Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: The Trade

Navico’s numbers, should you care? 20

The future / The Trade

Navico’s numbers, should you care?

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As a privately held corporation Navico doesn’t have to reveal anything about its financial state, but last week it issued a proud press release claiming a dramatic 15% sales increase in 2012, which resulted in revenues of 256 million dollars and EBITDA earnings of 41.4 million. And at the Las Palmas B&G event, the mother company added some claims about what their numbers meant versus the competition, as seen in the slide above. Is Navico painting a fair picture of where the recreational marine electronics market is at? Does it matter to consumers anyway?

B&G in Las Palmas: “Products for All Sailors” 23

The Trade

B&G in Las Palmas: “Products for All Sailors”

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I know several sailors who have installed Lowrance MFDs as an economical way to gain access to Navico’s sailboat-friendly Broadband Radar, and the scheme made sense as there wasn’t really all that much difference between the fishing-focused Lowrance systems and even the sailor-centric B&G Zeus versions of the Simrad NSE and NSS displays. But those days may be over soon as one of several stories Navico presented to the boating press in Las Palmas was a simplification of its three-brand strategy. Now B&G intends to serve all sailors, from grand prix racers to weekend cruisers, and from premium to value-oriented budgets. Moreover, B&G demonstrated that it’s fast putting together a suite of features that should appeal to every type of sailor…

Did Briartek “invent” two-way distress beacons? 17

Communications / Safety & SAR / The Trade

Did Briartek “invent” two-way distress beacons?

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I really enjoyed being part of Trawler Fest last week. It was inspiring to meet relatively new cruising enthusiasts who are working to expand their skill sets, and trying to explain and demonstrate currant technologies rekindled some of my own enthusiasms. I hadn’t turned on the DeLorme inReach in months, for instance, but it located itself and paired with my iPad for easy backup navigation, tracking, and two-way messaging no problem, even though I was standing in front of an audience under a large aluminum-framed tent. Plus I got to see the entirely new User and Map Share web pages DeLorme recently developed for inReach, and they are sharp. However, I was also reminded of a disturbing behind-the-scenes patent issue that may hobble all SENDs (Satellite Emergency Notification Devices) and will likely tax consumers no matter what happens in court…

Furuno MaxSea PC Radar, only in Europe? 35

Navigation / PC & peripheral / The Trade

Furuno MaxSea PC Radar, only in Europe?

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What is it with radar on a PC screen that seems so enticing to yachties? Is it the fact that you don’t need a MFD? Or do we want the ability to use the digital charts of our choice with the radar of our choice? Last week I wrote about how OpenCPN now supports Garmin and Simrad radar, or at least partially, and it was in that entry’s comments where we learned about the existence of Furuno MaxSea PC Radar. Yes it is possible to use Furuno’s excellent radar with the excellent charting program MaxSea Time Zero without purchasing a NavNet 3D or TZ Touch MFD!  But right now it may only be possible in France or Germany…

DSM150, Maretron for the masses? 31

The Trade / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

DSM150, Maretron for the masses?

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When Kees spotted Maretron’s new little display at METS, it didn’t seem like a big deal. In fact, it’s fairly homely compared to other contemporary NMEA 2000 all-in-one displays like the B&G Triton and the Raymarine i70. But now that the DSM150 is fully detailed, I think it represents a significant new opportunity for boaters who used to think that Maretron gear was out of their league…

Panbo & AIM, a good 2013 ahead! 10

The Trade

Panbo & AIM, a good 2013 ahead!

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Panbo may not make the corporate masthead any time soon, but the agreement that begins today is definitely a collaboration between this little web site and the Active Interest Media Marine Group, and I’m quite excited about it. AIM not only includes Power & Motoryacht and Sail magazines, where I wrote columns for many years, but also Soundings and PassageMaker, both of which I’ve long admired. In fact, one of my first formal acts as AIM’s Senior Electronics Editor will be delivering a seminar titled “Dedicated Navigation Systems and the Apps Revolution” at the Fort Lauderdale Trawler Fest on February 1st, a seminar I intend to write aboard my trawler-like Gizmo in South Carolina. But my main goal for 2013 is to make Panbo better than ever and AIM is going to help…

METS 2012 show report part 2: NMEA 2000 related 14

The Trade / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

METS 2012 show report part 2: NMEA 2000 related

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In part 2 I’d like to talk about the items related to NMEA 2000 in some form or fashion. Actually it’s becoming hard to find a new marine electronics product that does not have an N2K interface! From batteries to sensors, they all seem to grow a NMEA 2000 interface. Lets start off with the better known specialists first. Maretron had a lot of gear that I hadn’t seen before like a very new 3.5″ color display, unnamed as of yet, that is essentially a smaller version of the DSM 250. Not only does this fit in better with the 110 mm displays from other manufacturers, I thought the screen actually looked better as well because it has the same amount of pixels at higher DPI. Thus it gets rid of the slightly grainy display that I felt let the DSM 250 down. It probably also uses less power too…

METS 2012 show report part 1: MFDs and navigation displays 14

Navigation / The Trade

METS 2012 show report part 1: MFDs and navigation displays

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As my first, and hopefully not last, series of entries under my own name I’d like to report on my visit to the METS 2012 trade show. If I had to call an overall theme then it would be touch screen chartplotters and the increase in companies working on Lithium batteries. I counted 5 companies offering these, and I probably missed a few. Last year there were few touch chartplotters and this year the Big Four all had lots of them, and there was a little surprise as well with a new range by a company I’d never heard of, Lorenz of Italy. Let me start of with some good Airmar news, the first highlight of the show for me…

FLIBS 2012 redo #1, Raymarine Lighthouse v5 15

Navigation / Safety & SAR / The Trade

FLIBS 2012 redo #1, Raymarine Lighthouse v5

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It’s telling of the Great Convergence when the biggest electronics news of a boat show is arguably a software upgrade. I don’t mean that innovation in marine electronics has slowed down, not at all. But whereas the Big Four have now all rationalized and modernized their product lines — though in some cases it took painful operating system rebuilds — big features can often be realized just by unleashing capabilities already build into MFDs or available from sensors that can already be interfaced. We just saw two neat new Fusion 700 audio interface update, but now consider all the features crammed into Raymarine’s Lighthouse v5 update, which was just announced the first day of FLIBS and — holy cow — is already available for all a-, c-, and e-Series MFDs…

Fusion 700 Series update, mission accomplished? 12

Entertainment / The Trade

Fusion 700 Series update, mission accomplished?

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I’ve been testing (and enjoying) a Fusion MS-IP700 and MS-NRX200 system since I installed them in June and I wholeheartedly support the 700 Series as NMEA’s Technology Award winner of the year. And note that I wasn’t a judge myself this year and unfortunately wasn’t even there (especially as I’ve heard repeatedly that the 2012 NMEA Conference was the success hoped for). You can read all about it in this online version of the ME Journal, and further note that the judges didn’t see the cool multi-manufacturer Fusion interfaces that debuted in Fort Lauderdale…