I’m sure I haven’t investigated deeply enough, but I’m mystified by Si-Tex’s eLoran, and maybe you can help. I got excited about the eLoran when first announced, then discouraged that, according to Si-Tex, it only works with their charting systems and P-Sea WindPlot software (primarily for commercial fishermen). Supposedly other companies could develop eLoran compatibility, but none have, as best I know. Then I actually plugged a borrowed eLoran into a laptop running Coastal Explorer and was a bit surprised to find it delivered both GPS and Loran heading information no problem, and might have given a Loran fix if CE was able to convert TD lines to Lat/Long. But maybe not, as that NMEA 0183 LCGLC Loran position sentence seen above may not be kosher. Then I plugged the eLoran into a Si-Tex ColorMax and while it gets a good GPS position, the Loran heading doesn’t seem to work. and I can’t tell if its getting Loran TD’s (the manual doesn’t even mention eLoran), let alone the sophisticated features like RAIM (Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring) described in the eLoran manual (diagram below) . At any rate, I’m talking with Si-Tex technical support, but maybe some of you would check out the eLoran’s NMEA output. A log/text file is downloadable right here. Do those sentences make sense? Any chance you cab feed the data into a charting program or plotter, and see what happens?
PS Today I got a Franson GPSGate log file of eLoran NMEA for download here. While GPSGate is a terrific program, it will not play back this file; another mystery. But maybe someone can find a program that does?
I just finished a June PMY column about how the gauge manufacturer Faria is busting out into marine electronics. I visited their Connecticut factory in January and then saw more of their Maestro do-it-all touch screen system in Miami. I’m hot to tell you more about Maestro but am going to wait until Faria puts it up on its Web site (hint, hint). In the meantime, take a gander at the WatchDog 750. Right now it’s aimed at the commercial fishing boats mandated to report positions and catches—i.e. the Vessel Monitoring System, or VMS—but dealers are telling Faria that it’s suitable for the bluewater cruising market. No kidding! The 750 combines Iridium and GSM transceivers for “least cost” global tracking/monitoring/email. Who’d want that? Be sure to check out the demo of WatchDog’s server side abilities (though the link seems a bit flaky and may need a few tries). Then imagine a cruising version of this dual-mode comms integrated with a dedicated touch screen navigation, engine monitoring, digital switching, etc. boat PC. By the way, I think we’re going to see a number of multi mode marine comms devices like this and Syrens WiFi/cell.
It wasn’t surprising that Jeppesen Marine’s Miami press conference was meatier than Navico’s. Jep’s acquisition of C-Map had been through a many-month due diligence process and had already closed before the boat show. I came away thinking that existing C-Map customers, retail and OEM, have nothing to worry about, and that the products that evolve out of this combination are going to be interesting. For one thing, we were introduced to the new manager of the Recreational division, James Detar—to the left above, with Jeppesen Marine VP Tim Sukle and Nobeltec manager Shepard Tucker. Detar seems evolved for the task; he grew up in a Cape Cod boatyard, then went on to earn an advanced degree in cartography and work at C-Map for some 15 years, first in chart production, then business development. He even speaks fluent Italian. When asked if Jeppesen would change any of C-Map’s many existing OEM relationships, Detar said, very convincingly: “Absolutely not!” Sukle and Tucker described the overall vision of Jeppesen Marine, which is next generation charts/data/software (not hardware), both for OEM’s and their own products. Thus Nobeltec will help advance C-Map’s plotter OS much like it’s worked backstage on Simrad’s Glass Bridge and certain Northstar products. (I later spoke with a big C-Map OEM, and he’s excited). Tucker also described how Jeppesen is applying its massive resources to a set of Web services that will include facilities for users to share data, including POI info, with each other and the world. That made me smile.
Jeppesen, by the way, has a heck of a history. It didn’t seem to be in the movie (worth watching), but we were told that founder, and early mail pilot, Elrey Jeppesen famously said, “I didn’t do this to make money; I did it to stay alive!”
Just a month after the announcement in Miami, Navico closed its deal to buy Northstar, Navman, and MX Marine. I attended the post-announcement press conference in Miami, and even had a few words with Navico CEO Jens-Thomas Pietralla (above), but I really don’t know how this marine electronics conglomeration will play out. I did hear Pietralla say that he is not terribly concerned about overlapping brands, though the brands may become more “focused”. I’m guessing that may mean Simrad as the high-end yacht (and commercial) brand, costarring B&G particularly in sail, then followed by Northstar, Navman, and Lowrance as you move toward smaller yachts or further inland. But there’s also a promised sharing of technologies, not to mention differences in national tastes and distributing operations, and the unexplained “supply agreement” with Brunswick, to factor in. I note on the press release that Navico claims 2,800 employees globally, with revenues of close to 350 million dollars, and, besides its headquarters in Lysaker, Norway, it has development and manufacturing facilities in Egersund; Støvring, Denmark; Romsey, UK; Acton, Massachusetts; Tulsa, Okalahoma; Torrance, California; Ensenada, Mexico; and Auckland, New Zealand. Wow. What do you suppose this around-the-clock operation will mean to electronics?
