It's not slated to go on sale until February, assuming FCC approval, but it's very likely that the Explorer GX1700, press release here, will be the first fixed VHF radio with a GPS built in. Of course that means that this radio will be easier to install so that the automated distress call under that little protective plate at lower right, and many other DSC features, actually work. A professional installer or DIY boater will only have to wire the GX1700 to 12v power and a VHF antenna, and program it with an MMSI number that can be had easily and free from organizations like BoatUS (unless you plan to cruise outside this country or want to base a Group MMSI on your number, in which case you'll need to deal with the FCC). This radio is also housed in a similarly trim case as the current Explorer GX1600 -- with which it shares many interface and calling features -- and it makes use of its internal GPS in ways beyond DSC...
I've been meaning to write about the Icom M24 handheld VHF for some time. While I haven't actually tested this model myself, just holding one at a boat show was a revelation about how light and hand-friendly a full-featured portable marine radio can be these days. Apparently Standard Horizon was also impressed, because today they announced an HX300 model that seems very similar...
I'll venture a guess that Vesper Marine won't commit to giving Christmas "prezzies" to their AIS WatchMate customers every year, but the company is following up on its terrific 2010 anchor watch software gift with another free update feature that lets users place direct DSC calls to AIS targets if their WatchMate model 670, 750, or 850 is set up to output NMEA 0183 to a compatible VHF radio. But I fear "compatible" is the key word here, and I caution WatchMate owners not to set their expectations high, though I think that this is a very worthwhile experiment...
Following up on inReach hands-on #1 -- which attempted to be both an overview and a close look at its associated Android app Earthmate -- let's check out the Internet side of the system. The screen above is the user's web portal at explore.delorme.com, which DeLorme developed in partnership with GeoPro. Given that GeoPro builds its own pro-level Iridium handhelds, like its new $1,200 SHOUT Nano, it's no surprise that the portal let's you thoroughly view and manage inReach communications. It could even be used by, say, a fleet manager to keep an eye on multiple inReach units...
Click on this photo for a close look at the new age of satellite messaging, tracking, and distress handhelds, or at least three of the early contenders. I was cautiously keen on the DeLorme inReach when it first surfaced, but then I had to bite my tongue. Though I was experiencing its reasonably fast and affordable two-way global messaging back in August, I couldn't discuss it because of the beta testing NDA. Fair enough, as the inReach system evolved substantially during the beta process. Plus I've now had a chance to compare it with the less expensive Spot Connect, whose one-way custom messaging via Globalstar was discussed here in January. Not to mention the pro-oriented BriarTek Cerberus system, which also appeared here last January and which uses the same Iridium 9602 data modem as the inReach. The news is pretty much all good for anyone who boats (or hikes, or whatever) beyond cell service, but it's going to take several entries just to lay out what I've learned so far...
Tomorrow the Volvo Ocean Race begins its first offshore leg -- Alicante, Spain to Capetown, South Africa -- and Thrane & Thrane is justifiably proud of how it will help the racers keep in touch and also help us follow the action. That's the company's little Inmarsat mini-C dome in the foreground along with its FleetBroadband 150 (also sold as the KVH and Intellian FB150s, I think). The Volvo boats also get Sailor VHF radios-- probably the 6215/6 model which has impressed me in testing you'll hear about soon -- and big FB500 systems especially useful for uploading video. That's one job of "media crew members" (MCMs) like Groupama's Yann Riou shown filming above. To see what this equipment and the crews are about to endure check out these video snippets from the last Volvo. And note that B&G is also proud of its serious Volvo involvement, but I have more Thrane & Thrane news...
"Iridium Force" -- announced today with much fanfare -- seems to be an entire "vision for the future of personal mobile satellite communications", a bunch of new hard- and software products, and what may be a heck of a business strategy. You can read the press release or sign onto a whole Iridium site full of videos and more, but just the hardware tells a lot of the story. The new Iridium 9575 Extreme handset seen above is not just a highly ruggedized version of Iridium's most recent 9555 sat phone; it includes an internal GPS, a dedicated SOS button, and it seems capable of doing most everything that devices based on Iridium's 9602 SBD modem can do, like, say, the DeLorme inReach and the YellowBrick3 that are both due to ship soon...
Sea Tow recently announced that all its franchises have now installed an automated radio check (ARC) service, and it seems very easy to use. Just check out Sea Tow's ARC page for the active channel in your area -- usually the old Marine Operator channel still managed by its communications partner Maritel -- and make a call. If you're in range you should hear an automated response telling you the location of the receiving base station followed by a recording of your call so you can confirm beyond doubt that your VHF is transmitting. Unfortunately I can't try the system myself, as the active service map above correctly indicates that ARC doesn't quite reach Penobscot Bay yet, but I'm hoping that readers who boat in active (yellow) areas will report about how it works...
It seems that on July 1 Inmarsat rather harshly changed the game for boaters who have a Fleet Broadband system but only use its data and/or voice services occasionally. I emphasize "seems" because the intricacies of satellite airtime rates are daunting. That's largely because Inmarsat wholesales airtime to distribution partners like Stratos and Vizada who then resell it to service providers like KVH, the SatPhoneStore, and many others who finally package it up in innumerable ways for the masses. It's hard to figure out what's going on, let alone who's responsible...
I briefly tested the IsatPhone Pro last summer, later we enjoyed the "independent study" war, and recently Inmarsat announced that the phone can now be used as a narrow bandwidth modem when attached via USB cable to a PC. But don't be fooled by the fudgy "effective data rate of up to 20kbps" language in that press release. Global Marine Networks (GMN) has extensively tested the IsatPhone Pro with its excellent XGate sat phone email service and, as the table above indicates, 20kbps only applies to (highly compressible) plain text emails. In fact, GMN's tech wizard Luis Soltero tells me that the phone's raw data rate is about 1.7 kbps, "a tad slower than an Iridium"...
