It made sense to me that Simrad’s WR20 RemoteCommander shared an innovation award with the Northstar 8000i at the Miami boat show. It uses Bluetooth to wirelessly connect (“up to” 300’, as they say) with a boat's SimNet (aka NMEA 2000) network, and Simrad has equipped it with custom messages able to duplicate nearly every button push on all its SimNet-equipped devices. (These are the proprietary messages I was talking about here, and a good example of how they can be used innovatively). Potentially you can use this remote to power steer with your autopilot, zoom your chart plotter, change channels on your VHF, just about anything. Plus, if you do have the Simrad RS80 Series VHF that's SimNet enabled, the remote can also be a wireless handset (the Bluetooth audio going directly to the radio, not through SimNet). The remote can also display one to four lines of data from many sources on the network, including non-Simrad sensors. And finally, it is supposedly ready to work with Simrad equipment that hasn’t even been developed yet, though I don’t understand how.
By the way, Simrad’s purchase of Lowrance seems to be a done deal. It’s interesting that both companies have done a lot with NMEA 2000, though in different ways. I wonder how their product strategies and lines will be merged, if at all.
Inside a Hotbox is a cellular highspeed data card—EVDO, Edge, whatever you want. The box converts the cellular connection into a local WiFi hotspot. The company that makes it has equipped the particular model above with an M-Tec cellular amp, a high dB marine antenna, and even a VOIP phone, which sounds like quite the package. Unfortunately its Web site doesn’t really detail this setup very well, and also leaves out the daunting $4,500 price tag! The bigger picture, though, is that I’m hearing more and more about this cell-to-WiFi concept, and I like it. I even came across a Norwegian company that’s at least planning a product like this that also integrates NMEA 0183 data. That’s a real wow, because then your boat’s hotspot can both put you online and feed GPS, etc. to your charting program, AND the same data can be send out to the Internet, meaning that, “external users with appropriate software installed can follow the boat’s progress, …a very powerful tool for tracking, monitoring or fleet management.” High speed cellular data is also the foundation of the interesting KVH/Microsoft product (WiFi too) I got a glimpse of in Miami. KVH has now posted a press release, but pricing isn’t on it. I’m told that the system with an external amp and antenna will be “under $1,500” with “all-you-can-eat Internet and MSN TV service under $100/month.” Plus I think you can pop the PCMIA card and use the cell data connection off the boat, in your laptop. Given all that, and KVH customer support, the souped up Hotbox looks a little pricey.
In the photo above, taken on an Etec/Lowrance demo boat in Miami, I’m setting up a “Custom Gauges” window, and this particular screen is showing me some of the data available on the NMEA 2000 (LowranceNet) bus, specifically what’s coming from the port side Etec outboard. The same data would be available to any other displays on the bus that cared to recognize it, which could include, of course, Lowrance’s LMF-200 and -400 digital gauges (see test system). I think it’s slick. For one thing you’ll notice some data that you’ve likely never seen on a standard engine gauge, like load percentage (which I understand can be very useful for spotting a problem like a bent prop). For another thing, you’ll never lose sight of any particular number, like RPMs or oil pressure, because if one gauge or screen fails, the data is still available everywhere else. Plus, of course, all the data, and power for smaller sensors and gauges, is in one cable.
But there is one little caveat, as grumbled about yesterday by Panbo correspondent Chris. It is perfectly legal for a manufacturer to send a certain percentage of proprietary messages through the 2000 network (I’m not sure of the exact percentage). This makes sense, even encourages innovation. But in Evinrude’s case the result seems a little rude. You see the company’s I-Command gauges are very obviously OEM’d by Lowrance. The only difference is that their firmware can read and display proprietary engine messages, like diagnostics, and even control functions like instant self winterization (very cool)…and, according to Chris, they are much more expensive. Gotcha! I talked to an Etec representative about this and he said the policy was not written in stone; in other words, Etec might open up their private messages to Lowrance and others. But then Lowrance or whoever would have to write code to use those messages. In some ways this detail of the NMEA standard is a potential strength, and you’ve got to give Evinrude credit for all the data it is opening up (Note: everything below, including precision fuel flow from the ECM, is 2000 standard data). But I sure understand how this proprietary/open data detail, especially along with the cable dissimilarity discussed yesterday, could frustrate a guy like Chris, who’s just trying network a boat like he heard NMEA 2000 could.
