Panbo

Gear puzzle, and Gitana Eighty’s nav station

So Sail Editor Peter Nielsen sends me this shot wondering who makes that articulated stalky thing holding up the B&G autopilot, and where he can get some for his boat. I have no idea, and I’m interested too. Can anyone fill us in?  Of course I asked Peter where he’d seen it, and damned if he hasn’t been out goofing around Boston Harbor with Loïck Peyron, the offshore racing demi-god I mentioned yesterday. And he kindly sent along the shot below of Gitana Eighty’s nav station.

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Garmin Nuvifone, the gPhone?

Lusting after what looks like a breakthrough cell phone, Internet tablet, video/still camera, and PND (personal navigation device) is way more fun than fretting over FCC frustrations. Garmin surprised a lot of us when it introduced the Nuvifone in NYC this evening. Sure, it looks like an iPhone but the early info suggests that it has even more going for it, especially the GPS/navigation part, but also a tight Google relationship and fast 3.5G GSM cell data. 

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Thinking Kindle? Buy it here!

At least theoretically, Amazon’s super hyped Kindle “wireless reading device” could be a wonderful cruising gadget. Imagine waking up in one of the many U.S. coastal anchorages covered by the EVDO cellular service included in the thing’s $399 price. Any of the several major newspapers, magazines, and blogs that you can subscribe to would have already been downloaded into your Kindle, ready to read, along with 100 plus books you might already have stored in it (but which wouldn’t be weighing your boat down). Plus colleagues and family can send documents to your Kindle email, where they’re put into Kindle format and downloaded to you for a dime a piece. And the Kindle help files suggest that there’s even a basic Web browser among the “experimental” aspects of this gizmo. For more info here’s Newsweek’s thorough cover story (hey, that Ellison byline you may see around Newsweek is my kido!), and here’s Engadget’s more skeptical approach. But please don’t buy a Kindle without coming back here first. Even though currently sold out, Amazon is so anxious to get Kindles out in the field that they are offering Associates like Panbo an extraordinary 10% commission. So if you do decide to buy a Kindle, please start your purchase with this Amazon link, or the one below. Also tell us how you like it. Thanks.

AnyTrack redux, flaky in NYC

I felt bad about my harsh review of the AnyTrack monitoring device (and the inflated Sprint cell coverage that gives it Assisted GPS abilities). So I held on to the unit, and tried it again on a trip to Cape Cod, where it did pretty well. I also brought it to New York City, where I figured its claimed ability to determine location inside buildings would really shine. Well, not so much. The AnyTrack locator/transceiver and I are ensconced in my mom’s apartment at the corner of 16th St and 6th Ave (aka Avenue of the Americas), but time after time AnyTrack.net—full screen here —claims to locate the unit with “HIGH” accuracy at 84 5th Ave., which is quite a ways away if you were actually trying to find something in this dense urban environment. And that’s despite the fact that I’ve wandered the neighborhood with the unit in my pocket and set to 10 minute auto tracking, which it performed only so so. I can only conclude that this technology needs a lot of work.

AnyTrack? Not around here!

So the AnyTrack pitch is that the little GPS-100 above is “perfect” for locating stolen boats or vehicles, or tracking something or someone precious. The interesting technology involved is a built-in CDMA cellular modem and “Assisted GPS” which can supposedly enable online locating even inside buildings (and is so far only available on the Sprint system, according to an AnyTrack tech). The unit appears to be very solidly built, but I’m sorry to report that the overall service, not inexpensive, seems to be pretty much useless, at least on the coast of Maine.

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Magellan Crossover, a so-so AIO PND so far

I’ve been intermittently testing this Magellan Crossover for months now, and the fact I haven’t mentioned it here is a sign of my ambiguous feelings about it.

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Freestyle MP3 player, really waterproof

Man, there are a lot of waterproof iPod cases, but if you’re really active in/on the water you might want to consider a dedicated, if limited, solution. The Freestyle Audio MP3 player has no screen and just a gig of flash memory, but it’s waterproof to 10 feet, shockproof, and it floats. The interface is simply a multi-color LED and four stiff buttons for on/off, volume, and track advance/back. For charging and downloads, it has a special USB cord that inserts into the earphone plug, and it comes with a little program for arranging a play list. And it is tough. I tried it windsurfing in the B.V.I. and whereas I had to wear a life jacket, hadn’t been windsurfing in about a decade, and it was gusty, I beat the hell out of this test unit. Multiple high-speed dunkings, earphones ripped out, etc. Freestyle kept the tunes coming. 

Reporter Wireless, catch a thief

Responding to a Hull Truth discussion about the value of DSC, a cruiser anchored in Panama reported how it just helped him deal with an intruder. The full story (see 8/4/07 “update” on his site) reveals that he was alarmed about the intruder by a simple wireless motion detector designed for home use and for sale at $70.  Reporter Wireless looks to be a pretty powerful system, and whereas the battery operated sensor is weather proof—and it looks like the receiver can be run off a 12v supply—pretty boat worthy. The receiver, by the way, can support four sensors, and has a relay to fire a louder alarm or talk to another monitoring system. The manual is available here.

Lighted Charts, for the man who...

I saw a lot of interest at the MBHH Show, but nothing as novel as these decorative charts with LEDs correctly displaying the characteristics of all lit aids to navigation. Carl Welshman designed a circuit board that he can program with up to 52 light sequences and which he wires to each LED. You can see the detail a little better in this larger shot, but you really have to see one in the flesh to appreciate the excellent craftsmanship. There’s info about upcoming shows, available charts, etc., at Harbour Lights’ site, but not prices, which are understandly significant.

Swift Hitch, first viewing

So a friend of mine recently returned from the Upper East Side of Manhattan reporting a New Yorker cartoon seen live: A madame parking her large and shiny SUV while getting backing directions from a lady friend stationed on the sidewalk via cell phone! No wonder there’s a Web site for rear-view cameras. Which, in fact, quite likes this portable Swift Hitch device. I’m fairly impressed too. It was just a matter of installing the li-ion battery in the display, charging it and the camera’s built-in battery with the dual 12v charger before I turned them both on and—lights, action!—everything worked fine. Hitting the main button reverses the image, which is helpful when also using the rear view mirrors, like above. I also tried it in the dark and the automatic infrared lights came right to life (the image goes to grey scale then, but is usually color, if not exactly rich color).

