Panbo

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Panbo News and Reviews

Panbo moving & changing; cross your fingers, please 24

Panbo & misc.

Panbo moving & changing; cross your fingers, please

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Starting tonight, Panbo is getting moved from one hosting service’s server farm to another’s, which means that commenting will be shut down for an indefinite period so that the databases stay in sync until the transfer is complete, and also that I’m wicked nervous about losing bits and pieces of content (as has happened during past moves).  Cross your fingers, and be patient, please.  And if things go well, you’re going to see some good changes around here…

Furuno NAVpilot 700 Series, w/ CANbus 7

Navigation / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Furuno NAVpilot 700 Series, w/ CANbus

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Just as with the nifty-looking new RD- and GP-33 color 4.3-inch displays, Furuno Japan is ahead of FurunoUSA in announcing the new NAVpilot 700 series.  (Sorry, Klamath, but if it’s on the Web somewhere, some Panbot is apt to find it — thanks, Frank! — and I feel obliged to write about it ;-).  Aside from the brochure downloadable at that link, the most information I’ve found so far is a press release at the Australian Furuno distributor, which discusses a “unique Fish Hunter Mode” as well how highly sailboats figure on the feature list.  While I’m not sure such features are new relative to the existing NAVPilot 500 series, the use of CANbus (aka NMEA 2000, an unfortunate word game we discussed here) in the three control heads and the processor definitely is.  But the brochure diagram has me scratching my chin…

M/Y Adastra, a win for Palladium 8

What's on board... / Electrical & Engines

M/Y Adastra, a win for Palladium

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Regardless of anchoring acrobatics — and just how the heck do you tie this 146′ tri alongside a dock, with a line throwing gun? — M/Y Alastra joins the short list of exotic vessels I’d love to cruise around Penobscot Bay, if only briefly, and if only to freak out the traditionalists.  And you can bet there will be some pretty interesting systems on board; in fact, I heard about this creature because Palladium Systems just announced the monster gear contract they’ve won.  It includes not just their Ethernet/Windows-based SiMON monitoring system — with some 269 data points reporting to wheel house and engine room, and probably various iThings as well — but also their new Titan electrical system…

Furuno MaxSea TimeZero 2010, valuable dual Navionics/C-Map & more 58

Navigation

Furuno MaxSea TimeZero 2010, valuable dual Navionics/C-Map & more

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Last February Furuno made a lot of promises about improved charting in NavNet3D and MaxSea TimeZero, and it seems to be making good on all of them.  At least the North American MapMedia versions of “C-Map by Jeppesen” vector charts (explained here) are now available, as are the NN3D 2.05 and MSTZ 1.9 software upgrades that can display them.  Those upgrades purportedly do a lot more than make TimeZero the only charting software that can support both Navionics and C-Map cartography (given that Geonav’s “DualFuel” is only available in Europe until Fall, and the fate of Raymarine’s ambitious dual cartography plan is apparently uncertain.)  But before I get into those other improvements, I have some good examples of why you might want to have both Navionics and C-Map at your helm.  First, click on that image above showing Jeppesen C-Map coverage of the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas…

Lowrance Simrad SonicHub, some details revealed 19

Entertainment

Lowrance Simrad SonicHub, some details revealed

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Here’s what excites me about innovations like the Navico’s SonicHub:  If you’re going to spend fairly big bucks on what is essentially a dedicated waterproof computer with goodies like an extra bright screen and custom soft keys — like a Lowrance HDS or a Simrad NSE — plus a rugged NMEA 2000 sensor network running around your boat, why not have them do as many display and networking tasks as possible?  I first heard about SonicHub last weekend — in a very pleasant way — and now that I understand more of the details, it sure looks like a winner…

NoLand RS11, analog to NMEA 2000 engine monitoring 27

Electrical & Engines / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

NoLand RS11, analog to NMEA 2000 engine monitoring

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What follows is a first time guest entry by regular commenter Adam Block, who is planning a 2011 Pacific
crossing aboard his Nordhavn 47 Convexity.  Adam says “hehad no idea what he was getting into when he started a recent electronics upgrade,” but he did manage to convert analog engine data into NMEA 2000 for display in the N2KView software above and elsewhere.  He’s also written a clear explanation of the options available for this tricky task, and the specifics of the NoLand RS11 he used…

Green Marine monitors, first look 1

Cabin & deck gear / Navigation

Green Marine monitors, first look

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Yes, the photo is largely under exposed, but the point was to illustrate the relative brightness of the new Green Marine LED-backlit AWM-1900 monitor I checked out in the lab last week.  I think it would be usable in sunny conditions, and it’s fast enough to show an action movie without noticeable blur, either in a PIP window as shown, or full screen.  It was also pleasantly surprising to find that even an inexpensive Asus netbook (dimly showing neat NavMonPC freeware) supports a dual monitor desktop these days, including the AWM’s 1280 x 1024 native resolution.  I did not test the monitor’s promised front side waterproofness, but it’s quite apparent that the back side has to be well protected…

Fusion rocks the docks, and the boat? 15

Entertainment

Fusion rocks the docks, and the boat?

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How sweet it is!  I would get a kick out of this photo taken yesterday at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show in Australia regardless, but in fact I spent part of the day installing a Fusion stereo on Gizmo and I’d meant to write soon about the company’s just released iPod/iPhone docks.  Plus there was a major marine entertainment product launch at the show which Fusion may have something to do with…

BlueAIS Class B, standalone with room to grow 7

AIS

BlueAIS Class B, standalone with room to grow

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One of the very first Class B AIS transponder prototypes — the Shine Micro RadarPlus — was a standalone design, and it seemed to make a lot of sense (though for some reason it never came to market).  It’s a little surprising then that EMA’s new BlueAIS is the first truly available standalone Class B, to my knowledge.  Everything is in that 8-inch square waterproof box, and its single cable — which carries power, RS232 and 422 data feeds, and even “silent mode” switching to a little breakout box (with LED indicators) below — can be had in lengths up to 300 feet.  The configuration purportedly performs very well and because EMI already has a lot of experience with similar standalone marine communications designs, there are numerous mounting options now and some interesting possibilities to come…

Verizon Droid Incredible, indeed it is 24

Handheld

Verizon Droid Incredible, indeed it is

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While it’s been disappointing to learn that carrying around two smart phones does not make a guy extra smart, I am incredibly happy about owning that Verizon Droid Incredible at left.  It’s not a phone I’d recommend to everyone — and Android marine apps certainly aren’t much yet — but given what I want from it, and where I live, the Incredible makes that iPhone 3GS seem feeble and limited.  I feel like I just got out of Apple/AT&T jail, and I’m shaking my head because I liked it in there!  Let’s begin with the built-in GPS and motion sensors…