Yearly Archive: 2012

Garmin triple wow: thermal cameras, iPad app, and Interphase FLS! 22

Garmin triple wow: thermal cameras, iPad app, and Interphase FLS!

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I’d already gotten some details on the several interesting new products Garmin is announcing today — and was excited about sharing them — but it wasn’t until late last night that I had any inkling about Garmin’s acquisition of Interphase Technologies, a pioneer in phase array forward looking sonar (FLS). Wow!  The deal means that Garmin will soon have a new and unique arrow in its quiver of MFD network sensors and that FLS for fishing and navigation will get some of the attention I think it’s always deserved. It’s not just that Garmin will market the Interphase technology better, but that the technology will no doubt be easier to use and to afford when integrated with Garmin displays. It will probably work better too…

GOST, the serious boat security guys 3

GOST, the serious boat security guys

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It doesn’t matter that the Paradox Marine I’ve enjoyed visiting at past shows has changed its name to GOST (for Global Ocean Security Technology); I bet they’ll still be showing off some interesting new tech in Miami this week. And probably more important is how knowledgeable and sophisticated GOST has become about the nuances of marine security over the years. Experience is a great teacher, and GOST’s has been accelerated because its home turf of South Florida has endured a plague of boat bandits who are pretty knowledgeable themselves. Can you spot the telltale professionalism being exhibited on the Contender above as it blasts toward Cuba, probably for a load of drugs, or with a load of cash, or both?…

Raymarine e7, hand’s on #2 10

Raymarine e7, hand’s on #2

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The Raymarine e7 that’s been in the Panbo lab for a few weeks is proving itself quite able and well designed, but I’ve come across enough little glitches and omissions that I think it’s also a good test of the new Ray’s ability to push out software fixes and improvements. That chart window above, for instance, should be showing
spot soundings. Now it could be that I don’t have the chart presentation set up right, but even if that’s true, I suspect the menus involved can be improved to help a user like me. On the other hand, that screen shot is from an iPad streaming the e7 over WiFi, and that feature not only works well but continues to intrigue…

AC34 LiveLine, harder than football & open sourced 8

AC34 LiveLine, harder than football & open sourced

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Never mind the final Super Bowl score (and the unfortunate headlines), did you appreciate those slick digital field overlays like the yellow 1st & ten line? Frankly I’m still impressed with this technology even though it’s not magic. HowStuffWorks explains pretty well the sensors, geometry, and video processing required to make that virtual line look like it’s painted on the field. All it takes is precise knowledge of where the camera and line markers are in a 3D model of the stadium, plus the use of the turf color as a reverse mask so that the players — who must never wear the same shade of green — don’t get overlaid. But once you understand that, the new LiveLine info inserted into America’s Cup video seems practically impossible…

State of Panbo: new classifieds, logos & more 12

State of Panbo: new classifieds, logos & more

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Eventually Panbo’s new Classifieds section will look more like the other sections, but it’s already been tested a fair bit and we’re declaring today the official opening of the public beta (Google style). Please check it out!  It may be a little rough around the edges — don’t hesitate with constructive criticism — but I’m hopeful that it will grow into something useful to everyone involved with marine electronics. Individuals and businesses can easily place ads there and right now they’re all FREE…

Vessel Vanguard, world’s largest boat systems database? 28

Vessel Vanguard, world’s largest boat systems database?

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When I first met Don Hyde, founder of Vessel Vanguard, and his business development guy Gordon Ramseier at IBEX, I may have been a little hard on them. That’s because a similar plan to put all of a boat’s system information into the cloud had gotten me excited last summer, but then seemed to stall. I’d realized that doing this right meant arduously creating a huge yet flexible database of specs, manuals, parts lists, bulletins, maintenance recommendations etc. for thousands of different bilge pumps, AC units, marine toilets, etc. etc. So I came at Don and Gordon with something like “Show me your database!” and, by golly, they did…

Android marine apps: Memory-Map is in, who else? 22

Android marine apps: Memory-Map is in, who else?

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It’s still in public Beta, but Memory-Map has an Android version of its charting app. I’ve tested it with both my Verizon Incredible phone and also with the 7-inch Galaxy Tab seen above, thanks to a loan from Memory-Map developer Richard Stephen, who I profiled way back in 2005. Even then Stephens was writing good PC and PDA charting software, and the experience shows…

BriarTek Cerberus, the DeLorme inReach alternative? 12

BriarTek Cerberus, the DeLorme inReach alternative?

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The photo above is meant to compliment the one I took when first testing the DeLorme inReach satellite communicator. It shows how Briartek’s CerberLink is thinner in the depth dimension and also how it uses a USB-chargeable 2000mAh Lithium Polymer battery instead of a two AA Lithiums. And that’s important. In fact it’s pretty amazing how different the CerberLink and inReach are even though they’re both based on the same Iridium 9602 SBD (small-burst data) modem and both aim to revolutionize two-way messaging, tracking, and safety beyond cellular coverage…

AC34 San Diego, some good photos 4

AC34 San Diego, some good photos

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I spent some time recently looking through the wonderful photography AC34 is making available to the media (the public can browse large thumbnails). Most of the images were taken by the superb shooter Gilles Martin-Raget, and I thank him for taking some that illustrate my story obessions with the underlying technology and the support fleet. Like the one above which frames the intense racing with the AC45’s space-age boomkin. As described in November that gray disk most aft is a NovAtel high-precision GPS which works along with inertial motion sensors and a high speed wireless data network so that the entire AC system knows exactly where this boat is…

Wow: Raymarine e9, e12, c9, c12, ClearPulse & VoyagePlanner, all new 33

Wow: Raymarine e9, e12, c9, c12, ClearPulse & VoyagePlanner, all new

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I’m surprised because I thought Raymarine was holding off a slew of new products for the Miami show in mid-February, but today we learned that Ray’s UK site has put details on the e9 and e12 big brothers of the e7 launched last summer, as well as new c9 and c12 MFDs that are very like similar to the e Series but without the touch control. Which is a lot, but not all…