The Marine Electronics Hub
Holy cow! While the timing is weird, the current Wall Street Journal features a lovely portrait of the Ben and Laura Stein family aboard Have Another Day in Fort Myers. And although the headline writers got a little carried away — yesterday, for instance (and ugh), Ben was replacing the vacuum head system duck valves in his “luxury watercraft” — Panbo readers may enjoy a peek at Stein life beyond all the electronics…
It’s understandable that Blu3 headlines its unique Nemo surface-supplied diving device with an attractive image shot in warm, shallow water. But while a mere 10 feet of hose strikes me as quite limited for even hookah-style sport diving, it may well work fine for untangling a lobster pot line wrapped in your prop or other underwater boat tasks. Especially since the floating part of Nemo is quite small and should easily follow a diver around…
I get to test a lot of amazingly high tech products with long lists of features and mind-blowing capabilities. But, sometimes a design simply solves a need and accomplishes its intended mission so well that I stop and take note. The Scanstrut Rokk line of wireless chargers are a good example. These well-engineered, relatively simple devices keep your phone charged and securely mounted at your helm, and do it without any fuss.
With COVID-19 stalking the planet, settling down in a remote Maine anchorage sounds even more attractive than usual. But I’ll also want a connection to family, news, etc. even more than usual, and reliable cell service remains a longterm issue in many of the sweetest spots along this coast (and elsewhere), despite what the service provider coverage maps show. So I’m pleased to report on two related cell boosters that have already worked pretty well for me…
Xantrex has just released a new Bluetooth remote panel for its popular FREEDOM X inverters and FREEDOM XC inverter/chargers. This new Bluetooth remote panel is compatible with FREEDOM X and XC products already installed on boats, trucks, RVs and other applications…
Raymarine owners can get underway with the confidence in knowing their electronics will perform in extreme conditions. Why? Because Raymarine electronics are literally tortured in the company’s very own Environmental Test Center in the UK, where they are subjected to hard drops, prolonged vibration, extreme temperatures, wireless emissions, relentless rain and spray, full submersion, and the simulation of months at sea inside a salt mist chamber.
I think we’ve all heard the wisdom about the right tool for the job and how much easier it can make it to complete your task. I have something of a tool habit, so I frequently use this wisdom as an excuse to go buy another tool. But, sometimes the cost of the “right” tool is high enough to cause me to try some intermediate steps first
Last Thursday, Soundings Trade Only published “FLIR evaluates Raymarine sale” and resulting rumors about Ray’s troubled state are probably circulating already. Business must be bad if a sale is publicly contemplated, right? But the details of FLIR’s announcement only suggest that Ray is a small slice of a very large operation which thinks it can find more growth in other markets. Moreover…
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While walking the floor of the Miami International Boat Show something caught my eye in Si-Tex / Koden’s booth. I saw what looked like a PC screen running Coastal Explorer but with a radar display shown. It turns out this is a new version of Koden’s RADARpc that interfaces nearly any Koden or Si-Tex radar with a PC running Coastal Explorer.
