Category: Navigation

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SIONYX Nightwave Digital, strong low light performance with better integration

For the last 8 years, SIONYX has provided an alternative to thermal night vision cameras. They advertise the sensitivity of their Black Silicon CMOS sensor down to 0.001 LUX or total darkness. In my testing, their cameras have provided truly impressive performance while also displaying full color images in near total darkness. Impressive as their cameras have been, each review has been limited by the connectivity their cameras offered. Now, SIONYX’s Nightwave Digital offers a full suite of connectivity options. So, does the new camera provide everything I want? Read on and find out.

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PBIBS 2026: Raymarine introduces Axiom 2

Raymarine announced the Axiom 2 at the 2026 Palm Beach International Boat Show. The introduction of the Axiom 2 puts all three variants of the Axiom on the same underlying hardware architecture. Axiom 2 joins the Axiom 2 Pro and Axiom 2 XL as the long term future of Raymarine’s chart plotter product line. But, the announcement of the Axiom 2 also marks the end of major software updates for owners of Axiom products (Axiom, Pro, and XL) that don’t end in 2. Let’s take a look at the new hardware and what this all means for owners of very recently sold Axiom+ units.

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DBMIBS 2026: Simrad NSO 4

Continuing my new product tour from the 2026 Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show, the next stop is at the Navico booth for the Simrad NSO 4 and B&G Zeus SRX. These two families of chartplotters sit atop Simrad and B&G’s lineups. They also complete each company’s transition to products based on Navico’s NEON operating system.

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DBMIBS 2026: Furuno TZtouchE and TZMap MFDs

The electronics area of the 2026 Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show is noticeably smaller this year. In years past, the show featured a separate electronics room. This year, that room is a food court and the electronics area is on the main floor of the convention center. Although the area itself might be smaller, there were still quite a few exciting announcements and new equipment on display. First up are two different lines of Furuno MFDs designed for smaller boats.

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Furuno TZtouchE: Bringing big-boat technology to every vessel

Furuno is expanding its industry-leading lineup of NavNet TZtouch MFDs (Multi Function Displays) with the new TZtouchE series, delivering a streamlined navigation experience with robust functionality and performance. Designed for boaters demanding powerful tools in a simplified interface, the TZtouchE series delivers an affordable path to many advanced features, including amazingly detailed TZ MAPS charts…

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Simrad debuts new NSO 4 – designed to be the world’s most intuitive chartplotter

As Simrad Marine Electronics marks its 80th anniversary, the brand celebrates eight decades of innovation with the launch of NSO 4 – the next chapter in marine navigation. Built on the revolutionary NEON operating system (OS) and designed to be the world’s most intuitive chartplotter, NSO 4 is the latest premium chartplotter and fishfinder in the Simrad portfolio, delivering an unmatched combination of effortless control, lightning-fast performance, and sleek design, setting a new standard for offshore navigation…

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Garmin expands flagship chartplotter lineup with premium GPSMAP 9000xsv

Garmin today unveiled the GPSMAP 9000xsv series – superior chartplotters designed for captains and anglers that demand world-class performance. Available with a 10-, 13- or 17-inch touchscreen display, these multi-functional displays (MFDs) boast Garmin’s cutting-edge integrated xCHIRP traditional sonar and UHD scanning sonar to help anglers see and catch more fish. Users can get 5Ghz Wi-Fi connectivity for seamless software and map updates at ultrafast speeds, and see charts, maps and entertainment in vivid detail with up to 4K resolution…

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Orca and Raymarine Axiom integration, easy route sharing from tablet to chart plotter

Tablet navigation has come an extremely long way in the decade and a half since Ben Ellison started covering it. However, for as far as the apps have come, integrations between navigation apps and chart plotters remain remarkably frustrating. Some in brand solutions, like Active Captain with Garmin equipment and TZ iBoat with Furuno plotters, work quite well. However, cross platform options typically involve clunky, multi-step export and import routines. Often, these routines require ejecting and inserting physical memory cards, a task made more complex as memory card slots move to the back of slick, all glass chart plotters. Raymarine and Orca have broken with recent trends and offer a wireless integration that allows for remarkably simple sharing of routes between a tablet running Orca and a Raymarine Axiom chartplotter.