Alan Spicer Marine Telecom All Blogs

Ready for the New Year's Eve leap second?

A leap second will be added on December 31, 2008, at 11:59:59 p.m. Greenwich Time (6:59:59 p.m. ET).

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

(ASMT Note: )
Often the trends in homes and businesses translates to the yachting marine market that we work in. For example I've seen a bit of a trend towards wanting Network Storage Devices (hard drives) that can be left on - on a yachts' internal network - while other PC Computers and Laptops can be turned off. These hard drives allow also security with special sections for different users (e.g. Stewardess, Captain, Owner, Engineer) that are password protected, as well as a general Public section that everyone onboard can access. Wireless phones and PDA's have been popular - many with WiFi that can get onto the onboard network on a yacht. The usual gamut of Microsoft Windows Laptops and Apple Macintosh Laptops are always found on yachts as well - with File Sharing and Printer Sharing being important requirements for many vessels. A lot of Television / Audio Visual stuff these days have network capabilities and often connect with CAT 5/Ethernet and sometimes Fiber Optic cables. Navigation equipment does the same - Navigation software often allows networking - Nobeltec Radar Systems have been seen that use IP Networking, Ethernet, and connect with Network Switch/Hubs and Wireless Networks.

So a lot of things already are demanding as far as required network options yachts in the marine market (and knowledge on the part of those installing and maintaining them.) And this trend will no doubt continue with the newer audio and video technologies happening these days. New devices like Ipods and MP3 Players, High Definition Video, and Higher Bandwidth Internet - with all that comes along with that. So off to the actual article..........
(end ASMT Note)

Source: US Telecom Daily Lead (email bulletin)

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/USTELECOM/index.jsp

The ability to network home and mobile electronic devices such as digital cameras, digital picture frames and mobile phones will be the next big wave in consumer electronics, according to a new study from Parks Associates. The study, the full findings of which will be released in January, shows that half of U.S. homes with broadband capabilities would like a digital camera that can network with other devices and 40% want digital photo frames with networking options. InformationWeek (12/30)

http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/obvkgnmYyBxrAKCibGtxMIXm?format=standard

http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/peripherals/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212700266

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

(ASMT Note: ) Some of us will be saying "yaaay!!!" to such news - that some companies are starting to move call centers (customer support, technical support) back home (to the U.S.). I don't know how many people have become annoyed by being forwarded offshore to foreign support or tech support persons who are often clueless, often more concerned with you taking a survey and "rating them good" than with actually doing anything about your problem. I know that Tech Support is very often a thankless job (I've done it...) - but at least you expect them to have some level of clue, and to escalate a call to someone that does when they have exhausted their knowledge or capabilities. Often with foreign tech support they have trouble understanding what you are saying, have trouble understanding the situation or problem, and do not have the capability to escalate the call (if at all, not easily). I don't know about anybody else but I'd rather not be forced to waste my time in this manner. I am often supporting others (working for them, contracted to them) so I have to bill for time ... even for "stupid time" or time that is wasted.

I'm not saying that I don't like all foreign support - but mainly those where their English is not that good, and their knowledge of the products is not that good (consists of a flip chart? and if you don't fit into the flip chart then they don't understand you = wasted time.) I also will not name any particular country or countries that I do or don't like ... I choose to remain "generic" in my dislike for certain foreign customer support and technical support.

In this economy - I'd also like to see jobs come back here. There are people and companies here in the U.S. that can do the job - and do it well. They should get the work. Anyway off to the actual article.......
(end of ASMT Note)

Source: US Telecom Daily Lead (email bulletin)

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/USTELECOM/index.jsp

Some companies start to move call centers back home
Exporting tech work offshore could be on the wane in 2009, according to a report that points to Dell's move to give customers an option to reach a U.S.-based call center as an example of why outsourcing deals have dropped to their lowest level in years. One analyst cited a consumer "backlash" against companies who outsource jobs to foreign countries as a major factor in the trend.

