My June PMY column about Faria’s do-it-all PC-based Maestro helm system is now online, along with write-ups of the ACR ResQFix PLB, McMurdo SmartFind EPIRB, Icom M34 handheld VHF, and Cobra 425 handheld (I know, the picture is of the F80; we’ll fix it). Maestro is quite a system, and I’m glad that Faria now has dope about it on their Web site (online marketing is not the company’s forte, but they have strong relationships with lots of boatbuilders, which may be more important in the case of Maestro). Bigger here is the collage below which I made to illustrate some of Maestro’s connectivity. I believe the finished version also has a PCMCIA card slot on the back, meant for a cellular data card. Also online are all four of PMY’s June electronics features, including my take on ideal systems (which some of you contributed to back in March). The piece got titled “Perfect Picks” though of course they’re not, which I’ll probably be hearing about from manufacturers at any moment! Meanwhile some of you have asked about PMY’s sale to the “supermarket mogul” Ron Burkle. Well, rumor has it that we may be included in a secondary sale to some other publishing conglomerate, and, besides, we’re doing fine…in short, “business as usual”. In fact I’m writing my 73rd straight monthly column right now. Year seven at PMY begins.
Geez, call it my American arrogance, but I really thought Larry Ellison’s America’s Cup team was a contender. But I haven’t been paying much attention, and it looks like BMW Oracle Racing may lose the semi-finals today, especially as Ellison (no relation) apparently fired skipper/helmsman Chris Dickson before today’s race. There are video clips and breaking news at cupinfo.com, and Kimball Livingston is blogging the cup here, very well I think.
PS. Yup, the U.S. team is done; no Cup in San Francisco anytime soon, I guess. I dug around for some dope on BMW Oracle’s—or any IACC boat’s—electronics, but only found this vaugeness. What the hell are all those aft antennas (seen in this Gilles Martin-Raget photo)? Anyone?
Big thanks to John G. for a head’s up about the MAIB’s recent report called “Performance Investigation of Marine Radar Reflectors on the Market.” The full PDF is available on this page, along with a typically MAIB meticulous report on the tragic sinking that prompted it. Three sailors died after the big ferry Pride of Balboa apparently ran down the 26' yacht Ouzo early one morning near the Isle of Wight. At any rate, the graph above plots the average Radar Cross Sections of most available reflectors. You won't like those results once you understand them. The testers concluded that only the Sea-Me active reflector delivers a strong enough radar return to even meet the ISO 8729 standard, and some perform so poorly that they aren't worth carrying because they'll only give skippers a false sense of security! None of this real news; in fact I discussed similar findings here almost two years ago. But it's a good idea to be reminded that even good passive radar reflectors have limited abilities. Plus I was surprised that the MAIB didn't mention Class B AIS in their recommendations about collision avoidance. Did I miss something?
Garmin wouldn’t let me photograph this in Miami—something about a patent application—but fishermen must be discovering it around the country right now. This screen shows the 3D underwater view, available only when you have a g2 Vision chart card in the slot. Plus, if you turn it on, every few seconds the active sonar image is overlaid on the 3D, as shown above. I did this in simulation mode but will try it on the water next week. Right now I’m in New York City to see my sweet daughter graduate Columbia Journalism School this afternoon. Proud papa! Oh yeah, Vision cards also let you see a more ‘traditional’ 2D bathy fishing chart, another thing Garmin hasn’t had time to advertise much:
A Panbo reader (thanks, Jon!) points out that Globalstar now has a enticing four year contract featuring unlimited airtime “for calls placed from the Home Service Area of the US, Canada or Caribbean,” including long distance in North America, and free “Express Data Compression”. Of course the rub is the degrading amplifier issue discussed here in February. Globalstar’s contract page is pretty frank about possible “significant gaps in satellite availability” before they get their new satellites up (and you get the deal’s cherry-on-top, great unlimited service for 19.99/month). But a reasonable-sounding Wikipedia entry goes a bit further, suggesting a possible “total loss of service in 2008.” That’s also where I learned about the South Atlantic Anomaly, a dimple in the van Allen radiation belt that may have toasted those amps.
