Electronics and Navigation

Despite the fact sailors have long since embraced the use of wireless devices offshore, few thing get along less well with water than non-marinized electronics—which is why we were so excited to learn about the ugo line of tablet and phone cases. The key to these great little ...read more

B&G’s HALO series of radars now includes the HALO20+ and the HALO20, a pair of compact radomes expressly designed for use aboard smaller sailboats. The units measure 20in in diameter and weigh a mere 11lb. The HALO20+, in particular, delivers a full 360-degree sweep every ...read more

ACR Electronics’ Overboard Location Alert System (OLAS) technology works by creating a “virtual tether” between an OLAS wearable transmitter and any properly configured phone or tablet. ACR transmitters include the “Float-On” wearable strobe and wristwatch-like “Tag.” In an MOB ...read more

Digital Yacht has announced that all of its wireless AIS and wireless NMEA servers are now compatible with the AIS feature added to the Navionics Boating App last year. The free update, which included a number of other features as well, enables real-time AIS data to be overlaid ...read more

Standard Horizon’s HX890 handheld packs a lot of technology into a small package, including DSC and 66-channel WAAS GPS. It’s available in black or Navy Blue and not only floats but is equipped with a water-activated strobe, providing an extra measure of safety, especially when, ...read more

Building on the success of FLIR’s Raymarine Element HV Series with HyperVision sonar, the Element S line features a top-notch all-weather display, best-in-class speed and straightforward operation, all at a competitive price. The chartplotters are available with a 7, 9 or 12in ...read more

Scanstrut ROKK charger  Like it or not, smart phones are a fact of life offshore. This, in turn, leads to problem of keeping said phones charged, which typically results in yet more wires running around your boat’s already cluttered nav station. To solve this problem, Scanstrut ...read more

Knowing Where to Go The easy-to-use GPSMAP 8612 chartplotter, one of three new smaller variants of Garmin’s celebrated 8600 series, comes standard with such premium features as BlueChart g3 coastal cartography and a 12in HD IPS touchscreen display that’s refreshingly easy on the ...read more

An Even Better SOS Veteran satellite rescue beacon manufacturer ACR Electronics has now made its personal locator beacons (PLBs) better than ever with the introduction of the new ResQLink 400 and ResQLink View. Based on feedback from actual rescue victims who have successfully ...read more

Small-boat Race Instrumentation The compact Vakaros Atlas provides real-time, on-the-water performance data as well as off-the-water analytics aboard smaller raceboats. Among the parameters measured are GPS speed, magnetic heading, time-to-line, VMG, pitch and leeway. The system ...read more

A ‘Multi-Tool’ VHF Furuno’s FM4800 fixed-mount VHF has built-in Class D DSC, a GPS Receiver, AIS receiver and an integrated loudhailer with intercom and eight patterns of alert sounds, including a fog horn and warning signal. The unit is waterproof to an IP68 standard, which ...read more

Sun Seeker Italian solar panel manufacturer Solbian has earned a good reputation for its flexible PV panels. Its latest innovation is the Guardian SX series, which addresses the problem of shading on individual cells. A single shaded cell on a typical PV panel can decrease the ...read more

Compact Satcoms Want to enjoy all the benefits of superfast shoreside internet connectivity while at sea, with an antenna that doesn’t dwarf your boat? The new TracPhone V3-HTS marine satellite antenna from KVH houses a host of features in a compact package. At just 14.5in ...read more

Fixed-mount RS40 VHF radio Simrad’s new fixed-mount RS40 VHF radio does more than merely transmit and receive. It also includes an integral dual-channel GPS receiver that can be used in open air with or without its own dedicated antenna, or connected via NMEA0183 or NMEA2000 to ...read more

Now Hear This Standard Horizon’s new HX40 handheld VHF radio is not only compact—its case measures just 2in x 3.75in x 1.33in—it’s also packed with handy features, like instant access to NOAA weather channels, multi-watch scanning and a preset key that calls up 10 commonly used ...read more

Hits the SPOT The SPOT-X two-way satellite messenger is an economical way of staying connected to the outside world via text or e-mail when you’re at sea. As well as the messaging service, it has a distress function that not only alerts authorities if you’re in trouble, but lets ...read more

Be Smart Dealing with a heavy 50-amp shorepower cord can be like trying to wrangle a reluctant python—it goes everywhere except where you want it to, especially in cold weather. Smartplug’s new Superflex50 125/250V cable set puts an end to that. Unplug from the pedestal and the ...read more

