Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: Navigation

TBF: Icom M93D, Garmin Quatix 3 & GNX Wind, Imtra Largo LED, and Navico makes ForwardScan more accessible 13

Cabin & deck gear / Navigation / Communications

TBF: Icom M93D, Garmin Quatix 3 & GNX Wind, Imtra Largo LED, and Navico makes ForwardScan more accessible

Icom_M93D_DSC_VHF_prototype_aPanbo.jpgI’m slightly reluctant to mention this Icom M93D announcement because it’s only “scheduled to be available in the second half of 2016” with price unknown, but, dang, it sure looks like an interesting DSC VHF handheld radio. I still think that many boaters don’t realize the added safety, tracking, and navigation capabilities possible when GPS is integrated with portable VHF, though the Standard Horizon HX870 (that Icom is clearly gunning for) has been earning great reviews for a while. Also, note the lovely color-screen Icom GM600 fixed VHF “coming soon” with an SSB sibling.

Raymarine Quantum, solid-state CHIRP pulse compression radar in radome form! 40

Navigation

Raymarine Quantum, solid-state CHIRP pulse compression radar in radome form!

Raymarine_Quantum_solid_state_radome_cPanbo.jpgWow, Raymarine is kicking off the new marine electronics year in grand style. Debuting today online (and at the New York Boat Show) is the Quantum Q24C solid-state radar seen above. While Ray apparently managed to keep this product a deep secret — I only heard about it yesterday afternoon — it appears to be thoroughly developed and near ready to ship. In fact, you’ll see that the install manual is already available, and I understand that the production line is rolling, with first deliveries expected around the time of the Miami Boat Show. I won’t get to see Quantum 24-mile CHIRP radar in action until then, but I was definitely impressed with yesterday’s briefing…

MARPA on small radars, is Navico 4G especially bad? 108

Navigation / Safety & SAR

MARPA on small radars, is Navico 4G especially bad?

Simrad_4G_radar_MARPA_in_2011_cPanbo.jpgDoes Navico 4G radar (branded as Simrad, Lowrance, or B&G) have a “ridiculously broken MARPA” function? I’ve heard similar words from three different 4G owners in the last few weeks, and that’s enough to interrupt the boat show and summer testing entries I’m way behind on. I don’t have a definitive answer, however, plus I’m skeptical that Navico’s MARPA is especially bad because in my experience all small radar Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aids are somewhat flaky for what seem like fairly obvious reasons…

FLIBS 2015: Telemar superyacht helm, Hatteland 55-inch Chart Table, and Triton luxury submarines 6

Cabin & deck gear / Navigation / The future / Zany

FLIBS 2015: Telemar superyacht helm, Hatteland 55-inch Chart Table, and Triton luxury submarines

Hatteland_Series_X_55_inch_chart_table_cPanbo.jpgImagine running Coastal Explorer, or your favorite charting program, on a 55-inch multitouch display with 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution — also known as UHD or 4K — secured to a sturdy base with pushbutton up/down and tilt controls. I’ve never so enjoyed tapping out a route, and the Hatteland 4K Chart Table is actually way sexier than that…

Seapilot Vector Compact GNSS Compass, sweet deal that usually works well 32

Navigation / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Seapilot Vector Compact GNSS Compass, sweet deal that usually works well

Seapilot_Compact_GNSS_Compass_cPanbo.jpgThere’s lot to report from the Fort Lauderdale Show, but the calendar dictates that I first write about this Seapilot satellite compass. That’s because a startling 50% show discount is still available this week, so you can buy the Vector Compact-N NMEA 2000 model seen above for $500 simply by applying the code “FLIBS2015” in the shopping cart. The Compact seemed like a relatively good value at twice the price when I first discussed its features last November, and since then I’ve seen it perform pretty well on Gizmo…

Furuno NavNet TZ Touch 2, First Impressions on the Water 48

Navigation / What's on board...

Furuno NavNet TZ Touch 2, First Impressions on the Water

Helm_with_TZT_2_15L_displays_courtesy_F_Khedouri_aPanbo.jpgWritten by Fred Khedouri

A few days ago, just about every square inch of panel space on the main helm of my 32-foot Carolina Classic express-style sportfishing boat got covered over with the shiny black glass of two new Furuno TZTL 15F multifunction displays, the newly launched second generation of the Furuno TZ Touch series. The rest of the system includes a 12kW four-foot open array radar, a DFF1-UHD black box sonar, a smaller first-generation TZT 9 display mounted on the tower helm, and a Furuno 711C autopilot.

Coastal Explorer PC charting revisited, with love to WPx 26

Navigation / PC & peripheral

Coastal Explorer PC charting revisited, with love to WPx

Coastal_Explorer_DR_mode_w_route_n_WPx.jpgThe last days of Gizmo’s trip north were a difficult dance of wanting to get home quickly versus not wanting to suffer the consequences of a relatively small power boat in biggish winds and seas. I’m still recovering. But it’s a good time to detail the Coastal Explorer planning tools that surely helped me make the best of the situation, and particularly the brilliant yet rare feature known as “WPx”…

How Simrad Halo works, 12 radars in one! 11

Navigation / The future

How Simrad Halo works, 12 radars in one!

Simrad_Halo_future_is_now_aPanbo.jpgPanbo’s first entry about Simrad’s unique solid-state open-array Halo radar tried to cover the promised features. Now I’ll try to explain how it works, with the huge benefit of slides made available to me by Navico engineer Don Korte, who I first met when Broadband (3G/4G) radar was introduced in 2009. I’m starting with the image above because that’s not just Navico marketing; it would be hard to overstate Don’s enthusiasm for Halo as he led me through the presentation. It was a teleconference but I’m pretty sure he was jumping up and down as I slowly got some of the concepts and he answered my smarter questions with a hearty “YES!”…

Simrad Halo solid-state open-array radar, what you get 14

Navigation / Safety & SAR / The future

Simrad Halo solid-state open-array radar, what you get

Simrad_Halo_radar_demo_Hawks_Cay_Jan_2015_cPanbo.jpg

This is big. Today Simrad announced the first recreational solid-state open-array radar and it seems to be a humdinger. In January I got to see Halo in action aboard the same Yellowfin 36 seen above in a screen grab of Simrad’s informative Halo video, and I’ve also met twice with members of the engineering team. In fact, there are so many features with so much complex technology behind them that this entry will only attempt to cover what Halo hopes to do for you; next week we’ll get into how it works. And yes, this radar does include blue LED accent lighting, if you want it, but that’s just the bling…

Raymarine eS Series, long live the glass bridge 15

Navigation

Raymarine eS Series, long live the glass bridge

Raymarine_eS_Series_chart_choices_aPanbo.jpg

On Monday Flir unveiled Raymarine’s eS Series, and shortly thereafter, extensive detail on the new 7-, 9-, and 12-inch multifunction displays went online. A cynic might say that the eS Series is simply a refresh of the existing eSeries with its similar HybridTouch mix of keypad and touchscreen controls. But that would ignore multiple hardware improvements plus the amazing evolution of Ray’s Lighthouse II operating software since the lower-case “e” MFDs entered the market in 2011. For instance, click the photo above bigger to better see the full support for Navionics, C-Map, and LightHouse cartography (discussed here recently). Also, not to be ignored is the glass bridge style, which makes sense in all its ramifications and is very much here to stay, I think…