Panbo

ACR Nauticast B, a new Class B playa

Over the years, I’ve gotten the impression that the FCC can be a capricious, even frightening, regulatory agency. For instance this is the only prototype Class B AIS that was actually shown to the public in Miami (I think), and ACR asked that I include the disclaimer below in this entry. At any rate, the Nauticast B looks pretty attractive (bigger image here). It’s quite compact at less than 8 x 6.5 x 2 inches—the translucent case apparently helping with its “water resistance” while letting the four LED status lights shine through—and it will retail for $1,000 (once it’s approved). It comes with a remote SRM (safety related message) send button which, like the SevenStar, can be reprogrammed by the user to instead turn quiet mode (receive but don’t transmit) on and off. But probably the most important thing about this box is the name on it. ACR’s reputation for quality, reliability, and support will be a real boon to AIS Class B adoption (as the new receivers from Furuno and Raymarine will be for AIS awareness overall). So, please, FCC, let’s get on with it!

This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

WaveRV WiFi revisited, 400mw redefined?

When I first heard of the WaveRV Marine USB WiFi combo radio/antenna last year, I wrote that the radio pumped out 400 milliwatts. One Panbo commenter wrote in doubting that figure, and he was right (that was AdriftAtSea, and hearts out to him for his recent tragedy). As you can see in the connect software that comes with the WaveRV (and is quite good), the actual “Tx Power Level” is 100 mW. When I questioned RadioLabs about this, they said that their 400mW spec is based on the combined power of the amp and antenna, justifiable since they are physically combined. Well OK, fellas, but how about putting that information clearly into your specs? 
  RadioLabs has scaled down its performance claims from the “Up to 30 Times the Range of Standard Integrated Wireless Cards. Line-of-sight up to 4 Miles.” on the original press release to the “Over 15x the range of your notebook wireless card!! Up to 1 mile of range to a wireless access point.” now on their Web site. But I doubt I saw any ranges approaching a mile when testing the WaveRV in Maine, the Netherlands, and Florida over several months. But it certainly did increase my range as compared to the Intel PRO radio built into my HP laptop. I also tried it in the same Camden Harbor locations as I did the Port Networks Ethernet radio and, while changes in the APs spoiled a direct comparison, I’d say that PN’s box did better. (And I also tried it with an older laptop, but the connection was pokey due to the limitations of USB 1, not the WaveRV.)

Garmin 5xxx, more thoughts

Garmin has put up more press images of the 5xxx series, and this one shows some of the neat 3D abilities I saw demoed in Miami. These machines, and I’d guess at least the 4xxx series too, can overlay radar imagery onto this “mariner’s eye” topside view, and fishfinder imagery onto the separate “fish eye” 3D view. And I don’t mean ARPA targets and fish icons, though they can be useful too. There’s a handsome engine screen too (if you have a NMEA 2000 talking engine, or can use Maretron’s conversion box). The demo units were very much prototypes so I have no idea how fast and smooth they’ll be in real life (actually I’m not even positive which 3D view that is), but they certainly seemed bright, especially for touch screen. I’ve also learned that these 5000 series machines can support a wireless mouse and remote control (4000 series too), which may mollify those folks worried that the touch screen will be hard to work in bouncy conditions. (And I tried faking the Harmony remote into “learning” one of these remotes, which I’m pretty sure it can do). But all this is really just glimpses of Garmin’s new high end; time, and some testing I look forward to, will tell.

"Lit Up" lights off, no further problems

That’s a 35’ Viking, ironically named “Lit Up”, as it became “the world's largest flare gun” off Mayport, Florida, on Feb. 10. All six crew survived just fine, thanks to good planning and gear. Doug Ritter, of the always valuable Equipped.org site, first made me aware of this accident, and the picture comes from a thorough article at Jacksonville.com. 

XML feed, email subscription too!

