Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: Wireless & Apps

Afterguard heads-up display, the Recon Jet goes sailboat racing 9

Wireless & Apps / Gadgets / The future

Afterguard heads-up display, the Recon Jet goes sailboat racing

Afterguard_HUD_in_action_aPanbo.jpgThe goal is to direct your focus wherever it’s needed on or beyond the boat while still having critical data in sight.  Brand spanking new today is the Afterguard heads-up display (HUD) for racing sailors. Yes, recent America’s Cup skippers apparently used HUD sunglasses, though you’re a better researcher than I if you can find detail about how they worked and what data they provided. Afterguard intends to bring this technology down at least a few levels, and that means we get a better look at what it can do. This sort of product is more than a little out of my wheelhouse, so to speak, but it looks like this new company did its homework and made some smart decisions…

Vesper XB-8000 test, much more than a Class B AIS transponder 46

Wireless & Apps / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Vesper XB-8000 test, much more than a Class B AIS transponder

XB-8000-3-in-one-800.jpgI’ve had a Vesper XB-8000 installed in the lab for the last month, and am confident that it will do well in a long test on board Gizmo beginning in May. I will miss some features of the Vesper Vision I tested last season, but having the blue box installed behind the scenes will help me test the glass bridge concept (one MFD brand, many screens), and at $799 I think the XB-8000 is a multifunction value that could work on a wide variety of vessels. The recent testing also revealed some new features that apply to both the XB and the Vision as Vesper continues to expand on the concepts expressed in the 3-in-1 diagram above…

Sonos WiFi HiFi tested: excellent at home, maybe for boat 34

Wireless & Apps / Entertainment

Sonos WiFi HiFi tested: excellent at home, maybe for boat

Sonos_Play_1_test_cPanbo.jpgI knew little about Sonos wireless hifi a month ago. While the ads suggested an elegant Apple-like design, I had the impression it also came with Apple-like premium prices and was certainly not suitable for boats. But now that I’ve lived for a month with the relatively new Play:1 seen above, I may have been wrong on both counts!  Many reviewers have already praised the little speaker/amp’s hardware and audio quality compared to similar wireless speakers. I want to detail the superb Sonos audio access and control software that you can tap into with just one $199 Play:1(though adding more components will be a huge temptation) and also discuss how Sonos can make sense afloat.

Si-Tex T-760 Series radar, other ways of integration 5

Fishing & Sonar / Wireless & Apps / Navigation

Si-Tex T-760 Series radar, other ways of integration

Si-Tex_T-760_standalone_radar_w domes_aPanbo.jpgThere’s more to the new Si-Tex T-760 Series radar than you’ll currently find on that product page. Those multi-speed radomes are unlike anything Si-Tex has offered before and contain digital processing that will eventually put 16-level true color target imagery on that 800 x 480 pixel touch screen (with a software update). Plus the case is carved from solid aluminum and can be easily flush mounted. At a suggested retail of about $2,100 with the 18-inch radome and an impressive set of radar features, the T-760 looks like an interesting alternative for boaters who don’t want all their electronic navigation tools on a multifunction display. It might also work for those early adopters who can’t get radar on the tablets they want to use for primary navigation…

The new MarineTraffic Internet AIS service, cautiously optimistic 18

Wireless & Apps / AIS

The new MarineTraffic Internet AIS service, cautiously optimistic

Internet_AIS_ShipFinder_app_cPanbo.jpg

These days I feel obliged to include a warning every time I write about AIS over the Internet. What you see in a nice app like ShipFinder HD (above) probably does not include every vessel that’s transmitting AIS info even in fairly well covered areas like the Miami/Lauderdale area, and many areas aren’t covered at all…unless perhaps you’re using the Seapilot app in Sweden or somehow have access to another well-organized AIS receiver system. That’s because what most of us see on computers, phones or tablets connected to the Web is target data collected by patchy networks of volunteers whose shore antennas may well miss even fairly nearby 2 Watt Class B AIS transmissions or even 12 Watt Class A signals obscured by buildings or terrain (or may suddenly go offline just because the volunteer’s kid trips on a power cord or similar).