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Bird zapper, a test undone

I’ve had a rotten day, and maybe you too could use a laugh (aside from the must-see “big ass table” video JT brought to comments). The other day I found the prototype above under a few years of dust in a remote nook of the lab, never tested or returned. Its goal is to disuade birds from perching on your spreaders and leaving a mess, and to do so it converts small quantities of 12v DC into 8,000–15,000 volt DC 600 HZ current. Don’t ask me how, but I was told that the resulting zaps are very effective at avian behaviour modification! However, though the developer has had a string of hit products since, this one never came to market. I’m guessing for the same reasons I somehow never got around to plugging it in, a behaviour I’m rarely guilty of. (I am often slow returning things, but this is a record.)

Waterproof cameras, and gadget lust

In today’s New York Times, the inexhaustible David Pogue reviews three waterproof digital cameras—the Olympus Stylus 770 SW, the Pentax Optio W30, and this Sanyo Xacti E1. Now the first two are not exactly brand new. In fact, I tested the Olympus over a year ago. Then I actually purchased the Pentax last November. Contrary to Pogue’s conclusions, I liked the Pentax much better, mainly because I think it takes much sharper pictures. Still, I ended up gifting it to my daughter and buying a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS (as foreshadowed in that entry). This little camera I adore, and you’ve seen the results in many recent Panbo entries. It takes amazingly good video too. But its not waterproof, and now, damn it, Pogue reports that the truly new Sanyo Xacti, which is primarily designed as a video camera (spec page here), takes better stills than both the Olympus and the Pentax! By the way, aside from the wonderous Woot, I pretty much satisfy my gadget habit at Amazon these days. It’s hard to find a better combination of ease, service, and price. Plus Panbo is an “Associate”. Which means that if you need one of these cameras, and of course you do, please generate a commission for Panbo by using the link below to buy it. Thanks!

Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1
Canon PowerShot SD800 IS
Pentax Optio W30
Olympus Stylus 770 SW

Purosol Screen Cleaner, wicked good

The joke going around edit circles after Purosol’s press release about its super duper Sport/Marine screen cleaner—which purportedly is “non-toxic, hypo-allergenic, contains no CFCs, no detergents and no solvents of any kind”—was “sounds like…water!” But it’s not so. In fact, I tasted it (what we do for you people). More important, I’ve tried it now on about five screens, all with possibly fragile coatings, and it not only cleans better than the standard suggestion—which is water—but it leaves a smooth non-static coating that you can feel but not see.  It is not cheap at $7.95 per ounce bottle, microfiber cloth extra, but, man, it does the job. Available direct from Purosol, and soon, I would hope, from your friendly electronics outfit.

Wetter Infobox, smart design

Back to business and a big thanks to Roy Mevers, Electra’s professional skipper and a freelance offshore racing navigator, for showing me this little cutie. Who knew? Inside that box, which is maybe four inches long, is a dual channel Navtex receiver, a ferrite rod antenna, and a re-chargeable battery. It can run three days on its own and has enough internal memory for “762000 indications”, which I’m guessing means characters of Navtex weather reports, nav aid warnings, etc. Plug it into your computer via USB and the batteries charge while you can use any web browser to access the reports, and control the receiver, via an attractive master page living in the box. Apparently the instructions simply explain how to make a shortcut/favorite to the box, and thus the Wetter Infobox can work with Windows, Macs, even Linux, no software needed, or even power and antenna cables. How smart is that?

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Gadget sizes, the eye can fail

So I rarely discuss dimensions and weights when I write up electronics, figuring that it’s fairly obvious, or at least easy enough to find on the manufacturer’s Web site. But the latter is not always true, and some products just don’t look their true size, even when pictured with a little context. For instance, when I first saw a  photo of Y-Tronic’s dual antenna AIS accessory, my eye failed to see how petite it actually is, even though the plugs are familiar. (And I still don’t understand how it mounts on a rail, though I’ve got the question in). Nor did I get how chunky the Lowrance iWay 600c is from its first photo. I’ve come to like the thing quite a bit, but shoppers should know that it weighs about 2.6 pounds with the accessories below (bigger here), and the AC brick is a whopping 1.6 pounds more. The weights are not given at Lowrance.com (that I can find), but the manual does wisely recommend resting the unit on a dashboard so that the suction mount doesn’t take the whole strain. By the way, I’m quite enjoying my new photo set up, above, but an explanation of the lab coat will have to wait a while!

Boatsense, hip hip for the home team

Wasn’t I tickled to discover that what looks like a fairly simple and affordable new remote boat monitoring device is being made right here in Maine. And further tickled when Boatsense Solutions cofounder David Jacques zipped right up and explained more about what’s in that little bomb-proof (epoxy potted) box…i.e., more than explained in the so far rudimentary brochure and manual. And tickled even more when I fired up a test unit last night, taught it my phone number, and successfully simulated a high bilge alarm, all in a few minutes.
  Boatsense is a GSM cellular modem set up so it can send text messages wherever GPRS data service is available (much of the world). It monitors battery level with just its power feed, plus has an input for most any kind of bilge alarm switch, and three more for whatever sensors you want to add (including output from an existing on-board monitoring system). That’s it; no screen, no GPS, no Web page…but it’s only $499 list and $180 per year for up to 20 messages a month (extras 10 cents each). Distributing partner Hamilton Marine has a package deal here, and if you do a search on “boatsense” there you’ll find a selection of sensor options. I’m going to test this baby more on Gizmo (wished I’d had it last July, rigged with a magnetic motion switch), but I’m pretty sure that it’s well thought out and may well be a winner.

