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Category: Navigation

Volvo Penta (Garmin) Glass Cockpit, just the beginning? 16

Navigation / Electrical & Engines / The Trade / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Volvo Penta (Garmin) Glass Cockpit, just the beginning?

Volvo_Penta_Garmin_Glass_Bridge.jpgWhen I wrote about seeing the new Garmin 8000 Glass Helm series in Miami, several knowledgeable readers commented about how it would be used as part of a complete Volvo Penta engine/helm package. They were right. Garmin announced the VP Glass Cockpit yesterday and it’s already up in detail at Volvo Penta. The main features seem to be great nav screen integration with joystick, trim, and autopilot controls plus a single vendor for all, but is this also what we’re going to see from all the glass bridge/helm/cockpit systems?

Raymarine 2013 demo boat: gS165, the RMK-9 keypad & more 13

Network & control / Navigation

Raymarine 2013 demo boat: gS165, the RMK-9 keypad & more

Raymarine_2013_demo_boat_cPanbo.jpgYesterday I enjoyed a few hours on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, aboard a Boston Whaler 280 Outrage recently fitted out as a Raymarine demo boat.  Much of what I first saw introduced in Miami last February is now shipping and working in impressive ways.  Note, for instance, how the “low end” Dragonfly sonar/plotter is holding bottom in DownVision mode at more than 75 feet and 28 knots. And if it weren’t for the camera-exaggerated glare you could also see how bright and sharp the “high end” gS125 Glass Bridge display was looking.  I became particularly enamored of the new RMK-9 keypad that gave us hybrid-style control of not just the gS but also the two a6x MFDs…

Cruising with Garmin wireless: BCM, 741, HomePort & quatix 12

Wireless & Apps / Navigation

Cruising with Garmin wireless: BCM, 741, HomePort & quatix

Garmin_BCM_underway.jpgSome of Garmin’s many wireless strategies are coming together on Gizmo and there have been some nice surprises.  Since there’s now a GPSMap 741 with built-in WiFi mounted at the lower helm and networked via NMEA 2000 with the 7212 on the fly bridge, one of the first things I did when we began our cruise last week was to see what that meant in terms of route planning on an iPad running BlueChart Mobile (BCM).  It was a minor thrill to realize that I could spec out the day’s plan on the pad, send it to the 741, and have it pop right up on the 7212 as the active route my sweet mate was using to steer by…

Fingers on Raymarine a65, and hello a68, a75, a77 & a78! 13

Fishing & Sonar / Navigation

Fingers on Raymarine a65, and hello a68, a75, a77 & a78!

Raymarine_a65_w_radar_on_Gizmo_cPanbo.jpg

There’s been a small Raymarine a65 MFD installed at Gizmo’s lower helm since early last fall (as seen here) and I’ve used it a lot. Frankly, I wasn’t at all sure I’d like the all-touchscreen interface as much as I liked the “hybrid” mix of touchscreen, buttons, knob, and cursor joystick I use on the nearby Ray e7 (tested here) or the similar Simrad NSS8 hybrid interface (compared here).  Didn’t Steve Jobs say that touch couldn’t work on less than a 10-inch screen?  Well, surprise, the a65’s 5.7-inch touchscreen interface works quite well, even on a moving boat, and it’s getting better as Raymarine rapidly introduces new versions of its Lighthouse MFD software (v5 discussed here, v7 just about to drop!). And today we learn that the all-touch “a” is not just an interesting oddity in Ray’s now-huge a, c, e, and g display lineup…

Furuno TZT chart plotting, feeling the love 35

Navigation

Furuno TZT chart plotting, feeling the love

Furuno_TZT_Lafayette_River_anchorage_cPanbo.jpg

One problem with cruising north early during a late spring was that Gizmo’s open fly bridge was usually too cold to work with electronics like the Furuno TZT14 that I’d installed there just before finishing the trip south (as seen in this photo). I look forward to much more testing here in Maine but this I already know: For me, there is no other MFD or PC navigation program that does underway chart plotting so well. TimeZero software from MaxSea and Nobeltec are obviously excepted — and note that TZ for iPad is on its way — because Furuno essentially built the NavNet3D and TZT series as very specialized marine computers that run TZ with tight integration to their radars, sounders, etc. as well as to NMEA 2000, Ethernet and analog cameras, and more. Let’s look at some screens that illustrate what TZT does so well…

