MIBS #4: FLIR & PYI Seaview, Furuno & Oceanview
Here’s a clever idea. PYI worked with FLIR to create an accessory podlet for several of its Seaview MFD pods that serves as an integral casing for a relatively inexpensive (“just over $2,500”) thermal camera core (info here). The core’s output goes to the video input of whatever MFD is mounted on the working side of the pod so the user then has a simple forward-looking thermal view that can even be aimed using the pan and tilt abilities of the pod. There’s a major limitation to this idea — the fact that thermal can’t see through glass or plastic — but I can think of situations where it might make a lot of sense…
A center console or yacht tender that does a lot of night running, for instance, might love a compact setup like this (and might even cut a hole in their plexi windshield to make it work). A sailboat helm with a clear view forward might also benefit, and someone who wants to get really creative might use a V-Lock mount system to make their podded MFD and camera movable (I did this all last season with a big Scanstrut pod and Ray E140 Wide, visible here, and it worked fine).
Meanwhile, at the higher end of thermal, Miami also saw the debut of a new integration between full thermal camera control and an MFD. Last year Furuno showed off great integration between MaxSea TimeZero Explorer and FLIR M-Series, and this year they showed the same sort of integration in NavNet 3D, except with OceanView thermal cameras. I don’t know if FLIR cams will now also work with NN3D, or OceanView with MSTZ Explorer, but it certainly seems possible. But I do know that Furuno offers what’s called Cue and Slew in their camera integrations and I think that’s a big deal. Not only can you click your plotter screen to pan camera to a nav aid or whatever, but if you click on an AIS or ARPA target the system will also track it. I’ve never tried cue and slew but I’m guessing it makes thermal a lot more useful, especially when the going gets rough. Raymarine’s otherwise slick interface with FLIR cameras doesn’t have cue and slew yet, but for sure it’s planned. (And below is another slick cam interface, this one from OceanView running on a wireless tablet.)
Meanwhile, at the higher end of thermal, Miami also saw the debut of a new integration between full thermal camera control and an MFD. Last year Furuno showed off great integration between MaxSea TimeZero Explorer and FLIR M-Series, and this year they showed the same sort of integration in NavNet 3D, except with OceanView thermal cameras. I don’t know if FLIR cams will now also work with NN3D, or OceanView with MSTZ Explorer, but it certainly seems possible. But I do know that Furuno offers what’s called Cue and Slew in their camera integrations and I think that’s a big deal. Not only can you click your plotter screen to pan camera to a nav aid or whatever, but if you click on an AIS or ARPA target the system will also track it. I’ve never tried cue and slew but I’m guessing it makes thermal a lot more useful, especially when the going gets rough. Raymarine’s otherwise slick interface with FLIR cameras doesn’t have cue and slew yet, but for sure it’s planned. (And below is another slick cam interface, this one from OceanView running on a wireless tablet.)
I wonder about heat build up. That’s a lot of hot fins in an enclosed space.
FLIR’s Andrew Cox tells me that “the FLIR core generates almost no heat so the only overheating issue would be on the behalf of the display and obviously, any display will work in this POD.”
Plus the Seaview pod has a “GORE vent” on the underside, which promotes ventilation but doesn’t let water in. More info on FLIR pod here:
http://www.seaviewglobal.com/en/products/304
Thanks for the feedback, Col