That’s the Coast Guard cutter Liberty off loading some 130 (of 250) passengers from Empress of the North after she supposedly hit Hanus Rock in Alaska’s Icy Strait at 2am this morning. I’m certainly not qualified to blame others for nav mistakes, but apparently this vessel has quite a history of groundings, and Hanus Rock looks like it’s well marked and has lots of room around it. (If I have the right spot; I haven’t seen a map of the accident yet, but did find this Hanus Reef at the south end of Icy Strait.) It will be interesting to see the accident report.
PS 5/15: Soundings just put up a Web “Channel” covering multiple USCG rescue operations off North Carolina last week.
I really don’t know where to start with the new Garmins (here, here, and here); there’s so much of interest about the interface, performance, and the Vision charts. At least they’re pretty similar model to model, or at least the two I have in the lab. But I had heard—actually in the exercise room at my local YMCA (!)—that the 4” models were brighter than the 5”. My photo above, bigger here, tends to confirm that, though in real life, inside or outside, the difference doesn’t seem quite so emphatic. They’re both pretty bright. And note the resolution difference; the 545 is full VGA, 480 x 640 pixels, while the 430 is QVGA, 240 x 320 pixels. In the larger photo, the difference is particularly obvious on the numeric data; in use, the finer detail of the higher res screen seems evident everywhere. But note that Garmin also has a new series of 5” QVGA plotters, which I haven’t seen. The 520, 530, 540, and 550 all have QVGA, while the 525, 535, 545, and 555 are VGA. So, ah ha!, the model number’s first digit indicates screen size, the second tells you what charts come loaded—none, U.S. inland, U.S. coastal, or U.K. (or Australia) in ascending order—and the third subtly tells you what the screen resolution is. (For clarity, the chart on the 430 above is on a card, not in internal memory). Then when get up into the 4 digit networked series, the screen size moves to the last 2 digits, while the first is the style, and second is chart load. Hey, I’m just explaining, not criticizing; coming up with rational model numbers is hard work! By the way, Garmin’s 400500Series page now has a nice “compare” feature.
The mother hen of sailing blogs, Proper Course, is running an interesting project. Tillerman is inviting other bloggers to post entries about their worst sailing mistake, which he's link to, creating a sort of master list of disasters. Well, yours truly firmly believes in the value of learning from the mistakes of others, and has made so many his own self that he's hard put to pick a "worst." Maybe this one; even though it took place a very long time ago, I remember one moment in the following true tale as though it were yesterday--shiver me timbers--and am fairly certain that I've been a better navigator ever since:
Y-tronic just introduced a slick looking combo GPS and tuned AIS antennas meant especially for Class B transponders. Y-tronic is also showing the Trueheading Class B as FCC approved. I wish that was true but think it’s a mistake based on SRT’s pulled-back approval. I still don’t know what’s up with the FCC and Class B; anyone?
Meanwhile, the new Barcelona World Race (two-handed non-stop round the world…exciting) has amended its Notice of Race rules to permit Class B in lieu of Class A transponders. Interestingly, a racer must use AIS in the Med, around the Horn, and within 50nm of the gates, and use is “recommended at other times when ships may be encountered”. (Thanks to Adolfo at Atlantic Source for this!)
And Fred Pot at SeaCAS continues to improve his line of high quality true dual-channel AIS receivers, what with direct connect cables for Raymarine and Furuno plotters, a powerfully spec-ed multiplexer (below, built by Actisense), and now a significant price cut on all three receiver models. But Fred’s pretty leery about Class B, as expressed on his FAQ page. I share many of those concerns, which I summarized in a March PMY column. However, I do question Fred’s assumed 4nm range for Class B. I’m hearing better from Europe, though I haven’t heard much. I’ve got a nice apple for the first company that can loan me a U.S. approved Class B transponder to try out!
