Header - Ads / PCD

Close

Member Login

Logging In
Invalid username or password.
Incorrect Login. Please try again.

Not a member? Register Now!

Signing up could earn you gear and it helps to keep offensive content off of our site.

Panbo Electronics

image-header-blogs

Recent Comments

Panbo Electronics by Ben Ellison

May 21, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-DeLorme Earthmate inReach app on iPad-thumb-465x348-5650 6982

DeLorme just started shipping a new 1.5 version of the inReach satellite messenger, tracker, and distress device that works with an Apple iOS version of the Earthmate app as well as an improved Android version. I again participated in the Beta testing and, though almost all of that was ashore, I'm even more convinced that inReach is going to become a constant cruising companion on Gizmo and many other boats. It's hard to say whether some improvements are due to the new hardware or the new ...
May 17, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Eric Steinberg at ACWS San Diego-thumb-465x403-5629 6983

I've corresponded with Eric Steinberg for years -- and wrote about some of his offshore racing electronics ideas in 2010 -- but what a pleasure it was to meet him in San Diego. Aside from overseeing Farallon Electronics and IstarGPS, he is now Director of Electronics Systems for the Americas Cup Race Management and hence responsible for nav, comms, and race management tech on some 29 support vessels. Yet it was Eric who took the time to patiently explain the many-layered systems that I ...
May 15, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-RayControl on iPad1 busy cPanbo-thumb-465x348-5617 6984

Above is Raymarine's new RayControl app running on my iPad1 and the screen is purposely busy because I was trying to stress it.  While a NMEA 2000 data simulator tells the test e7 MFD it's going 40 knots up the Bay with one chart window Head Up in 3D and the other North Up, I could still sit in my office -- 40 feet and a "deck" away -- and select/display a tide station with my finger without a noticeable lag. I did manage to crash the app's WiFi connection to the e7 once, but Ray actually ...
May 11, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-AIS Dispatcher with Vessel Finder site cPanbo-thumb-465x296-5604 6985

At the end of Wednesday's discussion about cell-based mAIS -- which only works via the Internet instead of direct VHF radio transmissions -- I mentioned how I'd set up a real AIS receiver in my lab to forward real AIS target info to those same Internet services. In fact most all the actual AIS targets shown in those screen shots came through my basement. The set up turned out to be very easy and cost nothing as I already had an AIS receiver, a computer, and an Internet connection. The key ...
May 9, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Boat Beacon app test cPanbo-thumb-465x348-5586 6986

At first Boat Beacon may look like yet another iPad or iPhone app for viewing online AIS tracking services like ShipFinder, but in fact it's a very new and slightly disconcerting form of AIS transponder. In other words that "Panbo BoatBeaconTest" target seen above is not the test transponder I sometimes run in the lab but simply my iPad running Boat Beacon and using its online connection to send my position, MMSI, and "boat" data to a central server where it's also getting the regular AIS ...
May 7, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Navionics World store app cPanbo-thumb-465x332-5580 6987

I've been using Navionics "Freshest Data" for almost a year now, and while it takes some getting used to and I have experienced a few glitches, my access to up-to-date charts has become nothing short of astounding. I can use the regular SD card reader on any of my computers to freshen a chart card right up to whatever changes Navionics cartographers have made to the master database that day. Plus each of the new generation Gold and Platinum+ cards comes with a voucher that you can use to ...
May 3, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Aegean SPOT Connect track w messages cPanbo-thumb-465x369-5553 6988

If it's heartbreaking to see a cheerful-looking Aegean crew underway in fine weather less than 24 hours before they perished -- as we discussed earlier this week -- isn't it even worse to know that they sent a fart joke to friends and family by satellite messenger just a few hours before everything went wrong on North Coronado Island?  Getting access (via Sailing Anarchy) to Aegean's Spot Share Page is also how I surmised that they were using a Spot Connect rather than the more familiar ...
April 30, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Aegean 4-27 courtesy Newport Beach Patch Susan Hoffman-thumb-465x396-5546 6989

It is quite chilling to see this photo of the Hunter 376 Aegean taken at the Friday start of the Newport to Ensenada Race with the knowledge that the boat was "smashed to bits" that night and that all four crew were lost. We may never know exactly what happened, but the folks who found what was left seem convinced that Aegean was run over by a much larger vessel and some of the reports claim that she was in or near a shipping lane (though I don't see it marked on any chart I have). While I ...
April 26, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Kannad SRS R10 FCC photos-thumb-465x319-5528 6990

Kannad Marine's SafeLink R10 SRS (for Survivor Rescue System) just received FCC approval, and it's about time given that this personal AIS SART was introduced in Miami more than a year ago!  But let's give Kannad a break as getting innovative safety hardware like this through the approval process is not trivial. Just skimming through all the documents filed with the FCC was an eye opener, and the company had already spent many months (and dollars) getting EU approval.  Before discussing ...
April 25, 2012
by Ben Ellison
image-Siren Marine cellular boat monitoring cPanbo-thumb-465x273-5531 6991

I like receiving an "I'm OK" text message from Gizmo every day, even if she is still sitting in the middle of Wayfarer's back lot, and I'm becoming confident that the Siren Marine Sprite I'm testing will be very useful once it and the boat are fully commissioned. I'll be able to set security or anchor drag geofences and not only get a warning if Gizmo moves but also precise tracking messages about where she goes. And whether on board or ashore I'll get a head's up if the refrigeration ...
Page 1 of 3