MX Marine Introduces New GPS Products

MX Marine has unveiled a new family of marine GPS/DGPS products, which are designed to provide a flexible and expandable platform for the next generation of integrated navigation and marine information systems. The new MX500, MX510 and MX520 GPS control/display systems are being introduced by MX Marine to work with the MX521 smart antenna or MX525 black box receiver, providing a highly accurate integrated navigation solution that meets the latest international standards for GPS/DGPS, including Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM). The new-generation MX500, MX510 and MX520 are the first marine GPS systems to incorporate a common platform with the powerful Intel X-Scale 200 MHz processor with 16 MB Flash and 64 MB SDRAM memory, upgradeable to 400 MHz and 128 MB RAM. They also offer an unprecedented array of input/output interfaces, including a front-panel USB port, a VGA output to any standard color display, a local-area network (LAN) connection and four configurable serial data ports for interfacing with other onboard navigation and information systems. Multiple MX500, MX510 and MX520 control/display units can be networked via a hub powered through MX Marine’s MX590 router for real-time sharing of navigation data at different locations around the ship. The MX500 has a compact 192 x 96 mm control and display panel with a 3.8-inch (320 x 240) high-resolution QVGA black-and-white graphical LCD, and is designed to fit into a standard-size electronics panel or console. The MX510 has a 5.7-inch (320 x 240) high-resolution QVGA black-and-white graphical LCD. The MX520 has a large sunlight-readable 6.4-inch (640 x 480) color TFT VGA display. All three products will be able to support built-in electronic charts. They will be the first to download digital charts directly into RAM through the USB port, eliminating the need for replaceable chart cartridges. The VGA display output provides a crisp high-resolution picture that is far superior to other chart plotters on the market today. The MX500, MX510 and MX520 can also be used as a Minimum Keyboard Display (MKD) for a wide range of automatic identification system (AIS) transponders. The system architecture allows for easy software upgrade and migration to WinCE or other customized operating systems that can take advantage of the Intel X-Scale technology. Software updates can be made through the USB, LAN or regular serial port. David Ritblatt, president of MX Marine, said, “These three new GPS products represent the leading edge of the new wave in marine navigation technology. The MX500, MX510 and MX520 will take the concept of integrated navigation systems to the next level, serving as the platform for a fully integrated marine information center.” “We have retained the familiar man-machine interface (MMI) software features that were pioneered by Leica in the popular MX420 family of GPS products, minimizing the need for retraining watchstanders,” said Ritblatt.