Ben Ellison at Panbo has this item, and I’m going to pass it along here at Navagear. As Ben says, “Even if your AIS transponder didn’t get messed up by this mistake, the pdf may be worth reading so you better understand a little used feature of the System.”

Oops:  "Between July 27 and August 19, [...]

“Everybody thinks they can avoid getting a multiplexer, and in the end they always get multiplexers.”                —Brad Christian, Rose Point Navigation
Yeah, sure, whatever, Brad.
Longtime Navagear readers are aware that I have been avoiding multiplexers for more than three years (here’s the proof). I’ve had a good deal of success.
And also [...]

Several months ago, I posted a link to a Panbo entry about an interesting device that uses the AIS protocol to send a short-range search-and-rescue homing signal.
It’s the Jotron AIS-SART, and I still think it’s a clever idea. But I was just reminded that for many recreational (and even professional) mariners, selecting appropriate safety, rescue, [...]

Ben at Panbo has this item about yet another innovative product from Digital Yacht. This outfit continues to impress me with its thoughtful product offerings.

The picture tells a lot: Digital Yacht’s new AIS200N2K is the first AIS receiver I know of with NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, and USB outputs. But get this: it can also [...]

Navagear has been mostly silent on the piracy issue. For one thing, piracy just isn’t something most recreational boaters will ever encounter in their entire lives, newsworthy headline-making exceptions notwithstanding.
Second, Navagear has nothing worthwhile to say about it; if there’s one thing the world does NOT need, it’s more uninformed opinion by well-meaning folks [...]

I’ve decided to enter the powerboat event associated with this year’s Leukemia Cup sailing regatta here in Seattle. The powerboat event is called AquaQuest, and it sounds like a lot of fun.

AquaQuest is a scavenger hunt on Lake Union. It is NOT a race! There’s a 7-knot speed limit all over Lake Union and attached [...]

 
Ben Ellison has this story at Panbo:

Sorry, but I’m going to start off this week with depressing news:  The U.S. Coast Guard — which I’ve always thought of as a major proponent of DSC VHF — recently issued a Safety Alert that treats one of its core features as a hazard.  In fact, the Guard [...]

Regular readers may recall my feature on Realtime float plan updating with Twitter. My Facebook friends are certainly aware of it; they’ve grown accustomed to my cryptic status updates, which generally follow this form: “Two Lucky Fish underway Friday Harbor to Anacortes. 2 POB.”
This summer, I’m hoping to spend a good deal more time “off-grid”, [...]

[I’m not much of a fisherman. Let’s just say that the fish are in no danger when I’m around. Still I’m a big fan of the Navionics Fish N’ Chip, because I love the detailed bathymetric data they contain. With a boat that draws about one foot with the motor raised, this can [...]

[It’s another MadMariner feature from a few weeks back. —Tim]

The folks at Rose Point Navigation Systems have released a beta of the new Coastal Explorer 2010 product. Navagear readers already know that I use Coastal Explorer 2009 aboard my boat. So my "executive summary" of Coastal Explorer 2010 should come as no surprise: the best [...]