Month: September 2018
Although there are many types of boating electronics, there are really only three boat electronics basics that are necessary to enhance safety and make boating more enjoyable. You should begin with a VHF marine radio, a GPS system, and a fish finder.
Marine VHF Radios
Although boats that are less than 65 feet in length don’t have to include VHF radios, everyone should actuallly have this equipment. Those who plan to go more than a couple of miles off shore should seriously consider adding an HF or single side band mobile satellite phone or radiotelephone, along with an EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon), and a back-up VHF radio or cell phone too. The satellite phones are becoming more reasonably priced, and give easier conversations than the popular HF radio phone, but the High Frequency phone will also pick up weather warnings. You can have these boating electronics without having an FCC ship station license, unless you plan on making international voyages. On your VHF radio, you have to maintain a watch on channel 16 or VHF channel 9, the boater calling channel. Urgent data, like storm warnings, are broadcast on channel 9 only in some waters.
GPS Systems
If you have a Global Positioning Satellite receiver for your car or for hiking, then you know just how useful they can be. You can get GPS systems that are portable or mounted on your boat. Some people prefer to have one handheld GPS for use on the road and on the water. those boating electronics devices weigh less than half a pound and are tiny and easy to install. All you do is install batteries, turn it on, and go outside. The device will automatically determine your location, with accuracy of about three meters. A backlit LCD display shows your position on a map, and most units come with built-in maps covering major roads, rail lines, rivers, and lakes in the US and Canada. Many of those automatically include recording of waypoints so you can find your way back fairly easily, and are compatible with computers, so you can include extra maps if necessary.
Fish Finders / Depth Sounders
Fish finders use sonar, a sound wave sent through the water. The diameter of the sound wave increases as it travels through water, and when it encounters a solid object within the cone formed by the sound wave, it bounces back to the transducer and records the shape of the object and the depth. Fish finders can be both mounted or handheld. The mounted ones are generally more expensive and are available in dual frequency models, which allow more accurate fish to depth readings.
Combination Units
You can buy units that combine GPS and fish finders. These have the advantage of generally saving money over buying separate units, and they are usually console mounted equipment.
Buying your boat is very exciting, and you definitely want to use it at the first opportunity, but you must make sure it is outfitted with the necessary safety equipment, and you’ll surely want boat electronics that will make using your boat more enjoyable. To start out, a VHF marine radio is highly recommended for safety purposes. Beyond that, a GPS system for easy navigation, and a fish finder complete the basics that will help you out on the water enjoying your vessel as soon as possible
A number of conferences dealing with electronic technology occur on a regular basis. Two of these are the Digital Book World Conference and the Consumer Electronics Show.
The Digital Book World Conference, a conference on publishing and digital change, is for all book-publishing professionals. This includes senior management, editors, agents, marketers, digital strategists, and others. It is unique in that it helps publishers address business challenges created by digital change.
The first annual Digital Book World Conference took place in New York City January 26-27, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers. Planners of the conference conceived the idea in June, put together the Conference Council in July, and drafted the initial program in August. They geared panels and talks towards the changing digital book business. It had three main themes: Evolving the Business Model, EBooks: Opportunity or Threat, and Marketing in the Digital Age. Topics discussed included management of digital rights, pricing of eBooks, and timing of eBook releases. The goal was to provide an outstanding program with expert speakers for attendees to takeaway practical ideas, and to include sponsors and exhibitors capable of offering appropriate tools for implementing the strategies individuals learned about at the conference.
Attendees were professionals from five continents representing more than 240 publishing companies including Amazon.com Digital, Barnes&Noble.com, Crown Publishing Group, Google, HarperCollins, Macmillan, National Geographic Society, Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, Random House, as well as many others. Individuals from all areas of book acquisition, production, and distribution were present at the conference. Among them were CEOS, Senior Agents, Directors of Marketing & Sales, Editorial Directors, Directors of Strategic Partnerships, and Directors of Digital Assets.
The second annual conference, Digital Book World 2011, coming up January 24-26, will again be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York City. The theme this year is Managing Risks; Seizing Opportunities. On Monday, January 24, conference attendees can participate in three-hour workshops in the areas of eBook Design and Production, Content Strategy and Transmedia Development, and Direct-to-Consumer Marketing and Sales.
Planning for this years conference is well ahead of last years schedule. As they plan for the upcoming conference organizers need to predict what the relevant digital change questions will be and what will be relevant to the target audience of book-publishing professionals in January 2011.
The Conference Council, a group of about 30 made up of CEOs, representatives from large and small publishing houses, retailers, digital strategists, retailers, and independent leaders, will plan the programs and choose speakers who will address the relevant issues and problems that trade publishers are facing as they move into digital publishing. Not only is the technology of e-readers progressing rapidly, but e-Ink technology is improving alongside it opening new horizons for digital reading. According to the review “What’s Next in e-Ink Technology”, the new generation color E Ink products are certainly crisper and offer better resolution and color reproduction that anything else seen to date and we expect to see electronic ink begin to compete with LCD displays (Digital Book Readers).
Another conference, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) puts on this technology-related trade show, which is not open to the public. Attendees must have a professional affiliation with consumer electronics. The CEA reinvests all profits from the show. They go towards such things as industry promotion and services, technical training and education, development of engineering standards, and legislative advocacy.
Originally, in 1967, CES was held in New York. Then in 1978, it started being held twice a year. In 1998 the show once again changed and went back to the once a year format. The CES gained popularity in 2004 after Comdex was cancelled.
The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, held January 7-10, had an attendance of more than 120,000. The most impressive e-book readers at the show were Skiff Reader and Plastic Logic Que proReader touchscreen devices with integrated 3G. Also at that show, several companies announced 3D-compatible HDTVs and four companies announced standalone 3D Blu-ray players. Intel demonstrated a new Wireless Display technology (WiDi), and Motorola introduced the new Backflip Smartphone.
The next CES, January 6-9, 2011, will have more than 300 conference sessions covering every aspect of the consumer electronics industry. The full conference lineup will be available October 1, 2010.