The Marine Electronics Hub
A few days ago Ben Ellison posted a link from the Mobile Internet Resource Center announcing Verizon updated their unlimited offerings adding a $65 / month truly unlimited option. Every change to plans from the...
While the functionality of multifunction marine displays has obviously been moving rapidly beyond navigation to include most any boat system that has (or can have) a digital interface, the pace is actually quickening. In fact, I’m pretty sure that next year we’ll finally see boats nearly as easy and pleasurable to use as a modern automobile, or least showing off significantly greater system integration. This entry covers a hodgepodge of integration developments I’m aware of, but be forewarned that I often have more questions than answers…
Garmin is bringing lots of good news to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) tomorrow. The powerful operating system behind their premium GPSMap 8600 Series 17-, 22-, and 24-inch MFDs is coming to more affordable 10-, 12-, and 16-inch displays; new BlueChart g3 cartography with Navionics data integration and Auto Guidance will be preloaded in the new plotters; the inReach Mini satellite messenger will get integration with many Garmin MFDs; and…
Navico — parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad, B&G and C-MAP brands — announced today the launch of a brand new category of marine technology — the information display (ID). Ushering in a new dawn of integration for boaters and marking the first significant evolution of the multifunctional display (MFD), IDs combine a sleek design with a configurable interface that simplifies monitoring and control of onboard systems — all with a look and feel that is as unique as the vessel itself.
While the Connect all-in-one WiFi and cellular get-online system — with the cell service included — is Winegard’s first entry into the marine internet market, they’ve been at it in the RV world for quite some time and the rock-solid RF performance is pretty impressive even if the interface seemed rather bare-bones to me.
There are a lot of WiFi bridges that can connect your boat to the Internet, though as I mentioned in my article on marine internet, depending on WiFi for connectivity while travelling can be hit and miss. But, without a WiFi bridge the chances of a usable connection decline dramatically…
KVH announced they’ve entered the cellular internet market with the TracPhone LTE-1. Their marketing materials say it can deliver “Double the coverage and 10x faster speed at sea.” KVH is providing the hardware and the cellular service and promises to deliver an all-in-one, end-to-end, no hassle, simple service. If this announcement weren’t from KVH and it didn’t have some of the pretty bold claims KVH makes it might look like just a ho-hum, me too announcement. But, KVH says they can do more faster and easier than the existing products so, I for one, am looking forward to seeing if this, generally pretty conservative, engineer driven company, can back them up.
Even bolder than the advertising tagline quoted in my title is sentence two of the Apollo press release: “Building on FUSION’s industry recognized True-Marine design philosophy, the new Apollo Series will forever change the face of marine entertainment and set a new standard by which all others will be created.” And the Apollo name and logo even reference the classical Greek god of music. It would all seem immensely pretentious if Fusion hadn’t also gone big with design and audio goodness. But, by golly, I think Apollo delivers…
In my feature about marine internet, I referenced a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter as the “heart of our boat network.” It manages multiple WiFi and cellular internet connections to multiple computers, tablets, etc. around the boat, and is remarkably capable for its cost, but configuration is not for the faint of the heart. So this is the step-by-step guide…
I’m noticing a trend and I don’t like it. You see that nice, metal wrapped RJ-45 connector in the picture? It’s junk now, corroded and unusable. It’s sitting on the counter in my galley clipped off the Winegard Connect 4G1xM I’m starting to test. I believe this is because of the cabling approach Winegard has used on this otherwise very well designed piece of hardware and Wnegard isn’t alone.
