Panbo

The Marine Technology Hub

Panbo News and Reviews

NMEA 2011 Expo, neat new stuff #1 5

Wireless & Apps / Navigation

NMEA 2011 Expo, neat new stuff #1

NMEA2011_Green_Marine_STAR.jpg

I spent a fair amount of NMEA Conference & Expo time reviewing products that are already shipping — more on that Technology Award tomorrow — but I still got a fair chance to see the new, new stuff (like the Fusion Marine Stereo wow). Check out that Green Marine Bridge Command Display System demo above, for instance, and don’t miss the video. I don’t think there’s ever been a monitor like that STAR at upper right, and I wondered how an owner or installer would set up the unusual STretched Aspect Ratio on the PC driving it. No problem: The monitor itself splits off the top third of a standard screen resolution, so that Maretron N2KView gauge display was simply set up on a regular monitor with that in mind. Slick. And of course there was much more…

Fusion Marine Stereo 700 series, holy mackerel! 88

Wireless & Apps / Entertainment / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Fusion Marine Stereo 700 series, holy mackerel!

Fusion_Marine_Stereo_700_series.jpg

Pardon the lousy show booth photography, but you’ve got to see what Fusion Audio debuted at NMEA, and it’s not fully online yet. The new MS-IP700 at upper right obviously has a color screen, but it also has both NMEA 2000 and Ethernet ports on its backside. Which means that it will be easy to install that new MS-NRX200 wired remote and it will even be able to display instrument info on its 2.7-inch monochrome screen (which is the same size as the 700 screen, because the collaged images are not to scale). And, yes, the Ethernet port is connected to a WiFi router which is being used by a Fusion app on that iPad at left to choose tunes, adjust volume levels on four possible zones, etc. But that is not all!…

The LightSquared vs GPS problem, what now? 89

Navigation

The LightSquared vs GPS problem, what now?

LightSquared_Geoff_Stearn_at_NMEA_2011_cPanbo.jpg

I learned a lot at the 2011 NMEA Conference & Expo, and got a first peek at some wonderful new marine electronics, but I’ll start my coverage with the scene above. Here on Panbo we started discussing GPS interference caused by LightSquared’s proposed new U.S. broadband cellular network back in March, and the entry now has 111 comments, many vigorously opposed to the LS plan.  Plus the Coalition to Save Our GPS has become a powerfully united and outspoken voice, and the whole darn mess has recently become a political football.  So it seemed fairly brave of Geoffrey Stearn — who is LS’s VP of Spectrum Development — to step into a room full of marine safety authorities (U.S. GMDSS Task Force) and NMEA members all of whose work depends on reliable GPS positioning…

“Monkey Business” — blast from the past #1 3

Charts

“Monkey Business” — blast from the past #1

SF_chart_section_1853_Panbo.JPG

Did you ever see the first-in-20-years Bob Dylan interview with Ed Bradley where Dylan expresses astonishment at lyrics he once wrote (like It’s Alright, Ma), and said he couldn’t do again? A memorable TV moment with a weird and reluctant diety, I thought. My work is absolutely not comparable to Dylan’s, but I do sometimes run across a piece written long ago that surprises me in a good way. That happened today with a 2004 PMY column called “Monkey Business” whose intriguing subtitle is “Charts separate men from apes, but the path from paper to digital passes through the jungle.” I thought I’d republish it with the images that are no longer online, plus links, corrections, and more images. Hope you enjoy…

HydroView & AquaLens, say hello to Aquabotix 4

Cabin & deck gear

HydroView & AquaLens, say hello to Aquabotix

AquaBotix_HydroView.jpg

How neat would it be to launch an HD-video-camera-equipped underwater ROV off your boat to check out running gear, your mooring, or just whatever the heck is down there? And wouldn’t it make sense to view the results on an iPad, and even control the ROV’s movements largely by tilting and turning the pad? Yes, it sounds like a megayacht toy — and it might make a good one — but a brand new Massachusetts company called Aquabotix is hoping for a wider market…

Bermuda Challenge, can a monohull win? 7

What's on board...

Bermuda Challenge, can a monohull win?

TDI_Clean_Diesel_diagram.jpg

Rats. I got excited that an accomplished-sounding guy named Chris Fertig had departed New York Harbor yesterday morning in an attempt at the Bermuda Challenge. He hoped to beat the current speed champ “while using less fuel and producing less engine emissions.” But the Spot tracking page for TDI Clean Diesel indicates that he hung a hard right for home at around eight last night. The boat is still moving right along, so there’s no sign of gear failure, but my calculations show an average speed of only 28 knots for the first 290 miles, and he’d been hoping for 35. Plus his track had started zig-zagging a bit suggesting a contentious sea state despite the Statement Marine’s “shock mitigating suspension system.” Giving up on a sure-to-lose attempt might have been my decision too! But let’s discuss the Challenge and some of Fertig’s gear anyway…

NIBS #2, mostly big boat bits 4

Zany

NIBS #2, mostly big boat bits

NIBS_Hinckley_T55_helm_cPanbo.jpg

That’s the helm of the Hinckley T55 with the wireless JetStick I discussed yesterday. It’s undeniably gorgeous but it’s also fairly terrifying to a guy like me who changes electronics frequently. I so believe in mounting as many electronics as possible in panels that are easily replaced. And I’m really not all that odd; electronics get updated a lot these days. Heck, that ST70 on center is already being replaced with the i70 which would way better compliment those twin E-Wides, but the simple hole-saw i70 cutout is quite different than the ST70 hole. Here’s betting that it won’t be too long before sweat and money is expended chopping into that fine joiner work. Note, too, how many different little control systems are sprinkled around this helm, which is no fault of Hinckley, but rather an indication of how much further the marine electronics industry has to go toward truly integrated helms…

NIBS #1, electronics tidbits 10

Navigation / Zany

NIBS #1, electronics tidbits

Newport_Raymarine_i70_p70_cPanbo.jpg

It’s rare that I go so long without writing an entry, and I’d like to say that I spent the time digging deep into electronics at the Newport International Boat Show. But the truth is that most of my time there went to working as one of the several Newport for New Products award judges, plus I met with my Cruising World and Yachting editors (first office visit ever 😉 and did a lot of driving. So unfortunately I didn’t get much more than a glance at the new Raymarine i70 instrument display (and p70 pilot head) seen above. The i70 display is wicked bright, the buttons are big, and moving through menus is snappy, but a fuller appraisal will have to wait. Incidentally, the WiFi and Bluetooth signs in the background of course refer to Ray’s new e7 MFD and are germane because those two capabilities are probably the main reasons that the e7 won the Best New Boating Product award… 

Furuno RD33, hand’s on #1 27

Navigation / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Furuno RD33, hand’s on #1

Furuno_RD33_ground_wind_cPanbo.jpg

Please trust me that the Furuno RD33 — first discussed here in March, 2010 — looks better than I’ve managed to photograph yet. And, somewhat oddly, it seems that you’ll find more screen shots and a better brochure on Furuno.com’s RD-33 page as opposed to FurunoUSA’s RD33 page.  In fact, you’ll have to look elsewhere for images of the many handsome data pages that an RD33 can flip through because today I’m going to focus on a few behind-the-scenes screens…