- Mar 10, 2004
- 5,113
I was at the NMEA convention yesterday touring all the displays. The equipment offered by everybody is incredible. But I was absolutely blown away by some new features that Raymarine has come out with on their new eS Series (these features work on some of their other series too). I always ask myself "What will they think of next?" sort of concluding that what possible new features could these manufacturers dream up. Well, my mind was blown yesterday.
Of course the eS Series will do all the basics very well. It can use several different kids of maps including Raster, C-Map, Navionics and Lighthouse. These units can network with any MFD Raymarine makes from 5" up to glass bridge systems. They have awesome radars, CHIRP, side imaging, etc etc etc. What makes them unique are a few things. First, is a thermal camera they make called the AX8. Here is a link to it:
http://www.flir.com/marine/content/?id=71005
This thermal camera (or several of them) can be coupled to a new Raymarine eS Series display to measure temperatures in critical places. It actually overlays the regular camera image and the thermal image onto one picture, and displays that on your Raymarine display. Here is where it gets cool - you can aim that camera at a place like an engine for example, then you can create measuring points on the screen and set parameters. If any of those points get beyond the acceptable temp it can throw off an alarm or alert on the screen. So let's say you want an engine room camera, but you would also like to monitor the temp of your stuff box, or a cooling hose. You can set that up on the Raymarine unit and do it. If you stuffing box gets too hot an alert goes off. I'll put a pic below to help explain it.
Another feature is their use of network cameras. Some other brands have launched some pretty cool cameras but hard wiring has been an issue. With raymarine you can use one of their IP cameras like this http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=10289, connect it to your Raymarine system, and instantly you have a fully marinized video recording system. How do you record? Just tap the little button on your Raymarine screen. Super easy. I'll post a picture below of this. So you can mount one of these on the back of your hardtop to record the action in the pit. Of course with your Raymarine App you can view these cameras on your smart device too.
Finally, the big one - when you integrate one of these Raymarine units with a compatible Raymarine/FLIR camera you can have full control of the camera on your smart device. You almost have to see this one in person to understand it, but I'll try to explain. When you have your Raymarine App open on your phone for example, and you are viewing the FLIR camera image, you can tap the "Sync" button on your phone which puts your phone in sync with the camera. Wherever you aim your phone, your camera will aim in the same direction. It is almost like the phone turns into a FLIR system. So if you are anchored, and resting in your berth and hear something outside like maybe a boat coming, you can turn on your phone, sync to the camera, and literally look all around your boat and the surrounding waters without even leaving your stateroom. I hope that explains it, it was incredible to see. I would post some pictures of that but they would not do it justice, you need to see it operate in person.
Their latest software update also allows for units to be updated moving forward via wifi. So if you make your cell phone a hotspot, you can connect your raymarine unit to it and update everything on the network. Such a refined system. If you guys have any questions about this stuff please let me know!
Of course the eS Series will do all the basics very well. It can use several different kids of maps including Raster, C-Map, Navionics and Lighthouse. These units can network with any MFD Raymarine makes from 5" up to glass bridge systems. They have awesome radars, CHIRP, side imaging, etc etc etc. What makes them unique are a few things. First, is a thermal camera they make called the AX8. Here is a link to it:
http://www.flir.com/marine/content/?id=71005
This thermal camera (or several of them) can be coupled to a new Raymarine eS Series display to measure temperatures in critical places. It actually overlays the regular camera image and the thermal image onto one picture, and displays that on your Raymarine display. Here is where it gets cool - you can aim that camera at a place like an engine for example, then you can create measuring points on the screen and set parameters. If any of those points get beyond the acceptable temp it can throw off an alarm or alert on the screen. So let's say you want an engine room camera, but you would also like to monitor the temp of your stuff box, or a cooling hose. You can set that up on the Raymarine unit and do it. If you stuffing box gets too hot an alert goes off. I'll put a pic below to help explain it.
Another feature is their use of network cameras. Some other brands have launched some pretty cool cameras but hard wiring has been an issue. With raymarine you can use one of their IP cameras like this http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=10289, connect it to your Raymarine system, and instantly you have a fully marinized video recording system. How do you record? Just tap the little button on your Raymarine screen. Super easy. I'll post a picture below of this. So you can mount one of these on the back of your hardtop to record the action in the pit. Of course with your Raymarine App you can view these cameras on your smart device too.
Finally, the big one - when you integrate one of these Raymarine units with a compatible Raymarine/FLIR camera you can have full control of the camera on your smart device. You almost have to see this one in person to understand it, but I'll try to explain. When you have your Raymarine App open on your phone for example, and you are viewing the FLIR camera image, you can tap the "Sync" button on your phone which puts your phone in sync with the camera. Wherever you aim your phone, your camera will aim in the same direction. It is almost like the phone turns into a FLIR system. So if you are anchored, and resting in your berth and hear something outside like maybe a boat coming, you can turn on your phone, sync to the camera, and literally look all around your boat and the surrounding waters without even leaving your stateroom. I hope that explains it, it was incredible to see. I would post some pictures of that but they would not do it justice, you need to see it operate in person.
Their latest software update also allows for units to be updated moving forward via wifi. So if you make your cell phone a hotspot, you can connect your raymarine unit to it and update everything on the network. Such a refined system. If you guys have any questions about this stuff please let me know!
