I really enjoyed being part of Trawler Fest last week. It was inspiring to meet relatively new cruising enthusiasts who are working to expand their skill sets, and trying to explain and demonstrate current technologies rekindled some of my own enthusiasms. I hadn't turned on the DeLorme inReach in months, for instance, but it located itself and paired with my iPad for easy backup navigation, tracking, and two-way messaging no problem, even though I was standing in front of an audience under a large aluminum-framed tent. Plus I got to see the entirely new User and Map Share web pages DeLorme recently developed for inReach, and they are sharp. However, I was also reminded of a disturbing behind-the-scenes patent issue that may hobble all SENDs (Satellite Emergency Notification Devices) and will likely tax consumers no matter what happens in court...
What is it with radar on a PC screen that seems so enticing to yachties? Is it the fact that you don't need a MFD? Or do we want the ability to use the digital charts of our choice with the radar of our choice? Last week I wrote about how OpenCPN now supports Garmin and Simrad radar, or at least partially, and it was in that entry's comments where we learned about the existence of Furuno MaxSea PC Radar. Yes it is possible to use Furuno's excellent radar with the excellent charting program MaxSea Time Zero without purchasing a NavNet 3D or TZ Touch MFD! But right now it may only be possible in France or Germany...
Panbo may not make the corporate masthead any time soon, but the agreement that begins today is definitely a collaboration between this little web site and the Active Interest Media Marine Group, and I'm excited about it. AIM not only includes Power & Motoryacht and Sail magazines, where I wrote columns for many years, but also Soundings and PassageMaker, both of which I've long admired. In fact, one of my first formal acts as AIM's Senior Electronics Editor will be delivering a seminar titled "Dedicated Navigation Systems and the Apps Revolution" at the Fort Lauderdale Trawler Fest on February 1st (a seminar I hope to write aboard the trawler-like Gizmo in South Carolina). But the main goal for 2013 is to feed and grow Panbo and the AIM relationship is going to help...
In part 2 I'd like to talk about the items related to NMEA 2000 in some form or fashion. Actually it's becoming hard to find a new marine electronics product that does not have an N2K interface! From batteries to sensors, they all seem to grow a NMEA 2000 interface. Lets start off with the better known specialists first. Maretron had a lot of gear that I hadn't seen before like a very new 3.5" color display, unnamed as of yet, that is essentially a smaller version of the DSM 250. Not only does this fit in better with the 110 mm displays from other manufacturers, I thought the screen actually looked better as well because it has the same amount of pixels at higher DPI. Thus it gets rid of the slightly grainy display that I felt let the DSM 250 down. It probably also uses less power too...
As my first, and hopefully not last, series of entries under my own name I'd like to report on my visit to the METS 2012 trade show. If I had to call an overall theme then it would be touch screen chartplotters and the increase in companies working on Lithium batteries. I counted 5 companies offering these, and I probably missed a few. Last year there were few touch chartplotters and this year the Big Four all had lots of them, and there was a little surprise as well with a new range by a company I'd never heard of, Lorenz of Italy. Let me start of with some good Airmar news, the first highlight of the show for me...
It's telling of the Great Convergence when the biggest electronics news of a boat show is arguably a software upgrade. I don't mean that innovation in marine electronics has slowed down, not at all. But whereas the Big Four have now all rationalized and modernized their product lines -- though in some cases it took painful operating system rebuilds -- big features can often be realized just by unleashing capabilities already build into MFDs or available from sensors that may already be interfaced. We just saw two neat new Fusion 700 audio interface updates, but now consider all the features crammed into Raymarine's Lighthouse v5 update, which was just announced the first day of FLIBS and -- holy cow -- is already available for all a-, c-, and e-Series MFDs...
I've been testing (and enjoying) a Fusion MS-IP700 and MS-NRX200 system since I installed them in June and I wholeheartedly support the 700 Series as NMEA's Technology Award winner of the year. And note that I wasn't a judge myself this year and unfortunately wasn't even there (especially as I've heard repeatedly that the 2012 NMEA Conference was the success hoped for). You can read all about it in this online version of the ME Journal, and further note that the judges didn't see the cool multi-manufacturer Fusion MFD interfaces that debuted in Fort Lauderdale...
Now that we've had a look at Navico's WiFi1 router and the 0183 Link, let's examine the Toolkit that will purportedly give developers easy access to the higher level numeric data that's running around a boat's Simrad, Lowrance, or B&G systems. Of course that means NMEA 2000 info and it could lead to all sorts of interesting apps like that instrument screen prototype above. We're talking about 38 data groups ranging from GPS to Bait Well to Inverter with 303 data types already defined by Navico. I'll link to the list below and I think even non-programmers will get excited about what's possible...
On Tuesday Raymarine announced the e165 and while a replacement for the 14-inch E Widescreen was predictable, it's pretty neat that they managed to get a 15.4-inch screen plus large second-generation "hybridtouch" controls into a svelte casing that can swap right into the helm panel hole currently occupied by an E Wide 14 (or a C Wide 14). That's 20% more screen area, and the LED backlighting is said to be wicked bright though the e165's maximum reported power draw is only 36 watts. And of course the e165 has the triple processing, WiFi, apps, Bluetooth, and new "Lighthouse" interface that seem to be drawing customers to the littler little "e" Series (breakdown of all four "e" sizes and seven models here). But I'm going to guess that many owners of E Wides -- which was a brand-new ground-breaking Series only just announced three years ago! -- are not happy to see them superseded. There is a dark side to Raymarine's meteoric resurgence...
