Marine Electronics

Testers recently checked out the Spare One standby cell phone, which is just what its name implies: a spare phone for use in an emergency or when the battery dies on your primary cell. Powered by one, replaceable AA lithium battery, the Spare One will deliver 10 hours of talk time, 15 years of battery life (if unused), and 24 hours of illumination in its SOS torchlight mode. When a GSM SIM card from a regular cell phone is plugged into the Spare One, the unit acts as a basic cell phone, sans the display and texting ability. Without a SIM card, the unit still allows users to call 911 and access emergency services.

The popularity of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) has grown exponentially in recent years. Lower costs have played a big hand in this; however, the primary driver remains boat owners looking to increase safety. Our latest evaluation compared Class B transceivers from two key players in the AIS market. From Icom, we tested the MA-500TR. New Zealand-based Vesper Marine submitted its WatchMate 850 for testing. We rated the products on AIS functions, control capabilities, user-interface, filtering capability, display quality, and screen visibility.

A sailboat is no place for unnecessary complexity, which was the direction PS contributor Dan Corcoran was headed on his Beneteau 393, when it came to how data was passed between various marine electronics. The worst offender was a spaghetti network of point-to-point wiring that utilized the familiar National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) 0183 standard. A few years ago, he embarked on a gradual replacement of NMEA 0183 wiring and components with the new standard, NMEA 2000. Here he offers his account of the upgrade and answers the oft-asked refit question: Was it worth it?

As a followup to our April 2012 report on useful iPad apps for sailors, we recently sea-trialed the new Weather4D app, comparing it to the older WeatherTrack app. Both enable users to view GRIB weather files, but which one does it the best and which one offers the best value?

During our recent test of man-overboard electronics (PS, May 2013)-alarms, beacons, and self-rescue devices-we came across a rescue communication product thats been making waves in the diving community: the Nautilus Lifeline marine rescue radio. Being lost at sea is one of the fears that divers and sailors share-remember the 2004 movie, Open Water? The Nautilus Lifeline is a handheld VHF radio that has GPS and DSC capabilities.

Two years ago, I purchased a Water Witch bilge pump switch. When it developed a glitch, I called Kathleen at Water Witch Inc.s San Diego office (www.waterwitchinc.com). She asked me a couple of questions, then assured me the replacement part would be shipped the following day. It was, followed by an email saying it had shipped. It arrived 10 days later (international), complete with a personal note. Does it better than this? I think not.

There is no shortage of sailing watches on the market, and weve reviewed our fair share. So when Garmin released its first mariner-specific GPS watch, we were interested to see what features, if any, set it apart from the crowd. After nearly six months of testing Garmins Quatix watch on and off the water, we can report that it is not your ordinary sailing watch. It bundles multiple miniature marine electronics into one small, impressive, hands-free package that is made to withstand life at sea.

On strolling through Port Townsend (Wash.) Boat Haven, while I was having some work done on my boat, I saw this boat (photo at right) and the owners attitude written on a sign in front of the boat. It reminded me of your June 18, 2013 blog, Dont Let Refit Pitfalls Derail Your Cruising Plans.

Testers evaluated handheld VHF radios from three leading marine electronics makers. From Icom, we tested the M92D and M24. Standard Horizon submitted the HX290, HX300, and HX400, and from Midland Radio, we reviewed the Nautico 2. The VHFs in our test group ranged in price and features from a $50 basic, budget-friendly model to a $299, feature-rich handheld with DSC and GPS capabilities. All offered channel scanning, channel 16 quick select, NOAA weather radio, and weather alert. Unique features among the group included scrambler capabilities and remote microphone options.

There are still not as many marine navigation programs for Mac computers as for there are for PCs, but their quality often matches that of PC software, and their cost tends to be lower. The Mac software programs we tested were MacEnc, GPSNavX, Polar View, and OpenCPN. Testers have used MacEnc and GPSNavX extensively while cruising, and we evaluated OpenCPN during two three-month cruises and Polar View for a little over a month during another cruise. Prices range from $180 for MacEnc, to free for OpenCPN, an open-source, non-commercial software created by volunteers.