The Wall Street Journal http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/obvkgnmYyBxrAHCibGtxlyXz?format=standard(subscription required) (12/30) ,

xchange http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/obvkgnmYyBxrAICibGtxthDC?format=standard (12/30)

Offshoring Could Be on the Outs in '09

Paula Bernier
12/30/2008
http://www.xchangemag.com/articles/offshoring-could-be-on-the-outs-in-09.html

An article in today's Wall Street Journal reports that outsourcing tech work abroad is taking a hit despite the savings it can promise companies during this time of economic tumult. Outsourcing deals of this type were at their lowest in six years during the third quarter of 2008, according to the piece, which attributes the change to companies' general uncertainty and caution due to the economy. While that may be true, xchange's conversation last week with CIMI Corp. analyst Tom Nolle indicates this cold reception could be a sign of what's to come.

According to Nolle, the U.S. is seeing a backlash against offshoring. He cites Dell's (DELL) recent move to give customers the option of getting U.S.-based call center agents as one indicator of this trend. The Your Tech Team service from Dell, which may be known as much for its call center troubles as it is for its computers, offers customers assurance of domestic call center reps and limited wait times for $12.95 per month, or $99 per year for those with new Dell computers. (Without the service, customers are likely to get connected to tech reps in India or the Philippines.)

"The backlash against the support that's provided by offshore call centers has been so radical and so horrible that a lot of companies are saying 'we cannot afford, at a time that consumer spending and business spending is constrained, to piss everybody off. So we're going to have to figure out a way to do this in house,'" said Nolle. "And I think they think the labor market is going to be more open, and they'll have more opportunities to do that here. So I think that in the call center area you're definitely going to see more activity to do more on-shore call centers in the U.S., be they run in house or by a service provider."

In addition to more out-of-work folks, who could potentially populate U.S.-based call centers, one could argue that the economy and the incoming, hope-inspiring presidential administration could help further spur "buy American" sentiment, at least to some extent. The new Obama administration and Congress also could potentially set up new rules that make offshoring less appealing.

Whatever the case, Nolle said: "I'm confident that you're going to find the whole offshoring trend is going to take a big hit in '09."

Sources:
ITBusinessEdge: Dell Offering U.S.-Based Support Services, for a Fee
The Wall Street Journal: Outsourcers Brace for a Hit
Washington Post: The Bangalore Backlash: Call Centers Return to U.S.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Several captains said they wanted a full-time Internet technician as part of the crew
by aspicer on Dec.30, 2008

In the recent Triton Article (or E-Survey of Captains) regarding Internet Access on Yachts - one wish came up a couple of times: Wishing for a full time Internet technician as part of the crew, and "Sometimes I need to be an IT to figure things out." Well such a thing is available to yacht owners and captains - Alan Spicer Marine Telecom provides Yearly Consulting and Support Agreements, and it's a lot less expensive than an I.T. Guy or a Full Time Internet Technician Crew Member. There are several levels of response available at very low "once yearly" subscription prices that are quite reasonable, even in these tough economic times.

The web page: http://www.marinetelecom.net/consulting.html describes these agreements, for example:

Silver Level - 1 year consulting and support agreement with a maximum 24 hour response time.

Gold Level - 1 year consulting and support agreement with a maximum 8 hour response time.

Platinum Level - 1 year consulting and support agreement with a maximum 4 hour response time.

Call to ask for the current pricing on these different levels.

And again, for further information - please see:

The web page: http://www.marinetelecom.net/consulting.html

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

1.) The January issue of The Triton is on the street and online. Find out what captains think about harbor pilots, how prevalent the Internet is on yachts, and what is up with S/Y Legacy. There's also an update of the old M/Y Sea & H, and dozens more pages of news and information. Find a copy at your nearest marina, shipyard or crew-friendly business. If you can't find one, visit www.the-triton.com and download a copy to read at your leisure offline. And let us know so we can make sure your marina has the paper next month..

2.) Make a New Year's resolution to make more professional contacts. There's no better place to do that than at The Triton's networking events, held from 6-8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. In January, we're meeting at Claire's Marine Outfitters in Ft. Lauderdale on Jan. 7. Everyone is invited. Find Claire's behind Lester's Diner at 2921 S.W. Second Ave. For more details, see the interview with Claire's owner Marc Burton on page C3 of the January issue, or click here.

