The Marine Electronics Hub
I didn’t get on the water today (my current PMY column alluding to house projects undone is true, worse than implied actually), but I did find a spot down the street that has a decent sky view to the Southwest where the new, and possibly troublesome, WAAS satellite #51 lives. Which is why—if any neighbors are reading—my truck was parked there with three chart plotters running on the cab roof for a few hours…
As a young island boy, I spent a lot of time looking at maps and charts, plotting courses to find buried treasure, and later as a way to find my way in the world. In recent years, I’ve been drawn to the strong graphic images on my GPS screen as I navigate the local waters. This piece is painted on a rudder from a North Haven dinghy, the oldest one-class design in America, donated by J. O. Brown on North Haven. The image is a loose interpretation of Rockland Harbor around The Atlantic Challenge dock area taken from my GPS map. I like the idea of combining a rudder, the part of a boat that provides direction, with the GPS map imagery that tells you where you are, so you can choose where to go.
Had some fun this morning, showing my friend Jack the Garmin 5212 and 4212 in action while cruising around a very busy Camden Harbor (classic boat races again)…
I just learned that on July 31 (July 16 according to this Trimble PDF) the FAA decommissioned WAAS satellites 122 (#35) and 134 (#47), and that at least some marine GPS receivers are not able to recognize the remaining two correction-sending birds, 135 (#45) and the new 138 (#51). In other words, your plotter may not be showing your position quite as accurately as you’re used to…
PMY’s Patrick Sciacca had quite a time testing this 3,600 hp Hatteras 60GT, at one point doing 48 mph in a serious seaway. He was also impressed with the 15” touch screen Northstar 8000i on center in the helm’s pop-up electronics console…
Back in June the FCC asked for comments regarding Class B AIS units, and several of you—along with the USCG and other safety minded organizations—all encouraged the FCC to approve, or at least waiver, transponders already approved and in use outside the U.S., as soon as possible. There were NO objections…
So a friend of mine recently returned from the Upper East Side of Manhattan with a report of a New Yorker cartoon seen live: A madame parking her large and shiny SUV while getting backing directions from a lady friend stationed on the sidewalk via cell phone! No wonder there’s a
Krill Systems just announced its solid state (SS), black box (BB), marine PC, which means I get to drag out this shot of Casey Cox mugging with it at my kitchen table in June. The box uses a flash disk drive and embedded Windows XP for 24/7 reliability with a current draw of only 55 watts. It’s meant…
We haven’t had any “weekend weirdness” or contest entries for a while, and this seems so right…
Darn, I was hoping to get a shot of Bruce Kessler in his wheelhouse departing the Camden Public Landing this morning, but got distracted by a contest idea (that you’ll find here this weekend)…
