Red hot studs and melted wires, could have been worse
The sad looking picture above is the back of Have Another Day’s 240v AC panel. Though it doesn’t look good here, it was scarier looking when I first opened the panel the dull grey stud...
Panbo News and Reviews
The continuing search for a great boat ebike, Sondors Fold edition
My interest in electric assist bicycles has not waned a bit since I wrote about my boat ebike research early last year. In fact, I now own five, including the two Sondors folding models above. I’ve also learned a lot more about what to look for. I will share the possible downsides but be forewarned that I’ve become an ebike evangelist…
Yacht campaigning along RI beaches hits rocks, politician blames NOAA
Yesterday was tough for Rhode Island independent gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo. To me it already seemed like a poor idea to use his 65-foot yacht to campaign along the state’s summer beaches, especially with the huge banners and his “very, very big sound equipment” playing patriotic music. But then came the navigation issues…
New B&G WS300 wired & wireless NMEA 2000 wind sensors, no N2K mast cable needed
B&G just announced the WS300 range “of wireless and wired wind sensors designed for cruising and club racing sailors” and the first two models seem like smart designs at reasonable prices. It’s also interesting exactly how both types deliver NMEA 2000 wind information to a boat without having to run an N2K backbone up its mast…
Easy Marine Traffic AIS sharing from your boat, FloatHub is first
The screen above may look like an app running exclusively on the boat, but actually all that data was being easily uploaded to my private data cloud thanks to Gizmo’s FloatHub monitoring system, plus the AIS target info was being automatically shared with the public via Marine Traffic. There are many benefits to sharing the AIS data your boat receives, and FloatHub has other recent improvements with more coming…
Can you open the fridge and grab me an iPad?
I’m an information junkie; if some information is good, more is better. So, when traveling in unfamiliar waters I would like to know as much as possible. This data habit finds me with multiple plotters and a couple of iPad Minis at the helm when I’m underway. Sometimes my quest for information finds me refrigerating iPads.
Weems & Plath PRO 7×50 binoculars, customized for monocular vision
Several years ago I noticed that Weems & Plath had introduced a line of binoculars that seemed to offer good specifications at reasonable costs. But it took me until last fall’s Annapolis Show discount to take the plunge, and then it took some customization work to get where I hoped to. It’s an interesting story, I think, but to tell it I’ll have to reveal two more personal idiosyncracies…
KVH enters the cellular Internet market
KVH announced they’ve entered the cellular internet market with the TracPhone LTE-1. Their marketing materials say it can deliver “Double the coverage and 10x faster speed at sea.” KVH is providing the hardware and the cellular service and promises to deliver an all-in-one, end-to-end, no hassle, simple service. If this announcement weren’t from KVH and it didn’t have some of the pretty bold claims KVH makes it might look like just a ho-hum, me too announcement. But, KVH says they can do more faster and easier than the existing products so, I for one, am looking forward to seeing if this, generally pretty conservative, engineer driven company, can back them up.
Standard Horizon GX6000 VHF & wireless RAM 4W mics, finally!
Many readers got excited when Panbo covered the “coming soon” Standard Horizon GX6500 and GX6000 radios in October, 2016. It looked like SH was about to blaze trail once again, but then the story got confusing, even sad…But a real GX6000 along with the trailblazing RAM4W mic materialized at my door on Friday, and I’m tentatively impressed.
SpotX 2-way Globalstar satellite messenger, Viuho Inmarsat too
I’m a longtime fan of the DeLorme inReach as a two-way messenger, tracker, and safety device for boating (and other uses), especially when we wander beyond cellular coverage. Panbo inReach coverage goes back to...
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