NEW EDITION COMING SOON - The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible - 3rd Edition, 13 years old and still going strong! Thankyou all!
My first book The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible is now sold out. This book started off in 1993 and has undergone several updates and revisions and I have just completed the new and revised edition for release in early 2007. Thanks to everyone for all the support, feedback and buying the book. Watch out for the new and improved edition, current radio frequencies and technologies that affect you and your boat
USCG Report - Boating Fatalities are Up!
The Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety has just come out with the 2005 Boating Statistics Report. There was an increase in overall boating fatalities from 676 to 697. In 2004, 70% of all deaths were by drowning and some 89% of these the victims didn’t have life jackets on. LESSON - Wear a jacket!
There has also been an increase in alcohol related deaths. Alcohol has shown to be a direct or indirect contributing factor in nearly 25% of all boating deaths, and this is a significant increase since 2001. LESSON - Don’t drink and boat!
Deaths attributable to none or inadequate boating safety instruction remains the same. Other causes of death include carelessness and reckless operation, operator inattention, operator inexperience, and excessive speed all remain leading contributors. LESSON - Learn abput your boat, how to operate it, and take boating seriously
NMEA AWARDS
The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) has announced the NMEA Industry award winners. And the winners are:
Autopilot - Simrad AP25 Series VF Autopilot
Fish Finding - Furuno FCV585
Radar - Furuno Navnet VX2 18/19x4 Series
Communication - ICOM America M504
Entertainment - KVH Tracvision M3
Navigation - Raymarine E120 w/Platinum Cartography & RS125
The Winners of the 2006 NMEA Marine Specialty Awards are:
First Place - Navonics Platinum Electronic Charts
Second Place - Simrad WR20 Remote Commander
2006 NMEA Best of Show is the Raymarine Ray Tech 6.0.
Winner of the 2006 NMEA Technician of the Year Award is Mark Mitchell, who is employed by Paradise Marine of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Annual IBEX Awards for Innovation
There were 10 awards given but the following electrical and electronics related are summarised. The awards are sponsored by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and the judging is by Boating Writers International (BWI).
Electrical Systems And the winner is….? PowerSign from Paneltronics PowerSign is a multiplexed system that gives intelligent power distribution and management for DC loads. This allows complete control and monitoring of all electrical systems from single or remote location. The system consists of 4 components: these are the switches; the power distribution units; the graphical user interfaces and the interconnecting communications wiring. The power distribution units are able to identify the connected equipment being used, and then energize this based on a specific time delay curve.
Mechanical Systems And the winner is…? The Air Fusion Thermoelectric Environmental Control made by Heater Craft. Rather unique in that this is the only air conditioning system without a seawater circulation requirement to operate. The system passes electricity through a thermal heat exchanger that also circulates glycol. The glycol then carries the heat or cold energy to a core and fan assembly. The energy is then transferred to cool the space. It has no moving parts and can output up to 10,000 BTUs of heat and 8,000 BTUs of cold energy. Rather clever development and look forward to understanding this one better.
OEM Electronics and Electrical Systems This went to Sea-Fire Marine for the Sea-Fire Control Panel. An integrated system that monitors fire, heat, smoke and carbon monoxide levels. When alarms activate the centralised system performs required shutdowns such as engine stop, fuel cutoff, vent and damper closure etc. Big ship technology for smaller boats.
Outboard Engines One award went to Torqeedo Travel from Torqeedo GmbH and the other to Suzuki, for the DF 300 4-stroke Outboard Motor. The Torqeedo electric outboard is unique. It has a 6 pound lithium manganese battery, and this can be simply and easily lifted out of the motor. This can then be easily recharged ready for the next outing. The unit is collapsible, very easily assembled, and weighs in at just 25 pounds.
Some of electrical and electronics Nominees for the DAME Award 2006 (Design Award at the METS Show in Amsterdam
ABS Hydromarine for a Controller for stabilizers STPRO 2002
Airmar Technology for the CA500 Thru Hull Camera (what a good idea)
GEONAV srl. For the 5 Touring, 7 Wide, G3
Icom Communications for the IC-M71 and the IC-M603 with HM-162E
KVH Europe for the TracVision M3 Marine Satellite TV System
Lorenz Electronics S.n.c. for the Anticollision Chartplotter System
MZ Electronic S.r.l. for the EV040 Radiochaincounter
Navico Holding A/S for the WR20 RemoteCommander
Waeco International GmbH for the WAECO CoolMatic CR Compressor Refridgerators (I have a Waeco myself)
GME for the MT410G - Personal Locator Beacon
Cantalupi Lighting S.r.l. for the Atmospheric Protection System
Vetus den Ouden N.V. for the Easy Docking System for bow and stern thrusters, and the Wiper control panel with rain sensors, and the Combined battery charger / battery splitter
MAST Products Int. for the Keysaver Int. BAY 15D Led replacement bulb (this is good development, cut your power consumption)
Mastervolt for the Mastervolt Whisper Genverter System (this is great bit of kit)
Offshore Systems (UK) Ltd for the 2210 Resistive Sender Deck Filler Gauge
Blue Sea Systems for the 120 Amp SI automatic Charging Relay ( a very good charging management device)
Do you want some comment on something special in this blog? let me know as it's your blog! Bookmark this blog for further marine technology updates!
John C Payne
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