Category: AIS

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Argo Nav puts Army Corps surveys on the chart (and finally gets its Panbo review)

Despite a few mentions of Argo Nav’s capabilities, I have yet to write a full, hands-on review of Argo Nav’s mobile device navigation app. For the first several years Argo was around, founder Jeff Foulk didn’t feel the product was “ready” for a review. Now, as Argo has matured and Jeff is more confident in what it has to offer, my pokiness in getting a review out means I still haven’t completed a full Panbo review. Allow me to rectify that while also highlighting a new feature that is near and dear to my heart. In large part because of my time cruising the Intracoastal Waterway and its many shoaling hazards, I’m most excited about Argo’s addition of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers survey data overlays right on the chart.

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Garmin announces Signal VHF radios, Vesper’s DNA lives on

I’ve been waiting for this announcement for a long time. Ordinarily, VHF announcements from major marine manufacturers aren’t that exciting. Manufacturers often rely on third parties to design and build their radios. Those radios frequently just complete the line and ensure a brand matching helm. But, Garmin bought Vesper, an AIS specialist, in January of 2022. My piece covering that acquisition asked if Vesper’s innovation would continue. We’ve had to wait more than four years, but the pictures of the Signal series radios look promising.

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PredictWind introduces Over the Horizon AIS, a world-first

We are excited to release the all new Over the Horizon AIS (OHA) feature on the DataHub. View AIS data out to 300nm, directly on your chart-plotter and nav apps, so you can sail safer. Over the Horizon AIS (OHA) increases your AIS range from as low as 5nm to 300nm! If you are sailing at 10 kt using regular AIS and a container ship is…

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Orca offers smart navigation with your tablet or theirs

Orca makes some pretty heady claims about their CoPilot navigation app and hardware. Their home page is dominated by the tagline, “The ultimate navigation experience” and promises “Better boating with Orca.” Those are bold statements, but Orca’s goals are indeed ambitious. Orca aims to deliver a smarter, more automated navigation experience by leveraging both their own and off-the-shelf hardware. So, how far along the path to delivering the ultimate navigation experience has Orca progressed so far? Let’s take a look.

ACR ResQLink AIS PLB and Ocean Signal RescueMe PLB3 12

ACR and Ocean Signal add AIS to Personal Locator Beacons, with cherries on top

Hallelujah! ACR recently began shipping its ResQLink AIS PLB to customers in the U.S. and the Americas. Meanwhile, the company’s sibling UK brand Ocean Signal has been offering the same remarkable technology to the rest of the world since November as the RescueMe PLB3. The beacons are exactly the same except for color — as shown in my METS demo photo above — and regardless of the possibly confusing dual branding, I call them a huge advance in marine safety…