Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Panbo

Category: Navigation

11

Navigation / Charts / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Garmin GPS 24xd: inexpensive Heading data to stabilize charts, radar, and AIS

The Garmin GPS 24xd combines a high-performance GNSS receiver with a heading sensor though it only costs $50 more than their GPS 19x GNSS receiver. Thus it can inexpensively stabilize chart and radar views on your MFD while also ensuring that your boat’s AIS target is headed in the right direction even when it’s tied up. I’ve been testing one, successfully, and also investigating why the GPS 24xd is not a good replacement for a more accurate, faster-updating, and likely better located Heading sensor that’s appropriate for autopilots and radar ARPA/MARPA calculations.

9

Cabin & deck gear / Navigation / How-to

Helm ergonomics #2: Gizmo’s pilothouse

“Your boat should fit like a glove!” yacht designer Dave Gerr wrote in the 1990’s, and the 2020 refit of Gizmo’s lower helm is the closest I’ve gotten to that excellent advice yet. The ergonomically arranged array of displays and controls above are also a somewhat experimental mix of PC and tablet navigation tools with dedicated marine electronics and oodles of monitoring in the background. I could talk for hours about the gear choices and install details, but the focus of this entry is how well this helm layout works

5

Press Releases / Navigation

Veratron debuts smallest N2K GNSS antenna

At a mere 2.4″ in diameter, the Veratron GO is the smallest NMEA 2000® certified GNSS antenna on the market. Truly plug-and-play, the high-performance integrated GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo receiver is available in two navigation models and a Bluetooth version for monitoring onboard networked systems.

11

Navigation / Charts

Garmin GPSMap 943xsv hands-on, X3 delivers

Last November Garmin announced new X3 versions of their mid-tier 7, 9, and 12-inch GPSMap multifunction displays (MFDs), claiming higher resolution displays, twice the processing power, and more features compared to the X2 models they replace. I installed the GPSMap 943xsv — the “3” is what’s new, while “xsv” indicates all the sonar processing built-in — and can report that it works well. And I remember how responsive an X2 series 1242xsv was. I expected an X3 to be an improvement on an already highly capable unit, and I wasn’t disappointed.

9

Navigation / Charts

Hands-on with Raymarine’s Axiom+, improved MFDs and software

Last June Raymarine announced and I wrote about new Axiom+ multifunction displays (MFDs), plus new charts and an updated version of their LightHouse 3 MFD operating system. Each is a significant update, and so far I’ve been able to explore two out of three. What follows are my thoughts — and I must say that I’m more impressed by the upgrade than I was expecting — after testing an Axiom+ 9 and LightHouse 3.12, plus an update on the delayed charts.

12

Navigation / Communications / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K / Monitoring & Tracking

Testing Vesper Cortex M1: excellent AIS, monitoring, and much more in one box

What a box! If possible, I’d expand the headline to “excellent AIS transceiver, dual antenna splitter, high-performance GNSS, AIS display and collision avoidance, NMEA 0183 & 2000 data multiplexing, nav app WiFi support, anchor watch, and general off-boat monitoring.” And even that long list leaves out the powerful VHF radio that’s also inside the M1 hub, accessible with the innovative multifunction Cortex handsets, and understandably the most prominent feature in Vesper’s marketing. But that’s my plan for this review…

5

Press Releases / Fishing & Sonar / Network & control / Navigation

Humminbird Introduces the APEX Series: A Premium MFD with a Full-HD Display, First-Class Sonar and Networking Options

Humminbird announces the next level in fish finder technology with the launch of the new APEX series. Now combining Humminbird’s best-in-class sonar technologies and full networking capabilities on a full-HD display, APEX delivers the clearest and most-detailed display of sonar and chart technologies and represents the pinnacle of marine electronics innovation…

3

Navigation / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Quark-Elec A026: AIS receiver with WiFi, GPS, and NMEA 0183 multiplexing

Quark-Elec offers quite an array of problem-solving marine electronic devices. I’ve been testing their A026 AIS receiver with built-in GPS; data output via WiFi, USB, or NMEA 0183; plus an 0183 input that can be multiplexed into its output stream. This little box could be the perfect answer for day sailors, delivery captains, and any boater looking for an easy way to get AIS target and GPS data to a navigation app running on a tablet or phone, or to a PC or MFD. But, how does it perform?