I’ve already described the premise below, and here are some vague notions of the three categories, plus links to some responses. Please share your ideal gear ideas via comments or email. Thanks.
Good: About a 30’ cruising sail or powerboat doing short hops along coast with the occasional overnight trips; budget/value is important. Submissions so far (3/19/07).
Better: Typically a 40’ +/- cruising powerboat capable of trips, say, up into Canada or out to the Bahamas, including occasional overnight runs; the budget is good but not over the top. Sailboats in this category would certainly include racer/cruisers used for extended coastal cruising combined with ocean racing events like the Marblehead-Halifax and Bermuda races. Submissions so far plus Dan’s sailboat (3/24/07).
Best: 50’ and better bluewater cruisers, sailboat ready for a circumnavigation including high latitude sailing, powerboat capable of ocean crossings and remote explorations; very healthy budget. Submissions so far (3/24/07), plus check out Panbo entries on Bluewater and Spirit of Zopilote.
Alrighty, then, time to quit my whining and really put Panbo to work. And I mean YOU! I have a Sail feature assignment to “design ideal navigation and communications gear set-ups” for three different size but fairly typical saltwater cruising boats, and I’m doing something similar in PMY). Obviously it’s a terrifying opportunity to piss off all the manufacturers who don’t make the lists. And it’s also impossible. There’s so much good gear out there, and so many personal variables to what’s “ideal”—simplicity vs. whiz bang, reliability vs. new new, embedded vs. computer-based, single brand vs. many, good value vs. gimme-the-best…etc. etc. But let’s give it shot; it’ll be educational. Whether you’re a pro installer, boat owner, or a dreamer, tell us what your ideal set-up would be for. The only categories we’ll go for will be “good, better, best”, sail or power, as detailed in the entry above. Please submit your ideas in the comments section, or by email for addition to the Web pages I’ll create for each category (and please tell me if I can use your name here and in magazines). Equipment chosen should be at least real enough that you can order it. Of course we’d like to hear about the thinking behind your decisions, and detailed gear lists, photos, helm mockups, and system diagrams are all very welcome. In return you’ll get the chance to share your ideas, a possible magazine credit, and my gratitude.
Yesterday loaner units of two new Cobra VHF’s—the MR F80 B and MR HH425LI VP (who makes up such names?)—showed up on my doorstep. I plan thorough tests, but first some initial reaction to the handheld, which I wrote about when a similar model was introduced in Europe. If you read that entry, you’ll see that I liked the “Rewind, Say Again” memory feature in part because I pictured using it when I missed an important bit of a long NOAA weather forecast loop. Well, guess what? The memory feature does not work when you’re on the weather frequencies! Now, in many other ways the feature is quite well done, like that count down timer shown on the screen (my replay has 13 of 20 seconds left to play), the way you can record your own transmission (though you won’t know how without the manual), and the “REW” on screen showing if you have the recorder on or off. And, by the way, 20 seconds turns out to be fairly long in terms of VHF transmissions. (And, yes, there is something a bit unbalanced about the screen lighting, more on that later.) I want to whine some more about my wrong presumption re: replaying weather forecasts. I know that at least one knowledgeable person at Cobra read that entry, but did not think to explain this particular limitation to the feature (or missed it). That’s a shame, because such corrections are a real Panbo feature. In fact, to some extent I use these entries as raw writer’s notes, and that usually works well because I get the feedback of electronics enthusiasts and the trade, I can correct mistakes nearly instantly, and all that means that what I eventually write for print publication is more accurate. In fact, I just mentioned that same weather replay bit in a piece on this radio for Sail. It happens that it’s still fixable, but in a week or so it would be headed to ink where it might have put a wrong idea into the heads of possible Cobra customers for many months to come. Plus, I know that others in the marine press use Panbo as an electronics research tool. So, head’s up, manufacturers, please, please correct mistakes made here before they go further!
I really didn’t get to fool with the new Ray218 much during Raymarine’s Miami sea trials—what with the AIS250, C-Series Sirius, and LifeTag demos—but it sure sounded good. The speaker is big and the product manager claims that specs (PDF brochure) like sensitivity and “intermodulation rejection” are the best out there. It’s also the first VHF with a soft key interface, which seems darn useful for getting at favorite channels quickly or negotiating complicated menus (the main thing many boaters get from DSC, I fear). There are three knobs, too, just the ones you need, not to mention four scan modes, 30w hailer, and NMEA in/out. The Ray218 (May shipping expected) will come with a fairly standard mic, but there will also be an optional full function RayMic that has the same soft keys, and does duplex intercom with the base station. Apparently this $569 MSRP set will be the top of a whole new VHF line to roll out eventually, and surely is an indication that Raymarine wants to go hard against the best of Icom, Standard, etc. Is it just me who’d like to see an ever higher end model with a color screen?