We didn’t get a lot of submissions to the Ideal Marine Electronics project last week, but all are juicy. I’m particularly tickled with this diagram, sent in by an English sailor who writes his own blog with some good m.e. content. There are a few items that I still don’t understand, or may be mistakes, but if you look at the full image here, you can quickly see what gear is aboard Enterprise and how it works together. Go here to see the latest submissions, and then try to top Russ with a graphic explanation of your ideal system. Thanks!
You’re probably going to see a lot of cute headlines like the above, as West Marine had the wisdom to supply many a marine writer with a pair of Fanning Thongs, which are not only comfy and seriously technical but have a “church key” built into their soles. The literature says that this is for opening a “soda” bottle, but a Corona seemed the better test. Worked fine too, which is probably why thong reviewer “Jim E Jams” writes that “The ladies always go ooooh and aaaah when I pop a top with my reef fannings.” It’s an absolutely horrible weather day here in Maine, my excuse for another in the Weekend Weirdness series. I also updated the GrandCentral entry; thanks all!
Simrad introduced a Class B AIS in Europe today, and it looks very cool indeed. Besides the obvious, if unique, color plotting screen, this unit has a “Buddy Tracking” feature whereby you put in a list of your friends’ MMSI numbers and if they show up within AIS range, the A150 will highlight them. And if you have a “suitable SimNet equipped” DSC radio attached, you can cursor over an AIS target, select “DSC”, and the radio will initiate a call. I don’t know if the A150 outputs target data to other displays, via SimNet (aka NMEA 2000) or otherwise, and I also don’t know its price, but I’m guessing that it will get some serious attention. Mind you, of course, that the A150 is not for sale in the U.S. (see FCC languarge below, and click here for more on that subject, here for more on Class B in general).
This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.
Yesterday David Pogue of the New York Times wrote a pretty glowing review of a new Web-centered phone and voice mail management service called GrandCentral. The central idea is one single phone number for life, and the central technology seems to be some slick switching software that can, for instance, ring either or both of my physical phones instantly if, say, I want to initiate a call from my GrandCentral voice mail box (which imported a big Outlook contact list flawlessly), or decide to record a custom greeting for that test Call Me button up there. So, yeah I spent some time signing up for a free GrandCentral account and testing some of its many features, and I too am pretty blown away.
How cool is that? In this cropped screen shot, Coastal Explorer is plotting a SAR aircraft that’s using the special AIS message discussed here the other day. Rosepoint’s Jeff Hummel, who sent the screen, says they’ve never actually seen message 9 data before, but this function was already built into CE, as are other obscure AIS and DSC capabilities. Jeff’s also proud that “Coastal Explorer works just fine on VISTA”, unlike the competition (and alma mater) he likes to tweak. By the way, Rosepoint can see AIS targets cross country because they’ve got CE tapped into the IP feed of Shine Micro’s receiver network. Coincidentally I just learned more about this CE ability yesterday, even tried it, thanks to Penobscot Bay pilot Skip Strong, who’s responsible for the series of Shine Micro receivers that I’ve been enjoying via Shine’s public live AIS site. Strong is a big fan of AIS in general and this setup in particular, as he and his associates use it to avoid wasted time waiting offshore for a ship that’s forgotten to call in late. The CE screen below, bigger here, shows the Penobscot Pilot which may have just put Strong aboard the Alouette Arrow (off screen). I’ll have more one day on this gentleman, and also on a trip aboard the pilot boat which I’m looking forward to, big time.
You don’t have to hang around old salts too long to realize that many consider radar to be the primary electronic navigation tool (even before solid state performance), but I’ve wondered for some time if that wasn’t somewhat an artifact of the days before good chart plotters, not to mention AIS. I don’t mean that either replaces radar, but it seems to me that the primary nav tool has become the multifunction display (which even a lil Lowrance can be these days). Here’s some thinking along similar lines from that old salt Milt Baker:
“A friend with a Nordhavn 62 asked me whether I saw advantages to installing a 20 or 25 kW radar in his boat as opposed to a 4 or 6 kW radar. Of course, everybody knows that more is better. Or is it?
