Monthly Archive: October 2008

HDS, a major Lowrance refresh 34

HDS, a major Lowrance refresh

Lowrance_HDS-5_with_Nautic_Insight_Maps

Today Lowrance is announcing a new series of multifunction displays called HDS that I’m excited about seeing at the boat show (and trying when they ship in a few months). The acronym stands for High Definition System, and seems justified on several counts…

Lake survey photo essay, thanks Navionics! 7

Lake survey photo essay, thanks Navionics!

Navionics_survey_data_check_cPanbo

That strange graphic rendered on a laptop in a car trunk stuffed with foul weather gear and winter clothing represents a terrific experience I had yesterday, and a wicked lot of work. Compare the graphic—which is actually hundreds of thousands of GPS/depth data points…

Class B, name game #2 17

Class B, name game #2

ProAIS_static_data_screen_cPanbo

We’re down to Class B AIS details, my friends, and they aren’t hard. Above, and bigger here, is the Static data screen seen in the proAIS software that comes with the European version of Digital Yacht’s AIT250 transponder (and possibly others, as it comes from SRT, the manufacturer of so many Class B circuit boards and finished boxes). In the U.S. market this is the screen an installer would see after he or she had entered the vessel’s MMSI number. Users will see all those data fields grayed out (I presume, as I haven’t actually seen the finished U.S. software). Of course that’s because the FCC barred users from inputing the data themselves. But the user does have to supply accurate info to the installer. Let’s break it down:

Class B AIS, the name game 12

Class B AIS, the name game

Bullship_Avalon_crop_cPanbo

This weekend I’m working on a PMY column about Class B AIS, and now have three transponders up and running, which you’ll hear about it. But I also went over my notes and audio recording…

Class B installs #1, Brookhouse solution 5

Class B installs #1, Brookhouse solution

Brookhouse AIS B transponder solution

A nice thing about Class B AIS transponders, I think, is that by regulation they include a GPS and thus they deliver “own vessel position” along with AIS target info to whatever displays they feed. But that can present an issue if…