Lowrance iWay 600c, impressions #2

I’ve already written a bit about listening to tunes while navigating the highways on the iWay; how about boat nav? First is the good news that Lowrance has fixed the problem with “obstructions which cover”; you may recall that the “really nasty rock” above, and many like it, were not shown on earlier NauticPath charts. (In fact, the first iWay I got didn’t have them either, but when I piped up, Lowrance said the wrong files were accidently loaded, and sent this one. If you have NauticPaths, you might want to check). Note that the yellow note window popped up when I touched the symbol, and I could get a whole page of info by next touching the “i” icon upper right (ditto with the tides, notes, marinas etc. in the lower image).
   Note too that tapping the “X” upper left would take me out of this pan and zoom mode and back to my vessel (or car), leaving only a map orientation button lower left. Tap that and you cycle through top down/north up (as shown), top town/course up, and 3D. This applies to any type of navigation; in fact, most everything does. Unlike some Garmins—which switch screen sets and units of measurement along with nav mode—when you go from turn-by-turn car nav to point-to-point marine nav, the only other thing that changes is your choice of cartography. Changing to knots/nautical miles isn’t even a choice elsewhere. In other words, as well as the nautical charts are displayed, boat navigation is secondary to auto nav on the iWay (for more check the manuals here). But let’s not forget the 25 gigs of goodies include nautical charts for the whole country, plus a lot of lakes, plus zillions of POIs, street maps, and photo maps. The latter cover many cities, like Boston’s North End below. (I guess I picked that spot remembering my time there a year ago, getting a little ‘treatment’. Glad that’s over.)

i-Blue GPS/logger, wireless & solar too

When Captn Jack’s lent me an i-Blue 757 GPS last month, they were clever enough to put it in “logging” mode before they sealed the box. Thus, once I sorted out the included software and downloaded the saved log points (30,591 of them!), I was able to see the box’s UPS trip from Massachusetts to my house overlaid on Google Earth. Now that’s a damn sensitive receiver that can hold onto GPS satellites inside a box inside a series of brown trucks! And obviously the i-Blue’s 1000mAh Lithium battery is pretty long lived even when it’s not being trickle charged by its 25mA solar panel. By the way, note the lat/longs shown in the i-Blue’s PC utility software below; in Google Earth I was able to drill down to a factory parking lot in northern Taiwan where the unit was probably tested for the first time.
   While I like logging for tasks like mapping island trails, and the i-Blue is certainly an easy way to bring home a visual cruising history, I found that it also serves quite well as a Bluetooth GPS sensor to Pocket PC and laptop charting programs. It even has a unique standby feature that worked fine, and is well explained in this thorough Pocket GPS World review. Note that you use a USB cable to charge the i-Blue and also to download logs and set GPS and logging parameters. I didn’t check if someone without Bluetooth could use the USB connection as a GPS feed, and the otherwise good manual doesn’t say, but I will get another chance as I liked this gizmo so much I’m buying one. I tried an EMTAC Trine Bluetooth GPS that Captn Jack also sells, and while I’d say it’s noticeably sturdier than the i-Blue, I’m going for the lower price and logging capability. I do like how Jack’s is selecting good, better, best products in several categories like this and WiFi, and recommend downloading the new catalog PDF, which seems to include some gear not yet on its Web site.

Universal remote followup, hello Nevo

My May PMY column “Universal Aggravation” is now online, and I'm tickled with how Craig Wallace Dale realized our opening illustration idea. How’s that for action electronics photography! You may recall that testing the Harmony 890 won me over to Logitech’s online programming system, but there may be even better solutions out there. I’d heard that Atlantic Marine Electronics programmed a Harmony for every Viking Yacht launched (an impressive move on Viking’s part), but when I called them it turned that they are now using the NevoSL, which is partially touch screen and according to AME “more intuitive.” I also learned from my friend Kim Kavin’s excellent megayacht site, CharterWave, that at the very high end Crestron has a remote that can summon 24 hour cabin service, an idea Kim is not so sure about.

Lowrance iWay 600c, impressions #1

I’ve been using this iWay 600c for a couple of weeks now and there’s a lot to like about it. The turn-by-turn car navigation is first class, and so is the MP3 player. I can’t remember which software I used to rip that Rodney Crowell album, but I just dragged the folder onto the iWay’s hard drive and it took care of the rest, displaying the album cover and track names while sending the sound to my truck’s radio via its FM transmitter. This is not ideal in terms of audio quality, but it’s wirelessly simple and it helps a lot that you can easily adjust the frequency used (those big touch screen arrows at the bottom above) as you drive through sometimes competing broadcast stations. And if you’ve programmed in a destination, or a series of destinations—all pretty easy with excellent Navteq street maps, millions of POI’s on the hard drive, a decent screen keyboard, etc.—the iWay smoothly mutes the music before it delivers voice directions. The navigation/music player combo is pretty slick, and I can easily imagine using it on a boat, at least as a backup plotter. More on that soon.

Magellan Crossover,

Magellan has not been doing much in the North American marine market recently, and actually this new CrossoverGPS comes loaded with street maps and topos, but you need to purchase pretty pricey chart SD cards to use it on a boat. Nonetheless that little 3.5” touch screen appears to be quite able (don’t miss the demo). I’d like to test it versus the Lowrance iWay 600c, supposedly heading my way for delivery next week. Have a fine weekend!

Top-flippin flip-flops, a W.W.

You’re probably going to see a lot of cute headlines like the above, as West Marine had the wisdom to supply many a marine writer with a pair of Fanning Thongs, which are not only comfy and seriously technical but have a “church key” built into their soles. The literature says that this is for opening a “soda” bottle, but a Corona seemed the better test. Worked fine too, which is probably why thong reviewer “Jim E Jams” writes that “The ladies always go ooooh and aaaah when I pop a top with my reef fannings.” 
  It’s an absolutely horrible weather day here in Maine, my excuse for another in the Weekend Weirdness series. I also updated the GrandCentral entry; thanks all!

GrandCentral, maybe cruiser cool

Yesterday David Pogue of the New York Times wrote a pretty glowing review of a new Web-centered phone and voice mail management service called GrandCentral. The central idea is one single phone number for life, and the central technology seems to be some slick switching software that can, for instance, ring either or both of my physical phones instantly if, say, I want to initiate a call from my GrandCentral voice mail box (which imported a big Outlook contact list flawlessly), or decide to record a custom greeting for that test Call Me button up there.
  So, yeah I spent some time signing up for a free GrandCentral account and testing some of its many features, and I too am pretty blown away.

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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?

