Digital Yacht Brief

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Digital Yacht nominated for DAME Award

November 14, 2011

UK marine electronics manufacturer, Digital Yacht, has been nominated for the prominent DAME Award at METS 2011 in Amsterdam, just a month after winning the prestigious NMEA 2011 Technology Award for BOATraNET, which is the world’s first wireless navigation server for yachts.

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Over 130 products were entered for the Design Awards and it’s been narrowed down to just 43, one of which is iAIS, which has been entered into the electronics category. The team of 10 judges then have to choose a winner from each category as well as one overall winner, which will be announced at the breakfast briefing on Tuesday 15 November at METS.

“We’re really delighted to have been short-listed for the DAME Awards. Just being nominated is extremely credible and highlights Digital Yacht as an innovative brand that is in touch with new technology and trends. The entire team is dedicated to producing products that are forward thinking and competitively priced,” said Digital Yacht CEO, Nick Heyes.

iAIS, wirelessly links a yacht’s navigation data to the Apple iPhone, iPad or iTouch. It also incorporates a highly sophisticated, dual channel Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver allowing compatible “apps” access to NMEA instrument, GPS and AIS data. iPad and iPhone users  simply turn on their device to wirelessly connect to the iAIS hot spot. No connection to the internet is needed and there are no cumbersome cables to connect. The AIS data (which brings information such as position, name, call sign, MMSI number, course and speed of other ships) then becomes available for any compatible application.   iAIS also multiplexes any other NMEA data that is available on board the yacht – for instance GPS, depth, speed, wind etc. All of this information is combined with the AIS data into the wireless feed.

Digital Yacht´s new marine PC Aqua Media II

November 14, 2011

Digital Yacht, a leading marine electronics company, has upgraded its popular range marine PCs. The new AquaMedia II is more than just a computer. It allows its users to do all the things they love doing at home while on their yacht.

Digital Yacht´s Aqua Media II

Digital Yacht´s Aqua Media II

Entertainment is at the heart of the Aqua Media II, which is why it features a built in multi standard TV tuner, Blu-ray DVD player and sizeable rugged hard drive for storage of all your photos, media, music and video recordings. With the Aqua Media II the users can watch their home videos on their very own big screen straight after recording and there’s no need to wait days to share their photos either. The Windows 7 operating system means that with a touch of a button the users can play music, watch and record TV as well as digitise photos and movies.

Aqua Media II is after all a PC, so it can also do all of the things a normal PC can and will run electronic charting software and other on board applications making it a vital piece of marine equipment.

It hasn’t had a facelift, but under the cover, it has been super charged.  Digital Yacht has opted for a new AMD E350 processor which supports the new USB3 data standard for faster transfer of external data and keeps power consumption down to a modest 40W whilst offering super-fast graphics, and it makes 3D charting programs run like a train. There’s 4GB of RAM and three video outputs for three displays including regular VGA, HDMI and DVI.

Like all Digital Yacht PCs, they are designed to run on 12/24v on board power and for sustained on board use.

The Aquamedia II PC will be on display at stand 01.242 at METS, November 15-17.

Digital Yacht´s new pint sized Class B AIS Transponder

November 14, 2011

Digital Yacht has launched a new class B AIS Transponder called the AIT2000.  Despite being 50% smaller than Digital Yacht’s previous AIT1000 model, it is able to cram in more functionality and is one of the world’s smallest class B devices.

Digital Yacht´s new pint sized Class B AIS Transponder AIT2000

Digital Yacht´s new pint sized Class B AIS Transponder AIT2000

A class B transponder sends and receives AIS data to other vessels equipped with either class A or class B AIS systems allowing an on-board chart plotter or radar to display these targets on an electronic chart. The closest point of approach (CPA) and time to closest point of approach (TCPA) of a target can easily be displayed which helps with anti collision calculations. The identity (e.g. name, call sign and MMSI number) of other targets can be established by clicking on a target, so it’s a great aid to navigation and communication as well as enhancing safety. All commercial ships over 300 tonnes have to carry a class A AIS transponder and class B transponders, like the AIT2000, have been designed for fitting on non-mandatory vessels such as yachts and fishing boats.

Interfacing AIS data to a chart plotter is very important and the new AIT2000 features dual NMEA 0183 input and output capability (with data multiplexing) to allow for just about every possible installation. Digital Yacht has also added their new proprietary N2NETTM interface which is a certified NMEA 2000 system allowing connection to NMEA 2000 networks. For PC users, there’s also a USB connection. It will interface with most leading brands of chart plotter including Standard Horizon, Raymarine, Garmin, Simrad, Lowrance and Furuno to mention a few.

The AIT2000 allows connection to either 12V or 24V systems, consumes around 5W, ideal for use on sailing yachts, and the unit ships with PC programming software as well as SmarterTrack Lite, which is a powerful viewing program for PCs that allows the display of AIS targets and information.