Miami 2014 comms #2: VHF, AIS & the app connection 46

Wireless & Apps / Communications / AIS

Miami 2014 comms #2: VHF, AIS & the app connection

Standard_Horizon_Eclipse_DSC+.jpg

There are still an amazing number of boats that can’t use the excellent DSC Distress feature that’s been built into every fixed VHF marine radio sold in the U.S.A since 1999. Their radio either hasn’t been interfaced with a GPS or hasn’t been programmed with the owner’s MMSI number, or both. I’ve heard Coast Guard rescue center personnel report that a DSC alert can work beautifully to quickly identify and locate a boat in trouble, but that they rarely see valid DSC alerts. So before discussing advances in VHF (and AIS) let’s note how companies like Standard Horizon and Icom are helping to make working DSC a pervasive reality (finally)…

Miami 2014 comms #1: WiFi, Cellular, and V-SAT advances 20

Wireless & Apps / Communications / Entertainment / Weather

Miami 2014 comms #1: WiFi, Cellular, and V-SAT advances

Humminbird_ION_10_web_browser_cPanbo.jpg

That’s the Web browser built into the Humminbird ION10 MFD that I first saw demoed in Lauderdale (pre browser), and the test was pretty realistic for a boat show. It was easy to log the ION onto my phone’s WiFi hotspot and if you click the image bigger you’ll see how well it rendered a complex site like www.powerandmotoryacht.com. It even supports tabs for multiple sites, so if I were out fishing on, say, a sunny center consol I could have had a weather site open while still checking my gMail or moderating Panbo comments, all on a bright waterproof screen. This is a MFD first, I think — the Standard Horizon CPN1010i can access the Web, but not while in navigation mode — though the lack of ION detail on Humminbird’s site suggests that they are taking their time getting it out the door.

Miami 2014, glass bridge everywhere 11

Wireless & Apps / Navigation / Electrical & Engines

Miami 2014, glass bridge everywhere

Mercury_Simrad_glass_bridge_cPanbo.JPGThe Garmin and Volvo Penta Glass Cockpit won a lot of awards and shook up the competitors. I think it’s why Raymarine rolled out its nifty-seeming ECI-100 so quickly and I suspect it motivated Mercury Marine to put together the clean “glass dash” above. The Simrad NSO evo2 driving those two MO19-T monitors is not only doing the boat’s CZone switching — even able to activate the four outboards — but its Mercury Vessel View app seemed a terrific interface to all those engines…

Iridium’s GO! satellite WiFi and Globalstar’s mysterious SatFi 28

Wireless & Apps / Communications / Safety & SAR

Iridium’s GO! satellite WiFi and Globalstar’s mysterious SatFi

Iridium_GO_satellite_hot_spot.jpg

Wow! With a bounty of significant cruising electronics news on my desk, the new Iridium GO! may rank #1. Think of it as the Iridium Extreme — arguably the most versatile, rugged, and expensive sat phone available — with the phone interface replaced by a WiFi radio able to handle five smartphones or tablets. The GO can install semi-permanently with an external antenna, or sit on deck while you make a quiet call below, or go in your pack when you hike in Tierra del Fuego. You’ll still be able to make and take phone calls anywhere, but they will be easier, less expensive, and purportedly better sounding. Plus there’s global email, tracking, and so much more…

Victron Color Control GX, more than a power display 4

Wireless & Apps / Electrical & Engines / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Victron Color Control GX, more than a power display

Victron_color_control_GX_in_action.jpgThe photo could be sharper but I like it for two reasons. First, it’s confirmation that an ambitious product which doesn’t even have a manual yet actually works in the field. Second, it’s doing interesting work on an intriquing new vessel that has deep Panbot roots. You’ll learn much more about the boat on Febuary 4th when we celebrate Panbo’s 10th birthday, but today please say hello to the Victron Color Control GX…