Category : Material

Christmas shopping at the Nautic Paris

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For the first time since 5 years I'm not moving to the Paris Nautic boat show. And for the first time I am not "glued" ten hours a day to a 9 m². And so for the first time I take the time to be interested - remotely, without jostling, without air conditioning, without pollution in Paris – to various products related to my field of investigation and which have caught my attention.

Some concern security, others useful accessories, all of them have to do with mobile devices, smartphones or tablets, and some are really innovative.

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GALILEO and Apple mobiles

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Less than a month before the launch by Ariane 5 of four new satellites carrying the GALILEO constellation to 18 satellites, manufacturers of tracking components have already presented their new tracking chips supporting European GNSS. This allowed the Spanish company BQ to offer the first “Galileo-ready” smartphone at the beginning of September., equipped with processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 652, l’Aquarius X5 Plus.

We might have expected to find the same chip in the iPhone 7 from Apple, which has since fitted the iPhone 4S and the iPad 3 all of its mobile devices with Qualcomm communications processors, integrating GPS reception (US) and GLONASS (Russian), it's nothing. With this latest smartphone, Apple reconnects with Broadcom, sidelined since 2012 to perform these functions, by integrating a chip BCM47734.

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Miniplex-3Wi-N2K : Major updates

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ShipModul manufacturer comes to provide on his website two major updates to dowload for its multiplexer Miniplex-3 :

  • Firmware Miniplex-3 V.1.17
  • Firmware Wi-Fi V.1.5.0.3

The two update files, featured with a procedure (in English), are packaged in a single folder WiFi V1.5.0.3. Download. The implementation can only be done with the configuration utility MPX-Config V.2.1.0 minimum, available in PC and Mac versions. Read more …

2016 Year of GALILEO

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Since my first post on GALILEO end 2011 (¹), space Europe has made significant progress. Despite economic uncertainties and numerous budgetary restrictions, Course and schedule have been maintained thanks to a community political flawless. This is to be welcomed because many other areas of European action didn't have the scoop.

The year 2016 has already been dubbed "the year of GALILEO".. This was the clear message of the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit (²) early March. The Munich summit covered all GNSS systems, but the focus this year was squarely on Galileo. Read more …

The Miniplex-3Wi-N2K is finally available

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We had been waiting for it for almost two years, hoped more, we despaired… but here it is in my hands. Alleluia ! Multiplexer Wi-Fi NMEA0183, gateway NMEA2000 and translator SeaTalk1 is available in France (¹).

The same size and light as its little brother, Miniplex-2Wi (²), its plug terminal is significantly neater : No need for screwdrivers, Connectors have spring clamps. The signage is also much more legible in color, and 4 LED lights allow at a glance to check the operation : strings scrolling NMEA2000 and/or NMEA0183, connection to a Wi-Fi device, and overflow if applicable.

But the apparent simplicity is misleading and the thing hides a real potential.

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Garmin and gadgets for geeks

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In 2013 the world leader in leisure GPS has designed the Quatix®, a GPS watch waterproof allowing boaters to display on their wrist all data of their navigation devices, Garmin of course, equipped with Wi-Fi/Bluetooth owner hot-spot. This nice thing, provided with a 3-axis compass, a barometer and an altimeter, was particularly innovative. I do not know if it is all the rage among users of the brand devices, but the fact is that the concept was precursor - it was a time before the arrival of the Apple Watch - and that walk on his wrist in all location of the boat data from the instruments, with a neat graphic display and vibration alerts, can be reassuring. And more, the Quatix® gives the time !

Always stronger, Garmin is back in the range of connected objects by announcing the display Nautix™ In-view Display, comes featured a pair of glasses to display data on the edge of the glass. Not yet augmented reality, but we are getting closer.

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AIS reception on the web [Update]

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In recent years, websites allowing the visualization of maritime traffic have developed on the web.. They continuously transmit via the internet the positions received from the ships' AIS transmitters, received by reception bases on land, all along the coasts. Two of them caught my attention because they present very different options : Marine Traffic et SiiTech. Read more …

AIS for dummies

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With the progressive generalization of the AIS (transceivers) aboard our pleasure boats (¹), and their obligatory presence on board a large proportion of commercial ships, capacities for display and processing of targets (surrounding vessels equipped with a transceiver) have significantly improved our security. Still need to know how to interpret this information that, in high-traffic areas, can quickly become a real headache.

In such a situation, better have a quick diagnosis of the risk of collision ! (Weather4D 2.0)

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