3.) Lucy is hosting The Triton's monthly captains' luncheon next Thursday, Jan. 8, in Ft. Lauderdale. If you make your living as a megayacht captain, e-mail Lucy for an invite (lucy@the-triton.com). Space is limited, so if you've been meaning to come, e-mail her today.

[Alan Spicer Marine Telecom commment...]
On particular article in The Triton was of interest - it was an E-Survey: Yachts rely on Web dockside and at sea. Not sure that much of it is big news for Alan Spicer Marine Telecom since providing Internet systems is a big part of what we do - but it was an interesting read. Perhaps in 2009 we can be a big part of uncomplicating some of this stuff related to Internet on yachts - and provide support for more boats that need ongoing help with our Consulting and Support Agreements by the year. Anyway here goes…
[end Alan Spicer Marine Telecom commment...]
http://megayachtnews.com/News/The-Triton-e-survey/3023.html

[Begin Triton article]
It really shouldn't surprise many readers of The Triton that a strong majority of yachts operating today have some sort of Internet connection onboard; 91 percent of the 144 captains who took this month's survey.

Not much farther behind was the all-desirable wireless connection, which 79 percent of vessels in our survey offer their owner, crew and guests. (Was it really only a decade ago when it was unusual to have such service?)

Perhaps the surprising part is in that short amount of time, not only has Internet access become an important tool in a captain's effective performance, but a full third of respondents consider 24/7 access critical to their jobs. Seventy-five percent considered it at least very important; and 92 percent proclaimed the Internet at least somewhat important in their ability to function effectively as a captain.

"Just like GPS, captains are becoming more dependent on e-communications," one captain said. "It's great when available and likely to become more ubiquitous and affordable. But, just as with navigation, the skills for traditional methods of communication and acquiring weather should not be lost."

"One truism on any boat: It's always better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it," another captain noted.

So what kind of systems do yachts carry, what are captains' minimum onboard requirements in 2009, and what equipment - if time and money were no object - would captains most like to have onboard?

Current systems strongly leaned toward land, with the top two systems of our respondents either cellular networks or marina wi-fi kits, giving a majority of vessels Internet access at the dock or as they traveled within sight of land.

The teenager in the mix - the VSAT - finished a strong third on about 23 percent of vessels, followed by the granddaddy of them all, the Inmarsat.

Respondents' remaining systems were mostly the newest systems available, including the 1-year-old mini-VSAT, the even newer B-GAN, and the newest kid on the block, long-range wi-fi WiMax (on just one vessel).

More than a few captains used the open comment area to let us know that their vessels have more than one system aboard, which we didn't ask for specifically. Considering those responses, 28 percent of megayachts today have more than one type of system, either providing stronger and faster service in certain areas or serving as redundancy to ensure backup where access is critical.

"We have multiple systems on board," one captain wrote. "It is critical for the owners. It is their requirement."

Speaking of critical, we asked how important 24/7 access to the Internet was for captains in performing their jobs efficiently. A full third said it was critical and 42 percent more said it was very important. Only 0.7 percent of respondents (1 of 144 captains) said it was not important at all, and 7.7 percent (11 of the 144) said it was not that important.

"I carry my own personal laptop, and wireless is shaky when I can find it," noted a captain. "When I purchase it, it helps to stay connected to friends and family and is great to eye weather. I'd rather have it than be without."

"For a busy charter boat it is invaluable," another captain said. "Weather reports are critical, e-NOAs, business, etc."

"For ISM- and ISPS-regulated yachts, a reasonable speed is a must for sending reports and info to the DPA [designated person ashore]," said a third.

We were surprised to find that of the 47 captains who noted that 24/7 access was critical, only 16 - just more than a third - noted that they had multiple systems. That isn't much higher than the 28 percent of respondents as a whole who said they had multiple systems. We expected a higher percentage there, given the importance to these captains.