Plug & Play Stereo It can be a real pain to install a marine stereo inside a boat, what with the tiresome business of running cables through cramped spaces and finding somewhere sensible to locate the speakers. The audiophiles at Fusion thought about this and came up with the ...read more

TOUCHSCREEN STEREO New Zealand audio specialists Fusion has introduced the first-ever marine stereo with a glass touchscreen display. The Apollo RA770 sets a high bar for boat entertainment systems; among a host of other features it has built-in WiFi streaming and features ...read more

A BETTER VISION Vesper Marine’s Watchmate series has long been the gold standard for user-friendly AIS displays, and the new Watchmate Vision2 transponder improves an already fine product that not only displays AIS data, but can be connected to up to eight devices, including ...read more

Well Gelled Every so often you run across a product you never knew you needed, and then you wonder why it took so long for someone to come up with it. Thus it is with the Gelbox line from Raytech. These reuseable plastic boxes for low-voltage connectors are filled with gel, so ...read more

For many sailors, cell phones have become their primary means of both ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication. Even the Coast Guard will often ask for a cell number after it receives a distress call. None of this, however, makes a VHF radio any less important—and this ...read more

AIS FOR NOMADs Want AIS, but not the hassle and expense of installing a transponder and its associated paraphernalia? The fully portable Nomad from Digital Yacht could be the answer. It combines Class B AIS and GPS functionality with the ability to connect via WiFi or AIS to up ...read more

So you’ve finally decided to splash out on new sailing instruments, and all that remains is the how and where of installing them. That is not necessarily as simple as it seems. There is a number of things to be taken into account. ON THE BULKHEAD The best place for speed, depth ...read more

Pointing the Way Velocitek’s compact new Prism electronic racing compass features excellent accuracy, large, easily read digits and ultra-light weight—under 5 oz. It’s water-resistant to IPX8, class-legal wherever electronic compasses are allowed and comes with a mast bracket ...read more

It Rokks With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets for in-cockpit navigation comes the issue of keeping these devices charged, since running nav software will drain those batteries in no time. Scanstrut has come to the rescue with the ROKK Charge+, the first-ever ...read more

A Light Touch I’ve been in search of the perfect nav station light for many years, and finally found it in the form of the F4 TouchLED task light from Imtra. It’s switched on and off by touching the sole red LED in the middle of the cluster of 15 white LEDS. This also switches ...read more

Color Radio Icom’s M605 VHF fixed-mount transceiver boasts a color LCD screen with an impressive 180 degree viewing angle, backed up by a row of softkeys that lets you access the most important functions with a single button-push. Radios aren’t just radios anymore—the M605 can ...read more

The British-made Tacktick line of wireless instruments arrived on the sailing scene in the early oughties with the Micro Compass, a standalone, solar-powered GPS and heading sensor, and soon expanded to encompass wind, speed and depth instruments. The main selling point of this ...read more

Play it Smart An inordinate number of boat fires are caused by poorly maintained shore power connectors and inlets. The pins on commonplace push-and-twist connectors are prone to corrosion, which decreases the metal-to-metal contact, which leads to higher resistance, which in ...read more

An even Smarter Plug When you’re sailing, you want to connect to the world immediately around you; when you’re back in the slip, it’s time to connect to the wider world. Problem is, there’s been no neat and tidy way to hook up phone, internet or TV cables. This is where ...read more

A HYBRID TOUCH Si-TEX’s new NavStar series multifunction displays (MFDs) offer “hybrid touch” control—that is, the functions can be accessed via touchscreen or traditional controls. The 10in and 12in high-resolution displays are visible even in full daylight, and the powerful ...read more

Be it for safety, navigation or competition, all sailors have a need for information about their boat’s performance and its environment. Many recent advances have been made by marine electronics manufacturers, which have increased the accuracy, quantity and accessibility of data ...read more

Can You Hear Me Now? “Okay, let go. Depth is fifteen feet.” “I can’t hear you.” “I SAID LET GO!” “What? Speak up!” If that sounds familiar, you’re the typical husband-and-wife crew trying to anchor on a windy afternoon. Trying to make yourself heard from 35 or 40ft away can be ...read more

LET THERE BE LIGHT Summer evenings in crowded anchorages or mooring fields are part and parcel of the coastal cruising life, and there is always some activity after dark as stragglers arrive or cruisers run to shore and back in their dinghies. It’s only common sense (and also ...read more