Atomic watch, and industry chatter

I’m feeling so old today. First I saw this Casio Waveceptor watch going for $25 on Woot. Five times a day the thing listens to WWVB, the time signal station in Colorado, and adjusts itself to atomic precision. I remember in the 70’s laboriously tuning into that station and tracking errors in the various expensive chronometers on a whale research vessel where we were using celestial nav to map and stay safe on the big banks off the Dominican Republic.
  Then I hear that Darrell Lowrance has retired and a fellow young enough to be my kid has taken over as new CEO of Navico (Simrad, Lowrance, etc.). And early this week old time big yacht installer Larry Smith Electronics suddenly shut its doors. I suspect some sort of financial mismanagement was the cause, not lack of business. Meanwhile, this old guy’s phone is busy as companies prepare to strut their stuff in Miami.

Lowrance iWay 600c, a slick combo?

The Lowrance press release claims that “the iWAY 600c is the first portable navigation device to offer dual routing capability, allowing consumers to navigate both highways and waterways”, which I don’t understand as Garmin has done that nicely for some time. But that’s not to say that the 600c isn’t an interesting and unique portable-sized car/boat navigator. How’s about a 30 gig hard drive almost filled with U.S. and Canada road maps, hi res sat photo maps of metro areas, 5.5 million POIs, Lowrance’s own NauticPath U.S. charts (hopefully fixed), and some 3,000 Enhanced U.S. Lakes (there is a European model too). Which leaves 5 gigs free for MP3 tracks you can play using the unit’s built in “full spectrum FM modulator.” All is this displayed and controlled by a 5” VGA touch screen for $800 list with 12 and 110 power supplies, suction mount, and USB interface included. The 600c does come out of the automotive division—which is probably why I didn’t hear about it until now (thanks, Barry!)—and while the press release says “waterproof”, the spec page says “completely sealed to prevent internal corrosion.” At any rate, it’s supposed to ship in February and I’m on the test list.

DeLorme Blue Logger, my bad

A comment in the Velocitek S10 entry reminded me of this DeLorme Blue Logger that I tested a couple of years ago. It’s a pretty powerful little gizmo for the money, but one thing I didn’t get into in the short review was the annoying file format it logs into. As I recall I had a devil of a time getting the data into non-DeLorme mapping programs, but that issue may now be easily solvable with some of the conversion programs we’ve discussed (though I haven’t checked). Apparently I also missed the fact that the real time Bluetooth NMEA 0183 output does not include the WAAS corrections, as discovered by a PMY reader. I don’t know why DeLorme did that, or if it’s still true.

Velocitek S10, for speed freaks

Two digits, two buttons, two modes…one purpose. The Velocitek S10 is a GPS that’s been waterproofed and simplified so that those crazies riding kite boards, hydrofoil moths, etc. can track speed and VMG. Either is displayed at a one second update rate. In speed mode the right button gives you absolute max, the left your 10 second max, while in VMG mode the same buttons set the up and downwind marks. The S10 can also log 10 hours of data at 2 second intervals for downloading ashore using the USB port inside the box. You can have your data in the GPX format—probably the most universal, and definitely compatible with the freeware program GPS Action Replay, which is especially designed for reviewing your day’s speed runs, even a whole race if everyone carries logging GPS’s. Or you can use the .kml format to overlay your track on Google Earth. That’s what excited our boy Ed about the Velocitek, but now—thanks, everyone—we know that he can get info from most any GPS to GE.

Freezer Safe, minding the box

Here’s a useful and inexpensive gadget that was just introduced by the good folks at SetSail.com. Just a little bigger than a pack of gum, it will apparently “record and store high and low temperature for 100 days, 100 hours, or 100 minutes”, thus helping a boater “optimize box temperature for best trade-off in food longevity vs. temperature” (not to mention power consumption).

Pentax Optio W20, another waterproof digital camera

The family’s giddy after the Thanksgiving feast, and so yours truly is showing off his new (birthday present!) Pentax Optio W20 by making it take pictures while dipped in a glass of water. I’ve been fooling with this “ultracompact” camera for a couple of weeks now and think this review from down under is on the mark. And the W20 suits my tastes better than the Olympus Stylus 720 I tested last spring; the USB port is a standard ‘mini’ style, the LCD seems brighter, and at least I can see what speed/F-stop the thing is using. It also takes amazing VGA 30fps QuickTime movies, using some sort of digital stabilization. But I am curious about Canon’s new PowerShot SD800 IS, which has real image stabilization (I like taking snapshots in natural low light), and quite possibly better image quality. Below—and cropped, but full pixels, here—is a shot taken in Amsterdam overcast (F3.3/1/400th/ISO 64/auto everything). Nice canal-side digs, what?

Sea Tow Boston, the best harbor cam anywhere?

It’s a pleasing coincidence that the best harbor cam I’ve ever come across happens to be in East Boston looking right at the waterfront where I’ve been staying recently. Not that this isn’t a fascinating harbor for anyone to peep around. If you have Java on your computer, you can take control of the camera and pan/zoom from the outer roads (left), all the way across downtown, and into Charlestown. There’s almost always something going on. I visited Sea Tow Boston yesterday, got a ride on one of their boats, and interviewed head man Steve Winkler. I’ll share some of the good stuff I saw and learned next week; have a nice weekend.

SkyScout, a gizmo for celestial navigators?

The 2006 CES (consumer electronics) Innovations Honorees are up, and among them is this darned interesting “personal planetarium”. Apparently you can point the SkyScout at any of 6,000 celestial objects, press a button and it will deliver audio “commentary on the object and its history”. Or it can locate heavenly bodies using illuminated arrows in the viewfinder. How? “SkyScout utilizes patented technology that combines data from sensors measuring both the magnetic and gravitational fields of the Earth, along with internal GPS and a substantial celestial database.” There’s more info at Celestron, but no pricing so far.

Now, maybe a celestial navigator could use this gizmo to help with the tricky job of identifying stars at twilight, but there aren’t many active celestial navigators left and they tend to frown on gadgets. Which is all too bad. I think that one of the fabulous side benefits of being at sea or in a remote anchorage at night is an uncluttered view of the heavens. And a fabulous side benefit of learning to use a sextant is an understanding of celestial mechanics. It makes you feel very small…in a good way.

The Man Remote, a Friday giggle

I really am intending to do some research on universal remotes, the bane of many a yacht (and home). But meanwhile some handy fellow dreamed up this model. I wonder how many other guys got it e-mailed to them today? And how many put it on their Christmas list? 

ReVA, who's the geek now?

