Panbo

FLIBS 2010, better Twitter?

Oct 27, 2010

Doh! If things were going well I'd be fishing off Ft. Lauderdale with a boat load of Furuno gear right now. But things are not going well, and so I'm on a bus in the rain, shifting airports. I won't even make the FLIR/Raymarine cruise tonight, almost 24 hours after my original ETA. Plus I came down with a cold last night, and my checked bag is God knows where. At least I have a fantastc collection of mobile devices with me. Maybe I can learn to Twitter better on the go. Follow me! PS: I made Lauderdale, and my bag materialized, but am not in A1 condition ;-)

Posted by Ben on October 27, 2010 9:21 AM

Comments

Here is a screen shot of iNavX showing AIS targets in the Ft. Lauderdale area. The AIS targets are provided by SiiTech.net AIS server. No problem processing or plotting the targets. New full screen mode coming to iNavX 3.1.8..

http://inavx.com/images/compare/SiiTechAISFL.png

Posted by: GPSNavX at October 28, 2010 9:03 PM | Reply

"No iThing AIS apps seem to cover Lauderdale. Siitech does but tough on iPad Safari http://j.mp/cfBUcu http://yfrog.com/j4emwhj"

Well there is ONE AIS app that has free, pro grade coverage of Lauderdale... only it's not your favorite one Ben ;)

Posted by: John Konrad at October 28, 2010 10:42 PM | Reply

iBoatshow claims to have World Wide coverage. I found only Genoa, METS and Rome from the near future in Europe... :-( Un-installing...

Have fun in FLIBS!

/Chris

Posted by: Chris Author Profile Page at October 29, 2010 4:37 AM | Reply

John, I don't see Ft Lauderdale AIS targets in GTrax, just a few in Miami. Am I missing something?

Rich, how come iNavX is only showing a fraction of the targets I see on Siitech?

Posted by: Ben Author Profile Page at October 29, 2010 7:50 AM | Reply

The SiiTech AIS server (used by iNavX) shows targets within a 30NM radius of the iPad/iPhone location. You can select the "Instruments" tab in iNavX and see the field "TCT:" to see the Target count. Right now at ~1100 I am seeing 200+ targets. This is after letting iNavX run for about 15 minutes.

Posted by: GPSNavX at October 29, 2010 10:55 AM | Reply

Ben -

Thanks for doing the Tweets! It's been great being able to follow you and get frequent updates from the show. PLEASE keep them going at various events (or any other time).

By the way - regarding your comment about "Who says Garmin touchscreens don't work OK on fast offshore rides...", just because they are installed doesn't mean they're effective. I can't comment on offshore powerboats, but having been in some pretty rough seas on our sailboat (12'-15' seas and 45kt winds while rounding Cape Fear two years ago for example) I can't imagine trying to plot a course using a touchscreen. I could barely do it with our Raymarine hard controls. I love the idea of the "new" E-series hybrid touch system. I wonder what real world users are saying about it, and what real world users are saying about using the Garmin touch in heavy conditions (since while I can't believe they'd work well, I'd be happy to be corrected).

Chris

Posted by: Chris s/v/ Pelican at November 1, 2010 1:54 AM | Reply

Chris, I have installed many Garmin touch screen units, and have used them many times in adverse conditions (rocking and rolling in power boats at over 50 kts, in heavy seas), and they are just as easy to use, if not more so than CP units with push buttons. The touch screen buttons are often larger then regular CP push buttons, and the simplified interfaces are easy to use. The new Ray hybrid touch screens are also easier to use while bouncing around also. But that being said, if you need two hands to stay in the boat, and I've been there, none of them will work for you unless you have done all of the planning ahead of time.

Posted by: Bill Bishop Author Profile Page at November 1, 2010 8:48 AM | Reply

Hi Chris,

There are more shows & events outside of the U.S. 18 of the 88 listed, (19 if you include Miami - which after all is the Capital of Latin America!). Still adding shows for 2011 as info becomes avail. Hope to have our first custom boat show app soon. Don't give up yet!

Posted by: Nancy in reply to Chris at November 18, 2010 4:12 PM | Reply

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