Electronics+Navigations

Clear and Simple AIS

by Adam Cort, Posted June 13, 2012

Vesper Marine’s WatchMate Vision Class B AIS transponder is a self-contained AIS transceiver with a built-in GPS and a Wi-Fi hub that allows iPhone and iPad users to remotely access AIS info from anywhere on the boat.

Rock-Steady Night Vision

by Adam Cort, Posted June 12, 2012

Like its predecessors, the FLIR M618CS night-vision scope’s ability to create thermal images by discerning miniscule changes in the temperature is quite astounding.

Make Your Wi-Fi Float

by Ralph Naranjo, Posted June 12, 2012

When it comes to Wi-Fi’s role in shuttling navigation and performance data around a boat, there are two schools of thought. One approach lashes a wireless router to a proven digital charting system; the other links Wi-Fi capability to an iPad or some other tablet packed with navigation apps.

Good Thing in a Small Package

by Adam Cort, Posted June 11, 2012

Standard Horizon’s HX-300 handheld VHF offers a lot of radio in a small floating package, making it a good example of a product in which less is more.

SOS in the Digital Age

by Adam Cort, Posted June 11, 2012

Like GPS, the emergency position-indicating radio beacons, or EPIRBs, that first came to market in the 1980s seemed nothing less than a miracle. But that didn’t stop manufacturers from continuing to refine them in an effort to make them that much more effective.

Satellite Weather Reports

by Adam Cort, Posted June 8, 2012

SiriusXM Satellite Radio now provides marine forecast information that can be received via select chartplotters from Lowrance, Furuno, Raymarine and Simrad. Sailors can access a similar service from XM Weather using Garmin’s GXM system.

A Personal Rescue Beacon

by Adam Cort, Posted June 8, 2012

ACR’s ResQLink personal locator beacon weighs just 5.4oz, measures 4.5in long, and features an integrated 66-channel GPS, which allows it to include a position fix in the digital 406MHz distress message it sends to rescuers via the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite constellations.

Fingertip Navigation, with Wireless

by Adam Cort, Posted June 6, 2012

The NavNet TZtouch multifunction display from Furuno is packed with useful new features, including a Wi-Fi lash-up to smartphones and tablets. The touch-screen controls respond instantly to multi-gesture commands, while an improved RotoKey dial lets the user switch between touch-screen or twist-and-push modes.

Flexible Chartplotter Mounts

by Adam Cort, Posted May 7, 2012

Norway’s Navslide AS is continuing to expand its line of flexible mounts to accommodate an even wider variety of cockpit types—including those that are especially problematic.

Faster, More Powerful Chartplotting

by Adam Cort, Posted May 4, 2012

Lowrance’s HDS Gen2 High Definition Systems chartplotters offer double the memory and twice the processor speed of the company’s first-generation HDS models to provide sailors with faster startups and menu operation, and lightning-fast panning and zooming.