Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

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Category: Mobile Apps

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Mobile Apps / Wireless & Apps / Network & control / Handheld / Gadgets / Communications / Safety & SAR

Garmin Quatix 8, compelling marine watch option now with inReach

The Quatix 8 might just accomplish something no other Garmin (or any other brand) watch has done so far. Displace my Apple Watch. I am deeply invested in Apple’s ecosystem. I use an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Airpods, and Apple Watch. So, getting me to switch out one of those pieces is an uphill battle. The Quatix 8 offers enough improvements over prior Quatix watches, and my Apple Watch Ultra, to make a strong case for daily wear. If you’re like me and happy with your current wristwear, you might be wondering what the Quatix could possibly deliver to compell a change. For me, the answer comes down to four things — not all of them marine related — that weigh the scale in Garmin’s favor. Those four things are: thorough integration with Garmin navigation electronics, extremely long battery life, robust fitness features, and now, satellite communications from my wrist.

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Mobile Apps / Wireless & Apps / Navigation / Handheld

Orca and Raymarine Axiom integration, easy route sharing from tablet to chart plotter

Tablet navigation has come an extremely long way in the decade and a half since Ben Ellison started covering it. However, for as far as the apps have come, integrations between navigation apps and chart plotters remain remarkably frustrating. Some in brand solutions, like Active Captain with Garmin equipment and TZ iBoat with Furuno plotters, work quite well. However, cross platform options typically involve clunky, multi-step export and import routines. Often, these routines require ejecting and inserting physical memory cards, a task made more complex as memory card slots move to the back of slick, all glass chart plotters. Raymarine and Orca have broken with recent trends and offer a wireless integration that allows for remarkably simple sharing of routes between a tablet running Orca and a Raymarine Axiom chartplotter.

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Mobile Apps / Press Releases / Navigation / Handheld / Charts

Aqua Map route planner: Hybrid route planning for smarter navigation

Aqua Map is pleased to announce the launch of Route Planner, a multifunctional route planning tool that offers navigators enhanced control and flexibility. By combining Automatic and Manual planning modes, Route Planner allows seamless switching between them within the same route. This hybrid routing capability enables users to customize and combine manual and automatic segments, or fully manual or fully automatic routes, providing precise control.

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Mobile Apps / Navigation / How-to

Bob423 How To: Aqua Map with a big screen monitor

Robert Sherer (aka Bob423) has been helping fellow East Coast cruisers for many years — especially with specific advice about transiting the ICW and getting the most out of the nav app Aqua Map — and Panbo is pleased to publish his technique for using a large second display with an iPad….

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Mobile Apps / Network & control / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K / Monitoring & Tracking

IBEX 2024: Siren 3

When Siren’s Founder, Dan Harper, introduced the Siren 3 Pro, it was supposed to be the first of three models of the Siren 3 series. That was more than four years ago and before Dan’s untimely death in early 2021. Since then, Siren has been acquired by Yamaha and a mid-priced Siren 3 Plus has been introduced. But, the low cost member of that series hasn’t materialized, until now. So, I was pleased to see an announcement at the beginning of IBEX that Siren will begin shipping the Siren 3 in April of 2025.

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Mobile Apps / Wireless & Apps / Network & control / Navigation / PC & peripheral / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Pitufino wifi gateway and NMEA tool kit

Products developed by active cruisers grab my attention. In my experience, products created onboard solve needs and fix issues directly experienced by the creator. Pitufino is no exception. There is no shortage of NMEA 2000 to WiFi gateways in the marketplace. There are also quite a few NMEA 0183 gateways. But few of them are nearly as ambitious, flexible, or offer as many features as the Pitufino gateway.

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Mobile Apps / Press Releases

GEC introduces new Aqua Map update: We have a new look!

GEC srl is pleased to announce the launch of one of the most significant updates for its popular product, Aqua Map. This update marks a very important step forward, with a series of new features and improvements designed to make the user experience even more intuitive and rewarding. Among the many updates, two key elements stand out:

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Mobile Apps / Monitoring & Tracking

MIBS 2024: Skyhawk Oversea, a fresh look at monitoring

Boat monitoring isn’t a new concept or product category. Heck, it’s been 17 years since Ben E. wrote up the first monitors on Panbo. So, you may be wondering what could be so new that my fellow judges and I awarded SkyHawk Oversea at MIBS this year. The short answer is a lot. The longer answer is Skyhawk took a fresh look at most of what we know about boat monitoring and came up with something very different. Will it work? Honestly, I don’t know. But I sure do love the paradigm-pushing approach they took.