. I’ve waited a long time to see 4D on the water and my first impression was quite positive. Following are more images and impressions…

Boat Monitor, anchor watch in the cloud 16

Wireless & Apps / Navigation

Boat Monitor, anchor watch in the cloud

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It’s obviously not practical to anchor in Camden’s Inner Harbor — especially as there are often two Gizmo-size boats on each of those floats — but it was a good first taste of Boat Monitor, a very interesting new remote anchor watch system. What’s happening here is that I used Gizmo’s low-power Datalux police car computer (seen in yesterday’s entry, and also here) to log onto Boat Monitor’s web site and establish a sophisticated anchor watch keyed to a Garmin 17x GPS connected via NMEA 2000. Boat Monitor’s server then started minding Gizmo’s position, ready to serve it elsewhere and/or send alarms as needed. One possibility is this $5 app on my Android phone, but there are others. The details and flexibility are impressive…

iPad GRIB viewers, Weather4D & WeatherTrack 68

Wireless & Apps / Weather

iPad GRIB viewers, Weather4D & WeatherTrack

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When I wrote about Garmin’s new GDL 40 cellular weather system recently, the comments reminded me about how many different ways there are to access data and forecasts (and how opinionated some folks are about the methods they favor).  So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when two apps that both specialize in downloading and displaying GRIB weather model data on iPads or their smaller siblings, take quite different approaches to the task…

MTA: Reliability or price, what matters most? 1

The Trade

MTA: Reliability or price, what matters most?

market_intelligence_diagram_courtesy_Quirks.JPG

As I hope you know, the 2011 MTA marine electronics survey is underway right now, but what follows is another in a series of entries derived from the 2010 survey. As usual, I’m a bit amazed at how the MTA guys can slice and dice out of our opinions. Frankly, market intelligence is more mysterious to me than all the wires on Gizmo, but I do get how this could help the industry serve us better. At any rate, please take the 2011 survey, and here’s MTA….

MTA Survey 2011, let’s do it! 6

The Trade

MTA Survey 2011, let’s do it!

MTA_survey_brand_awareness_and_perception.jpg

The MTA Spring 2011 Survey is ready for your input.  One of several sections I’ll be quite interested in is the one where respondents write in the marine electronics brands that have exceeded or fallen below their expectations. As discussed last April, the results indicate both brand recognition and perception, and I wonder if we’ll see any significant changes. The poll is very similar to last year’s, taking about twenty minutes and earning either Doctors Without Borders or Internews (your choice) one dollar. The major reward, though, is the chance to let the industry know what you want. The MTA 2011 Survey awaits.

MTA: Do new electronics need to play nice with legacy systems? 11

The Trade

MTA: Do new electronics need to play nice with legacy systems?

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Marine Technology Advisors is really taking shape. You’ll find a new web site at that link, and better yet, the firm tells me that it’s getting some attention from marine electronics manufacturers and distributors. The following entry, like the ones in April, is based on last year’s survey, specifically where “integration” fit in when marine electronics buyers were asked to rank its importance versus other criteria like pricing, reliability, performance, and feature sets. Nearly 1,000 of you took the survey last year — which established some good base numbers — and starting tomorrow the 2011 survey will begin. Please come around whether you filled in the original or want to add your two cents.