Si-Tex Vector 3D
November 1, 2011
Si-Tex has introduced a new, ultra-compact GPS compass that it says is the smallest on the market…
Si-Tex has introduced a new, ultra-compact GPS compass that it says is the smallest on the market…
Simrad engineers have increased the peak transmitter power of the Broadband 3G from 100 milliwatts to 165 milliwatts…
If a gyro starts spinning with its axle pointing toward a star that is rising over the eastern horizon, it will try to tilt upwards as the star rises.
When Columbus set off across the Atlantic, he took along a magnetic compass, but he didn’t entirely trust it. His attitude was understandable: Most seafarers of his time either stayed in sight of the coast or looked to “the star of the Virgin Mary” for guidance. A compass, to them, was nothing more than a backup.
Navionics App for iPad & iPhoneTry this darn thing—you might really like it!A week ago I was driving along the waterfront of a big American city with a yacht-broker friend of mine using an iPad with digital Navionics cartography that was conveniently secured to his SUV’s dash to show us how to get where we were going. Wow! Idling
You Gotta Be Kiddin’Can your chart (or Google Earth) give you one position and your GPS another?Some while ago I received a letter from William P. Carter, an observant Virginian with a serious interest in all things nautical. He had a question that conveniently points out a foible of modern, GPS-reliant navigation, one that seems just a tad ridiculous, at
Photos Courtesy of BoeingTechnicians at Boeing put the finishing touches on the LightSquared satellite, ready for its launch in November last year.Intentional InterferenceAs GPS becomes more widely used, the potential for bad guys to create havoc expands. Nearly
Standard Horizon CPN MFDsCPN1010i AND 700i PLOTTERSBlurring the tenuous line between navigation instruments and computers even further, Standard Horizon’s CPN1010i and 700i plotters move away from the company’s usual conservative styling and textured casings: They have rounded corners and edges and are finished in high-gloss “piano black.” They still have the
Why shout when you can whisper?How Navico’s new breed of whispering sonar promises clearer pictures at greater depths.Three years ago, Navico introduced something that it described as a “Broadband Sounder.” Depending on which of the Navico brands you preferred, it came in either a gray (Lowrance) or black (Simrad) box that was wired in between the sonar transducer
What’s a Navico?Deconstructing and defining an emerging marine electronics giant.When I was first introduced to Simrad’s new NSE displays last fall, I just had to ask a company rep what the letters NSE stand for. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I was told that it means “Northstar Edition.”Like many of you, the fate of Northstar has been a
The strange and tortuous search for a way to improve GPS reliability.Last December CrossRate Technology introduced its first (and so far only) product: a combined GPS and Loran receiver called the eLGPS1110. Two months later, Loran was switched off. CrossRate’s timing could have been better, but their concept was brilliant. GPS provides an
There are new models at the top of the Garmin series, as well, in the form of two new ranges of large-format multifunction displays known as the GPSMAP 6000 and GPSMAP 7000 series. Like the 4000 and 5000 series, they offer a choice between touchscreen control (in the 7000 series at right) and more conventional soft-key and cursor operation in the 6000s.
A recent addition to Garmin’s range is a series of touchscreen plotters whose size and price slot them neatly into the significant gap between five-inch GPSMap 600 series, whose prices start at about $1,000, and the 8.4-inch GPSMap 5008, which has a list price of $2,899.At $1,499.99, the GPSMAP 740 (right) is pre-loaded with navigation-quality charts for
Sea-Me, the popular RTE (Radar Target Enhancer) or “active radar reflector” has been dramatically improved. The new Sea-Me Dual Band does exactly what its name suggests: it responds to both of the frequencies that are used by ships’ radars. Until now, commercially available RTEs responded only to X-band radar transmissions. This meant
DeLorme launched its first handheld unit less than two years ago, but has already followed up with two more.The most recent is the midrange Earthmate PN-30.Like last year’s range-topping PN40, the new model has a 32-channel GPS chipset for quick and reliable lock-on,and a dual-core processor to minimize the time it takes to redraw charts or aerial
Si-Tex has introduced a new, ultra-compact GPS compass that it says is the smallest on the market…
Simrad engineers have increased the peak transmitter power of the Broadband 3G from 100 milliwatts to 165 milliwatts…
If a gyro starts spinning with its axle pointing toward a star that is rising over the eastern horizon, it will try to tilt upwards as the star rises.