Yup, it’s funny to imagine paying $3,500 to wear this gizmo around your megayacht, but if it works as advertised I’ll bet there’s a small market for it. The idea of ReVA—Remote Video Assistance from/to Anywhere—is to troubleshoot a problem by voice and video with an expert ashore. That’s a tiny color monitor near my right eye so I can aim the camera that’s at my left temple. Clipped to my waist is a little WiFi video/audio server and loaded into the yacht’s computer is “tunneling” software designed to get the 30 frames per second .mpg stream smoothly ashore via the vessel’s Internet connection. ReVA handles the shore end, either routing the problem to its partner Nauti-Tech or sending it on to 3rd parties. ReVA may seem a bit far fetched but many megayachts already have fast, always-on Internet connections these days, and you can imagine that they may also have problems keeping all their megacomplex systems working (wait till you hear about the entertainment rigs I saw!). 

Garmin 376C, holy mackerel!

I would have posted earlier today, except that fooling with this Garmin 376C vividly reminded me (above, and bigger here) that the spell of dry, sunny weather was about to end. So I spent some hours winterizing the fleet, all the while watching the clouds thicken up from below and above. I could also see an animation of all that rain moving across New York state, plus the lightning strikes, the frontal lines, pressure gradients, wind predictions, buoy reports, etc. etc. It is phenomenal how well you can see all this info on the 376’s little screen. The display itself is exceptionally bright and detailed, and Garmin has also done a good job at letting you view the weather data mixed together or one element at a time. And, get this, I was also listening to XM radio (below). I’ve been trying the 376C intermittently over the last month or so, and am very, very impressed. It really makes sense in terms of carrying your XM weather and audio subscriptions with you on land or sea. The only con I can think of is that BlueCharts have gotten pretty expensive relative to the competition, but maybe that will change.

The Garmin 276C was one of my 5 Sail magazine “editor’s picks” for innovative, important marine electronics introduced last year. I’m working on my 2005 picks right now, and the 376C is definitely a contender. If you have suggestions for other hardware or software that should be on the list, please let me know.

Navman M300, GPS as a pedometer?

I’ve been trying this Navman M300, the marine model in a  new line of small GPS “Sport Tools” designed to strap to your arm while you windsurf, skate, ski, run, or walk. It delivers speed, heading, distance covered, lap times, etc., but not position or “go to” guidance. And it will not interface to a PC for data collection or waypoint passing. Both interface and tightly defined purpose are KISS (keep it simple, stupid) ideas, largely I’m guessing to differentiate the Tools from the various Garmin Foretrex and Forerunner models that dominate this niche. There are only two buttons and about six choices for the text screen (which is small but readable in all daylight conditions). The firmware for some models seems to have especially valuable features—like the way the ski model leaves the lift segments out of your speed averages and distances—but personally this marine model doesn’t excite me (learning how Richard Stephens uses his Foretrex did, but that’s me). I’m also dubious that “reliably water resistant” is good enough for wind surfers; I know that when I used to do it I’d spend a good deal of the time thrashing about while submerged up to my chin! Then again I would like to know how blindingly fast I was going when I had it together. By the way, the 19 knots max speed above was on my bike, going down a steep hill. I need to exercise more.

Update, 9/2: My doubts abut the windsurfing model may be off base. I’ve now learned that they were used successfully for the Maui Speed Challenge (yes, Navman was a sponsor, but these are the top guys and wouldn’t tolerate a product that didn’t work well). 

Looking at lobster traps with Deep Blue

Given that it’s notoriously hard to photograph a video screen, this is a fair image (bigger here) of what I was seeing yesterday in about 20’ of water using Splashcam’s Deep Blue camera. Plus I should note that Camden Harbor is a bit murky due to the river that dumps into it (and maybe some other dumping, like aboard visiting yachts). I could actually see that lobster trap somewhat better than the photo shows, and when I aimed straight down (with the camera surfaced, via a simple adjustment strap) starfish, shells and annoyed crabs were very sharp and colorful...and fun to see for the first time since I gave up diving. It was also simple as pie to hook Deep Blue to the Raymarine E120, which can handle 4 cameras. As you can see, you can even name the video inputs (as I’ve done with an interesting aft facing camera I’ll write about soon). Plus there are a lot of picture adjustments behind that “presentation” soft key. But dangling electronics in salt water is hard service. Deep Blue seems very well thought out and built, but the double O rings on one of its lights apparently failed in 50’, and the innards don’t look very happy today. In fact, it’s hard to blame on Splashcam as the design uses Pelican MityLite xenon flashlights rated to 250’, which seems like a smart idea (and Pelican offers a “forever” replacement policy). Another camera I took out didn’t work at all, but that’s another story.

Xantrex power octopus, handy!

This Friday’s gizmo is the big kahuna of all the portable power packs that can typically jump start a car (or boat), run 12v gadgets, inflate a tire, and more. Xantrex’s top-of-the-line 400R also includes a 400 watt inverter, an emergency light, and an AM/FM radio with alarm! Inside is a replaceable 20 amp hour AGM battery which seems to have guts (and contributes to a total unit weight of nearly 30 pounds). In my experience, the 400R powered quite a bit of reciprocal sanding, and then smartly alarmed and eventually cut out when the battery went too low, or if I bore down too hard. That’s a digital watt meter showing in the picture (bigger here); when the inverter is turned off, it can show percentage of charge. This thing is obviously designed for emergency backup during hurricanes and the like, but I found it darn useful around my little back field boat yard, and it might have a place on some cruising boats. It’s fairly well made, certainly better than other jump start packs I’ve had. Xantrex’s page on the 400R is here, and a fellow named Jack has written a lengthy and careful review here (he’s right that it takes a long time to recharge, but I thought the radio performed OK, at least a low volume).

Boathook bailer, the sequel

I’m a little concerned that readers who ordered the nifty Bridgenorth Bailer I touted a couple of weeks ago may not have gotten prompt service from the site listed. It turns out that boathookbailer.com is actually a U.S. distributer (there’s good news in this: the deal does include free shipping in the U.S.). At any rate, if you have any problems, here’s the Canadian manufacturer’s site, bridgenorthbailer.com, which is still somewhat under construction but has solid e-mail and toll free phone info, plus more dope on the product (including the compelling photo illustration above).

