The Marine Technology Hub
Hurricane Sandy may make this year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) especially exciting! And whereas I’ve got better hardware for tweeting photos and words, I’m going to try that reporting method again. It...
Now that we’ve had a look at Navico’s WiFi1 router and the 0183 Link, let’s examine the Toolkit that will purportedly give developers easy access to the higher level numeric data that’s running around in a boat’s Simrad, Lowrance, or B&G systems. Of course that means NMEA 2000 data and it could lead to all sorts of interesting apps like that instrument screen prototype above. We’re talking about 38 data groups ranging from GPS to Bait Well to Inverter with 303 data types already defined by Navico. I’ll link to the list below and I think even non-programmers will get excited about what’s possible…
I now know a lot more about the Navico GoFree WiFi strategy that we first discussed last January, and it all sounds darn good, but most everyone interested will have to exercise a little more patience. While the iOS version of the GoFree Control and Viewer app is already available on iTunes (with an Android version scheduled for Q1 2013) and the WiFi1 marine wireless hardware is slated to go on sale for $199 in November, the Simrad NSS software that will make them work together smoothly won’t be out until late November, followed by the just-announced Lowrance HDS Touch in Q2 2013. And yes the rumor is true that the GoFree Control app will not be supported for non-touch MFDs like the NSE or regular HDS. But there’s so much else to GoFree that every Navico system owner will likely be pleased eventually…
While I once again found IBEX rich with interesting people and products, it was a mere light fixture that may have sparked the moment of maximum excitement! Please check out my April entry about perfect LED interior lighting before we take a gander at the new Lumitec Touch Dome seen above, plus a report on the LED’s already in use on Gizmo…
Today Lowrance introduced the HDS Gen2 Touch series — new Lowrance web pages here — and I feel especially prepared to cover the news because I got to touch one myself a few weeks ago, and also because a friend of Panbo sent me a copy of the detailed PDF that went out to dealers. The page above, for instance, shows how the new 7-, 9-, and 12-inch Touches compare to the existing HDS Gen2 models they can happily co-exist with. Thus users who are shy about touch — particularly understandable on bouncy boats — can pair that interface with a full button/cursor control model, a good idea that up until now only Garmin offered…
Thanks to Dan Corcoran for submitting a valuable Panbo install entry while your regular editor slacks off ~ Ben:
While the ST70+ — which I wrote about here — continues as the largest and most readable of Raymarine’s many instrument displays, the svelt i70 and its sibling p70 autopilot control heads may be the right size and price to be easy replacements for your existing displays, as they were on my sailboat Breeze Pleeze. As shown in the picture below, the new i70 can drop into the same hole as an ST60 or ST70 with re-positioned mounting screws ready to grab into fresh fiberglass. The display can also be installed in territory previously out of reach, such as shallow cavities that lack good rear access, with a new “front mounted design for simpler installation”. The physical installation is done by securing the display from the front with self tapping screws in each corner that are hidden behind a slim silver snap-on bezel seen two pictures below.
Cape May, NJ: So far, so good except that I obviously haven’t yet integrated Panbo writing into my delivery/cruise routine. Sorry about that, but I’ll get back in the groove now that we’ve slowed down and also now that Gizmo and I have our sea legs back. It’s been a while for both of us! Moreover, I’ve had a chance to test electronics in demanding conditions — like two night time entrances to unfamiliar harbors — and that’s really sharpened my thoughts about what works well and what doesn’t. Today, though, I’m going to discuss my tracking and staying in touch with home strategies…
The boat show season begins with a bang, at least in terms of Instruments. Who knew that Garmin would buy Nexus Marine? And what does it mean for the extensive lines of Nexus racing and cruising instruments? I really don’t know, but it is a good excuse to publish that odd screen shot above. It’s from a fascinating video purportedly showing the America’s Cup ETNZ team calibrating wind instruments for their AC72 in a unique way. And while that’s an Airmar ultrasonic weather station being used as the reference (I presume) those are three Nexus wireless nWind sensors whirling away on the streets of San Francisco…
In July I tested the Iridium 9575 Extreme satellite phone and the AxcessPoint WiFi hotspot accessory that we first discussed here a year ago. Why haven’t I written about it sooner? Well, this summer went by in a flash thanks the PBR, family, and my efforts to prepare boat and home for Gizmo’s southern sojourn (starting this weekend!). Plus I wasn’t really wowed by this gear, though in retrospect I wonder why…
On Tuesday Raymarine announced the e165 and while a replacement for the 14-inch E Widescreen was predictable, it’s pretty neat that they managed to get a 15.4-inch screen plus large second-generation “hybridtouch” controls into a svelte casing that can swap right into the helm panel hole currently occupied by an E Wide 14 (or a C Wide 14). That’s 20% more screen area, and the LED backlighting is said to be wicked bright though the e165’s maximum reported power draw is only 36 watts. And of course the e165 has the triple processing, WiFi, apps, Bluetooth, and new “Lighthouse” interface that seem to be drawing customers to the littler little “e” Series (breakdown of all four “e” sizes and seven models here). But I’m going to guess that many owners of E Wides — which was a brand-new ground-breaking Series only just announced three years ago! — are not happy to see them superseded. There is a dark side to Raymarine’s meteoric resurgence…
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