Helm Upgrades With FLIR And Garmin

FLIR and Garmin, two of the biggest names in marine electronics, have separately unveiled new products intended to help skippers enhance situational awareness on the boat.

The FLIR JCU-4 remote control is intended to allow precision control of the company’s marine thermal and visible cameras. The remote control is compatible with FLIR’s M232, M300, M400/M400XR and M500 series, and with legacy models. Its features include pan, tilt and zoom, and control of all additional camera functions with an ergonomic keypad and joystick control.

With a low-profile, three-axis design, the joystick is mounted with a 2.9-inch color LCD and keypad. A dimmable color LCD and backlit keypad help to preserve the skipper’s night vision. The JCU-4 can be configured between FLIR marine cameras and marine monitors or chartplotters, and three custom keys can be programmed for quick access to user-defined camera functions.

“Designed by mariners, for mariners, the JCU-4 is a meaningful upgrade for those who actively navigate using thermal technology and require dependable and intuitive control of their FLIR camera,” the company stated in a press release.

Also aiming to help boaters feel more confident out on the water, Garmin announced a software update for some GPSMap and EchoMap chartplotters that adds AIS warning messaging to help reduce the risk of collisions.

AIS, when connected to a Garmin chartplotter, can provide real-time information about the position, speed and heading of other AIS-equipped vessels. The AIS targets can be displayed on top of a live chart or a radar display. With the software update, Garmin’s chartplotters will also display AIS message types 12 and 14—addressed and broadcast warning messages—in addition to collision-avoidance alerts.

Garmin’s AIS warnings for object detection are available for these chartplotters: GPSMap 9000, 9500, 8600, 8600xsv, 8700, 7×3/9×3/12×3/16×3 and 10×2/12×2 series, along with the EchoMap Ultra 2 and UHD2 touchscreen series. A Garmin AIS-capable device is also required. 

What does the FLIR JCU-4 cost? Price is $1,699. To learn more, click over to flir.com

Where to learn more about Garmin’s software update: visit garmin.com

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