METS 2012 show report part 3: wrap up
So what else did I see? Well, I’d like to tell you about three more products that caught my eye. Lets start with a very well made range of marine torches and flashlights produced by Exposure Marine. This is a new market for the company Exposure Lights that have been making lights for bikes until now…
As you can see in the lead picture their EX2 torch floats, right side up so you can throw it in after a MOB, or find it if you accidentally drop it in the sea! What that picture does not show and I hope this one does is how small it is:
It is about the same width as a Maglite, but only a few inches long and very, very light for a 700 lumen flashlight. It is just so much better thought out than the cheap Chinese lights I’ve been using: the light comes on slowly over 2 seconds, has a red nightlight, etc. etc. As usual there is one downside and that is the GBP 200 price, which means they will be something like $300 USD.
I got a chance to see some of the first SonarCharts recorded around the Isle of Wight. These looked very detailed, with a complete overview over the terrain. Wow! I forgot to take a picture, but here is a picture from the Navionics brochure:
What remains to be seen is how quickly the community will be able to produce meaningful data for our respective boating areas. I have no idea yet how quickly we’ll be able to get such data. We’ll just have to wait and see.
I guess it is not a coincidence that the newly announced Garmin 700 series is able to create sounder logs, as I’m sure that crowd sourced charts are going to be a focal point for all vendors.
And now for the last product — finally an electronics device without NMEA 2000! In fact, without any interfacing at all… The NASA marine EX-1 is a very simple exhaust temperature monitor/alarm that has a digital display showing the temperature in a wet exhaust. If the temperature rises above a set maximum an alarm shows both audial and visual. The fact that NASA marine always keeps their products simple means they are able to offer this at a great price, the EX-1 is GBP 86 so around $130.
Part III, what a nice surprise this morning. This series is beyond well done, these three entries need to be submitted for a BWI award, perhaps the category of “Boating News and Analysis”!
Im really surprised that none of the marine electronic companies have thought of making a simple chain counter in NMEA 2000.
I know there used to be a New Zealand company called AutoAnchor, (now OOB) that made a chain counter with 0183 output using their own dedicated display, however, what I’m looking for is a chain counter that connects to N2K and displays on all the displays and chart plotters. How hard can that be? All the technology is already out there it really only takes pulling it together in one package.
In my opinion, there is a solid market for this. Anchoring is a serious evolution on any boat and knowing how much chain is going over the side is critical.
AutoAnchor is alive and well but now belongs to Kiwi Yachting. In fact, they just announced a new AA601 black box rode counter: http://goo.gl/ARojS
But I agree that a NMEA 2000 counter would be nice. The developer would have to write a custom PGN, though, as I find no mention of anchors, rode, or chain in the N2K Standard PGN & fields list:
http://www.nmea.org/Assets/july%202010%20nmea2000_v1-301_app_b_pgn_field_list.pdf
Thx for all the great great METS reports!
I have a huge problem with so-called marine flash lights that are round (cylindrical). Have these designers ever been on a boat? OK 700 lumens is bright but a $300 flash light? Really? I bought a Dorcy http://www.amazon.com/Dorcy-41-4750-Lumen-Flashlight-Batteries/dp/B002OOZERY/ref=cm_lmf_tit_11_rsrsrs0
Not 700 lumens but I’ve been VERY happy with it. I could buy 15+ for the price of one EX2.