Category: Navigation

Let’s see…a 7-inch, bright, WVGA resolution touchscreen with built-in GPS and support for Garmin Ethernet radars and NMEA 2000…all at a base price of $1,400?  Man, that sounds like a sweet spot to me.  I can think of many boaters who will be interested, and few, if any, comparable choices…

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a sophisticated anchor alarm, and it’s an app called My Anchor Watch running on a Blackberry!  (Thanks to Panbo reader Per for the head’s up.)  The developer’s site explains the software well, but the features that really stand out for me is that “angle of exclusion” shown above and the SMS alarm capability…

Well, this may be the saddest product introduction ever.  Last week CrossRate Technology finally launched its flagship eLGPS 1110 multi mode receiver.  If I had one powered up outside the lab right now, I’m confident that it could use both regular Loran-C, plus the eLoran enhancements already added to the system, and WAAS GPS to determine my position in two ways — and thus redundantly — and could also use Loran to provide heading even when stationary.  But here’s the giant rub:  A single signature, which may come at any moment, could end Loran-C, and eLoran, in the U.S.A. for good, starting next month…

Excellent and surprising news, I think:  As of yesterday, the widely respected racing/navigation program Expedition supports Navico’s Broadband Radar straight up, no Navico MFD required in the system unless you want one.  This means a lot for the serious racers who favor Expedition, and it may well mean a lot for the rest of us…

How does the old expression go…”He who giveth can also be an annoying butt?”  Here’s my problem:  Last week Lenny Rudow wrote one of the most imaginative electronics pieces I’ve seen since, well, Lenny...

I first heard about SailTimer — a set of algorithms for calculating sailing tacks, including total distance and tacking time to destination (TTD) — back in 2006.  And it did indeed become a very interesting feature of NavSim’s SailCruiser.  But developer Craig Summers was not done there.  His Indepth Navigation company now offers a free, and very simplified, iPhone version of SailTimer as well as the $14 app illustrated above.  Frankly, even the paid app doesn’t seem as full featured as the online SailTimer demo yet — you don’t see what your calculated speed is, for instance — but I know Summers is working on it.  In fact, SailTimer 2.0, with tacking lines drawn between those pins on the map, is due out this week.  And then there’s the “Sailing GPS”…

It took Furuno and MaxSea quite a while to actually ship Time Zero software in the U.S., and it took me a while to clear enough disk space to load it on that oldish HP laptop, but the long wait did not end in disappointment.  My first impression is that TZ charting and radar run beautifully, and with amazing responsiveness even though the laptop barely meets the suggested minimum specs.  The photo above is also another testament to the DRSD2’s close range resolution; you can see the two boats on floats and shrink-wrapped schooner that are being cleanly targeted.  And don’t presume the GPS is off because Gizmo seems to be ashore…