Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

Category: Wireless & Apps

DeLorme inReach, the Iridium 9602 almost surfaces 9

Wireless & Apps / Safety & SAR

DeLorme inReach, the Iridium 9602 almost surfaces

DeLorme_inReach_prototype.jpg

Impatient me was beginning to wonder if the intriguing Iridium 9602 short burst data modem would ever materialize into a useful product. The Cerberus communicator and service I discussed in January is supposed “to arrive” for real in 7 days, but it’s gotten zero marketing so far, and I haven’t heard about any other 9602-based devices that might seriously appeal to boaters until yesterday. And, in fact, even the DeLorme inReach isn’t scheduled to ship until Fall. But it certainly looks neat…

Boat Monitor, anchor watch in the cloud 16

Wireless & Apps / Navigation

Boat Monitor, anchor watch in the cloud

BoatMonitor_on_Droid_Incredible2_cPanbo.jpg

It’s obviously not practical to anchor in Camden’s Inner Harbor — especially as there are often two Gizmo-size boats on each of those floats — but it was a good first taste of Boat Monitor, a very interesting new remote anchor watch system. What’s happening here is that I used Gizmo’s low-power Datalux police car computer (seen in yesterday’s entry, and also here) to log onto Boat Monitor’s web site and establish a sophisticated anchor watch keyed to a Garmin 17x GPS connected via NMEA 2000. Boat Monitor’s server then started minding Gizmo’s position, ready to serve it elsewhere and/or send alarms as needed. One possibility is this $5 app on my Android phone, but there are others. The details and flexibility are impressive…

iPad GRIB viewers, Weather4D & WeatherTrack 68

Wireless & Apps / Weather

iPad GRIB viewers, Weather4D & WeatherTrack

Weather4D_w_3D_pressure.jpg

When I wrote about Garmin’s new GDL 40 cellular weather system recently, the comments reminded me about how many different ways there are to access data and forecasts (and how opinionated some folks are about the methods they favor).  So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when two apps that both specialize in downloading and displaying GRIB weather model data on iPads or their smaller siblings, take quite different approaches to the task…

BoatUS towing app, & the iPad Grip 4

Wireless & Apps / Safety & SAR

BoatUS towing app, & the iPad Grip

BoatUS_towing_app_and_Pad_Grip_on_Gizmo_cPanbo.jpgGizmo is still ashore, but she shed her shrink-wrap this week and today I had a few enjoyable hours aboard tidying up and fooling with some new accessories. One is the handy mount holding the iPad up next to the Datalux police car computer (which apparently survived the winter aboard fine), but first let’s talk about the free and very clever BoatUS smartphone app showing on the pad. Some of the features alluded to in that link aren’t enabled yet, but its primary function — making an automated call for a tow — worked very well in my test…

MIBS # 5: C-Map, EarthNC, & MapMedia news 20

Wireless & Apps / Charts

MIBS # 5: C-Map, EarthNC, & MapMedia news

Jeppesen_C-Map_charting_app_cPanbo.JPG

It’s a lousy photo, for sure, but Jeppesen C-Map has not yet announced its iPad charting app, let alone released screen shots, though I found it one of the nicest surprises of the Miami show.  It seems that C-Map not only intends to match Navionics’ much appreciated efforts to offer inexpensive but detailed marine cartography on multiple apps platforms, but to do it even better.  Note, for instance, the “CWeather” button on the menu bar above, and that C-Map has been working to overlay weather data on plotters since at least 2004 (though the then available mechanisms — a complicated cellular connection, or a data card transfer — were awkward).  I’m not sure what CWeather offers today (the Jeppesen site says only European data), but we know that a connected tablet or phone can make the download process very easy.

Maretron IPG100, the missing link, sort of? 29

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

Maretron IPG100, the missing link, sort of?

Maretron_IPG100.JPG

Wow, Maretron just released the IPG100, an “Internet Protocol Gateway” that can take all the NMEA 2000 PGNs on a backbone, turn them into TCP/IP data packets, and serve them out an Ethernet port.  Which means of course that the data can then be routed by cable to a vessel’s local network of computers (and other fixed Ethernet gear) and by WiFi to an infinite assortment of onboard mobile tablets, apps phones, etc.  Obvious too is that an IP gateway could also be adept at sending data off a vessel, and vice versa, for remote monitoring, troubleshooting, and more.  And Maretron’s IPG100 consumes only 0.5 amps of N2K backbone power at most and its $595 price tag includes much more than I’ve already described.  Or much less, depending on your point of view!…

iPad cases for the boat, & some interesting apps 56

Wireless & Apps

iPad cases for the boat, & some interesting apps

M-Edge_Leisure_Jacket_iPad_Case_cPanbo.JPG

I find that my iPad is so sharp and slippery that I almost always use it in a case, and once I get it on the boat there will also be an increased danger of impact or water damage.  So I’ve been testing three candidates for Gizmo’s cruising iPad case.  That M-Edge Leisure Jacket above is far and away my favorite at this point.  Yes, it’s a bit bulky but the high-density fitted-foam bed and cloth cover are light, easy to handle, and highly protective; and the whole thing tends to stay where you put it.  Perhaps most important, the vinyl cover does not impede screen use nearly as much as you might presume.  I’ve used the Jacket a lot now, with all kinds of apps, and I’m rarely annoyed by the plastic.  The pocket on the back may be too tight to be very useful — and I wish it had a “kickstand” for typing comfort (though it’s easy to stick something under there to get the right tilt) — but  I like the Leisure Jacket.  Now, about that weird compass app…