Well, it was odd really; the very day I blogged about how nothing seemed to be happening with NMEA 2000 cabling issues and how well a proprietary LowranceNet backbone worked with a standard NMEA 2000 backbone (annoying a couple of you), I learned that changes are in store for both. Good changes! The information came in the form of a NMEA press release titled NMEA 2000 Working Group Completes Its Work on Cable and Connector System. It’s not online, and was darn vague anyway; it took me a few e-mails to tease out the following:
* After 18 months of studying the possibility of an alternate lighter, cheaper NMEA 2000 cable and connector standard, the subcommittee decided it wasn’t necessary. The main reason given is that Molex, a prime supplier of the connection hardware, promised a “substantial price reduction” in the existing cables and connectors (aka “the physical layer”). That’s the Micro version of the 2000 physical layer seen upper right in the picture (bigger here), and sold by Maretron.
* The current Micro T connector seen in the photo retails for about $21, and a 3 meter made-up cable is $44. That’s actually not all that expensive when compared to some marine electronics proprietary cables, but it has put off some boat builders and electronics installers. The new Molex gear—which, by the way, is also sold as DeviceNet— will probably have more plastic parts, but will be something like 25% less expensive. That’s good.
* Perhaps even better, in the same NMEA press release Lowrance announced that its proprietary twist on connectors and odd pin layout (seen above) are history. Next year all LowranceNet connectors will be the NMEA approved screw on variety. That even includes the plugs on back of their displays, which is not actually required by the standard (so far, only Maretron makes devices with a standard NMEA 2000 plug on the back). Lowrance will of course provide adaptors so that all current LowranceNet gear can adapt easily to the new stuff.
* And, finally, Lowrance says that it anticipates making this change without raising prices. Which is really something given that several current LowranceNet sensors cost $50 total, which includes almost 12’ of cable, a T connector, and the sensor!
Why did NMEA take a year and half to say NO to a 2nd cable standard? Why did Lowrance offer its own 2nd cable standard for just a year? I don’t really understand what happened, but the future (perhaps the result?) looks good. Pretty soon there will be several choices in approved NMEA 2000 cabling—from economical smaller boat grade to industrial workboat/megayacht quality—and they’ll all plug and play together.
It's going to be short today, as these pictures speak for themselves. They probably date from the early 60's, though even Lowrance (who provided them) doesn't seem sure. But that's about when the company's portable flasher--wonderfully named the Fish-Lo-K-Tor, and also known as the Little Green Box--really took off. According to Lowrance history, it eventually sold a million units! None of us, manufacturers included, pay much attention to the old stuff as technology hurtles forward, but I'm starting to get nostalgic about gear like this. I wonder if there are collectors?
PS It's amazing how interest in the Fish-Lo-K-Tor never seems to die. I'm happy to say that Lowrance sent over the original manual at the request of a commenter below, and download the 2.7mb PDF here. It's a great read even if you're just interested in the history of marine electronics and/or the basic issues of fishfinding.
Furuno has two new fishfinders, the FCV585 and FCV620, that seem interesting. For one thing, better seen in a big picture, they are styled more sleekly than normal Furuno gear. More important perhaps, they incorporate Digital Signal Processing (here’s Chuck Husick on DSP) for cleaner, easier to understand imagery. DSP also improves automatic control, but the Furuno press release proudly notes that the units retain the company’s “long-standing and highly revered direct access knobs”. I do not know if Furuno’s DSP is equivalent to Raymarine’s HD (High Definition Fish Imaging), but I do know that the latter has earned the respect of some fishermen. I also know that it’s darn hard to directly compare fishfinders (can’t run them at the same time, can’t fake fish), and guys will be yakking about the relative merits of these machines for years to come.