Some Panbo readers who like to keep up with this blog via an XML/RSS reader, like Google’s or Bloglines, have noted that the feed is screwed up, and I apologize for that. The fact is that I didn’t even know about the particular feed they were using! The one meant to work is this one, hosted by Feedburner, and it still does. I also just added a way to subscribe to Panbo by email, also hosted by Feedburner. It’s very easy to set up, and the only thing you have to share is an email address, which will not be abused. If you use either service (also available down at the bottom of the right column), you’ll see that you only get a short text excerpt from new Panbo entries. That’s because my sponsors and I want you to come to our sites to read the full entries.
   Sponsors? Yes, both Power & Motoryacht and Sail are now helping to make Panbo possible. PMY is also streaming the content at its site and Sail has a link and recent excerpt on its home page. Yet another reason I feel gratitude toward these magazines, and partially why I have a paid hand now rebuilding Panbo on a more reliable hosting site. Admittedly I’ve been talking about this for a long time, but the rebuild is truly getting closer and will eventually include a wider format with a little space for companies that want to support Panbo with graphic adverts. In this regard I’ve been investigating the services like BlogAds that could make this easy for all parties; suggestions welcome. 

Logitech Harmony, play stump the remote

I’m working on an article about universal remotes, the bane of many yachts (and households). Specifically I’m testing a Logitech Harmony 890, and so far am finding it an amazing solution to just about every problem I’ve had with previous “universals” (lots). If you’re not familiar with the Harmony design, they all have USB ports which you use along with dedicated software and Harmony’s Web site to program the thing for all the devices you want to operate. You can teach it individual commands, but Logitech has thousands of devices already databased, including my particular TV, surround sound system, DVD player, VCR, and Media Center laptop. I’ve checked and know they also have the dedicated receiver in the KVH M3 system. What else should I look for in the lists?

Ray218, first impressions

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?

Multihull madness #2, the Stealth 540 delivers

I actually turned down a short trip on Earthrace Tuesday, but it was partially because I knew I’d be spending yesterday on the Stealth 540, an experience I’ve been scheming about for months. What a blast! This boat has interesting electronics and electrical systems (like a 3kw Victron inverter/charger able to make up for a modest generator and shore power setup), but they’re overshadowed by the hull and power train technology. Time and again we passed boats of similar size and luxury appointments but with significantly greater horsepower and diesel thirst. Like the pair below, which we left in the (Q-SPD generated) rooster tail at 45 knots. At about 17 knots the Stealth raises up a foot or two on its foils, leaving minimal wetted surface. The main foil also provides some shock absorption in waves and seems to help the boat carve turns. Truth be told, it drives like a big sports car. The “HYSUCAT” system has been around for many years, but my impression is that Stealth has really put it all together. (Now, back to Maine; bye, bye, Miami.)

PSs 2/23–25: The guy above (who’d really like to rip that wheel out of my hands) is Bob Kyle, owner of Yacht Share, where you’ll find some recent pictures of the 540. I will be writing up the boat test for PMY, by the way. And here’s the home site for Professor Hoppe’s HYSUCAT designs, with a video of the Stealth 540’s first trials in Cape Town at the top of the list. And finally, sail boats can be fast too, as nicely illustrated by this entry over at the nicely reborn blog Navagear. It’s expected that a sailboat will break 50 knots this year, and it will probably be on hydrofoils.

NDI, bye bye?

NDI, or Nautical Data International, just announced that it’s selling its exclusive right to produce and license digital versions of Canadian charts back to the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS), effective on March 30. It sounds like that’s the end of a long and unpleasant affair I’ve discussed before, but who knows for sure? If you read the Q&A’s, you’ll find that NDI plans to stay in business, and to continue its suits against C-Map and Navionics. I haven’t followed this dispute closely, but have noticed that both those companies are now offering very reasonably priced Canadian charts, especially when compared to NDI’s PC charts. In fact, I know boats that have gone from PC to plotter mainly because of that price difference. Here’s hoping that CHS will make Canadian rasters and ENCs more affordable and easier to use.

AIS Miami, good times

Yeah, man, that’s an Ethernet port on the new Furuno FA30 AIS receiver, meaning that it can plug right into a NavNet vx2 network. It also has standard NMEA 0183 38.4k AIS output, and comes with a PC AIS plotting program able to use the Ethernet feed, so it could be set up in many ways. The FA30 is a true dual channel receiver and will retail for “under $1,000.” It’s slightly bulky at about 10 x 8.5 x 3.5 inches, but that same box will house a Furuno Class B AIS that they’re planning to introduce eventually.
  I’m a bit disappointed that Raymarine’s AIS250 is only a one-channel-at-a-time receiver, sporting a pretty stiff $1,120 MSRP too, but it does pack a lot of features under the hood. For one thing, it’s got a built in antenna splitter, allowing just one stick to feed AIS, FM, and VHF sets (preferably your standby set). It also has a built-in multiplexer offering two inputs and two outputs, all able to talk at either 4,800 or 38,400 baud as needed. This can solve lots of installation issues, particularly with single-NMEA-port C– and E-Series machines. Note that ShipModul has a special multiplexer for doing AIS with Ray C/E, as does Brookhouse (informative PDF here), and SeaCas is offering a dual channel receiver/multiplexer bundle.

