Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: Wireless & Apps

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…

Coastal Marine WiFi, a winner! 58

Wireless & Apps / Network & control / Communications

Coastal Marine WiFi, a winner!

Coastal_Marine_WiFi_hardware_cPanbo.jpgSince early May I’ve used the Coastal Marine WiFi kit with all sorts of onboard WiFi devices and all sorts of Internet hotspots, and I’m very impressed with its smart design and easy, reliable performance. Yes, the overall system architecture is quite similar to several other good boat WiFi “booster” solutions like the various Wave Rogue and Bitstorm Xtreme kits, but there’s a lot of nuance to making these systems easy to install and operate. And whereas many boaters are still understandably confused about the WiFi booster/router combo that’s so unlike what they use at home or office, I’m going to dig deep into how the CMW goes together and what it can do…

NMEA okays Signal K, a milestone in marine electronics? 33

Wireless & Apps / The future / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

NMEA okays Signal K, a milestone in marine electronics?

NMEA_recognizes_Signal_K_aPanbo.jpgWow! Today the National Marine Electronics Association — also known as NMEA, or IMEA for its International reincarnation — announced recognition of the Signal K open source marine data project. It’s clearly not an endorsement, but it does provide clear methods to gateway NMEA 2000 boat data to the Internet-friendly universal marine data model that the Signal K is about. And that’s plenty good enough, I think. In fact, as the title above wonders, this may turn out to be a very big deal. I also think it marks a nice evolution for NMEA. Though criticism of this trade and standards organization from outside the small world of hardcore marine electronics has largely been unfair, NMEA could do better fitting into the much bigger and faster-moving data/app universe, and now they’re trying harder…

Teak Isle, Boat Outfitters, and Qi wireless phone charging 3

Wireless & Apps / Cabin & deck gear / Good Gear (non electronic)

Teak Isle, Boat Outfitters, and Qi wireless phone charging

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Yes, you can have wireless phone and tablet charging built into your boat right now. What’s more, the Qi wireless charging standard that’s powering the demo above is picking up support at a rapid rate, and the company building it into boat cabinetry is top drawer (so to speak). In fact, you should know about Teak Isle and its DIY retail outlet Boat Outfitters even if you don’t give a hoot about induction charging…

Digital Yacht Sonar Server, keeping it simple! 19

Fishing & Sonar / Wireless & Apps

Digital Yacht Sonar Server, keeping it simple!

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I’m really impressed with the Digital Yacht Sonar Server introduced last week, though it has almost nothing to do with the technology involved. In fact, I think the DY developers could have engineered this product in their sleep, as could several other companies that specialize in NMEA 0183 utility hardware. What’s brilliant here is a simple, reasonably priced, and fast-to-market solution for certain boaters who are understandably hot to use the Navionics SonarCharts Live app feature on their phone or tablet. And Digital Yacht has backed up their marketing smarts with deep info on how to install the Sonar Server…

Navico WR10 Wireless Pilot Controller & BT-1 Bluetooth-to-N2K gateway 32

Wireless & Apps / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Navico WR10 Wireless Pilot Controller & BT-1 Bluetooth-to-N2K gateway

Navico_WR10_autopilot_remote_cPanbo.jpg

Last week Navico introduced a Wireless Pilot Controller that can be added to B&G, Simrad, and Lowrance autopilots that connect to their control heads (and/or MFD controls) via NMEA 2000. It can do more than the keys indicate — like tack a sailboat that’s being steered in wind mode — and it will retail at $349 with a BT-1 Bluetooth Base Station. The WR10 remote will also be available by itself for $150 as four can work with one BT-1 at once, and eventually the remote may be able to work directly with the Bluetooth built into displays like the recently introduced Lowrance HDS Gen3 or the new Simrad Go7 / B&G Vulcan V7 twins…

Apple Watch boat applets, Pocket Mariner is raring to go 9

Wireless & Apps / Gadgets / AIS

Apple Watch boat applets, Pocket Mariner is raring to go

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I find the Apple Watch fascinating, even if I have no plans to own one myself, and I encourage anyone else with an interest to read David Pierce’s Iphone Killer: The secret history of the Apple Watch at Wired.com for a deep look at what the obsessed designers were up to. The first hands-on reviews are coming out now, pre-orders start late tonight, and at least one boating apps developer will be ready to go when the watches release to the public on April 24…

Onboard WiFi and cell booster strategies, the diagrams 32

Wireless & Apps / Communications

Onboard WiFi and cell booster strategies, the diagrams

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I’ve given numerous seminars about what modern mobile communications can do on boats these days and I’ll be presenting the latest version at TrawlerFest’s new Essex, Connecticut, location in early June. Aside from guidance about useful apps and the neat ways phones, tablets, and the Internet are integrating with marine electronics, boaters want to know how to improve their WiFi and/or cell connections with shore. But when I start talking about typical methods of installing wireless boosters, confusion sometimes follows! So, I’m working on a series of diagrams that Panbo readers might also find useful…

Wemar Nautipad, why not e-paper instrument displays? 13

Wireless & Apps / PC & peripheral / The Trade

Wemar Nautipad, why not e-paper instrument displays?

Wemar_Nautipad_displays_aPanbo.jpg

They look like excellent instrument displays, especially when you realize that they’re portable, wireless, waterproof, touchscreen tablets that rarely need charging and shouldn’t be wicked expensive. Unfortunately, though, they’re not currently available. I hesitate to write about a discontinued product, but the seemingly well-developed Wemar Nautipad system above could come back on the market if another company wants to give it a go, and e-paper screens seem like an interesting idea for boats anyway…

Wireless autopilot controls: Madman for Raymarine, Si-Tex SRS-100 for any brand 13

Wireless & Apps / Gadgets

Wireless autopilot controls: Madman for Raymarine, Si-Tex SRS-100 for any brand

Madman_ap_control_for_Raymarine_cPanbo.jpgSome people think it’s crazy to run an autopilot with a smartphone, so maybe it’s fitting that a company called Madman Marine is the first to make this possible with Raymarine pilots. But then again Madman’s AP-WRC3iF comes with two fobs that run on a separate wireless frequency and that can also make course changes, initiate autotacks and change pilot modes. And it only costs about $235 U.S. plus shipping from Australia (with the fob-only model at about $190)…