Product Roundup

Satellite comms in your hand

ACR’s new Bivy Stick has one-touch tracking and SOS

By Brian Hagenbuch

CR Electronics is billing the A new ACR Bivy Stick as the “world’s smallest and most simple satellite communication device,” and it certainly is sleek and simple. At just 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and 4.5 by 1.8 inches, the device fits easily in the palm of your hand, and has just three small buttons, two tiny lights, and a USB port.

The Bivy Stick pairs with a cell phone but can then be used when there is no cell phone service. One of the buttons — the check-in button — will send a prewritten, queued up message to set recipients, along with your GPS coordinates. A signal light will blink indicating the message has been sent.

There is also an SOS button on the device, which is activated by lifting a flap and holding a button down for five seconds. This will send an emergency message along with your location, updated at various intervals, from anywhere in the world to Global Rescue, an industry leader, providing 24/7/365 medical, security, and evacuation.

Simple instructions for SOS and check-in messaging are on the back of the device, as is an easy-to-read key on the signal and status lights on the side of the Bivy Stick.

When used in conjunction with a smartphone and the ACR Bivy app, the device also has a weather screen, which will update via satellite when the phone is out of cell or WiFi service. Satellite weather forecasts can take a few minutes to process, depending on the satellite signal, and can be purchased in three-day, three-hour increments; or seven-day, two-hour increments.

A tracking mode on the device also lets a third party get the Bivy website and view your location, which is updated every 10 minutes. The device itself has an MSRP of $349.95, and flexible plans mean fishermen can pay for the months during the season. An unlimited plan costs $49.99 a month with no annual fee. Usage plans are $40 for 100 credits and $18 for 20 credits, with one credit per SMS message, tracking interval, location report, or basic weather report.

More fishing, less plastic

Grundéns introduces compostable packaging

By Brian Hagenbuch

any of us fish in the same waM ters as the Great Pacific garbage patch, a vortex of trash — mostly plastics — that, depending on the source, is either as big as Texas or twice as big as Texas. We’re not innocent, of course; our fishing gear sometimes gets lost in the ocean, and our worn out deckwear will labor somewhere on earth for a very long time after it starts to leak on our sweats.

According to foul-weather gear leader Grundéns, just 1 percent of the some 500 billion plastic bags that are used around the world annually are recycled, and the Washington State-based company is doing its part to cut down on plastic waste by rolling out fully compostable packaging.

“With plastics in the ocean playing a major role in the health of many fisheries around the world, we’re taking the lead in bringing an alternative to poly bags to the market,” said Grundéns CEO David Mellon.

Instead of the plastic sleeves Grundéns used to sell their gear in, all new products shipped this year will be in a 100 percent biodegradable packaging made from the glucose in corn starch. When cut into strips, the packaging decomposes in under a year and is suitable for either home or municipal composting systems.

“This new compostable packaging will allow customers to drop it into their own home or municipal compost stream, confident they aren’t adding plastic waste into the environment,” Mellon added.

Grundéns is producing the packaging in six sizes, which means they can make the biodegradable packaging fit the product. Extra packaging means needless air is shipped along with products, and the packaging project is open source, with supplier information printed on the outside of the package. Grundéns hopes to serve as example and bring other companies along on its mission to reduce plastic packaging.

Get the power of satellite technology in your palm.

ACR BIVY STICK www.bivystick.com

Cut into strips, the new packaging is soil in a year.

GRUNDÉNS

www.grundens.com

Historic pocket knife brand OLD TIMER has launched two new electric fi llet knives — the LITHIUM ION and the 110V ELECTRIC FILLET. Drawing on more than six decades of knife making, Old Timer has turned out two quality, durable electric blades that won’t break the bank. After more than a year in the making, these knives have suffi cient cutting power and battery life to stand up to several fi eld fi llets. Each has an ergonomic handle and a nice curvature to the cutting blade for all-day fi lleting. FURUNO has two new kits for importing external video to the NavNet TZtouch3 line of Multi-Function Displays. The VICSH8L imports from the CSH8LMK2 Omni Sonar as well as other Furuno sonars and any VGA video output source. A second kit — the VI-HDMI — easily imports video from household sources like PCs and DVDs, as well as boat electronics that have HDMI output, such as many sonars and fi sh fi nders. The kits simply hook up to the video source and are then connected to NavNet’s converter box. Because no one likes to linger around a macerator pump, RARITAN ENGINEERING has made servicing one quick and easy with the 53101

MACERATOR PUMP WITH WASTE

VALVE. This little pump keeps waste at bay by disconnecting from its own gate valve housing, which means spill and smell are kept to a minimum. The sturdy pump is also made to minimize service once its installed, with an epoxy-cased motor, stainless fasteners, heavy-duty chopper blades, and quality impellers made by Raritan.

OLD TIMER

www.oldtimerknives.com

FURUNO

www.furuno.com

RARITAN ENGINEERING

www.raritaneng.com

Sounder beam innovator WASSP has rolled out the S3, which improves hardware and software from the previous S-Series and provides high-powered, cost-effective multibeam mapping. The latest version of this dedicated hydrographic survey MBES has a new Real-time Processing Module for more accurate bathymetric mapping. The WASSP multibeam sounder can survey up to 10 times faster than a single-beam sounder, cutting a 120-degree swath. Easy to mount on pole or hull, the S3 also improves on waterproof ratings.

WASSP

www.wassp.com As electric engines shoulder their way into the commercial market, the UK’s FISCHER PANDA has a new electric pod solution to drive smaller commercial vessels. Quiet and emission-free, this pod motor comes in two sizes, a 1.7-kW pod with 2,300 rpms and a 3.8-kW version with 3,000 rpms. Both are clean, highly maneuverable options for low-speed operation. The pod is easy to use, with a push-button start and steeples power control that allows to switch between forward and reverse without shifting. GLOMEX’s latest version of its 4G antenna — the WEBBOAT 4G LITE EVO — checks in with three improvements the company hopes will give it an advantage over competitors. The fi rst is an automatic APN that connects the antenna to carrier with no setup from the user. The second is an advanced SMS function that manages internet consumption, and lastly automatic satellite passthrough allows the antenna to connect to V-SAT/ SAT signals, an onboard router, or a fi ve-band internet connection.

FISCHER PANDA

www.fi scherpanda.com

GLOMEX

www.glomex.us