A closer look at Lowrance’s HDS Gen2 Touch 113

Wireless & Apps / Navigation / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

A closer look at Lowrance’s HDS Gen2 Touch

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Today is an excellent time to look in more depth at the Lowrance HDS Gen2 Touch, a slightly awkward name for six products that form the “top end” of the Lowrance multifunction display range. The reason is the recent release of the 2.0 software version that brings GoFree functionality — as seen above — and much more to both the Lowrance Gen2 and Gen2 Touch range. Last year I upgraded my HDS Gen1 to a HDS2T and in this entry I will compare the HDS2T to other Navico options, give you the reasons why I like it and of course discuss the new features in the 2.0 software.

Garmin GMI 20 & GHC 20, back on top? 10

Navigation / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Garmin GMI 20 & GHC 20, back on top?

Garmin_GHC_20_and_GMI_20.jpg

In my opinion it was the Garmin GMI 10 that trail blazed the wonderful world of color NMEA 2000 all-in-one displays, but it’s gotten major competition from the Raymarine i70 (comparison here), the B&G Triton (first look here), and the Furuno RD-33 (hand’s on here). And when Garmin demoed its new 800 Glass Bridge Series in Miami, the GMI 10 also installed on the dash looked decidedly out of place. So it was really no surprise when they announced the new GMI 20 and its GHC 20 sibling last Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if they’ve outdone the competition but that’s hard to judge as these all-in-ones can potentially do so much, though not necessarily exactly what you want… 

MIBS 2013 Raymarine: Dragonfly, gS-Series, Evolution AP & much more! 41

Navigation / Communications / Electrical & Engines / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

MIBS 2013 Raymarine: Dragonfly, gS-Series, Evolution AP & much more!

Raymarine_EmpirBus_digital_switching_cPanbo.jpg

Raymarine was a little slow getting their Miami press releases out, but then again they have a LOT to talk about. And even with the six releases you’ll find at that link, they left out what I think is a significant move: the coming-soon Lighthouse 6 software release for a-, c-, e-Series — as well as the new gS glass bridge MFDs — will include support for Empirebus NXT digital switching and distributed power technology…

Garmin GPSMAP 8000 Glass Helm series, oh yeah 33

Wireless & Apps / Navigation

Garmin GPSMAP 8000 Glass Helm series, oh yeah

Garmin_8000_family.jpg

Garmin isn’t messing around. The 8000 Series announced this morning includes three MFD sizes — 8-, 12-, and 15-inch — as well as the 8500 Black Box that can drive new Garmin monitors available in 15-, 17, and 19-inch sizes. Do click on that family photo above to not only see the whole range but also something called the GRID for Garmin Remote Input Device. I’ve wondered if Garmin would ever add a rotary knob or joystick to its touch screen interface and the answer is that now you can have both…

Navico: new GPS/Heading sensor & VHF/GPS handheld 80

Navigation / Communications / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Navico: new GPS/Heading sensor & VHF/GPS handheld

Simrad_B_G_Lowrance_GPS-Compass_collage_cPanbo.jpg

Whether it’s called a Simrad GS50 or a B&G ZG100 or a Lowrance Point-1, it does not seem to be just another NMEA 2000 high-precision, high-refresh-rate GPS/Glonass sensor. Also integrated in is an “e-Compass/Gyro” heading sensor “that ensures access to stable and smooth vessel orientation” and “when used with a compatible” Navico display “greatly enhances navigational information by providing accurate course over ground (COG) data at any speed and enabling radar overlay on charts.” I’ve quoted the press releases heavily because I’m not yet sure that the sensor actually outputs Heading data, but I do know that whichever brand you buy, this souped-up overlay-enabling GPS is just $199 retail, and that sounds good…