Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Yearly Archive: 2014

Of light, pressure, Jewish DNA, and lobster trap Christmas trees 13

Zany

Of light, pressure, Jewish DNA, and lobster trap Christmas trees

Lobster_trap_Christmas_tree_Rockland_Maine_2014-cPanbo.jpgI hope that Panbo readers everywhere enjoyed Hanukkah, the winter solstice, Christmas and/or any other way you celebrate the holiday season. We deserve all the light and cheer we can find, especially when the shortest days are as dreary as they were here on the coast of Maine this year. Instead of cold gray drizzle my almost-Christmas-eve photo above might have shown sparkly snow highlighting the Rockland Public Landing and the islands across the Bay, but, hey, our area does lay claim to the “World’s Largest Lobster Trap Tree“…

Garmin Start Guidance, a sail racing winner? 28

Sailing & Racing

Garmin Start Guidance, a sail racing winner?

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While I haven’t done much racing, I do know that the prestart manuevering can be quite challenging if not downright scary. It’s hard enough to time a sailboat to be at the right place at the right moment going maximum speed in the right direction, but you must also avoid collisions with the competition trying to make the same perfect moves. Some sailors are shy about racing because the starts can be nerve wracking, and one nice aspect of the Garmin Start Guidance software coming out in 2015 is the fact that it’s simply software built into a regular multifunction display. Now that I’ve seen more about how it works, I’ll bet that many experienced racers will also want this edge…

Lowrance HDS Gen3, plus Elite CHIRP and SmartSteer two ways 1

Navigation

Lowrance HDS Gen3, plus Elite CHIRP and SmartSteer two ways

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Lowrance put a lot of cards on the table yesterday. Foremost is a new HDS Gen3 series which combines the touch interface of the Gen2 Touch with a keypad similar to regular Gen2 models. Added are multi-touch gestures, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, dual SD card slots (though micro size), and a CHIRP option in addition to Broadband sonar. And it all fits into about the same dimensions as the original Gen2 Touch 7-, 9- and 12-models with about the same original retail prices. I don’t yet buy the press release, “next revolutionary step forward,” but “state of the art” sure seems appropriate…

LinkWav, Inmarsat FB finally makes sense for intermittent users 9

Communications

LinkWav, Inmarsat FB finally makes sense for intermittent users

LinkWav_website_home_page_aPanbo.jpgHo hum, just another sat coms service provider? No way! I think that LinkWav has pulled off something quite special in the daunting world of expensive marine satellite voice minutes and data megabytes. The company figured out how to offer a simple Inmarsat FleetBroadband service plan with decent rates and nearly realtime cost/budget monitoring, but without an oppressive contract. In fact, LinkWav is especially designed for the ocean racers, cruisers and small commercial operators who only need satellite communications now and then, sometimes with many months in between. The cherry on top is the high quality of the LinkWav team…

Lessons of Vestas Volvo wreck, but what about the C-Map Grounding Alarm & similar? 44

Charts / When things go wrong...

Lessons of Vestas Volvo wreck, but what about the C-Map Grounding Alarm & similar?

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The fixed camera on the stern of Vestas Wind captured the worst possible unintended jibe. That’s when you’re blast reaching along at 19 knots through a tropical offshore night but then your Volvo Ocean 65 suddenly smashes its way up onto a reef shearing off the rudders and spinning 180° as waves and wind take total control. That is a frightened and nearly naked man beyond the limp main sheet and when watching the video you too may utter involuntary curses. No one was hurt, though, and the crew has been frank about the mistakes made. This has led to some useful conversations about the dangers of electronic charting, but it also reminded me of an uncommon electronic charting feature that might have prevented this shipwreck…

Fusion BB300 black box stereo & a peek into 2015 6

Wireless & Apps / Entertainment / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Fusion BB300 black box stereo & a peek into 2015

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It’s not on the Fusion website yet, but the MS-BB300 black box marine stereo was introduced in Fort Lauderdale — press release here — and is scheduled to ship this month. In a way it’s Fusion’s first black box unit, but then again they built the trailblazing Simrad SonicHub in 2010 and then the Garmin Meteor 300 last year. In fact, the BB300 is very similar to the Meteor 300 and whereas Garmin acquired Fusion in May, the BB300 can be viewed as a statement about Fusion’s continuing independence. The Meteor may integrate with non-Garmin displays over NMEA 2000, but the BB300 promises N2K Fusion-Link integration with many current MFDs from Humminbird, Murphy, B&G, Lowrance, Simrad and Garmin. A further indication that Fusion is going to keep on innovating in concert with multiple partners was a preview look at four new marine stereo heads that will be formally introduced early next year…

Nobeltec TimeZero app 2015, Furuno DRS4W WiFi radar overlay & more! 13

Wireless & Apps / Navigation / The future

Nobeltec TimeZero app 2015, Furuno DRS4W WiFi radar overlay & more!

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Yes, iPad navigation fans, that is Furuno 1st Watch WiFi Radar overlaid on the Nobeltec TimeZero charting app. I wasn’t even sure that an iPad could overlay radar over a simple vector chart, but here it is over a finely rendered raster chart blended with hi-res satellite photos. This is virtually the same mix of navigation data that I’ve found so useful on a Furuno TZT and the short demo file I saw running in Fort Lauderdale suggested that it may pan and zoom (and even go 3D) almost as smoothly on an iPad. It’s a major advance in tablet navigation, I think, but the TimeZero app update coming next Spring has more to brag about…

METS 2014: Navico GoFree, Simrad IS35, Victron Bluetooth, LCJ Capteur BaroPlug & more 7

Wireless & Apps / Network & control / Weather

METS 2014: Navico GoFree, Simrad IS35, Victron Bluetooth, LCJ Capteur BaroPlug & more

Earlier this week we published Henning Dürr’s report on METS 2014 and now here’s what Kees Verruijt found.

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Navico GoFree cloud content and services
The Simrad NSO evo2, NSS evo2, B&G Zeus2 and Lowrance HDS Gen2 Touch MFDs will all get a January software update that allows users to buy new charts, update software, and more directly from their boat displays. Moreover, GoFree is being upgraded to a separate “brand” that covers all the cloud-enabled content and services offered by Navico on all three “hardware” brands…

Seapilot Vector Compact GPS Compass & True Heading comes to the USA 34

Wireless & Apps / Navigation

Seapilot Vector Compact GPS Compass & True Heading comes to the USA

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When I mentioned strong contenders for the 2014 DAME electronics award, one I definitely had in mind was the SeaPilot Vector Compact GPS Compass. Yes, in many ways it’s just another GPS compass but it’s substantially smaller, substantially less expensive, and the design seems suited to high performance on many types of boats. Before getting into the details, though, let’s deal with possible brand confusion. While True Heading, parent of the recreational SeaPilot brand, has been selling Vector GPS Compasses in Europe for some time, the core technology comes from Hemisphere and similar compasses were sold by ComNav, Si-Tex and others. The Vector Compact is not only a new model but is also much more exclusive to True Heading, which has recently expanded to North America.