XM + Sirius, just when the live weather war heats up

It’s not every day that the New York Times puts a tech merger on the top of the front page, but amazingly the XM/Sirius merger, rumored for ages, never came up (around me) in Miami…despite lots of news about their competing marine weather services. Northstar, for instance, previewed its 6100i Sirius Weather product, which makes terrific use of softkeys to mix and view all those data elements (a real challenge). For instance, that “Overlay” key above (bigger here) let’s you page through six different customizable data mix presets, each represented in the little window with icons, and you can further tweak the data presentation by setting ranges if you want.
  Furuno was also previewing a Sirius weather product (PDF brochure); the interface seemed much more rudimentary, but since Furuno is using a new generic Sirius receiver (Northstar’s is their own) and there’s also new Sirius weather PC software in the works, a boat might be able to use both on the same subscription. Sirius Weather was also showing on a Maptech i3, which already runs XM, and as part of a ambitious new SkyMate product that includes GPRS and Orbcomm communications. And Raymarine introduced Sirius Weather for the C-Series, which incorporates a cool implimentation of Sirius audio, including volumn control, easy presets, notification of favorite artist and some other subtleties. Audio is already built into the E-Series Sirius receiver—all these receivers, in fact—but the audio interface won’t come for a while.

Meanwhile, XM’s big news is species-specific fish finding data (sorry for poor pic below), as well as extended wave, wind, and surface pressure forecasts and more Canadian data, including radar (Puerto Rico too)—all included in the same $50/month Master Mariner subscription—plus there’s some exciting new hardware and relationships in the works. In short, there’s a hell of a Sirius/XM competition going on just in this little marine weather segment. What does it mean if and when the two become one? Your thoughts please!

WiFi, an interesting hybrid and a damn rip-off

Syrens Onboard is the relatively new brand name for the high end marine WiFi systems developed by GeoSat Solutions (now also marketed by Syrens At Sea). I’ve heard mostly good things about this gear’s performance, even one report of getting usable WiFi 12 miles offshore! I may have misunderstood that range, and it’s certainly not common; WiFi may get you true broadband in some marinas and anchorages, but it’s cellular always-on data plans that keep your e-mail, weather reports, etc. flowing as you move along the coast. Which is why I saw a number of cellular data products in Miami, including the Syrens Onboard EC-Hybrid model above, which includes high power WiFi radio, amplified Cingular radio, local WiFi access point, and Ethernet router. It will supposedly even be able to use both forms of Internet access together.

In the meantime I just discovered that my hotel's Wayport WiFi service (I’m in Miami until Wed.) is also part of the Boingo WiFi service, the main difference being price. Like instead of paying $50 for five days Boingo is $22 for a month and includes coverage in the airports I’ll be passing through, and lots of other places! The problem is that your computer will not see the Boingo service in many places, like this hotel, unless you use Boingo software as your WiFi "sniffer". It's free, there is a Mac version, and actually it's quite good for seeing and connecting to any WiFi access point. If you use WiFi on the road, or water, you might want to download Boingo software today.

PS 2/20: Here’s a screen shot illustrating Boingo’s software, and the unfortunate attitude of more and more WiFi users I’m afraid…i.e. a secured AP named “NoFreeWiFiMoFo”.

Boat Show Craziness, and a wee dram of brag

Let’s see, a few highlights from two days of Miami Boat Show: a tour of the Garmin 5000 series from the company’s head marine software engineer; collecting more details on new AIS receivers from Raymarine and Furuno, not to mention three big brand Class B transponders awaiting approvals; hearing how the new Jeppesen Nobeltec C-Map team envision the future of marine charting; and watching the founder of Navionics sing and dance Volare at NavAid2. But my very favorite moment was at Power & Motoryacht’s gala pirate-themed advertiser appreciation party high up in the “starlight room” of our hotel. There I was, trying to get a few photographs of the high-spirited craziness seen above (yes that’s a pirate band playing on an elaborate pirate ship stage), when some glinty-eyed, snaggle-toothed buccaneer/stranger looks up at me from the mosh pit, raises his fist in the air, and shouts out, “Panbo rules!” 
   It’s just mind blowing how many people in the marine electronics industry are reading this blog (and your comments); Panbo’s future is bright. Once I get through the rest of the show, I’ll report on the above and many more interesting developments, but right now I’m feeling quite a bit of appreciation for the two magazines who support me so fabulously in this endeaver. PMY and Sail rule!

