Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: Safety & SAR

YB3i tracker/messenger, a highly evolved system 5

Wireless & Apps / Communications / Safety & SAR

YB3i tracker/messenger, a highly evolved system

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The hardware portion of the YB3i tracker/messenger couldn’t be much simpler or tougher. It’s just a little bigger than the GPS mushrooms also installed on Gizmo’s flybridge and it feels solid, while the ScanStrut Rokk rail mount that it fits is truly rock-like. The black cable only leads to a power source (9-30v DC) and the YB3i can get along without that for quite a while, thanks to an internal backup battery. And finally, the single LED “interface” is really only needed for extreme trouble shooting. But such hardware simplicity is only possible because of the impressive array of satellite services, cloud server wizardry, and mobile apps that comprise the rest of the ecosystem…

SOTDMA Class B AIS, the “new” middle way? 39

Safety & SAR / AIS / The Trade

SOTDMA Class B AIS, the “new” middle way?

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It may be a while before we see the first 5 Watt SOTDMA Class B AIS transceiver actually available for sale, but it certainly is interesting to see a prototype trumpeted in SRT’s Summer 2015 Pulse Newsletter (available here). Given SRT’s main role as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) we may first see this “new” AIS technology — perhaps with even more features — branded as Simrad, Raymarine, True Heading, Digital Yacht, Comar etc. (and/or marketed under SRT’s own Em-Trak label). Or maybe Furuno, AMEC, Vesper or another of the independent AIS manufacturers will be first out with SOTDMA Class B? I don’t know. More important is SOTDMA Class B as a coming middle ground between the Class A AIS used on large vessels (which also works on the SOTDMA protocol) and the CSTDMA Class B technology that we’re used to…

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

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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…

MIBS 2015: Ocean Signal, ACR, C-Map, Garmin GNX, Lumitec and Veethree 15

Safety & SAR / The Trade

MIBS 2015: Ocean Signal, ACR, C-Map, Garmin GNX, Lumitec and Veethree

MIBS2015_Ocean_Signal_James_Flynn_cPanbo.jpgIt’s often hard to organize the news from a busy event like the Miami International Boat Show (MIBS), but this year a few of my photos stood out because they also portray the people behind the electronics. So say hello to Ocean Signal founder James Flynn, seen here showing off their latest ultra compact rescueME safety devices. The MOB1 personal AIS beacon with its added DSC alarm seems impressively simple to fit and use, and thanks to recent FCC approval, it’s now available here in the USA.

Digigone DigiMed telemedicine kits & more Pittman Innovation Award winners 0

Wireless & Apps / Communications / Safety & SAR

Digigone DigiMed telemedicine kits & more Pittman Innovation Award winners

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Sail’s 2015 Pittman Innovation Awards were just announced and one of several interesting winners is a series of DigiMed wireless kits that work with Digigone’s existing telemedicine service. Even the smallest DigiMed Mini above can teleconnect you to a 24/7 emergency medical center via Android tablet and Bluetooth headset and I’ve seen how the included wireless macro camera allows the experts to examine the victim down to skin pore level…

Standard Horizon HX870, handheld VHF/GPS/DSC powerhouse 36

Handheld / Communications / Safety & SAR

Standard Horizon HX870, handheld VHF/GPS/DSC powerhouse

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I was impressed with Standard Horizon’s original HX850 and I’ve been happily using the slightly upgraded HX851 model above for several years. It’s a fine handheld 6 Watt VHF (if you don’t mind the size) plus it’s always ready to place a DSC distress call and/or navigate a life raft (or tender or kayak or…). But, wow, look what they did with the new HX870 model: The screen is at least twice as large, the interface seems usefully updated with soft keys and icons, the battery is substantially larger, and more…

Simrad ForwardScan (B&G too): a breakthrough even in beta testing 19

Fishing & Sonar / Safety & SAR

Simrad ForwardScan (B&G too): a breakthrough even in beta testing

Simrad_NSS_evo2_home_screen_w_ForwardScan_cPanbo.jpgOn Monday I got to poke around Baltimore Harbor with a beta test version of the Simrad ForwardScan announced last spring (discussed here on Panbo) and recently as B&G ForwardScan. Navico’s sonar product manager Matthew Laster brought along several versions of the NSS evo2 software that supports the new forward looking sonar (FLS) transducer but loaded the latest, saying “It hasn’t been tried on a boat yet but I think it’s quite stable.” In fact, it was darn stable and I was quite impressed with what I saw…

EchoPilot Platinum FLS, better than expected 6

Fishing & Sonar / Safety & SAR

EchoPilot Platinum FLS, better than expected

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She: “HEY! Do you realize you’re steering right at a ledge?!?” He: “Yes, dear.” While it was a tough cruise for my lovely first mate, I did learn a lot about what an EchoPilot FLS Platinum Video Engine can actually do. If you click the photo above to full size, for instance, note how the FLS in the Garmin video window is showing especially shallow water about 55 feet ahead, though in a rather vague, pixilated manner. Note too that the more conventional and less expensive Raymarine CHIRP DownView/sonar is at least suggesting a shallowing trend. Still, as the title says, I am finding that the EchoPilot’s performance and usefulness is better than I expected, but then again — a big ‘but’ — my expectations were quite low…

Siren Marine cellular boat monitoring long test, reliable & powerful 9

Communications / Safety & SAR

Siren Marine cellular boat monitoring long test, reliable & powerful

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Boat theft is very rare in Maine, but on a recent Saturday night someone apparently “borrowed” a big twin outboard off a local dock for a “joy ride” during which something was hit hard enough to hole the topsides, and then they put the boat back on the dock and vanished! To my knowledge the mystery remains unsolved, but it sure jogged my memory about the Set feature on the Siren Marine cellular monitoring system I’ve been testing for over two years. The partial phone screen above shows what happened when Gizmo moved more than about 15 meters several days after I texted the “SET” command to the Siren. First I was notified that she’d TRANSGRESsed the geofence set up by the SET command and then the Siren started texting me every five minutes with GAT (Geofence Automatic Time-based) reports that included course, speed and a lat/long link to Google Maps. I could have guided the Maine Marine Patrol to the transgressor pretty quickly, if the “villain” hadn’t been myself…