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Simrad BR24PC, Free Range BroadBand Radar #2 34

PC & peripheral

Simrad BR24PC, Free Range BroadBand Radar #2

Expedition with Navico Broadband Radar.GIF

We had a false start in December when we first saw the PC charting program Expedition interfaced to a Navico BR24 radar, but as of last night this interesting possibility, and many like it, seem to be official.  Read the full press release here.  I think this means that Expedition and some other charting programs may soon be able to run a Broadband Radar, with or without a Simrad (or Lowrance?) mulitfunction display involved, but there are a few details of the plan and implementation that I’d like to know more about…

Alliance for Safe Navigation, & chart reality questions 15

Charts

Alliance for Safe Navigation, & chart reality questions

BoatUS_chart_updating_photo2.JPG

The photo is from a BoatUS press release discussing how it, NOAA, and several other organizations are concerned that many boaters are using outdated charts.  They’ve even got a survey going (quick and easy), and I bet the results will confirm their worry.  But while the new Alliance for Safe Navigation they’ve formed leads to a neat Notice to Mariners tool I hadn’t seen before, I worry about more than keeping up with NOAA’s chart changes…

Vesper WatchMate, hand’s on #1 3

AIS

Vesper WatchMate, hand’s on #1

Vesper_AIS_WatchMate_screen_1_cPanbo.JPG

It’s good to get some solid hand’s on time with the Vesper WatchMate AIS plotter, which I admired when it first appeared, then as it got a built-in receiver option, and finally as seen live in Miami.  And, yes, that is the 750 foot deep water drill ship Stena Forth now anchored in Penobscot Bay for an amazing warranty repair, mentioned in comments this week and to be explored further.  But for a really vivid example of why Vesper’s sophisticated AIS alarming is valuable, consider the Bermuda Race fleet crossing the shipping lanes last night…

Simrad Insight HD charts, & 2.0 firmware 8

Charts

Simrad Insight HD charts, & 2.0 firmware

Simrad_NSE2_Insight_HD_chart_1_cPanbo.JPG

The Simrad NSE10 prototype is back in the lab, and will soon be back on Gizmo at the heart of an extensive SimNet/Ethernet test system. Only now it’s running recently released 2.0 firmware and it’s loaded with the HD version of Navico’s Insight charts that was missing in prototype mode. I was particularly interested in checking out the latter as I’m working on a charting piece for Cruising World, and I like what I’ve seen so far…

RailLight Mini, another winner from SolLight 18

Cabin & deck gear / Green Boating

RailLight Mini, another winner from SolLight

SolLight_Mini_RailLight_cPanbo.JPG

One good sign: Recently, a friend who’d eaten at a waterfront restaurant called to ask if I knew “that there was a bright white light shining on Gizmo’s flying bridge?”  Now, in truth, Gizmo’s float is just a few hundred feet from the deck of that restaurant and the SolLight RailLight Mini  isn’t all that bright, but it sure is easy to install and use…

Low power PCs #1, & Farallon Electronics 15

PC & peripheral / What's on board...

Low power PCs #1, & Farallon Electronics

Open_40_boat_PC_courtesy_Farallon_Electronics.JPG

I’ve been trying to search out a low-power 12v PC for Gizmo, though I might give up for this season — I’m so behind project-wise — and it may not be such an issue once I install a decent solar panel or two.  But it’s certainly a dynamic subject, and one way to keep up is to watch the folks who are truly obsessed with power efficiency (and low weight)…offshore racing sailors. The photos of that unusual PC in the spartan interior of an Open 40 above were sent along by system designer Eric Steinberg, founder of Farallon Electronics, along with a few details…

Gizmo fixed, thanks to a crack mechanic/technician 8

Electrical & Engines

Gizmo fixed, thanks to a crack mechanic/technician

Pat_Ricci_fixing_Gizmo_cPanbo.jpg

That big fella scrunched alongside Gizmo’s Volvo Penta diesel is the new love of my life 😉  It’s hard to imagine a better engine guy experience than what I got this week from Pat Ricci, proprietor of Thomaston Boat and Engine Works.  When I called him on Tuesday, after Monday’s somewhat traumatic break down, I knew there was a major fresh water coolant leak somewhere around the exhaust manifold, and an engineer/sailor friend who had a look predicted a two phase repair — dissemble and diagnosis, then parts ordering and repair — that would total several days labor and several large boat bucks.  But Pat did the diagnosis right on phone and said he’d order parts and do the whole repair in a half day, soon.  Which is exactly what he did, and more…

SailorPC, a true PC/MFD hybrid? 5

PC & peripheral

SailorPC, a true PC/MFD hybrid?

SailorPC_IEI.JPG

Bless the Google (and the whole ever-improving info Web)!  Minutes after I stumbled on this intriguing SailorPC tucked away on Avia Sail’s purchase page, I’d found the manufacturer’s product site with the high res promo photo above and downloadable brochure and manual, as well as pr about the “Engineers’ Choice Award” it recently won and even what appears to a U.S. semi-wholesale distributor.  This thing is very interesting, about as close to a modern multi-function navigation display as I’ve seen a PC get…

NDCS See Cannon, ultra low lux boat cam 12

Cabin & deck gear

NDCS See Cannon, ultra low lux boat cam

NTCS_See_Cannon_camera.jpg

The name “See Cannon” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but the concept is interesting.  Encase a new generation ultra low lux camera in a small aluminum housing sealed to IP66 standards, offer a variety of 12v/video cable and marine mounting options, and market it as night vision for the many boaters who yearn for true thermal vision but can’t quite afford it.  That seems to be the strategy of newcomer Night to Day Camera Systems, and I suspect its success turns largely on just what “ultra low” means…

Tracking every which way, & Gizmo blows a gasket 4

Handheld / When things go wrong...

Tracking every which way, & Gizmo blows a gasket

Paloma_first_boat_ride_Android_tracking_cPanbo.JPG

Yeah, yeah, yeah; the new iPhone 4 was announced and it looks pretty cool.  And if its GPS and background apps processing are good enough, maybe it can track as well as my Droid Incredible ;-).  That track above especially exemplifies the value of easy tracking as it documents my five-month-old granddaughter’s first boat ride, a row around Camden Harbor in search of my bird buddies.  Though I simply fired up Google My Tracks and stuck the phone back in my pocket, the accuracy is excellent, even in my truck as I drove home, as you can see here in a Google My Map (which I was able to create from the phone with a couple of clicks).  That’s why My Tracks is a favorite at the moment, though I have so many tracking options my head spins, and sometimes the memories captured are a lot less pleasant…