Panbo correspondant Jeff Siegel is excited about the nautical possibilities of this new PC architecture called UMPC, hyped recently as Origami, and I can see why. I got excited when the first tablet PCs came out, until I realized that you had to use a special stylus, awkward at a helm. A UMPC is a 7” tablet PC on whose touch screen a finger works just fine. Add a USB or Bluetooth GPS, or a whole electronics network connected via WiFi, plus a bracket, and this puppy might make a very nice navigator. (I suspect it might be particularly competitive against the dedicated car navigators). Of course it can do a whole lot more, and it’s supposed to price below $1,000, but some folks are skeptical.
As noted yesterday, the owner/designer of the dual PC helm setup has found a nifty HID (Human Interface Device) that I’d never seen before (bigger here, and set up for Coastal Explorer). The X-keys Stick USB includes software (Mac version too) that lets you define macros and print out key labels, even white on black ones to best utilize the Stick’s backlighting. It is not waterproof, of course, but it sure looks like it would be useful in a pilot house when the going gets jiggy, or you just have other things to do with your hands. The 16 key version shown cost $80, and the company has all sorts of other programmable key boards.
This is the pilot house of a Nordic Tug 37 belonging to a Panbo reader in the state of Washington. It’s his very first boat! But he did spent an unusual amount of time learning navigation and analyzing all his electronics choices. It was the “locked-in” nature of dedicated electronics versus the flexibility of computers that ultimately drove his decision, plus a high comfort level with PCs. He did not, however, put all his eggs in one basket. Two matching Shuttle XPC computers (Athlon, for lower heat/power) drive the two 20” Viewsonic monitors, and all NMEA 0183 inputs/outputs are split and switched so that the chart table PC can do everything the helm PC can, and vice versa. Dual Raymarine active GPS antennas each split to one of the Standard Horizon GX3500 DSC VHFs and one of the Shuttles. (And, yes, I do think that NMEA 2000 could make most of this small data networking far simpler and more robust).
At any rate, besides being quite the contrast to yesterday’s helm, the photo above (bigger here) shows normal operating mode, with Nobeltec Admiral on radar duty to port, and Coastal Explorer at the helm as primary plotter. The owner seems to have mixed feelings about both packages, favoring CE a bit for its interface, "familiar, modern and easy to use". Apparently there’s a chance that CE will one day support the Nobeltec/Koden radar scanner that’s plugged into his Ethernet hub, but no guarantee. The boat also tracks AIS targets (with a SeaLinks receiver), which the owner says they “really, really like” in Puget Sound. Check out the key strips on both monitors; more on those tomorrow.
“In the foreground is a Furuno 1731MKIII radar, then behind it is a Garmin GPS162 usually left in a large map view, then there is the primary Simrad CP32 GPS which is left in a data display mode. The Simrad drives the next instrument, a Robertson AP22 autopilot. Then behind the nice Hynautic engine controls is a Dell Latitude laptop running Nobletec's Visual Navigator. Up above from left to right is the FM radio, weather telex and stabilizer controls (all out of the photo), then a B&G wind indicator, a B&G depth and speed indicator, then an Icom M-127 VHF radio which we used constantly, and finally an ICOM M-710RT SSB radio which when used causes the boat's autopilot to initiate a turn!” This is from a well-done blog I came across. Here the author is documenting an enjoyable 2003 trip down the ICW as mate aboard a friend’s 1999 Krogen 39. But there’s also a nautical sad side to the blog, which is when the author’s whole family flies to Fort Lauderdale for the dream cruise aboard their Nordhavn 46 (shipped ahead), goes out 4 miles into the Gulf Stream, then comes back to Florida, gives away all the provisions and puts the boat on the market! He’s not specific about what exactly went wrong, but this sort of thing happens more than many of us would imagine, and hats off to a guy who doesn’t try to hide it.