It can be hard enough to work on, say, a megayacht satellite antenna, imagine trying to deal with “rapidly degrading amplifiers” that are inside the satellites! That’s exactly the problem poor Globalstar faces, a situation that is badly overshadowing the nifty new handset I wrote about last week. The issue was revealed in an SEC filing, and the next day the market took it seriously enough to reduce GSAT’s value by 25%. Ow! Business Week lays out the story nicely here, but no one is predicting what I imagine some cruisers want to know…will their sat phone service crap out before Globalstar can fix the amplifiers and/or launch new birds? It seems to be the general consensus that Iridium is a better system in terms of reliability and global coverage, but I know that many boaters, particularly in the Caribbean, are content with Globalstar’s lower hardware and service costs, and faster data rate. As always your comments will be appreciated, but I must warn that all commenting may get temporarily shut down as—sigh—my server issues are not totally resolved.
PS I notice that Iridium has just announced 8 new partners who will “add value” to its data services. They are all in addition to ones I hinted at in a comment the other day, and include BriarTek, makers of the ORCA MOB system. Interesting, what?
PS 2/26: Evidence mounts that Globalstar’s performance problems are real. Money quote: “In initial testing, analysts found that more than 99 percent of calls placed through the Iridium handset were successfully connected, compared to 51.3 percent of calls from the Globalstar handset. Tests also indicate that 98.1 percent of calls on the Iridium handset and 36.2 percent of calls on the Globalstar handset were successfully connected and completed without being dropped during a three-minute period.”
Well, it turns out that my verklempt (definition) marine PC buddy didn’t have his facts right. Apparently Microsoft’s fee for driver certification is actually in the 2–3 grand range, and is waived entirely until May! Also, the new Globalstar 1700 satellite phone I mentioned is, or soon will be, Vista certified, and so will the older 1600. And this new phone looks sweet, with what looks like a number of usability improvements besides a major size reduction (though that folding antenna is still large enough to impress the swabbies). Globalstar has full coverage here, and OCENS is ready to sell you the phone, accessories, and service plans here. In fact, the phone comes with trial versions of OCENS Mail and WeatherNet, and is supposedly very easy to interface with a PC via USB: “Works with any PPP standard Internet device, including Windows, Mac OS and Linux.” And I notice that OCENS seems to have a promotion running that will get you an annual 1,800 minute voice/data plan for about 30 cents per. I dare say that other marine sat comm specialists like NavCom Digital and Marine Computer Systems will soon follow suit.
It’s just been announced that Raymarine and Remote Knowledge have inked a deal to develop a Ray branded communications product. Remote has been fairly quiet since I wrote up their initial RK3000 product back in my January, 2005, PMY column (this part below not online for reasons unknown), but—man-o-man—it’s not too hard to imagine how their CANbus/N2K and sat/cell comms technology could be married beautifully to Raymarine systems.
OK, back to work! Today we need to help the captain of a smallish ferry find the right gear so he can talk to his two deck hands “easily, wireless, hands-free and with all 3 connected and able to communicate with each other for docking, emergencies etc.” despite the fact that they work in an environment which includes “crowded decks, loud background noise in terms of voices, engine, wind etc.” Now, besides the popular Mariner 500 Headset above (too funky for commercial use methinks), I once tested a pair of these Eartec TD900s, which sound good, are full duplex and very easy to use. You can add a third set but then one becomes a sort of master, and besides they’re not waterproof and seem a dite expensive. So what other choices are out there? What do they use on megayachts? Do some VOX headsets (attached to VHF, UHF or FRS handheld radios) work well enough for a noisy boat?
Speaking of SSB, here’s a cool development, I think. Last Friday the FCC announced that it will no longer require a Morse Code test for any of their amateur radio licenses. Thus, as Dan Piltch at Marine Computer writes, “it will be easier than ever for folks to get licensed up, and start using WinLink (with their Pactor modem) for free email”. Dan put up some good dope here. I heard from lots of Panbo readers about this (thanks all!), including TechYacht’s Tim Hasson who pointed out that not all his fellow hams are pleased (as you can read here and here). The actual rule change, by the way, will take a month or more, and that classic Vibroplex Deluxe Bug above is available here should you want to do Morse just for fun.
is big and the product manager claims that specs (
improvements besides a major size reduction (though that folding antenna is still large enough to impress the swabbies). Globalstar has 
OK, back to work! Today we need to help the captain of 
ne, wind etc.” Now, besides the popular 