Carbon shell tablet PC, who's the geek now?

Big power outage here earlier this morning…coffee bean grinder no grind, DSL modem no blink…I’m definitely off my stride. I’m declaring this an OFI Friday, and will soon be off to fool with the fleet. If you’re stuck inside somewhere, you might want to picture yourself strolling down a dock with this Flintstone tablet PC in hand (for full effect, include the GSM whip antenna not screwed onto this prototype). I saw it displayed at a show once, and the developer’s site is still up, but I’ve never seen one in the field. In my fantasy, the case is carbon black and the boat I’m strolling toward is the Wally 118. Oh yeah.

Boat hook bailer, you gotta have one

Friday bonus gizmo: you can lock the two part handle open to get a sturdy 5’ boat hook, or you can apply some pump action and suck the last drop out a bilge or dinghy. The fluid stays in the handle until you pump again, so the thing can also be used as a ‘manual’ power washer, or a wicked squirt gun. Or to test the CFR/NEMA rating on your electronics (there, topic maintained). It works like a champ and is so darn well made that I’m worried the inventor isn’t asking enough money for it. He sells them for $44 at Bridgenorth Bailer with free shipping (maybe only in Canada, the site isn’t clear). Have a good weekend!

Princeton Tec EOS headlamp, the nuts

Rugged waterproof build, 3 levels of LED light going all the way from “holy cow” bright to 28 hours on 3 AAAs dim, this Friday’s gadget is the best boat headlamp I’ve had my mitts on. Plus the accessory red gizmo adds backup or can protect your night vision. The $39 EOS and $10 Pilot are also good examples of the amazingly detailed product reviews some outdoor folks are putting on the Web, like here, here, and here. So I shall say no more. Have a great weekend.

Overly smart bilge pump switches?

Navagear found a solid state bilge pump switch that can discriminate between fuel/oil and water, so presumably you will not pump the bad stuff overboard. I’m just a wee bit skeptical about how well this works in the real world. What if there is just a little oil swirling around your bilge; might the switch shut down when you didn’t really want it to? A while back I tested SensaSwitch (above), another solid state “float” switch that I liked a lot. It does not claim to “discriminate” against hydrocarbons but one reader wrote in claiming that oil films made it stick on or off, which of course is what no-moving-part switches are supposed to avoid (my test didn’t include oil!). The company tried to investigate the claim but the guy said he’d thrown the switch away, and his email went dead, so this report is very much hearsay. Does anyone out there have either SensaSwitch or Water Smart Switch installed in their boat?

Dealing with lobster pots

Eli, proprietor of the often stimulating EliBoat, knows Maine waters and yesterday wondered “if the new charting programs will ever find a way to plot 6 trillion lobster pots.” His number is only a slight exaggeration; the pot buoys and their warps really are a navigation problem. Eli jests but I do hear talk of AIS transponders replacing RACON buoys at harbor entrances and maybe someday the tiny RFID radios supposedly coming to everything in Walmart will warn a boater of a dead on buoy about to tangle his prop. But in the meantime a sharp blade can do what electronics can’t. I tried this Hook Knife from Sailors Solutions last summer and it is wickedly effective.

Wireless helmet headsets for BatBoat?

Yeeeeeha! The basic V-24 is a 26’, 360 Hp, 70 knot racer designed a few years ago by Ocke Mannerfelt, and said to be relatively ‘safe’ and easy to drive. Panbo reader Tom W. has a custom version sporting 650 Hp and capable of over 100k—nicely displayed at www.batboats.com. You can imagine that it gets noisy in there! He and his passenger currently use a full duplex “helmet intercom system made by PCI Race Radios that’s tied into my VHF radio with push to talk buttons in the dash for both driver and passenger.”  He’d like to do away with the wires. Can anyone suggest a solution?

Ultrasonic wind speed, handheld version

Friday gizmo: Davis just announced WindScribe, a $129 ultrasonic wind speed sensor that apparently uses some of the technology seen in Airmar's WeatherStation. WindScribe also measures temperature and computes wind chill, and can be mounted using an included bracket. There’s nothing up on the Davis Web site yet but it will probably go in this section of wind indicators. One thing I don’t understand in the press release is the gadget’s ability to “monitor maximum headwind, maximum tailwind, 5-second average and running average.” How can you measure head and tail winds without knowing your own speed?

LED lantern in a bottle

Tip of the hat to Scuttlebutt for today’s kind News Brief about Panbo. It’s been crazy here, it’s Friday, and I’m going to keep it quite light. So meet LightCap, a 32 oz water jug with a solar panel, Ni-Cad battery pack, and both red and white LEDs built into its top. It sounds like a foolish thing but I’m liking the prototype Sollight sent over. You can’t quite read by it but there’s a wonderful shimmer created by the light passing through the water, which also gives it some stay-put heft. LightCap could definitely add a little more magic to a balmy summer evening spent relaxing in the cockpit.

Do unto others dept: visit Zephyr, a newish blog pleasantly probing “sailing culture for voyagers, zealots, poets and populists”.

Virtual Tacking Puts Sailors To Test

Well this sounds like the fitness equipment I would like to have at home instead of a rowing machine...

"The Virtual Sailor VS-1, which can replicate the physical stresses and technical demands of sailing in a range of typical conditions, is thought to be a first for yachting. But the simulator is also proving a valuable tool for sailing instruction, including tactics, fitness and psychology, and for simulated races, he says."

VistaPix Binocular & Digital Camera

Wired's Gadget Lab features Celestron's VistaPix Model 72212 Binocular & Digital Camera in its newsletter. It's not yet best of both worlds, but worth a look.

Celestron VistaPix Model 72212 at Amazon.com

White Teeth After Being Shipwrecked

So if you happen to get shipwrecked while cruising in a sunnier part of the world, at least you won't need a dentist as long as you have Compact-Impact's Soladey-3 onboard...

"Possibly a little more convergence than we're looking for these days, Compact-Impact is selling a titanium oxide toothbrush called the Soladey-3 that uses solar energy to create ions that 'clean and sanitize' without the use of toothpaste. We're gonna have to hassle them for a review model of this one"

GripNweigh, How Much Weighs My Catch?

Like I said yesterday, I'm not really into fishing myself. But of course I do like the gadgets surrounding this sport. If you do too, and if you're always claiming to have caught the heaviest fish, then this is a must have....

"Thanks to GripNweigh, a digital fish scale from Xtools, not only can you establish the poundage of your conquest, but you can also get a solid grip on it so it doesn’t slip off into the deep blue and become the dreaded “one that got away.” According to the company, this patented gizmo helps you “control, lift, unhook, and weigh your catch in one easy, fast motion.” It works on any fish up to 25 pounds and even stores the weight of the five heaviest fish you’ve caught."

7.2-Megapixels Underwater

Sony's 7.2-megapixel digital still camera, the Cyber-shot DSC-P150, comes with an optional Marine Pack.

"The camera sports circuitry that Sony says ensures fast startup and shot-to-shot times and speeds up auto focus and auto exposure. It has a Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar 3x optical zoom lens and can get about 310 shots per charge out of the InfoLithium battery, according to Sony. It's also equipped with a 1.8-inch LCD screen. Available separately is the Cyber-shot Marine Pack, which lets the camera operate underwater at depths up to 132 feet." (Sony Cybershot at Amazon.com)

Waterproof Entertainment Trend

I already saw it in my logfiles, but looking at the press-coverage on waterproof MP3 players, I must conclude there is definitely a trend here. Oceanic's DV-X has been mentioned on this website before, and now CNETAsia highlights it as well.

"Take the plunge with the Oceanic DV-X, an accessory that lets you use your MP3 player on a diving or snorkeling trip. The kit provides waterproof housing for any iRiver 300-series player and earphones made specifically for underwater listening, so you can hear your favorite tunes or take an audio-guided tour of wreck sites or sea life."

And don't forget about recent postings on the Boom Boom Multi-Box, the oPod, the iPAL, the Aqua FM Swim Snorkel Radio, JVC's portable waterproof speakers, the Lilipod, the SWIMMAN and Arriva's Wrap-Radio.
(Waterproof at Amazon.com)

Bluetooth-enabled GPS

Lots of 'gadget' news today somehow....

A GPS/Bluetooth combination is not something new, but this implementation by Mobile Tracker is quite nice because the device is battery powered as well. Which allows for a very easy set-up on any type of boat.

"Compact GPS Receiver with Bluetooth connectivity and a nine hour battery provides real time location information to any Bluetooth enabled devices such as SmartPhones, PocketPCs, Laptops, and Tablet PCs."

Getting MP3s Into The Cockpit

I have been looking for easy ways to get the music from my MP3 player into the cockpit of my 21ft boat that I use to travel the Amsterdam canals. Here's a good, and weather-resistant, solution called Tivoli PAL or iPAL.

"The tiny PAL has an amazing rich and deep sound. You plug an iPod in, turn up the volume, and it uses its internal rechargeable battery to play your musical playlists longer than your iPod battery will last (I can get 8 hours on the PAL in one charge). Clear, marvelous sound from a small, rugged box that has survived rain and being dropped into a pool. That doesn't usually happen because it is carefully designed with handy finger grips and a grippy covering. It comes with an adapter for running on AC."

Ocean Ready Electronics

Motor Boating Magazine takes a look at one of the ships participating in the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally, a high-seas adventure from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Gibraltar. There's a lot of electronics stuff on board this ship... Here are some of the highlights:

-“It’s the autopilot that’s the most important thing,” he says. And for autopilots, Kinney selected two Furuno NavPilot 500s and added a SC 60 GPS satellite compass."
-"The first display supports Furuno’s 1953C chartplotter with a powerful 12-kW radar for 72-mile range and 1.2-degree horizontal beam width for accurate target separation."
-"The second chartplotter, an 1833C, uses a smaller radar with dome antenna that will pump out 4-kW of power for a range of about 36 miles"
-"Called NT-Link, this is a little sister to C-MAP’s rugged commercial product, only it’s coupled with the NT recreational cartography. One notable feature of NT-Link is its ability to handle online chart updates."
-"But the real heart of the navigation package is Furuno’s NavNet system, which allows for multiple sensor displays on three different display screens—the two 10.4" monitors in the pilothouse and an additional 7" remote display on the bridge."

Lowrance X135 Power-Pro Sonar

The perfect Father’s Day gift, so they say...

"The X135 has 4000 watts peak-to-peak power for depths to 1,000 feet. It comes with “Fish I.D.” This feature automatically interprets sonar echoes and displays them as fish symbols. The “FasTrack” feature lets you speed your boat over the water and watch the bottom contours and depths while you hunt out the perfect spot."

The Weather Watch Pro

It's big, but then again it's the Pro version...

"The Weather Watch Pro uses a Swiss-made impeller for current, average, and maximum windspeed. One of the impeller fins is magnetized, highlighted in green and always points North. This allows you to mechanically determine wind direction. The display is Backlit and the unit is water resistant. Weather Watch Pro can be detached from the wrist strap and worn on a lanyard."

Loner Waterskiing

A remote controlled boat, we've seen that before. But this one's different, since it will allow you to go waterskiing on your own...

"Well, Washington State-based SOLO is championing the needy dreams of lonely water skiiers everywhere, with the Personal Ski Machine, an unmanned electric motor boat/ski jet-type thing to pull you around. You can manuever the Personal Ski Machine via its electronically controlled tow handle, and when you inevitably fall or drop the handle the boat automatically raises a flag and immediately shuts down."

Aqua FM Swim Snorkel Radio

I've highlighted some more entertaining diving gear in the past, but Gizmodo now has a really good one... The Aqua FM Swim Snorkel Radio from Aquanaut.

"Even better, the Aqua FM snorkel uses no earphones, and instead uses bone conduction to pass the audio signal through your teeth right into your dome. And if you want to test the range of FM underwater, feel free; the radio snorkel is waterproof to 33 feet."

The Early Adopters Of Marine Electronics

The early adopters of marine electronics can be found in the competitive fishing scene. Here's a story on a guy who outfitted his boat to the fullest extend. Like the article says: "he'll be at the helm of a boat with a control panel that resembles the Starship Enterprise"

"An impressive array of electronics -- everything from a laptop computer and wireless monitors to color sonar, a Lowrance LCX-104C, and global positioning system technology -- covers the dashboard of Samson's 20-foot Crestliner walleye fishing machine. As technological trappings go, not even Mr. Spock or Capt. Kirk could claim bragging rights over Samson."

