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BlueAIS Class B, standalone with room to grow 7

AIS

BlueAIS Class B, standalone with room to grow

BlueAIS_MastMount.JPG

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…

Garmin 2010, GPSMap 740 and GMR 604 xHD first looks 21

Navigation

Garmin 2010, GPSMap 740 and GMR 604 xHD first looks

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Garmin may have lost its bid for Raymarine last week, but, as noted, there’s plenty of evidence that it’s building a daunting marine electronics line on its own.  Check out the little  GPSMap
740s and the big GMR 604 xHD (pedestal) above for examples of growth in both directions.  It’s hard to imagine getting much more MFD into a casing less than 9 x 6 inches and under 2.5 pounds.  Meanwhile, all that cast aluminum in the radar base contributes to a heft of 46 pounds, not including the 12 pound array.  Which is actually 4′ 3.5″ wide, but still fit on Gizmo’s antenna mast…just.  Yup, both are now installed on the boat, along with a Garmin 5212 and a skeleton N2K sensor network.  My dash board projects are not quite ready to show off, but the testing season has begun…

FLIR buys Raymarine, good for everyone? 34

The Trade

FLIR buys Raymarine, good for everyone?

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“We are all very happy here,” reads the email I just got from a contact at Raymarine, and that sure makes sense. The agonizing process of getting sold is over, and in the end they were bought by a strong company which is not a direct competitor but is “very serious about commercial and recreational marine.” That phrase, already demonstrably true, comes fresh from Lou Rota, FLIR’s VP for Maritime Business Development.  Rota also told me that there are no plans to move or substantially change Raymarine operations, and that FLIR is very hopeful that it can continue to work closely with manufacturers like Furuno, Simrad, and Garmin in terms of integrating its thermal cameras into their navigation electronics. I suppose that Garmin, which recently made a very public bid for Ray, may be unhappy about this turn of events, but…

The damn iPad: iNavX, X-Traverse, Navimatics & AC 57

Navigation / Handheld

The damn iPad: iNavX, X-Traverse, Navimatics & AC

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It’s so sad:  Nowadays when I contemplate my amazing portfolio of iPhone marine apps (discussed here, here, here, and elsewhere) in iTunes, featured right across the top of my PC screen are the ones now also optimized for the iPad.  But I don’t have an iPad (though I did touch one).  And behold the difference.  The size of what you see when you click on the image above will depend on your particular screen’s pixels-per-inch resolution, but the proportions are right regardless.  iNavX on a 9.7-inch, 1024 x 748 pixel iPad is obviously quite different from iNavX on a 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 pixel iPhone.  There’s room for more chart and bigger touch buttons, not to mention nav data and a compass ribbon across the top.  Damn…

Inmarsat, Iridium, & Globalstar…the horse race 15

Handheld / Communications / The Trade

Inmarsat, Iridium, & Globalstar…the horse race

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Competitive heat is really building in the portable global sat phone/messenger sector, and once it gets sorted, it’s got to be good news for those of us who venture beyond cellular networks.  Last week Iridium announced that its smaller, cheaper 9602 SBD modem is ready ahead of schedule to some 90 “integration partners,” and a few weeks before that Inmarsat detailed its IsatPhone Pro (due in June), including its game changing pricing.  And while I discussed both of these developments here in January, it’s Globalstar that may be the dark horse in this race…

DSC VHF channel changing SAFETY ALERT, depressing! 9

Communications / AIS

DSC VHF channel changing SAFETY ALERT, depressing!

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Sorry, but I’m going to start off this week with depressing news:  The U.S. Coast Guard — which I’ve always thought of as a major proponent of DSC VHF — recently issued a Safety Alert that treats one of its core features as a hazard.  In fact, the Guard now “strongly recommends
disabling the automatic channel switching feature…”  Does this mean that placing direct DSC calls to AIS targets — a function that seems to be nicely designed into the DSC system, and one that many of us are enthusiastic about — may not work well?  Yes, it probably does.  But, then again, the USCG found itself between a rock and a hard place…

Azek PVC board, great for electronics panels? 23

How-to

Azek PVC board, great for electronics panels?

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At first I was just going to replace the electronics panel at Gizmo’s lower helm, but I got carried away!  And at this point I’ve got a boat that I can’t start — because the engine instruments, and much else, are disconnected — in a slip that I’m just bumming until the real occupant’s boat is launched (which accounts for slow posting here).  But the project is going well, and I’m particularly pleased with the Azek expanded PVC board product I’m experimenting with for the dash panel(s)…

Minn Kota’s i-Pilot robot, & Geonav for real 2

Gadgets / Electrical & Engines / The Trade

Minn Kota’s i-Pilot robot, & Geonav for real

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The Miami demo of Minn Kota’s new i-Pilot technology got somewhat humorous.  After some time with that trolling motor head turning this way and that as it automatically retraced a GPS track or pulled us along to a waypoint — where it could even maintain station — I started thinking of it as a faithful, friendly robot.  If I owned one, I might paint eyes and a smile on it to heighten the sensation.  And in retrospect it might have been whispering, “Hey, bub, I represent Johnson Outdoors technology prowess; wait until you see Geonav!”

AIS on fire worldwide, & hello AIS MOB tech 6

AIS

AIS on fire worldwide, & hello AIS MOB tech

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Turkey is mandating some 25,000 commercial vessels to carry the unusual Class B AIS transponders seen above, which function like conventional ones but with some special added features. Note the extra SRM message buttons which should help nearby boats and SAR authorities to react quickly to collisions, fires, etc.  Also built into these units is a tracking scheme such that the Turkish government can identify vessels trying to avoid taxes by buying fuel in Greece!  Not only are safety, security, and even revenues driving a rapid increase in AIS mandates, but some amazing new AIS technology is just around the corner.  I learned a lot during a recent lunch with a man who may well know more about the worldwide state of AIS than any other…