When Columbus set off across the Atlantic, he took along a magnetic compass, but he didn’t entirely trust it. His attitude was understandable: Most seafarers of his time either stayed in sight of the coast or looked to “the star of the Virgin Mary” for guidance. A compass, to them, was nothing more than a backup.
Navionics App for iPad & iPhoneTry this darn thing—you might really like it!A week ago I was driving along the waterfront of a big American city with a yacht-broker friend of mine using an iPad with digital Navionics cartography that was conveniently secured to his SUV’s dash to show us how to get where we were going. Wow! Idling
You Gotta Be Kiddin’Can your chart (or Google Earth) give you one position and your GPS another?Some while ago I received a letter from William P. Carter, an observant Virginian with a serious interest in all things nautical. He had a question that conveniently points out a foible of modern, GPS-reliant navigation, one that seems just a tad ridiculous, at
Photos Courtesy of BoeingTechnicians at Boeing put the finishing touches on the LightSquared satellite, ready for its launch in November last year.Intentional InterferenceAs GPS becomes more widely used, the potential for bad guys to create havoc expands. Nearly
Standard Horizon CPN MFDsCPN1010i AND 700i PLOTTERSBlurring the tenuous line between navigation instruments and computers even further, Standard Horizon’s CPN1010i and 700i plotters move away from the company’s usual conservative styling and textured casings: They have rounded corners and edges and are finished in high-gloss “piano black.” They still have the
Why shout when you can whisper?How Navico’s new breed of whispering sonar promises clearer pictures at greater depths.Three years ago, Navico introduced something that it described as a “Broadband Sounder.” Depending on which of the Navico brands you preferred, it came in either a gray (Lowrance) or black (Simrad) box that was wired in between the sonar transducer
What’s a Navico?Deconstructing and defining an emerging marine electronics giant.When I was first introduced to Simrad’s new NSE displays last fall, I just had to ask a company rep what the letters NSE stand for. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I was told that it means “Northstar Edition.”Like many of you, the fate of Northstar has been a
The strange and tortuous search for a way to improve GPS reliability.Last December CrossRate Technology introduced its first (and so far only) product: a combined GPS and Loran receiver called the eLGPS1110. Two months later, Loran was switched off. CrossRate’s timing could have been better, but their concept was brilliant. GPS provides an
There are new models at the top of the Garmin series, as well, in the form of two new ranges of large-format multifunction displays known as the GPSMAP 6000 and GPSMAP 7000 series. Like the 4000 and 5000 series, they offer a choice between touchscreen control (in the 7000 series at right) and more conventional soft-key and cursor operation in the 6000s.
A recent addition to Garmin’s range is a series of touchscreen plotters whose size and price slot them neatly into the significant gap between five-inch GPSMap 600 series, whose prices start at about $1,000, and the 8.4-inch GPSMap 5008, which has a list price of $2,899.At $1,499.99, the GPSMAP 740 (right) is pre-loaded with navigation-quality charts for
Sea-Me, the popular RTE (Radar Target Enhancer) or “active radar reflector” has been dramatically improved. The new Sea-Me Dual Band does exactly what its name suggests: it responds to both of the frequencies that are used by ships’ radars. Until now, commercially available RTEs responded only to X-band radar transmissions. This meant
DeLorme launched its first handheld unit less than two years ago, but has already followed up with two more.The most recent is the midrange Earthmate PN-30.Like last year’s range-topping PN40, the new model has a 32-channel GPS chipset for quick and reliable lock-on,and a dual-core processor to minimize the time it takes to redraw charts or aerial