Digital Yacht also promise a few optional accessories for the future. With the improved interfacing capabilities of the AIT2000, they will be producing an optional external alarm which activates when an AIS SART or Man Overboard SART message is received.  Companies like Kannad and McMurdo are now producing small, life jacket operated AIS SARTs, which will automatically generate an AIS target when a crew member falls overboard and the life jacket inflates. The new AIT2000 will de-code these signals and provide an audio and visual alarm with this additional accessory. There’s also an optional WiFi interface if you want to use an iPad or iPhone to display AIS data.

Digital Yacht´s new pint sized Class B AIS Transponder will be on display on the stand 01.242 at METS, November 15-17.

Digital Yacht wins prominent US Technology Award

October 04, 2011

UK Marine electronics company, Digital Yacht, has been given the honour to receive the highly respected prize after 2011 Technology Award from the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) held in a beautiful charter destination Florida, for its incredible navigation server, BOATraNET, which allows to go through onboard navigation data wirelessly, using any common browser based device.

BOATraNET by Digital Yacht

UK manufacturer, Digital Yacht, received the prize at this weekend’s 2011 NMEA International Marine Electronics Conference & Expo at Fort Myers in Florida. Since its launch at London Boat Show in January, BOATraNET has generated a great deal of interest among journalists and boaters alike.  Not only can it be used for the practical and safety side of boating, but it is also a great entertainment system too.

BOATraNET connects to existing marine electronic systems and networks and makes the data available to any mobile WiFi enabled device such as an iPhone, iPad, Android tablet or phone as well as MACs and PCs.  In fact, any product with a HTML 5 compatible internet browser can connect and view GPS, instrument and navigational data, see the vessel’s position and next waypoint on the embedded Navionics electronic charts, as well as access the central multi-media file database, which is ideal for storing manuals for the equipment on board.  BOATraNET boasts some fun features too, allowing users to upload and listen to music, view photographs and read eBooks.  No specialist software, apps or downloads are required as all data is displayed in the browser and delivered by the inexpensive BOATraNET server.  And what is more no internet connection is needed as BOATraNET creates its own WiFi hotspot, so it will work wherever you are sailing in the world.

“For a UK company to receive this award which takes innovation, technology and value into account is a huge accolade and a massive credit to the team who have worked hard for nearly two years to bring this product to market,” commented Nick Heyes, CEO of Digital Yacht.

“BOATraNET will help the whole marine electronics sector grow as it’s symbiotic with all leading systems and links marine electronic devices to the latest range of consumer products,” added Nick who received the trophy at the weekend.

Digital Yacht employs over 35 staff in its UK, USA, New Zealand and Shanghai offices and has dealers established worldwide. The development of BOATraNET has been led by Chief Technology Officer, Paul Sumpner, and Chief Architect, Tan Chen, and his team of 10 software developers and programmers.

The panel of judges were particularly impressed with BOATraNET’s capabilities for the future, especially the user development area for custom features and heralded its capabilities for boat builders wanting to e-enable their boats.

Digital Yacht reveals BOATraNET next generation navigation

January 07, 2011

BOATraNET is a revolutionary new product from Digital Yacht that allows onboard navigation data to be viewed wirelessly through any browser based device – from iPad to iPhone, Android to Windows 7 mobile or PC to Apple MAC. It is essentially an intelligent, onboard wireless server that takes data through the industry standard NMEA format and makes it available to any connected device using WiFi. This innovative concept of “e-nabling” the boat’s existing navigational system, regardless of manufacturer (Raymarine, Garmin, Navico, Furuno, etc.), will create a completely new and exciting way of viewing and sharing navigation information on board the vessel.  

BOATraNET creates a local, wireless “hot spot” onboard your boat, so there is no connection to the internet required, but viewing the boat’s data is just as simple as viewing a web page on your portable device.  What’s more, because it is using a browser to display the data, operation is simple and there are no compatibility problems or special “apps” that need downloading to your device.  It also works with the up and coming Android range of products.

Up to two channels of NMEA information can be fed into the system so it can connect to instruments, AIS and GPS.  It also incorporates a Navionics based chart plotter, so will turn your mobile device into a real time chart plotter based around the popular Navionics format cartography.  A simple card reader arrangement is available which allows existing users of Navionics cartography (for instance on the Raymarine and Lowrance products) to use their existing electronic charts with the BOATraNET product.

BOATraNET is not limited to just navigation.  Photos, documents and music can also be stored by simply inserting a USB memory stick with the users data.  This then becomes available to any connected device.  The possibilities are endless with the ability to display all of your onboard manuals, diagrams, logbooks, photos or music. 

BOATraNET uses a wireless connection to communicate with the mobile devices or can be connected to a wired network if preferred.  Digital Yacht has also made it compatible with their hi-power WL500 system, so that local users of BOATraNET can connect to marina “hot spots” to get internet access. What is more, BOATraNET automatically shares the internet connection allowing all of the wireless devices on the boat to access the internet.

The beauty of the platform is that it is very flexible and designed to integrate with existing systems.  Digital Yacht promises a host of additional data for 2011 including weather, chart updates and marine news.  Systems come pre-loaded with many popular handbooks and manuals for marine products and the list is growing day by day.   BOATraNET is priced at £500 + VAT and will be available in the first quarter of 2011.  It is on show at the London Boat Show at Stand number B14 in the North Hall