Article by Pat Schrawder
MORE ON WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MARINE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
It is hard to overstate the impact that the computer industry has had on the marine electronics field. First it was the transition of the data transfer method used by the automotive manufacturers to the marine market with the advent of NMEA 2000 for marine use. All major manufacturers are now incorporating some form of NMEA 2000 technology to transmit data among the instruments on the boat. Although they are all using NMEA 2K, the plugs and devices are not the same. You need to use caution when planning a network system. Raymarine uses its own plugs for what they call “Sea Talk” and so do the others. Simrad uses Simnet hardware connections for many of their products, but not all, and Furuno uses what they call “Can Bus”. It is essential to realize that you must use the connectors that are compatible with the brand of equipment you have and now, more than ever, the argument can be made that it is best to stick with one manufacturer for most of your marine electronic equipment. That is not to say that you can’t “mix and match”, but it is much easier to connect equipment within the same brand name.
The other branch out from computers to the marine field has taken place with wireless connectivity. I spoke previously about some Furuno products and then about Simrad. (If you missed these articles, they can be found on-line at www.coastalfisherman.net). Those were just two of the major manufacturers that have incorporated wireless technology in to their products, offering software to allow you to plan routes on your personal computer and then transfer them to your multi-function display and to enable your Smartphone or tablet to display and operate your main display from a remote location. It seems that most of the major companies are all doing the same thing, with slight variations.
For example, Garmin now offers something called BlueChart® Mobile as a free app that enables you to plan and views routes on your iPad, iPhone or iPod and wirelessly transfer them to your chartplotter. While the app is free, you are required to purchase a marine Wi-Fi adapter kit for the app to work. That adapter kit allows you to let your iPad “follow the boat” along its route. In their latest version, 1.3 Garmin offers quatix™ Watch Support to transfer routes, waypoints and tracks along with GPSMAP® for additional waypoint symbol options. You can also customize your app with a variety of vessel icons. Another feature that can be used with the BlueChart® Mobile is something called ActiveCaptain. It is a web community that provides real-time data submitted by other mariners. It contains information such as marina reviews, local boating knowledge, hazards, etc.
Raymarine is also offering a viewer app for the iPhone, iPad, and Android. Once again, there is a free app called RayView that allows you to connect your Raymarine multi-function display and stream the video to your tablet or Smartphone. You are able to pause the streaming and make use of the “pinch and zoom” feature on those devices. There is also a way to capture a screen display and save it to your photo library.
Like Garmin, Simrad and many others, a navigation software package is available to allow you to plan routes, add waypoints, etc. and view charts from around the world. You can import and export waypoints/routes in spreadsheet format for transferring or saving at an off-site location.
With slight variations, the new technology for this season is basically the introduction and/or expansion or wireless connectivity to more and more manufacturer’s equipment as demand is high for these features, even among boaters who don’t yet have use for them but want to know they have the latest features.
Pat and her husband, Larry are owners of L&L Marine Electronics on Golf Course Road in West Ocean City, MD.
