So there's a new iPhone, the 3G S, and some of its new features -- like a built-in compass, voice commands/feedback, and a much faster processor -- will no doubt benefit marine navigation applications. But I've been trying the major existing apps (thanks to a loaner 3G from Navionics), and can tell you that they're pretty seductive as is. None is perfect by any means but the three above -- Navionics' Mobile Gold, GPSNavX's iNavX, and Navimatics' Charts & Tides -- each has some interesting features. And I've assembled a super duper screen shot slide show to illustrate...
I've long been interested in the ability of some Humminbird MFDs to side scan with near photographic precision, at least in fairly shallow and calm waters. A lot of fishermen, especially of the freshwater kind, are using the technology to find the structures where their quarry like to hang out, and you can see lots of real world results on this Yahoo group. Humminbird has virtually owned this niche for several years, and claims some patent protection, but now Lowrance is coming right at them with an HDS add-on called StructureScan. It will debut at the MAATS/iCAST show in Orlando this July (and I'll be there), but Lowrance has started showing proof of performance images...
This entry's title is not about cause and effect; my wind sensor testing may go incomplete, but that has nothing to do with Garmin's chart problem. And while I had a good time on the water yesterday, even if frustrated by details, the mood in Kansas seemed a bit morose. Imagine the satisfaction of introducing all the free and amazing enhancements in Garmin's 5.0 marine software (which I was enjoying immensely, as seen above), but then just a few weeks later realizing that there was a processing error in the creation of new and improved Bluecharts that was potentially so bad that you had to recall all the 2009 chart cards sold so far around the world. Ouch!
Yes, this rig is raising some eyebrows around Camden Harbor, but I think it will teach me more about NMEA 2000 wind sensors than I've been able to figure out in the lab. I've got all five cabled to the test instrument panel as well as a MFD or two and Gizmo's laptop. And you can see that I can at least theoretically simulate sailboat mast heel and motion thanks to the Ram Mount. I'm not expecting to get wind-tunnel-accurate results here, but it should be interesting. Don't hesitate with suggestions on how to use this rig and what to look for; I should be online much of the day, and may even update this entry from the boat. Good times...
So now that I have a real yacht, and hope to take her foreign one day, it seemed proper to get an official FCC Ship Station License. And better sooner than later since it includes an official FCC MMSI number, and the FCC will not let anyone transfer MMSI numbers already gotten (very easily) from BoatUS or SeaTow, etc. (despite endless petitions by various boating and safety organizations. And VHF/SSB/AIS devices can not have their MMSI changed without considerable trouble. Plus, getting an official FCC MMSI (with a zero at the end) means I can create a legitimate Group MMSI number, and experiment with that interesting but woefully under used DSC feature. So off I went to the official FCC ship licensing site (above), and into the pits of web form hell...
Bert van den Berg, proprietor of Cruz Pro, writes that "Once every few weeks or so we get an instrument back or get a call from someone who says one of our instruments is acting erratically. Almost invariably it ends up that the customer (or worse, their electrical installer) has done something dumb and wired it so that the instrument is susceptible to voltage transients. For this reason I have written an article to help show how electronic installers would wire electronics into a boat as opposed to how many electrical installers wire electronics into a boat...Please have a look and let me know what you think."
So there's a new iPhone, the 3G S, and some of its new features -- like a built-in compass, voice commands/feedback, and a much faster processor -- will no doubt benefit marine navigation applications. But I've been trying the major existing apps (thanks to a loaner 3G from Navionics), and can tell you that they're pretty seductive as is. None is perfect by any means but the three above -- Navionics' Mobile Gold, GPSNavX's iNavX, and Navimatics' Charts & Tides -- each has some interesting features. And I've assembled a super duper screen shot slide show to illustrate...
