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Gizmo Thanksgiving, & the Garmin 740 networked 22

Navigation

Gizmo Thanksgiving, & the Garmin 740 networked

Gizmo_lower_helm2_fall_2010_cPanbo.JPG

It’s about to be Thanksgiving here in the states, and — aside from the normal family stuff (which is huge) — I surely am thankful for being the custodian of a wonderful boat, for living in a beautiful corner of the oceans, and for getting to fool with some great technology.  Above is Gizmo’s lower helm, the Fall 2010 edition, and while there’s a lot here that I haven’t written about yet, I’m going to focus today on that little Garmin GPSMAP 740 on the chart table…

Bad Elf GPS, & the not-so-bad Verizon iPad deal 40

Wireless & Apps

Bad Elf GPS, & the not-so-bad Verizon iPad deal

badelf-gps-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch.jpg

Hurray for the Bad Elf GPS!  While it’s simply a high-performance GPS receiver that fits into the data/power port of any Apple iThing, it means that an iPod Touch can finally run mapping and charting apps like an iPhone 3Gs can, perhaps even better given the Elf’s high specs. Ditto for older iPhones with their crummy internal GPS receivers and for WiFi-only iPads which — like Touch’s — don’t contain any sort of GPS.  I’m sure that there will eventually be all sorts of ways to get GPS, and even other boat sensor data, into iDevices, but the Bad Elf seems to be an easy solution, and it can be had at Amazon for $100 right now.  Here’s hoping that it will also help some boaters untangle the confusion around iThing GPS, and data plans, which recently got worse…

METS 2010 roundup, thanks to Kees 17

Wireless & Apps / AIS / The Trade / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

METS 2010 roundup, thanks to Kees

METS_ExNC_booth_KeesV.JPG

Once again — and a nice contrast to my various METS ramblings — the good Kees Verrujit kindly wrote up his impressions of the huge Amsterdam marine equipment trade show:

Today I visited METS for the fourth year in a row. This year the show was even bigger than last year, by about 20%. Anyone who still claims they can do all halls and booths on one day is a close relation of Baron Münchhausen. I visited some booths as a NMEA 2000 enthusiast, some in my role of technologist for a yard, but most in my role as a delegated Panbo blogger. This year that was a lot easier than last, as more and more people seem to read Panbo or at least know Ben’s name — most vividly portrayed by a huge quote sign in the Fusion Marine Audio booth {like this one, only bigger!}.  The major themes I noticed were: Pads (and iOS apps) were everywhere; AIS is taking off in a major way; Chinese electronics are coming; and
NMEA 2000 is here to stay…

DAME Awards 2010, part 2 2

Cabin & deck gear / Navigation / Safety & SAR / The Trade

DAME Awards 2010, part 2

ODEO_laser_flare.JPG

DAME Awards will be chosen at METS this coming week for multiple categories, but there are electronical things well beyond the main marine electronics category discussed on Thursday.   Consider, for instance, how the ODEO Flare seen above attempts to replace pyrotechnics with four lasers and a revolving prism.  It does cost almost 100 pounds, but purportedly stays lit for 10 hours on 2 AA batteries, and it won’t burn you.  Also in the Lifesaving and Safety Equipment category are SeeTrac’s Jet-trak high-end PWC tracking system, McMurdo’s SmartFind S5 AIS SART, and Weatherdock’s easyRescue, which seems to be a personal-size AIS SART.  And of course there’s the Marine Related Software category…

DAME Awards 2010, part 1 7

Fishing & Sonar / The Trade

DAME Awards 2010, part 1

Echopilot_3D_FLS.JPG

EchoPilot’s 3D forward looking sonar, mentioned here last year when Kees covered METS,  purportedly just started shipping, and the screen shots posted at the company site are even more compelling.  That spire imaged above, for instance, represents a navigation buoy with a triple mooring system.  But might this product be causing the judges of this year’s DAME (Design at METS) Award some anguish?  They did choose it as one of the six finalists in the Marine Electronics category, but it’s got to be difficult to judge such a unique technology on the basis of screen shots, especially when they can get more hand’s with some of the other other nominees…

Raymarine ST-STng converter, hand’s on #1 (GPS) 10

NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Raymarine ST-STng converter, hand’s on #1 (GPS)

Raymarine_ST-STng_convertor_working_cPanbo.JPG

What this screen means:  Since Gizmo’s current NMEA 2000 network has more than one sensor able to supply the types of data listed above, the Garmin 5212 gives me a choice of which source to use, and in each case I’ve chosen data that originated from Raymarine SeaTalk sensors and instrument displays, but was converted to SeaTalkNG (aka NMEA 2000) by Ray’s much-discussed-on-Panbo ST-to-STng Converter.  Not only does the Garmin perceive all that converted SeaTalk data as valid NMEA 2000 PGNs, but it all looks decent when displayed, and I’ve done similarly successful testing on the Simrad NSE, Lowrance HDS, and Furuno NN3D MFD.  So, despite Ray’s caution against using the converter on a standard N2K backbone, a whole passel of ST40 instruments are feeding Gizmo’s network, and getting power off it.  And maybe that’s all you need to know, though I did get into some nitty gritty detail…

Adventure Zone, & more Spot Hug details 19

Communications / Safety & SAR

Adventure Zone, & more Spot Hug details

Trackme360_Adventure_Zone_NARC_2010.JPG

Though already a fan of SPOT for reasonably easy and inexpensive boat tracking, I didn’t realize until yesterday that there is a slick way to track whole fleets of Spot-equipped vessels (or back country runners, dog sleds, whatever), even with photos and commentary on the same site.  Go to the Adventure Zone and select the NARC Rally for a current example.  I’m not sure, but the service — provided by TrackMe360, which rents Spots, among other things — may even be free.  And note how spread out and “off course” the NARC fleet (more info here) is, due to the atrocious weather that’s plagued the Northeast lately.  One thing I’m more sure of is that boats like these will find Spot services easier to use once they can install Hug systems, instead of using handhelds…