I wrote about the nifty target tracking abilities built in to NVTI’s high end multi camera devices a while back, but got to see them in action in the MIBS electronics room. The engineer/demonstrator used that show goer’s hot face to show me how the model 6000’s own computer could lock onto a thermal target and command the camera to follow it. In fact, it tracked the poor guy for about 100 feet as a strolled down the aisle, actually felt like someone was staring at him, and then discovered himself on the NVTI monitor. Things get weird like that in the electronics room. The camera was also impressively able to lock onto the end of a swinging six foot radar array way across the room, which made for dizzy imaging, and I bet it would have worked fine with that cold glass of beverage above. Note, too, the ARPA radar targets listed lower left on the screen above. Pick one and the multi camera casing swings to it pronto. And the latest feature is that AIS targets can also be listed across that monitor, subject to instant tracking. Cool!
Dear readers, sorry for the dead air! I intended to post at least a few times during MIBS (Miami International Boat Show), but your boy way over booked himself, and sometimes had a little too much fun. For starters, I got pretty consumed with the two-day NMMA Innovation Awards judging process, which turned out to be impressively serious and well organized. There were lots of worthy entries into the Consumer Electronics category, which was won by Furuno’s NavNet 3D with Honorable Mentions for Standard Horizon’s HX850S combo VHF/GPS and Globalstar’s SPOT. The full Awards press release is here. Then there were the rounds of press conferences and booth visits, and this year no less than six on-the-water electronics demos. That “Miami madness” shot above was taken during the FLIR thermal imaging cruise, which was blogged by MadMariner’s Tom Tripp. Embarrassingly, Tom also managed to cover lots of other MIBS highlights, electronic and otherwise, and my mates from PMY produced a really neat set of show videos.
Man, the AIS traffic was heavy out there in the Gulf of Maine! Actually I was using the very neat AIS Simulation software created by Mats Kågstrøm of Firma Mats Kagstrom. Specifically I was testing how many AIS targets a Raymarine E-Series can handle simultaneously, as I got a report from a user who says his resets randomly when more than 100 ships are within range. Well, I did see the test E slow down, even stutter a bit, but I was able to feed it the maximum number of targets the simulator can produce without causing a reset. That’s some 510 Class A targets (!), plus a Class B (which the E “saw”), and even SAR aircraft and ATON AIS target messages (which the E doesn’t seem to understand). You can see Kagstrom’s software in action below, and bigger here.
AIS Simulator is very thorough and is going to be terriffic for testing navigation hardware and software. But I’ll write more about later, because I don’t want to head back to my judging duties until I pass on the good news about Class B AIS. To quote one of the many cautiously optimistic emails I got on this subject yesterday (thanks, all!): “We heard from the FCC that it looks like the AIS Second Report and Order will be on the Commission's Agenda for the Feb. 26 meeting. There is a *chance* that the item will be voted on before that time.” Maybe our letters and emails helped, but I also know that the GMDSS Task Force, the USCG, and the RTCM have all been making their feelings known to the FCC. The latter even spoke with an FCC legal aid, very effectively too, as judged from this PDF documenting the meeting (also a good summary of the situation). Cross your fingers!
This ST70 not only plays pretty well with the various non Raymarine sensors on Panbo’s NMEA 2000 test network, as mentioned earlier this week, but it’s also loaded with neat surprises. One is those little minimum and maximum dots on the outer ring of the digital Apparent Wind dial above. Many instruments will track min/max of some values, but I’ve never seen one that does it graphically like this. Have you? Plus when you press that menu button from this page, your first choice will be to reset those min/max values. Friendly.
Ah, yet another doodad useful for installing a NMEA 2000 network, an economical one too. If used to the max, Actisense’s brand new QNB-1 “Quick Network Block” takes the place of 6 regular N2K tee connectors, 8 cable connectors, and a separate power supply (like most of this). Plus all the N2K cable ends run into it can be run through smaller holes and tighter spaces than even those skinny SimNet connectors, and they can be cut to fit perfectly. And I don’t see why it can’t be used with proprietary flavors of N2K cable too (the possible exception being SimNet because it lacks a distinct “shield” wire). The QNB-1 even includes 4 amp blade fuses for each side of the backbone, and LEDs that indicate power on/off/reversed and data activity, and it will retail for about about $146 (available in the U.S. from Gemeco).
PassageWeather.com is apparently brand new, but impressive, offering free 7-day sailing forecasts for all oceans, updated 4 times a day. The interface seems clean and fast, data sources are explained, and you can download forecast charts easily. The region organization is nice too, and note that the ocean race routes are always forecast, so you can, as above, quickly see that heading, say, Norfolk to Bermuda today could be one fast passage, in the right boat. PassageWeather is no where near as ambitious as ClearPoint, but it seems well done. Your thoughts?
My macro photography needs improvement, as does my cable stripping, but I think this shot makes a point. From the left, the cables above are standard (DeviceNet) NMEA 2000, SeaTalkNG (aka NMEA 2000), and SimNet (aka NMEA 2000). Notice the similarities. The internal wires all adhere pretty closely to the NMEA color standard, which goes as follows, "Net" nomenclature included:
I’ve had a Garmin Colorado here for a week or so, and while there’s a lot to like about it, screen brightness is disappointing (especially given Garmin’s recent fixed plotters). Here it is alongside the DeLorme PN-20 out on Lake Megunticook near dusk this afternoon, bigger photo here, with both screens turned up to maximum brightness. Note however that the DeLorme may have the brightest color screen I’ve ever seen on a handheld, though it’s also pretty small, particularly compared to the Colorado. By the way, despite all the maps, charts, and photos each of these devices can display, I don’t think there is an electronic navigation ‘chart’ available for Megunticook in any format. Lakes are funny that way…i.e. there is no Government agency tasked with mapping them all. More on both handhelds eventually. Oh, and what was I doing out there on the ice? Well, we lost all our snow in a few rain storms, and so I’ve been learning how to use a pair of 21” Nordic cruising skates. They’re great!
“The nation’s 18 million recreational boaters may need to register their crafts in a national database and place radio frequency identification tags {RFID} on their vessels under plans put forth by a stakeholders group convened by the Homeland Security Department {DHS}.” So says an article in WashingtonTechnology. The idea, um, doesn’t sit well with the editor of Sailing Anarchy, who described it today as, “an example of what the some of the jackals at ‘Homeland Security’ think fighting the ‘war on terror’ is about…This is a pathetic joke, a national embarrassment and an outrage that this is what the Bush government is up to.”
I don’t know when NavNet 3D will actually ship, but the nitty gritty details are emerging. There’s a very useful NavNet 3D FAQ (PDF) up at Furuno’s “Learning Center” (lower right, under Reference Materials). I’ve only skimmed it but was pleased to read how nicely NN3D handles multiple N2K GPS, depth, and other sensors (you pick a preferred sensor and the whole system will honor that preference unless it fails, when a backup will automatically be used). There’s also a good explanation (above) of the blackbox version’s support for multiple monitors, a great feature that’s hardly been mentioned yet by mutts like me. Fortunately, too, a Panbo reader with a strong personal interest in NN3D sent me notes on the FAQ—some enthusiastic, some skeptical, and some perhaps based on misunderstandings. Check it all out and add your own two cents:
