If the remarkably small and inexpensive GPS-equipped Fast Find PLB also works very well, what does that mean? My guess is that it makes McMurdo king of the PLB hill, at least for a while, and that it will give pause to folks who are considering the Spot messenger at least in part as a safety device. And who's the guy we might trust most to judge Fast Find performance? That would be Doug Ritter, majordomo of Equipped.org, who has a long record of thoroughly testing safety devices. In fact, it was Ritter, and a large team he assembled, who painstakingly quantified GPS problems with an earlier McMurdo PLB in a test program that ultimately forced the company to recall and update the units...
This graph is a thermal sensor manufacturer's dream -- and was, in fact, created by the marketing department at FLIR -- but, hey, that's us way over to the right. I'd love to see the price of thermal cameras go so low, and unit volume so high, that "most cars/boats/ships" have them. Like GPS, once you understand how well the technology works, you want to have it aboard. I remember well the Magellan Nav 1000 (below), which seemed totally magic 20 years ago, but was actually quite crude and cost over $1,000...
When I wrote about SafeLife in January, I didn't realize that this full-on through-satellite EPIRB and PLB testing service wasn't quite ready to go. In fact, it's not trivial to put together the system of ground stations, software, and Web site able to actually capture the test signals many EPIRBs and PLBs can send out, reference them to the owner registration details, and report it all back to you. But the good news is that SafeLife is now looking for 100 beta testers, and they want a lot more volunteers so they can select a good cross section of brands and locations around the continental USA. And if qualify but don't get chosen, you'll still get a 30% discount on the service once it actually opens for business, if you're still interested. What's to lose, besides a little time registering? One caveat: the hot new FastFind PLBs, now FCC approved, can not be used for through-satellite testing (because their coiled antennas have to be repacked at a service center, I think). Doug Ritter, per usual, has the whole story.
No, the new FLIR M-Series and its controller are not the same size, but here's my attempted graphic point: That sexy dual-payload pan and tilt camera casing -- at only eleven inches tall -- is smaller than your eye might presume. While that's still taller than the competitors' search light casings, the M-Series can pan +/-90 degrees, has a horizontal swept volume equal only to its seven inch maximum diameter, and it purportedly still fits under most open array radar scanners. FLIR spent a lot of time developing this casing for the mid-size yacht market, and intends it as a platform for future developments, but the big news in Miami was that the initial M-626L model sports a 640 x 480 pixel thermal imager. Now that sounds pretty low res by current video camera standards, but in the thermal world it's such a big deal that the government puts certain limitations on its use...
Marine WatchMate is a boat security system that can include up to four cameras which can be monitored on board, on a computer ashore (via the Internet), or even on certain cell phones. The cameras can be IP based, or regular analog pushed through an A/D converter. The one I saw demoed in Miami, above, was analog and it worked fine, but apparently the IP cameras can even be panned and zoomed from your cell or PC. What a world...
A major press event in Miami was FLIR’s on water demo of its neat new mid-priced M-Series dual camera system, which I’ll cover soon. But first I’ll discuss the recent efforts of two FLIR competitors to make enhanced vision more “affordable”. Above is VEI’s OceanView Apollo II, which features a 320 x 240 pixel thermal camera and a 570 line “ultra low light” cam (0.00015 Lux!). The zoom is only 2x digital, but it tilts (internally) 26 degrees, pans 360 continuous, and comes with a controller that has a 4 line LCD to help with initial aiming and set up menus. It retails for $12,995, which is pretty darn reasonable for thermal vision, but…
Fast Find PLB breakthrough, and SPOT/BoatUS team-up
Feb 18, 2009
Smaller, better, cheaper! McMurdo's new Fast Find 210 PLB is just a bit over four inches long (my model has small hands), but features not only a 50 channel GPS but also an SOS flashing LED. And it will probably retail for under $300. I say probably because it is not yet FCC approved, therefore not yet for sale, and McMurdo's US distributor Revere Supply is hence reluctant to quote prices. But I've heard the breakthrough $299 price from several sources, including PLB maven Doug Ritter, who's put up some good comparative dope. Remember that ACR also has new PLBs in the works and both companies are now also clearly competing with SPOT. I think we've got us a good-for-consumers product battle going on!
Last May I wrote about the benefits of live end-to-end EPIRB/PLB testing and a company—BeaconSure—that I thought could do it for us. I also e-mailed BeaconSure at that time and never heard back, and really don’t know if that link is anything more than an abandoned business plan. So I’m pleased to learn of SafeLife, a company that seems serious about a similar testing service, and more…
One reason that this holiday season seems a little gray was finding out that some bastards decided to make a few dollars by counterfeiting the Hammar H20 hydrostatic releases used on many ships to automatically deploy life rafts and EPIRBs in a desperate situation. And apparently they did a good enough job with the details to fool most users, but did not bother to make the things so that they’d actually work. Here’s the Safety Alert PDF, some useful commentary from the RYA, and a little black humor from the pros on the gCaptain forum. I am not a “Bah, humbug!” sort of guy, but I would be unmerciful with the creeps—so far uncaught—who put these fakes onto the oceans.
Binoculars, sminoculars! Open the bigger image to get a hint of how well Sandrine’sFLIR Voyager multi-camera system is bringing in the little tower on Mt. Battie (from which I took Panbo’s header photo). Live in person you could easily watch the tourists climbing around, and we didn’t have it totally zoomed in. But, egads, on Oct. 1 FLIR will offer a Voyager II model with some must-have features. For one thing, it will input radar cursor data and thus automatically hone in on selected targets, which could be very valuable, I think. It will also have an IP address, and thus will be remote controllable from any computer on the yacht or beyond, which could be fun.
I was pleased to meet the founder of AutoTether, Anthony Viggiano, at MAATS, and learn more about his wireless MOB safety product, though I’ve already tried it, liked it, and written it up in PMY. Anthony, who struck me as a classic entrepreneur, says he didn’t realize how hard (and expensive) it would be to develop this system. The first part, settling on a design and getting it to work, was relatively easy, he said, but achieving a high level of reliability, without false activation, took some serious efforts. There are a lot of extraneous wireless signals out there and after a year of added development AutoTether passes highly secure codes between base station and FOBs. Like I say, it seems to work fine, and I’ve yet to see a false activation. Now Viggiano has come up with neat variation, seen above, which will be of interest to sailors and bigger power boat folks; the AutoTether activator can be used to set off an air horn instead of an engine kill switch. Viggiano is also in serious talks with at least one big nav systems manufacturer about integrating his MOB device with a whole helm system. Maybe this business idea will work out.
The GlobalFix iPro GPS EPIRB that ACR introduced at MAATS has at least two valuable innovations, the most obvious one being that one-inch digital display. While the EPIRB doesn’t need the screen to operate, it can provide reassuring and useful info. When you self test the unit, the screen will show the results and even suggest servicing if needed. If you actually activate the unit, as was being simulated here, the screen will give your GPS coordinates—handy if, say, you’re also calling in the distress situation via sat phone—and advise you on correct deployment. That’s what was happening in this shot. The iPro supposedly has an improved GPS receiver, but it wasn’t happy inside the Las Vegas Convention Center. So the scroll across its screen read something like: “GPS…WEAK…IMPROVE…SKY…VIEW.” Nice!
Mobilarm VPIRB, interesting idea with the wrong acronym?
Jun 23, 2008
I’ve long thought that handheld VHF DSC can have real value in a MOB situation, which is one reason I’m delighted that the HX850S is shipping and a similar Lowrance model should soon follow. I also figure that we’ll soon see more Spot-like satellite messenger/GPS/-safety products, and there will be even more confusion about how they work relative to official SARSAT system with it PLBs and EPIRBs (as referenced at the end of the recent FOB entry). But I had no idea until today that Mobilarm was developing a dedicated VHF/DSC/GPS man overboard device, and apparently marketing it as an alternative to a personal EPIRB.
Flash of Beautysailed from Camden three Wednesdays ago and is now passing over the top of Scotland, as you can see live on its Spot track sharing page. Tom and crew are planning to stop in Stormness, and I bet they can already smell the heather and taste the peaty scotch. Aside from sailing almost 3,000 miles, Tom did manage an underway install of his Simrad Class B AIS, but—whereas FOB took the cool, damp, and seldom-used northern route—wasn’t sure it worked until early this morning:
The Autotether wireless engine kill switch system sounded good to me on first Web site read, but, by golly, it’s even better in the flesh. I’ve been testing it for a while now, and can tell you that if that yellow FOB goes underwater or about 50 feet from the base station, the spring loaded plunger lower right will activate nearly instantly, stopping my Honda 40 dead. The white passenger FOB works the same, but just sets off a buzzer, so the driver can u-turn back to the MOB. The base station and FOBs run on AA batteries and the base attaches with sticky-back hook-and-loop tape, so installation is trivial. The manual is a little wordier than needed, but learning to turn the system on and understand the LEDs is pretty easy. The Autotether folks have developed a solid safety product which frankly may my save my dumb butt some day, as Gizmo is an easy boat to fall out of and I rarely used the wired kill switch as it’s so clumsy.
Sometimes you-know-who works in mysterious ways. On Saturday afternoon I watched a long-time friend, Tom Amory, set sail for Finland with his daughter and her friend, but without the Simrad AI50 Class B AIS transponder he’d tried so hard to obtain. I was excited for him, but also yet further ripped at the FCC. Tom ordered the unit from a Canadian distributor who agreed to ship it to the U.S. for use in international waters, but insisted on putting its true identity on the customs form. It got turned back at the border! Then Tom employed an alternative importation technique, which didn’t work in time. Note to the FCC commissioners: What the hell are you doing, making an upright citizen smuggle in a U.S. Coast Guard approved safety tool that he can legally use about 3,988 miles of his 4,000 mile voyage?!?!
While evidence of unusual EPIRB failure activity remains scarce, who doesn’t like the idea of testing their own, as often and as thoroughly as possible? So I always try to note what a new model’s self-test abilities are (though I didn’t have much detail on these GME PLBs just coming to the States). But even the best self-testing is surely limited. There are also professional test receivers—like Musson Marine’s and the WS Tech BT100 PDA-hosted systems—which measure real over-the-air 406/121.5 MHz transmissions, but I don’t know how available that service is to regular boaters. Anyone? Both GME and WS Tech, by the way, are distributed in the U.S. by EPIRB/PLB expert George Lariviere and his Whiffletree Corp.
Well, if I’m going to post on Memorial Day, I guess a war sub-text is appropriate. You see, Rob Stormer got very upset about what I thought was a polite, if argumentative, commentary on his EPIRB failure “investigation”. His displeasure is pretty vivid in the rebuttal he posted today, but you should have heard him yell at me over the phone on Friday! Now normally I avoid such combat, but I can dish it out, and it seems worthwhile in this case because illuminating Stormer’s ongoing errors does shed some light on this important safety subject. Two glaring examples from his rebuttal:
Is there a problem with EPIRBs? Robin Storm thinks so, and is even calling for a congressional investigation into what he perceives as an alarming number of failures and a flawed failure investigation system. But I read his whole report and, at the risk of sounding cranky, must ask: “Where’s the meat?” There are several supposed failures cited, none of which seem clearly the fault of the EPIRB itself or the COSPAS-SARSAT system:
Preston Calvert is one of several valuable contributors to the HD radar discussion, which is how I got e-mailing with him last night. Which is how I confirmed that he is indeed the same Preston whose Riviera 45 was tested in PMY recently, except his Neuromancer3 is better looking, and a lot more geeked out, than the boat they used in the main photo shoot. It also turns out that Preston is a new user of SeaKey v2, and he kindly gave me “guest” access to his account there. I’m pretty impressed with the service he’s getting, but will turn it over to Preston:
The SPOT satellite messenger is about to get more attractive to many boaters. Originally it wasn’t all that easy to share your tracking with friends and family; in fact, to do so you had to share your entire Spot account user name and password. But now Spot is beta testing a pretty sophisticated feature that enables Web sharing of both tracks and messages. Above, and bigger here, is a zoom of a shared page I recorded over the weekend; every 10 minute tracking isn’t perfect for driving, but #14 is the exact parking spot I occupied at Rankin’s, my favorite hardware store.
Last Wednesday night, the 97' clam dredge Captain Joe sank suddenly 30 miles off Point Pleasant, New Jersey in 10' seas. Air and sea temperatures were in the low 40’s and the wind NW near 30 knots (according to a nearby C-Man buoy). You can hear some, maybe all, of the bone-chilling May Day call here. It’s unclear whether the crew gave any position info before jumping into their liferaft, yet within hours rescue swimmers helped all four into the baskets of two USCG helicopters.
Here’s a reversal: I tested this Matys OnBoard Iridium/GSM distress/SMS/voice/email communicator months ago, and my PMY write-up is already online. There you can see the reassuring way the unit lets you know that an alarm message has been received, quickly too, as well as the system’s substantial cost. And the Matys site is good for the seemingly endless—tracking, weather, concierge, medical, etc.—services available.
My PMY March column about SPOT is now online, and you’ll see that I gave the company guff for what I thought was “hyped-up fear marketing.” But in fact they’ve toned that down quite a bit recently. The “Live to tell about it” tag line is still around, but the home page closeup of the toothy, drooling bear and the lame homilies—like the one about coming home in coach instead of in cargo—have vanished. I’d like to think I had something to do with it, but more likely is the marketing realization that Spot’s real draw is its ability to do tracking and non-distress messaging.
Engine shut-off systems, Autotether most attractive?
Mar 6, 2008
Who’s going to argue with that admonition? I first noted MariTech's use of the female form to sell its Virtual Lifeline wireless engine shut-off back in ‘05. While they may have switched body parts, these days the system itself seems pretty similar, a good sign of effectiveness really. But it looks like they’ve got a serious new competitor in Autotether, which at least seems to offer more features for less cost.
Friday’s entry may not have been clear; I only meant to snipe at the New York Times (lightly), and not at Spot. In fact, Spot was one of my four picks for the electronics section of Sail’s annual Freeman K. Pittman Innovation Awards, mentioned earlier with other M.E. awards and now out in the February issue (though sadly not on line). While it is certainly not a PLB, I think Spot could be pretty useful on a boat, or ashore. But understanding well how it compares to PLBs is critical, and hence why I’m sniping at confused coverage.
Alas, my fantasy life is not Clark Beek exhilarating. In fact you might deem it rather pathetic, like yesterday’s imaginary turn at the New York Times copy desk red-lining the bejezum out of a blurb about SPOT. The NYT’s Circuits section is usually sharp on gadgets I already know something about, but this particular piece is loaded with mistakes and misunderstandings (bigger edit image here). Ditto the commenters section on a recent Endgadget SPOT entry (which I tried to correct). And this PLB rescue story apparently confused that technology with Spot’s before it was corrected. In fact, SPOT is racking up some rescues (see Anchorage article), and there is good dope about it on the Web (like on Panbo, I think).
I may be annoyed at the FCC, but the U.S. Coast Guard never ceases to impress me. In this CG video, also viewable below, a chopper team—rescue swimmer included—is picking up a sailor some 80 miles off the northern coast of California in late October. The wind is reportedly 50 – 60 MPH, and you can hear the pilot calling some swells at 30’. I think the most compelling thing about the video is the tight team work you can hear amongst the crew. Two guys were rescued off the vessel, which was unfortunately named Passing Wind II, and may have been a Nauticat 35. According to the ACR press release, the boat got rolled onto its cabin top, dismasted, and 2/3rds filled. “The life raft and dinghy on back were sheared off. We had no radio, the Satellite phone was drenched and dead, and all electrical pumps were useless.” But their GlobalFix EPIRB worked fine, the CG knew where they were within 30 minutes, and were there in 3 hours. Close call!
Though my first SPOT test entry garnered no comments, I remain convinced that some boaters will go for this gadget/service once they fully understand what it can do for them. Actually, out on the water is where it may perform the most reliably. I’ve been trying SPOT in some tough situations and am learning that it needs a good sky view to work well. I had it out in the streets of New York City for several hours last week, and I don’t think it ever got a GPS position, and it only twice got a message off. By contrast, a little Lowrance XOG I’m testing could regularly get a fix on these same streets (which is where I last tried the AnyTrack, not midtown Manhattan but with many tall buildings). Of course SPOT does not claim to work in urban canyons, but I wonder about wilderness canyons or places with heavy, wet leaf cover. And I don’t understand why it isn’t able to indicate if it has a GPS fix, despite having four bi-color LEDs. {Correction: when you activate a SPOT function, it will indicate after a while if it does not have GPS fix, as—ahem!—explained in the manual.)
Since Sunday I’ve been testing a SPOT—the Globalstar-based “satellite messenger” first mentioned here in August—and I’m impressed. Check out the full size screen shot above, which shows me out in Muscongus Bay this morning (being shown a very cool cruising power cat, more info to come). The mapping is a little confusing because events are numbered backwards chronologically, and time is given in GMT (both quite fixable on the Web site, I think). So at #10 I activated SPOT’s “OK” function which sent a canned email/SMS, along with a Google Map link, to a list of people I’d set up on my SPOT Web page, where I can also customize the OK and Help messages. Then a few minutes later, at #9, I activated the tracking function which, as promised, sent an automatic position every ten minutes thereafter. Only position #7 is an anomaly; we weren’t over on that side of the island. At any rate, the unit is fairly easy to use, and seems to offer a lot of safety value and tracking/check-in function for the money. I do wish I’d had a chance to try it in Europe, which is supposedly under Globalstar’s not-quite-global footprint, but at least we do know that this technology works fine from Norfolk to the U.S.V.I., as discussed recently. Remember, Globalstar short messaging does not have the problems voice/email does…and, fellow yanks, here’s wishing you a fine Thanksgiving.
Well, my entry on how Rendez-vous tender tracking uses AIS message conventions seems to have confused even some AIS savvy folks (sorry, Del). To be clear, Rendez-vous will not show up on anyone’s screen unless that screen is connected to a specific network of Rendez-vous radios. Rendez-vous just uses the AIS data structure so that plotting software does not have be modified to see the tenders in a network. Get it? I think it clever, but the folks who developed the Seetrac Tender Tracking systems aren’t so sure:
Tender tracking systems, like the Nobeltec/Seetrac combo discussed here last year, are a bit exotic (even a bit mockable). But I’ve seen the captain of a big charter yacht worry over a ditzy guest out on a PWC, plus I see how over-the-top some mega yacht tenders are getting (like the Vikal Limo). In fact, when I was in the British Virgin Islands last spring, it seemed like every big, really fine center console I saw turned out to be the “little” boat often towed by one much bigger. In other words, tender tracking can be serious business, and I think the new SeaCas Rendez-vous system looks to be a powerful solution.
Rusty commented that the FCC may make GPS mandatory in a DSC-equipped handheld VHF, adding that he’d “rather spend $300 on a 5 watt marine portable with GPS location rather than buy one of these FRS 'locators' {TracMe}.” I agree completely, and even see considerable safety value in a DSC handheld without GPS. If, say, my little Gizmo caught fire, I wouldn’t hesitate to hit the red button on my Standard Horizon HX470S. (Actually you have to flip off the cover, press the deep button hard, and wait three seconds, counted off on screen as shown above.)
Interesting! The just announced Spot is a waterproof Globalstar messenger and GPS combo that will purportedly let you alert the authorities (at least the U.S. ones) with your position, or ask for help from your friends or just notify them of where you are, or build an online track of your travels. It will be available in November for $149 with an annual service contract ranging from $99 upwards depending on what features you want to use. There’s not much detail on the Spot site yet, except for some pretty extreme fear marketing, but I’d guess that this product will get some real attention, even from some boaters. And I’m glad that, unlike TracMe, Spot is not confusing the market place by using the term Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Safety-seeking boaters will be confused enough, what with this, possibly MOB Guardian, and who knows what else competing for our confidence.
PS 8/13 I spoke with the gentleman from Spot who was good enough to straighten me out about its technology in the comments section below. Indeed, Spot uses Globalstar’s reliable one-way messaging system, which has nothing to do with the failing amplifiers that are causing trouble for the voice/data service. I also learned about GEOS Alliance, which will be providing Spot’s 911 capability. Sounds interesting, and I look forward to possibly trying Spot this fall.
While on the subject of PLBs, MOB Guardian is an interesting combination of proactive personal MOB transmitters, like Raymarine’s LifeTag, with a satellite-based (Iridium apparently) communications station. So it can alarm both a boat and the authorities of a man overboard, or some other critical situation.
To be charitable, the new-to-the-U.S. TracMe looks to be a low cost, short range homing beacon that may have some safety value in certain circumstances. But it’s hard to be charitable about the company’s decision to market it as a Personal Locator Beacon, when it has nothing to do with the technology—and the international search & rescue system—that most of us associate with that term.
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.
Big thanks to John G. for a head’s up about the MAIB’s recent report called “Performance Investigation of Marine Radar Reflectors on the Market.” The full PDF is available on this page, along with a typically MAIB meticulous report on the tragic sinking that prompted it. Three sailors died after the big ferry Pride of Balboa apparently ran down the 26' yacht Ouzo early one morning near the Isle of Wight. At any rate, the graph above plots the average Radar Cross Sections of most available reflectors. You won't like those results once you understand them. The testers concluded that only the Sea-Me active reflector delivers a strong enough radar return to even meet the ISO 8729 standard, and some perform so poorly that they aren't worth carrying because they'll only give skippers a false sense of security! None of this real news; in fact I discussed similar findings here almost two years ago. But it's a good idea to be reminded that even good passive radar reflectors have limited abilities. Plus I was surprised that the MAIB didn't mention Class B AIS in their recommendations about collision avoidance. Did I miss something?
Word of ACR’s Nauticast B started an interesting, if sometimes fretful, conversation yesterday, and, whereas I’ve got the bully pit here (guest bloggers welcome), I’m going to exercise it. While the concerns about over-crowded AIS screens, Class B filters, and minimal big ship AIS plotting minded by minimal seamen all have truth to them—and should be part of every new AIS user’s education—I think their overall importance may be exaggerated. Here are some reasons why:
While I’m sure that San Francisco Bay in heavy fog can be terrifying, in my experience the scariest contacts with shipping weren’t in crowded ports but out in the open ocean, where any bridge with half decent equipment and personnel will likely be monitoring Class B targets. Lord knows there are some dunderheads driving very, very large objects out there, but I do not buy the notion that a high percentage of commercial sailors are oblivious to small boats.
This photo I took on Penobscot Bay illustrates another scenario. Shipping is light here—I’ve never seen two underway at the same time—but the traffic lane that runs down the bay crosses the route of almost every cruising boat going in or out of four active harbors. And it can get so foggy that…
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!)
More thoughts on LifeTag, a battery issue for some
Jan 16, 2007
Panbo reader and offshore sailor Jon pointed out a possible downside to the Raymarine LifeTag MOB system that I hadn’t really picked up on (edited for brevity): “Curiously, this battery information [seen in the brochure crop above] is lacking from the installation and operating guides—I would want to know this before heading offshore on a two week passage. The system does warn you when the batteries go low, but unless you planned for it you would be unlikely to have the odd sized battery on board. Also, there is mention of the tags powering up/down automatically, but the information seems to suggest that the tags will only power down by shutting down the whole system [true]. OK for a daysail, but with that kind of battery life you would like to power down the tags for the off watch crew for example. The MOBi-lert system has a connected charging pod, when the tags are inserted in the pod the system recognizes where they are and puts them to sleep. On that system each tag is tracked individually, so you can check the status of each: #1 is charging, #2 is active, #3 has a low battery, #4 is overboard and so forth."
When I visited ACR last October, I got to write up the R&D department’s nifty GPS simulator but not the nifty new GPS-assisted PLB that was being tested in its “oven”. Well, now it’s official; the ResQFix got FCC approval today and will ship in February. ACR managed to make it 35% smaller and 25% lighter than its already compact and successful AquaFix GPS I/O model, plus goose up the 12 channel GPS to -136 dBm sensitivity for fast starts in bad places, and they’re bringing it to market for $750, less than the old I/O. You gotta like all that, not to mention its “full functional self-test of internal circuitry, battery voltage and power, 406 MHz transmission and GPS acquisition.” Here’s more detail at Landfall Navigation, and here’s a full picture with included float bag. It seems to me that the perfectly accessorized person overboard would have a proactive alarm system in one pocket, and a PLB like this in the other. Then a thoroughly equipped yacht could try to home in on his/her 121.5 MHz signal while the GPS and 406 MHz transmitter prepare SARSAT to send in the pros.
As noted yesterday, the LifeTag man overboard system really shines when interfaced via SeaTalk to an appropriate plotter, like the E-Series shown above. The data here is being generated by NemaTalker down in the Panbo Test Facility (aka my basement shop), but the E doesn’t know it. It thinks we’re tootling along near Schoodic Point until I walk the LifeTag more than about 30’ away from the base station, or plunge it into a bucket of water. After a 10 second delay, the buzzers go off and the E goes into MOB mode, establishing a new GoTo and zooming in as far as it can to include both boat and man-in-a-bucket. Again the install was simple, three SeaTalk wires for power and data, no set up. And the manuals are good. Now, as noted in part one’s comments, LifeTag won’t help you home in on the victim, and frankly I was surprised by the figure Russ dug up of 95% success if a GPS MOB point is established. The mermaid id he referenced sounds interesting, and I know there are other intriguing products. But I don’t think any work so well on an integrated system basis…if you have compatible Raymarine gear (well, excepting NKE). It would be nice if there were effective NMEA 0183 and 2000 MOB messages and LifeTag used them. Do note, though, that Ray’s system does have a 12v output for triggering “appropriate emergency systems”, though I’m not sure what they are (anyone?).
Raymarine introduced this LifeTag man overboard system last February, but then couldn’t actually start shipping it in the U.S. until November. These things happen, but it does tend to diminish a new product’s reputation. Well, I’ve been testing LifeTag, it works exactly as promised, and it deserves attention. One thing I particularly like is that—unlike some other safety gear, EPIRBs and life rafts come to mind—you don’t have to worry if it will function when you need it. LifeTag is what might be called an “alarm on failure” system; once on, the easy-to-tote tags regularly communicate (via ZigBee) with the base station, alarming if the connection breaks, or if just the tag breaks. The basic stand-alone system shown above was trivial to install and learn. The buzzer sounded if I wandered too far away or pushed the “help!” (or “wake up, matey”) button, plus you can disarm the alarm with the tag, and the multicolor LED tells you what’s going on. All nice, but even better is hooking LifeTag into a Raymarine SeaTalk network. More on that, and other considerations, tomorrow.
I may seem hung up on Garmin and NMEA 2000, but actually METS was worth months of future Panbo entries. For instance, the world introduction to the B&G H3000 system and also to Navico, the new “papa” brand over arching Simrad, Lowrance, etc., was wonderfully prefaced by extreme racing sailor Knut Forstad. Besides showing some stunning video of Volvo 70’s (100% B&G equipped), he had this slide illustrating an automatic sheet release system on a trimaran. Those Harkin cam cleats can be pneumatically opened by a Hercules processor based on any parameters in the system, like heel, pitch, wind speed, etc. Nice for a single hander trying to rest at 30 knots plus! After the press conference I asked Knut if offshore racers are using AIS. He told me that the Volvo Brazil picked up a receiver in Baltimore, loved it, and that many of the open 60 tris are now carrying full transponders. He was adamant about how valuable a technology it is, and how every offshore race boat should be carrying one. I learned a lot about AIS Class B at METS, but it will have to wait.
That's your thermal image, bigger here, of the Electronics Tent at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS)...all hot faces and legs. When you watch it live, it's the ears in particular that pop out, the lack of insulating fat combined with the camera's fairly high resolution I guess. And, yes, laddies, this technology will sort of see through clothing. A thermal camera images differences in temperature, so warm underwear under cool outerwear sometimes makes an impression (as I once had fun writing about). More important, really, is that most anything floating in the ocean, like say a container or an unlit daybeacon, is warmer than the water around it and thus will show up in a thermal image no matter how dark the night. A man overboard's head, or a thief on a dark pier, stand out like light bulbs! At any rate, Flir Systems, which calls itself the "world leader" in this niche, is doing a masterful job of marketing its new recreational marine level products at this show, even though it doesn't have a booth. The live image and cameras, like that ThermoVision Mariner {update: no longer made} model on top of the Northstar kiosk, are everywhere. Thermal cameras have been around a long time, but mostly in very expensive packages like the NVTi 5000, which is also on display here (and every bit as beautiful as I imagined). The real Flir news is that rugged, well supported thermal cameras have now become merely expensive; the company is even showing a fixed unit that only costs about $5,000 (the fixed Navigator model). Why? Economies of manufacturing scale. Inside the marinized case is the exact same camera that BMW is putting on 70,000 bumpers per year. Cool! or how about: Thermal!
When I wrote about lightning a few years ago, I interviewed Dr. Ewen Thomson, then an associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Florida and more-or-less the go-to guy when it came to this scary and mysterious phenomenon. Thomson was impressive, and I’ve been looking forward to the protection system he was working on as a side line to his teaching and research. Well, the time has come. Marine Lightning Protection Inc. is up and running and will be showing a complete system aboard the Mirage Great Harbour 47 at Powerboat Show in Annapolis.
The system works by creating, in effect, a "Faraday cage" around the boat and its occupants (illustrated below). It is named after inventor Michael Faraday who in 1836 discovered that an enclosure of conducting materials shielded its contents from electrical effects, and could be used to ptotect against lightning.
Thomson’s “Siedarcs” have also been installed on two sail boats— the mighty Maximus and the prototype of a Radford performance cruiser: “If lightning can be thought of as having a preference,” Thomson said, “that preference is to escape from a vessel at or near the waterline. By yielding to lightning's natural tendencies, our system can minimize dangerous sideflashes. The development of the Siedarc is one of the revolutionary features of our system."
Whereas we seem to have reached consensus that Iridium does not suffice as an EPIRB, it seems appropriate to post this intimate photo of a man apparently in love with his EPIRB. No wonder. At 7:30am on 7/25/06, Captain Nick Barran’s 40’ racing sloop was holed by a whale 415 miles north of Hawaii. He and his crew had about an hour to gather their stuff, inflate their life raft, and watch Mureadrittas XL vanish into the deep Pacific. They took pictures, too, and most sites published dramatic images of decks awash and a hand about to slice the raft’s tether. Me, I like the shot of Barran, probably very shook, laying back in the raft next to his faithful ACR RapidFix. The thing, and the whole COSPAS-SARSAT system, worked like a charm and this well equipped crew was aboard the container vessel Maersk Darwin before the sun set. ACR lays out the story here, and also has a pretty compelling advertising campaign here, but no PR person was there aboard the container ship prompting Barran to pose holding his EPIRB. I wonder when he let it out of his reach? By the way, there was also a satellite phone aboard Mureadrittas XL.
I am the proud owner of an Iridium satellite phone. Could I omit EPIRB from my safety equipment list? I believe that verbally communicating with the Coast Guard (with GPS in hand) is superior to the EPIRB. Do I miss something?
That question came through Sail’s “Ask an expert” section. My immediate reaction is “hell no”, but I’m curious what you all think? I figure that many marine distress situations happen so fast and are so wet that what you really need is a totally automatic (i.e. water activated) or semi-automatic (hold down the button) device that is completely waterproof and will call out the calvary, delivering your ID and location in the process. That’s exactly what EPIRBs and even PLBs, especially with optional GPS, do very well. That’s not to say the Iridium isn’t a fantastic technology. I know a lot of far voyaging skippers who count on it for offshore voice, e-mail, and even restrained Web browsing (thanks in large part to super clever compression software like XGate/XWeb). I recall, for instance, that Bluewater has a fixed Iridium in the wheelhouse and a spare in a Pelican case. And I can definitely picture how one could be very valuable during a slow speed distress situation, say a dismasting or a gravely ill crew member, or to check that the EPIRB really worked from your life raft! But superior to an EPIRB?
PS A nice shot from a French marine electronique company showing the sort of use Iridium is really suited for, sitting in the nav station making calls, checking e-mail, and downloading GRIB weather files into MaxSea. And, yes, that green thing is a Sailor radio of some sort.
I just got the new Captn. Jack’s catalog, which seems pretty quick given that Maptech just took over the operation a few months ago. The online Captn. Jack’s is also back in business, which means I can link you right through to some of the more interesting offerings:
* The fictional Jack is indeed bundling Maptech Chartbooks with Garmin plotters, as above, including putting all the on-paper waypoints into the plotter. Just the product combinations themselves look like decent deals, the waypoints a very useful bit of frosting. (I’m hoping to try the feature out).
* The Capn software (no previous relation to Captn. Jack, and different spellings retained) has now become CAPN Integra AIS, and there’s some more detail on how Maptech plans to market it. Jack is also selling the U.S. Boating Charts DVD, which I have tried (it’s excellent), both alone and nicely bundled with Memory Map.
Note that Captn. Jack’s is offering free ground shipping and a money back guarantee (though a tight one). Altogether it’s a pretty neat catalog, and probably the one most focused on marine computer navigation, though it still doesn’t thoroughly cover the products available. Isn’t it strange that Captn. Jack’s once offered almost every major ECS except the Maptech ones, and now it features Maptech’s even larger roster but is missing major products like Nobeltec, MaxSea, and RayTech?
DSC position requests, a whole lotta beep'n going on
Jun 1, 2006
Geez, it’s been more than a month since I promised some entries about all the DSC testing I did, and I’ve only posted a sidetrack about my sloppy wiring. Well, let me say that I saw DSC work pretty impressively. It was easy to get and program in free MMSI numbers from BoatU.S. and Sea Tow. Then, once I got the annoying NMEA 0183 wiring straight, all four radios accepted position info from either the Raymarine E120 or the Garmin 3210. Inputing another radio’s MMSI, then placing an individual voice call, or sending a position, or asking for a position…all went well. And since I’d done a two way NMEA interface, both plotters, and a laptop running Nobeltec VNS 8, all automatically plotted those position asks or receives. Neat stuff.
But there were some hassles. One function I paid particular attention to was position requesting because that’s how Sea Smart’s interesting AVL tracking works. By default if someone requests your position each radio beeps you for a confirmation, which makes sense privacy wise. Each also lets you turn on an alternate automatic request respond mode (if you can figure where to go in the menu system). But they all still beep, and most still want an acknowledging key punch before they stop beeping! I guess the idea is that you’d want to know if someone got your position, but in the case of AVL this could become quite a beeping pain in the rear. Only the Standard Horizon GX 3000S above had a total silence option (though buried in an entirely different menu). Overall, DSC is fairly complicated to use, and pushes the limited radio interfaces to the wall. Methinks that’s partially why so few people have gotten into it, though I’d guess the main reason is that old communications gotcha — it takes two to tango. But once you and some buddies get your DSC squared away, look what it can do on, say, a Uniden 625 (here, and bigger here, showing not only your own heading but a bearing and distance to your MMSI buddy).
This headline got my attention in yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Tanker may be blown up to test Harbor worst-case scenario.” Besides a general boyish interest in things blowing up, this story of course involves the LNG tankers that motor right alongside downtown Boston (and my temporary apartment) en route to their terminal. Their theoretical explosive power is truly awesome. The route wasn’t a great idea in the first place; it seems quite nuts after 9/11. The Coast Guard shuts the whole harbor down during the LNG transit, but what about a bad guy with a missile? At any rate, according to the article, “A major fuel company is in talks to blow up an LNG tanker in the ocean in a first-of-its-kind test that could answer questions about what might happen if one of the fuel-filled ships were attacked in Boston Harbor.” I couldn’t find anything more online but did come across this interesting page about LNG crews using a simulator of the Boston Harbor transit. I’ve seen a couple of these high end simulators now—one at Maine Maritime, and one at a Norwegian maritime academy—and they seemed like extremely valuable learning tools. I wonder if recreational boaters will ever get the benefits of something like this? Have a nice weekend, and steer wide of LNG tankers.
Apparently there’s a bad batch of Paines Wessex white collision warning (Mk7) hand flares out there, specifically batch numbers 2045 through 2046, which were distributed in the U.S. and Europe. You really don’t want to set one of these off. Instead you want to return it to your dealer or contact Paines Wessex.
Raymarine needs a copy editor (Panbo does too!), but otherwise this sneak peek page has a lot going for it. Sirius Satellite Weather is happening on the E Series; C & E get AIS plotting, plus better data and NMEA 2000 engine displays; and the technology under the new 18” and 23” radomes sounds very interesting indeed. Raymarine is also introducing an active RF LifeTag man overboard system. Up to 16 crew members wear the gizmo above and a system-wide SeaTalk alarm will go off if a wearer gets too far from the receiver, or if he/she pushes that button.
PS. I often use Google to check spelling and/or word usage, and am dumbfounded to find millions of “sneak peak” in use, including ABC and PBS. Wouldn’t that “sneak peak” be “the top of a hill or mountain ending in a point” that’s also “carried out in a clandestine manner”? Am I missing something here?
The Sea-Me active radar reflector has been around for a few years, though it’s not well known in the States. I was just reminded of it by an article in the British publication Yachting Monthly, which recently tested just about every radar reflector available, both in a lab and on the water. The Sea-Me blew the others away. By amplifying and sending back the X-band radar signals that hit it, this gizmo can make a small yacht look like a big ship. Which is exactly how I’d like to look in the Dover Straits or right outside Camden on a foggy day like this. I once wrote a column discussing this concept, along with how radar reflectors are tested and the Sea-Me. The scary truth is that most radar reflectors on the market are not very effective. The fairly large and expensive passive ones that did well in Yachting Monthly’s testing were the Echomax EM230 and standard size Tri-Lens.
If you see the distinctive twelve pulse signature above on your radar screen, it means that someone in trouble has activated a Search and Rescue Radar Transponder (SART). You’ll find them at the pulse closest to you. SARTs are a lesser known component of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), and thus are required on many commercial vessels, as well as some offshore races like the Fastnet. They're designed to be used in addition to DSC or EPIRB distress calls, helping already alerted rescuers zero in from about 10 miles to within about 500 feet. Simrad’s new SA50 model is especially compact at about 10" tall and 3" wide. It can be set up to turn on when a life raft is deployed, or manually activated. It retails at $975, and uses a battery pack that does not require ‘hazardous’ handling and has a 5 year shelf life. (Why Simrad distributes highly angled and/or shadowy pictures baffles me, but I do appreciate seeing what a SART actually looks like in use).
I was pleased to get an automated e-mail from Boat U.S. last week reminding me to update the registration info associated with the MMSI number I got through its Web site a couple of years back. It’s really important to keep this data current as the rescue authorities will use it if you ever make a DSC distress call with your VHF (or SSB) radio. Bad info can lead to wasted rescue resources, or worse. I haven’t moved or changed phone numbers, but adding more alternate numbers was easy, as was getting the free number in the first place. If you are one of the many who have a DSC radio but still haven’t gotten an MMSI number, for goodness sake do it! While it’s true that the U.S.C.G. hasn’t fully enabled its DSC listening system yet, it’s very likely that someone will hear you if you hold down that red button. Note that if you plan to take your boat outside the U.S. you should get your MMSI from the FCC, along with the needed VHF and other radio licenses. Otherwise, your MMSI will not be added to the international database. Tim Hasson of Marine Computer Systems has some good information about that whole FCC process here.
Another contender in the safety category of the MAATS innovation awards—the one that I think should have won—was Mustang Survival’s vest PFD with LIFT. I say this because last summer I tested the vest, then in developement, along with 7 other top quality inflatable suspender and belt style PFDs, and thought it was the best by far. That’s me above, and I’m not standing on the bottom; the Mustang vest is holding my head and shoulders out of the water without any effort on my part. Plus it was more comfortable than the suspender types out of the water, uninflated, and significantly more comfortable than all the other models in the water. The latter is a big deal if you’re trying to keep your mouth out of the waves and operate “help me” gear like flares, strobes, laser lights, a PLB, and/or a handheld VHF. LIFT (Life-saving Inflatable Flotation Technology) costs more than other inflatable PFDs, but it’s a truly innovative design and could make a difference. I wrote the testing up for the Nov. 2004 Sail, unfortunately not online. By the way, some August vacationers at a local swimming hole were amused as I donned full foul weather gear, then repeatedly jumped off a rock and “blew up” as Jamie took notes and snapped pictures. Some fun.
The heh, heh irony in the promo at right is that what really looks good is the little wireless fob tied to the pneumatic lady’s bikini sash. Right. But it does actually look good; Virtual Lifeline can supposedly be easily setup with any outboard or inboard engines so that they will shut down if anybody on board goes overboard. This product just won a safety Innovation Award at the MAATS show in Las Vegas. The electronics award was split between two products we’ve already talked about here—Navionics’ Platinum charts and Humminbird’s side scanning sonar. It’s not online but I just purloined a list of all the entries to the contest, and there are some neat items I had not heard of. More later.
It looks and acts like an EPIRB, but is, in fact, a simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR). “Like black boxes carried on aircraft, S-VDRs enable accident investigators to review procedures and instructions in the moments before an accident to help to identify its cause. The RapidTrack S-VDR is designed to interface with bridge information systems and to record and maintain a retrievable record of the ship's nautical, technical and safety data. The RapidTrack S-VDR is designed to interface with bridge information systems and to record and maintain a retrievable record of the ship's nautical, technical and safety data. The S-VDR will automatically deploy once the vessel has sunk to a depth between 1.5 to 4 meters. The beacon then floats to the surface and automatically begins broadcasting GPS coordinates to aid in location and retrieval. There isn’t any info on ACR’s site besides the press release, and the unit isn’t FCC approved yet, but interesting technology, eh? S-VDR is now mandatory on certain commercial ships too.
(Also, head’s up, expanding ACR recently sent out another release seeking job applicants. “We need help in filling several newly created key positions in engineering, sales and technical support”.)
Yesterday I was tickled to learn that Nasa’s AIS Radar and Engine will be marketed in U.S. under the well known Si-Tex brand (thanks, Pascal). That means U.S. sales and support. It also turns out that the Engine will put up AIS targets on a variety of Si-Tex plotters, like the Color Max below (just a mocked up screen). This AIS listener business is moving fast!
Yesterday Roger (a true DYI guy I’ve noted before) commented enthusiastically on Nasa Marine’s “AIS Radar.” It certainly does seem to provide a complete AIS listener for a very reasonable price, about $365, but I have some concerns. The main one is that Nasa “chose to simulate the plan position indicator (PPI) of a conventional radar display” (hence the name). In other words the target vessels are plotted relative to your own boat’s course and speed, not their true course and speed (though that’s shown in the data window). The goal is simplicity; a target on a collision course will generate a trail headed right at you. The problem is the plotting confusion possible when you change course or speed. Plus AIS Radar, like Nasa’s AIS Engine, only uses one frequency at a time—though that may not be an issue. And, finally, it does not support output to a PC. For more information, allGadgets has the manual posted here. Of course, my concerns may be unwarranted; I’d like to hear from users and/or try one myself.
Last year Doug Ritter (right) and his Equipped to Survive Foundation (ETS) did the boating (and outdoors) community a tremendous service by uncovering performance problems in the optional GPS portion of PLBs and EPIRBs made by McMurdo. McMurdo subsequently offered a free upgrade to existing units. ETS now plans to test the upgraded beacons, as well as the latest models from McMurdo and ACR. If you’re in the U.S. and have an unused, but upgraded, McMurdo beacon, ETS wants to swap it for a brand new one and will even send you pre-paid shipping material. The deal sounds pie simple, and you’ll be helping to confirm for all boaters that the upgrade truly did the job. For an idea of how amazingly thorough this testing program is, check out these ETS Web pages. Update 5/17: Apparently Doug now has enough upgraded beacons.
In addition to Kees’ report yesterday, Dan sent in a link describing another successful test of the Nasa AIS engine, this time in conjunction with GPSNavX charting software for Mac computers. (Thanks, Dan, and I’ll follow up on your other Mac navigation suggestions soon). PC Maritime's interesting Navmaster Superyacht AIS package (look in the Leisure section) includes the same Nasa engine, which passed the company’s own testing and is reportedly pleasing early users. Superyacht’s AIS display looks like the best I’ve seen to date. Click here for the full screen shot and notice how the vessel is drawn to correct scale and its predicted track, i.e. rate of turn, is shown along with its heading. The user gets to control what data gets shown with the AIS target, plus the sidebar neatly categorizes all possible AIS info. I still want to know if there's a downside to only receiving one AIS channel at a time (I've asked Nasa), but it sure is exciting to see AIS hardware, and software, rapidly becoming affordable for even medium size yachts.
Update: “The same data is sent alternately on both channels so listening on one channel only is not much of a limitation. (It means the unit would 'hear' data every 6 seconds rather than 3 seconds from a vessel travelling at speed.)” — Nasa Marine
I’d never heard of this Nasa AIS “Engine” before, but oddly got two e-mails yesterday that referenced it. It seems almost too good to be true: a simple AIS listener that can feed ship information to a PC’s serial port for a mere $200 (plus cost of VHF antenna). It’s sold by a U.K. firm here, but does not seem to be listed at its manufacturer’s site here. One spec I see that might be a deal breaker is that a user must “Select 161.975 or 162.025 MHZ operation”. I thought AIS devices automatically use both. Please, someone, educate me on these mysteries!
Update: Be sure to read the comment from reader Kees who owns one of these listeners, reports good performance, and terms it an “outstanding no unbelievable value...” Thanks, Kees!
Last night my May PMY electronics column went up on the magazine’s Web site, one of the first up for this issue for some reason (probably random). I don’t think there’s another boating magazine on the planet that publishes so much of its content to the Web so quickly, not to mention so well. I’m one writer who really appreciates it (there are some freelancers who fear that Web publishing will lead to theft of their work, but that’s another subject).
At any rate, the column is about the U.S. Coast Guard’s new search and rescue communications system, called Rescue 21. It’s going to be extremely powerful, but has suffered recent delays, which come on top of previous delays. Naming it after a century—instead of a year like NMEA 2000, also powerful but also slow to really happen—was a good idea.
ACR sent out a press alert about the first rescue credited to its relatively new GPS equipped Personal Locator Beacon. I can’t find any other Web references to the incident, which involved a pair of divers off Bradenton, Florida, but it certainly sounds like ACR and the whole SARSAT system have something to brag about. The little beacon was set off “around 7pm”, seen by a GOES Satellite at 6:58pm, sent up a GPS fix at 7:01pm (presumably from a cold start), and a Coast Guard 41 footer had steamed 10 plus miles to the scene by 8:10pm. It wasn’t until 7:47 that the LEOSAR satellites could resolve the beacon’s location by the standard Doppler method, a delay that might have cost a life in this case. Hat’s off to ACR’s apparently speedy GPS PLB technology and to the fast SARSAT dispatch system! Here’s an article I wrote about SARSAT last year, ACR’s AquaFix site, and an early look at these units by Doug Ritter at the Equipped to Survive Foundation (which will hopefully conduct a thorough test of current PLBs soon).
Engadget reports on Orca, a solution you might consider if safety onboard is important to you.... Although there already are similar systems available, it never hurts to have some competition in that area, especially when that helps stimulate innovation.
"No, not the vicious killer whale from that 70s movie. Going overboard? No problem. See, you�re sporting the Orca (Overboard Recovery Communications Apparatus), a new device worn by deck personnel in the military that alerts the ship if, and when, you take a little involuntary swim. The ORCA provides a unique ID for each individual, and it triggers pre-set messages to the bridge at the time of the big dive. It is also capable of triggering several beacons at once (in case a few deck hands go down for whatever reason) and pinpoints each one using GPS."
New regulation has triggered KVH to highlight their integrated communication system that uses the Inmarsat mini-C communication system and real-time GPS position reporting to alert when in distress. Although they are using terrorist threats to persuade commercial shippers to buy this product, this solution could be useful for private yachting as well.
"The eTrac SSAS is very easy to use - just press one of the two panic buttons to instantly send an alert containing such information as vessel identification, time, and precise location. The rugged KVH eTrac SSAS stands less than 6" high and weighs only 2.4 lbs and can be installed easily. The fully integrated system contains a transceiver, antenna, and a 12-channel GPS receiver."
A while ago there was this news about the McMurdo 'Precision 406 MHz GPS EPIRB' (also known as G4 406 MHz GSP EPIRB) and the McMurdo 'Fastfind Plus 406 MHz Personal Location Beacon' (also known as the Fastfind Plus 406 MHz PLB) that both failed to reliably acquire a GPS location 'fix' under operational 'real-world conditions. Now, after some new tests, it seems that these products work fine.
"The new tests were conducted on the company's upgraded FastFind Plus PLB and Precision EPIRB products, and were designed to replicate the earlier Equipped to Survive Foundation tests as closely as possible."
Although EPIRBs are not required on private yachts, they do save lives. Here's a story on how they do that and what different systems are available. I'm sure it is worth your consideration if you sail in more dangerous waters. Don't forget to register them by the way...
"Some of the best models also include a Global Positioning System signal. The system tells rescuers the location, within one to three miles, of distressed boaters in the first signal burst rather than waiting two or more hours for several satellites to pass by and get a fix."
I have posted about the workings of EPIRB and choosing the right EPIRB equipment before, but it seems that not every device functions as it should. With equipment that is so life-critical, be carefull not to save a few dollars at the expense of...
"Unfortunately, in the testing, the off-the-shelf McMurdo Ltd. 'Precision 406 MHz GPS EPIRB' (also known as G4 406 MHz GSP EPIRB) and the McMurdo Ltd. 'Fastfind Plus 406 MHz Personal Location Beacon' (also known as the Fastfind Plus 406 MHz PLB) both failed to reliably acquire a GPS location 'fix' under operational 'real-world conditions,'” Ritter said. “The tests revealed that purchasers of these GPS-equipped 406 MHz beacons – who paid a premium for the added GPS technology in the hopes of potentially shortening rescue response with faster location information and increased location precision – are apparently not getting what they paid for and are operating under false expectations.”
hose Harkin cam cleats can be pneumatically opened by a Hercules processor based on any parameters in the system, like heel, pitch, wind speed, etc. Nice for a single hander trying to rest at 30 knots plus!
an impression (as I once had 
I am the proud owner of an Iridium satellite phone. Could I omit EPIRB from my safety equipment list? I believe that verbally communicating with the Coast Guard (with GPS in hand) is superior to the EPIRB. Do I miss something?
Apparently there’s a bad batch of Paines Wessex white collision warning (Mk7) hand flares out there, specifically batch numbers 2045 through 2046, which were distributed in the U.S. and Europe. You really don’t want to set one of 
The Sea-Me active radar reflector has been around for a few years, though it’s not well known in the States. I was just reminded of it by an article in the British publication 
activated a Search and Rescue Radar Transponder (SART). You’ll find them at the pulse closest to you. SARTs are a lesser known component of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), and thus are required on many commercial vessels, as well as some offshore races like the Fastnet. They're designed to be used in addition to DSC or EPIRB distress calls, helping already alerted rescuers zero in from about 10 miles to within about 500 feet. 
The heh, heh irony in the promo at right is that what really looks good is the little wireless fob tied to the pneumatic lady’s bikini sash. Right. But it does actually look 
It looks and acts like an EPIRB, but is, in fact, a simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR). “Like black boxes carried on aircraft, S-VDRs enable accident investigators to review procedures and instructions in the moments before an accident to help to identify its cause. The RapidTrack S-VDR is designed to interface with bridge information systems and to record and maintain a retrievable record of the ship's nautical, technical and safety data. The RapidTrack S-VDR is designed to interface with bridge information systems and to record and maintain a retrievable record of the ship's nautical, technical and safety data. The S-VDR will automatically deploy once the vessel has sunk to a depth between 1.5 to 4 meters. The beacon then floats to the surface and automatically begins broadcasting GPS coordinates to aid in location and retrieval. There isn’t any info on ACR’s 
Last year Doug Ritter (right) and his Equipped to Survive Foundation (ETS) did the boating (and outdoors) community a tremendous service by uncovering performance 
In addition to Kees’ report 
I’d never heard of this Nasa AIS “Engine” before, but oddly got two e-mails yesterday that referenced it. It seems almost too good to be true: a simple AIS listener that can feed ship information to a PC’s serial port for a mere $200 (plus cost of VHF antenna). It’s sold by a U.K. firm 
ACR sent out a press 
Although they are using terrorist threats to persuade commercial shippers to buy this product, this solution could be 
A while ago there was this 
Although EPIRBs are not required on private yachts, they do save lives. Here's a