November 2011, Auckland, New Zealand,Vesper Marine, a leading manufacturer of innovative marine safety products, announced today plans to unveil its 2012 product line at the 2011 Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS). From November 15-17, Vesper Marine will showcase its award-winning family of safety-focused marine electronics, as well as offer international dealers and press a sneak peak at the company’s upcoming WatchMate Vision™ Class B transponder and black box AIS XB-8000 WiFi Transponder. Technology demonstrations will be given throughout the show at the Vesper Marine booth #02.230.
“We are expanding our existing product line-up with the addition of touch-screen and WiFi AIS solutions while maintaining the same core functionality and unique filtering capabilities of our highly successful and award-winning WatchMate series,” said Mike Ogle, general manager of sales and marketing for Vesper Marine. “We will also continue to offer the full WatchMate family of intuitive AIS devices to suit the differing needs and vessel types of boaters. All WatchMate users will enjoy the reduction of on-screen clutter and piece of mind from knowing only objects and vessels relevant to their safe passage are being displayed.”
The world’s first dedicated Class B AIS with touch-screen control, WatchMate Vision delivers accurate safety information for both leisure and commercial vessels, and helps overcome the challenges of operating at sea. Its adaptive WatchMate Wheel offers intuitive touch control and recognizes the specific menu required for a given crossing situation and boating environment, ensuring mariners have quick and easy access to the most appropriate details. The WatchMate Wheel is controlled from outside of the visible screen area, ensuring important information is not hidden by the user's finger. Featuring a full color, direct sunlight viewable display, WatchMate Vision provides a rich user experience with minimal power consumption. Incredibly user-friendly, the system can be used even when hands are wet or wearing gloves. The unique WatchMate Vision is also the first dedicated display-based transponder to integrate WiFi functionality for remote AIS information access using wireless devices. The system provides all the content and functionality of the proven WatchMate family, including four unique alarm profiles: Harbor, Anchor, Coastal and Offshore. Each can be customized for easy toggling between profiles and to continue receiving warnings regardless of whether a vessel is moored or at sea.
Enabling WiFi access to critical AIS safety information from any device with chartplotting software, the new black box AIS XB-8000 offers boaters a display-less Class B AIS transponder with complete wireless control. The XB-8000 sports a low-profile waterproof design with flexible connection options and can easily be installed almost anywhere on board a vessel, ensuring connectivity and operation from desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones, alike. Harnessing the power of Vesper Marine’s sophisticated AIS technology, the AIS XB-8000 incorporates a 50-channel GPS receiver and two-channel AIS receiver with high sensitivity for excellent range and timely, accurate information.
Facilitating AIS interaction with vessel-wide devices, WatchMate Vision and the XB-8000 can operate as a WiFi Access Point to send data to be displayed on wireless devices, or as a wireless client for seamless integration into an existing network with other marine electronic systems. The adaptive devices support NMEA 2000, NMEA-0183 and USB connectivity, and can be placed in silent mode for users interested in receive-only AIS data.
The new WatchMate Vision and AIS XB-8000, are the latest additions to the Vesper Marine family of AIS Solutions, and will be available for purchase in 2012. Other products to be showcased at METS 2011 include: the WatchMate 850 with built in GPS ensuring users are seen at all times while providing the ability to track and avoid other vessels; the WatchMate 750, an integrated display and AIS receiver with dual parallel channels that provides maximum range and accuracy of data for making safety decisions; and the WatchMate 670, a AIS display that delivers powerful collision avoidance capabilities for users with an external AIS receiver or transponder.
Vesper Marine’s AIS collision avoidance products will be on display for demonstrations during METS in booth 02.230.
Comment