Navico buys BNTME, hello Simrancestarman!

I was out on a FLIR demo cruise this evening, well worth reporting on, but at one point a lot of cell phones got  busy, belonging mostly to people who had once worked for Northstar, Navman, or the “Brunswick New Technologies Marine Electronics” mouthful they became. Brunswick has been trying to sell this unit for at least a year, and tonight a buyer was announced: Navico, the conglomerate that already owns Simrad, B&G, and Lowrance. I’m pretty sure that makes Navico the biggest swinging you-know-what in marine electronics, but, my, that’s a lot of brands, a lot of development platforms, to make sense of.

Garmin 5000 series for real, and here comes Faria

Now it’s real—or at least officially announced and supposedly shipping in June. Garmin went “no comment” when hints surfaced of the 5000 touch screen series six weeks ago, but here’s a picture (bigger here). The specs on the four 5000 models are very similar to the already much anticipated new 4000 series, except for the touch screen interface. (Which Garmin seems fully committed to; I only see a single power button that casing.) This developement would make my PMY prediction—that Garmin’s Miami booth will be very busy—even truer…if it weren’t for a monster storm messing up many travel plans.

Also here in Miami, Faria will introduce the “Maestro Touch Screen Navigation and Command  Center” (at Booth G65). I got a preview of these 8 and 12 inch units last month, and think Maestro is big news. The key is a Maptech’s really refined touch screen nav software combined with Faria’s skills at manufacturing and at interfacing with all sorts of engines and other gear. If you make it to Miami, check out Maestro (and, heck, the touch screen Northstar 8000i too, which I’m told is finally shipping in quantity). The year of touch screen?

NavAid2, geeks on guitars

It’s amazing how many marine electronics sales and product people can really make music. I learned that during last year’s Miami Show when Navionics hosted a benefit to aid victims of Hurricane Wilma (the one which did so much damage to South Florida just before the 2005 Ft. Lauderdale show). The Navionics “house band” played with many guests “artists” (that’s a Raymarine Product Manager wailing in the photo), and the event raised $7,000. Navaid2 will take place this Thursday evening, starting at 5pm in Room B118 of the Miami Beach Convention Center, and will benefit American Cancer Society and to the Ian McWilliam Saints Fund (McWilliam was “a friend and well-known marine industry colleague, who passed away this past fall after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer”). More info here.  Be there, or be square.

Multihull madness #1, Earthrace

I’m off to Miami, and posting may be sporadic this week, but one of many sights I’m hoping to take in is this raw carbon Navman/Northstar equipped helm (bigger here ) on the wild wave piercing trimaran Earthrace. While tieing this thing up to a dock must be a challenge, the boat has already proven itself over many ocean miles, and will soon try to set an around-the-world record, burning biodiesel yet. The whole story is here. I’m getting a thing about power multihulls.

Globalstar's problem, how bad?

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.”

Bon Pigall, heck of a research vessel

Well, now, couldn’t we have some fun on this handsome beast! Bon Pigall is a new 24 meter water jet powered aluminum research vessel that’s pretty fast and pretty nicely appointed (other photos show teak decks, for instance). She was built in Spain and much of the PR material sent to me is in that language—which I lack—but I do know that she has a dynamic positioning system and carries a serious looking “robot submarino”. Speaking of serious, how about that Simrad crammed helm above (bigger here ), which includes Olex 3D bathymetry? Then there’s the monitor crammed cabin beneath the bridge, which is the control center for the submarino. The electronics are the work of a Barcelona company called Medenisa, whose site doesn’t have Bon Pigall info yet, but does list some serious megayacht setups the firm has installed. Medenisa developed the DP system with WCM Controls, and says it a first for this size vessel.

