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For the term "vesper watchmate".
3

AIS

Vesper WatchMate, hand’s on #1

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It’s good to get some solid hand’s on time with the Vesper WatchMate AIS plotter, which I admired when it first appeared, then as it got a built-in receiver option, and finally as seen live in Miami.  And, yes, that is the 750 foot deep water drill ship Stena Forth now anchored in Penobscot Bay for an amazing warranty repair, mentioned in comments this week and to be explored further.  But for a really vivid example of why Vesper’s sophisticated AIS alarming is valuable, consider the Bermuda Race fleet crossing the shipping lanes last night…

2

Press Releases / AIS

Vesper Marine Launches WatchMate Vision2

Introducing the Evolution of the World’s Only Touchscreen Class B AIS Transponder Auckland, New Zealand – Vesper Marine, a leading manufacturer of innovative marine safety products, announced today the evolution of the world’s first...

26

Safety & SAR / AIS

Vesper Marine WatchMate, still the leader in AIS collision avoidance?

Vesper_on_Gizmo_New_York_Harbor_cPanbo.JPG

New York Harbor demands your attention even when you have lots of great electronics including what’s arguably the best recreational-level AIS target tracking system. That’s my excuse for not photographing the ideal example of the Vesper Marine AIS WatchMate 850 at work in heavy traffic. A more compelling shot might be more zoomed in and would have at least one solid target icon indicating a vessel(s) that had reached the Vesper’s highly configurable alarm level. But do note how the WatchMate is tracking 114 targets at this point in time though it’s also filtering 102 of those off the screen so that yours truly can better see the ones that matter. That in itself is worthy of discussion… 

19

AIS

Vesper AIS WatchMate, smart details

Vesper_AIS_WatchMate

Milltech Marine is carrying a new AIS display of particular interest to power-sensitive offshore sailors. The Vesper Marine AIS WatchMate has a 5–inch “daylight readable” screen but purportedly only draws 1.2 watts average, 2.5 max. The $499 unit is not a receiver and does not do graphic target plotting, but…

66

Network & control / Communications / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K / Monitoring & Tracking

Vesper unveils Cortex – combination AIS, VHF radio and boat monitor

Vesper has cemented a reputation for high performance, well-thought-out, feature-rich products. So, when they tease that “The future is coming” as they have in their recent promotional material it’s worth paying attention. It turns out Vesper’s take on the future is about continuing their track record of innovative features while expanding their capabilities to VHF radios and boat monitoring.

5

Editors' Blog / Safety & SAR / AIS

Vesper SmartAIS MOB simulation, a little known & nifty test tool

I often use and deeply appreciate the bundle of clever features that Vesper Marine calls SmartAIS, but darned if I didn’t miss one. While the WatchMate app screen above shows some aspects of the Vesper collision avoidance intelligence that makes this my favorite real-world AIS plotting tool (among many choices), it is actually a built-in simulation with significant benefits…

13

Wireless & Apps / Safety & SAR / AIS

New in safety: Exposure OLAS Float-On, Vesper smartAIS deckWatch, and Digital Yacht Nomad portable AIS

Exposure_OLAS_Float-On_aPanbo.jpgThe Exposure OLAS Float-On is one hell of a flashlight (or “torch” in Brit speak). That’s because it’s also an automatic water-activated MOB strobe light and a Bluetooth MOB alerting device that can network with smartphone apps and more familiarly styled MOB tags. Details follow, along with several other interesting new safety products that also got the attention of the DAME Award judges at METS…

23

Fishing & Sonar / Wireless & Apps / Communications / AIS

Iris NightPilot, Humminbird SmartStrike, Vesper AIS update, and Icom 7300 HF Radio

Iris NightPilot thermal camera at Fort Lauderdale Boat Show 2015Stormtroopers will be pleased with a new value-priced gyro stabilized thermal camera from Iris Corporation. The Iris255 NightPilot looks like an accessory from Star Wars and includes some pretty hi-tech wizardry considering its $4,895 suggested retail price. Specs include 320 x 240 resolution, 8x digital zoom, and built-in heater with automatic temperature control for cold conditions. And since Panbo wondered if the Iris NightRunner PTZ cam “was too good to be true,” the company seems to have established itself as a serious player in lower priced thermal cameras…

46

Wireless & Apps / AIS / NMEA 2000, 0183 & Signal K

Vesper XB-8000 test, much more than a Class B AIS transponder

XB-8000-3-in-one-800.jpgI’ve had a Vesper XB-8000 installed in the lab for the last month, and am confident that it will do well in a long test on board Gizmo beginning in May. I will miss some features of the Vesper Vision I tested last season, but having the blue box installed behind the scenes will help me test the glass bridge concept (one MFD brand, many screens), and at $799 I think the XB-8000 is a multifunction value that could work on a wide variety of vessels. The recent testing also revealed some new features that apply to both the XB and the Vision as Vesper continues to expand on the concepts expressed in the 3-in-1 diagram above…