Troubleshooting Radio Frequency Interference

So when you're list of on board electronics and gadgets looks like a summary of this website, how do you make sure interference won't be spoiling the party? Well, start by reading John Payne's electronics column in DIY boat owner magazine's 2004#1 issue.

"Noise sources on a boat are often classified as radio frequency interference (RFI) or electromagnetic interference (EMI). They are major enemies of electronic systems, corrupting your GPS position fixes, degrading radio communications and causing general electronics performance problems. RFI is essentially interference and noise that is superimposed as a disturbance or voltage transient either on the electrical power supply or the data and signal lines. This is then processed along with the good data to corrupt or degrade the processed information."

The Perfect Yacht For The Jet Set

I've covered the gadgets and electronics on board of the WallyPower before. Since many visitors to this weblog come through Google searches on the 118 WallyPower, I thought I'd post this link to a New York Times article that discusses the WallyPower and the fact that it is relatively cheap at $25 millon... And, they found a gadget on board this yacht that I missed. The pizza oven.

"Over the course of many decades and countless deprived tycoons, it has been one of humankind's most vexing challenges: how to get, quickly and comfortably, from Portofino for breakfast to Sardinia for lunch and then, should the whim strike, St.-Tropez for dinner...."

"...He then explained how aerodynamic design, water-jet propulsion and a special polycarbonate material worked to make the WallyPower so fleet. He apparently did not think it worth mentioning that the boat's three 5,600 horsepower engines chug down about 1,000 gallons of fuel an hour at maximum cruising speed (75 miles an hour). He talked instead about applications of military technology and sophisticated wind-tunnel tests."

Waterproof Wrap-Radio

Arriva's Wrap-Radio looks a bit weird, but I guess it's a better, and more waterproof, solution than the CapRadio I wrote about before.

"No exposed wires increase durability. Flexibility allows for abusive use and storage without adverse damage. Best of all, the weave design fits any size head comfortably and securely. The "WRAP-RADIO" will NOT fall off. The design accommodates different "ear buds" and color specifications per your requirements. The headset can even be waterproof and is designed for use with a Cassette, CD or MP3 player when used with the stereo cord."

Stylish Galley Greenhouse

For you liveaboards, this is the way to make sure you have fresh herbs all the time...

"Just when you think there is nothing more to invent for the kitchen you find out you are totally wrong. The Italian (where else) kitchen brand Smeg designed this inhouse, computer controlled, greenhouse for your kitchen. Which is quite handy, if you prefer fresh herbs."

Rugged Cellphones

When I was going through the log-files of this website I noticed that many people come here searching for rugged cellphones. Fortunately, Siemens unveiled the ruggedised M65 this week. Not sure if it's really rugged up to the level you would require in a marine environment, but it is a start.

"The splash, dirt and shock resistant M65 sports a 2.1in 132 x 176, 16-bit colour display, backed by a 640 x 480 digicam for video and still photography. Stills can be edited using on-board software, with special effects filters built in too. The handset supports 40-voice polyphonic ringtones, a customisable user interface, Java games - four titles are bundled with the phone - and instant messaging. The tri-band GSM/GPRS handset comes with a 750mAh lithium ion battery - enough, said Siemens, for five-and-a-half hours' talk time and 300 hours' standby time."

AutoPilot+, DARPA's next Grand Challenge?

A company called Marine Robotic Vessels (MRV) International has developed the Ghost Guard. This brilliantly named vessel (an Unmanned Surface Vessel or USV) uses some technologies that will hopefully be available to all of us very soon. It will give 'push-button sailing' a whole different meaning...

So what's next? The boating equivalent of DARPA's Grand Challenge for autonomous ground vehicles?

"Almost any hull can be configured by MRVI as a Ghost Guard™ to function as an affordable method of mounting water-borne surveillance in all weathers and by day and night. The heart of the Ghost Guard system is MRVI's new generation software, which comprises remote command and control, navigation, route planning/re-planning, event and crisis management, full onboard diagnostics and dial-up diagnostics. COTS-sourced integrated systems, including camera and vision systems, will provide surveillance that could not be mounted in any other way. Using a launch and recovery system, Ghost Guard can be deployed, operated and recovered from vessels underway." Click here to download the Ghost Guard video (62MB, .avi).

A Very Mobile Radio

Definitely not the most inspiring gadget I have ever seen, but at a price of $20 I'm sure there are people that will see this 'very mobile radio' device and conclude that this is exactly what they were looking for....

"Smaller than the size of your palm, the CapRadio fits on the back of your cap, on your shoulder or on the collar of your shirt. The reception is about the same as any Walkman - obviously don't take it for lengthy offshore trips - but at the dock or floating around the bay you should be fine. When you walk, it doesn't jostle, and the tight-fit clip keeps it nice and snug up against your hat."

Cabin Entertainment

The BBC is running a story on the advances of in-car entertainment. It's not difficult to see how all of this can be applied to yachts as well. Especially the smaller, multi-cabin, boats will benefit from the economies of scale that are being realized in the automotive industry. It's not difficult, nor very expensive (Amazon), to create a personalized entertainment set-up in every cabin. And in the cockpit or saloon as well for that matter. In case you don't feel like any roof-mounted displays, why not use Sony's new wireless Air Board (LF-X1) which is for sale as of last Friday.

One other nice feature that is discussed by the BBC article is voice-control over all these entertainment devices. Again, the development in the automotive sector will create a precedent for yachting. Voice-control can not only be applied to entertainment, but to navigation as well, even more since PC technology is making a strong entry into the maritime environment.

"We're also building in 20GB hard drives Now you can take your home movies, and potentially other DVDS, record them onto a disc, record them onto a unit and keep them in the car. Now you don't actually have to bring in the DVD or the discs."

"A lot of it is voice-controlled and voice-interactive as well, the navigation systems, for example. But voice technology is far from perfect, and a screen can also be a life-saver. A rear view mirror can be connected to a video camera on the back bumper, or simply show an image of the backseat, obviously of potential use for baby monitoring."

Seeing Everything Stable, Day or Night

I was reading about Geronimo's advances into the Roaring Forties in their attempt to break a record and win the Jules Verne Trophy 2004. The article men