AIS news, Class B and more

So while I’m wondering if anything is happening Class B AIS wise, the U.S.C.G. was type-approving its first Class B device! Not surprisingly it is SRT’s OEM transponder, also first in Europe, which means finished units branded by the likes of Comar, SevenStar, and Trueheading. But first they need FCC approval. A representative told me last October that they would grant at least provisional approvals quickly, but now I’m not so sure. (Confirmed later in the day; the FCC is concerned about “the control and allocation of MMSI numbers.”)
  Meanwhile, at least two major brand AIS receivers will be introduced at the Miami Boat Show, and while both apparently have some unique features, just the names on the boxes are going to be significant in terms of AIS awareness amongst recreational boaters. And there will be at least one other major brand electronics company showing a demo model of a Class B transponder that it designed itself. I also noticed that Shine Micro recently put up specs on its interesting, but not yet approved, hybrid AIS receiver MURS transceiver, which may be useful for tender tracking or I’m-not-sure-what. And, finally, Fred Pot reports that the novel “Safe Pass” method of displaying AIS targets will soon be incorporated into Y-Tronic’s plotting software. It’s all good.

By the way, I was glad to see “transponder” used in the USCG approval, as nomenclature is an AIS issue (for instance, I was wrong to use “duplex”). I understand that transpond is not precisely what these things do, but I think it works.

PS. And here’s an interesting tidbit gleaned from SRT’s news page: “New Brunswick Technologies in the USA” became a licensee in December. I’m 99% sure they mean Brunswick New Technologies. Hello Northstar Class B AIS?

Yet more LifeTag, battery issue resolved?

Well, it seems that new Raymarine research pretty much obliterates concerns about the battery life of their LifeTag MOB pendants. A note from Product Manager Paul Tiller says that “…following exhaustive life testing by the engineering department, they are happy to report that the LifeTag tag battery will last for over 2000 hours of continuous usage, equating to 83 days or almost 12 weeks!” His excitement is understandable; that’s ten times longer than the previously published estimate!
  Plus, this morning, when I took the LifeTag innards shot above (bigger here), I did a little testing myself. I opened and shut the case ten times and then vigorously drowned the unit in a bucket. It survived fine. (Though the server support personnel I was day dreaming about probably would have sputtered some!)

Ow, that hurt!

Yipe! As many of you noticed, Panbo went off the air—”Forbidden.…You don't have permission to access / on this server.” etc.—last Saturday. I will not bore you with the gruesome details, but it was actually my hosting service that shut Panbo down, without warning or even a “suspend notice” until 24 hours after the fact. It seems that the old spam comment issues were still affecting server CPU usage, though totally without my knowledge. The two+ day getting-it-fixed saga featured horrendously slow support response, misinformation, and hours on hold being serenaded by a looping schlock rock tape. I remained polite, but my inner very angry customer really wants to express himself!
  However, just to be on the safe side, I will not name the offending host service until Panbo has a new one. This incident really brought home to me how much I value and enjoy this blogging part of my work life, and I’m more fired up than ever to improve the site…stability included! But first I have to catch up on work, and get ready for Miami. Back to business!

Vista revisited, and check the cool Globalstar

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. 

AIS simulation, a couple of ways

In a week or two, yet another ECS, Tiki Navigator, will add AIS targeting and it looks well done. Note in the screen shot (bigger here) how the red target is being DR’d, its last actual update shown by a little circle and the time of that update shown in a window just below its position. I know that some may find this is too complex, but I think it might be useful, especially with slow Class B data updates. Tiki can also draw a target predictor line based on ‘x’ minutes of speed/course, and it scales vessels if they’re sending dimensional info and if you’re zoomed in enough. Included in the demo file will be some charts of the Seattle area and a NMEA 0183 data file showing real AIS traffic.
  Simulation is valuable as a lot of navigators have yet to experience AIS in action. You may recall that Capn Voyager can read a web stream of live AIS targets, which is even better than simulation (though I’m not sure that feature is still available). And Fred Pot at SeaCas has set up a way you can replay a voyage, AIS targets included, in Coastal Explorer (or Maptech Navigator Pro). Look for the “To see a demonstration” link at the bottom of this SeaCas page. I’ve tried it and it’s cool, including a close quarters “start the engine!” situation and AIS targets seen 30+ miles away, and on the other side of islands, all using Fred’s 300 model mounted on the stern rail.
  By the way, I have heard that Class B AIS is selling well in Europe but not a darn thing about approvals and availibility here in the USA. Anyone?