"Internet is a pain," one captain said. "We all rely on it too much and feel our throats are cut when the service is down. We got on fine before, if you remember back. People often ask me 'didn't you read the e-mail I sent to you?' It is now taken for granted that we all sit for endless hours on the Net behind our computers; not something I am proud of but the computer and Internet now have a huge control over our everyday lives."

"The most important reason for having Internet access onboard is for weather forecasts and all weather data," a captain noted. "All other Internet needs are secondary and really not needed until we arrive at a port."

We also weren't prepared for the level of satisfaction captains have with their service. Almost 80 percent were either mostly satisfied (67.6 percent) or very satisfied (11.8 percent) with the Internet system onboard.

"The Internet is great onboard, when it works," one captain noted. "You just can't rely on it 100 percent of the time."

We thought we'd learn something from those 16 respondents who were very satisfied with their systems - that maybe all of them had one kind of system, for example, or on the largest vessels with presumably better budgets - but when we looked closer, we found no consistencies. Nearly half had the VSAT system, but four had cellular, three used marina wi-fi kits, one had B-GAN and one Inmarsat.

Those respondents also weren't on the biggest vessels, but a mix of sizes.

Of the respondents who were not completely satisfied, a majority cited sporadic availability as the primary reason, followed by slow service and by poor customer service.

"I get more complaints from guests that the service is too slow or sporadic," another captain reported. "We typically will use the wi-fi available at the marinas where we dock. Personally, I have an iPhone, which is a wonderful tool for getting weather updates and e-mails."

Many captains wrote in that maintaining the systems were the worst part, complaining of complicated set-up and time-consuming trouble-shooting.

"Sometimes I need to be an IT to figure things out."

Only a few chose cost as a cause for dissatisfaction in the survey, but in the comments section, many more wrote that service, especially cellular service, was too expensive.

"It doesn't matter how much money the owner has, the price of Internet can't be justified," one captain noted.

Of the 26 respondents who were dissatisfied most of the time with their connection (and identified a system), more than half (14 respondents) used a marina wi-fi kit. The remaining 12 captains are sprinkled between six types of service.

We also wanted to know if a vessel's use played much of a part in a) what kind of system the vessel had and b) how important Internet was to the captain. So we asked captains which of these 10 regions they regularly took the vessels: U.S. East Coast, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mediterranean, U.S. West Coast / Alaska, Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia / New Zealand, South Pacific / Southeast Asia.

All 39 vessels that traveled in four or more of those regions had Internet service onboard. Half of them carried the VSAT (20), followed by marina wi-fi kits and/or Inmarsat (six each), cellular and/or the mini VSAT (three each) and one has the Iridium system.
These captains who traveled the farthest placed a higher degree of importance on their Internet access. More than half (51.2 percent) called it critical versus the 33 percent of all respondents; 38.5 percent called it very important, and the remaining 10.3 percent called it somewhat important in enabling them to work effectively.

None of them considered it "not that important" or "not important at all," compared with 8.4 percent of all respondents.

Again, though these captains said access was more important to them than the overall respondent, just 12 of the 39 (31 percent) noted they had multiple systems onboard, only a tick above the 28 percent of all respondents who did.

It may say something that 12 of the 13 captains who have no Internet onboard traveled the U.S. East Coast. The other traveled the U.S. West Coast.

Does size make a difference in a captain's need of access or type of system? A little. It was interesting to see the average size of the vessel increase as the importance of 24/7 access increased. The average size of the vessel of captains who said 24/7 access was not that important was 78 feet, critical was 131 feet.

But the type of system didn't really break along new vs. old technology lines, nor did it break with purported stronger vs. weaker service. Vessels with the sought-after VSAT averaged 155 feet, followed by those with the tried-and-true Inmarsat system, which averaged 118 feet. Vessels with the newest technology averaged 106 feet (with the mini-VSAT system) and 99 feet (with the B-GAN system). Vessels that relied on marina wi-fi kits averaged 102 feet, and those with cellular averaged 92 feet. Does that mean smaller vessels stay closer to shore?

So, what would captains have onboard if time and money were not an issue?

Most who responded to this question chose satellite systems, VSATs or mini-VSATs. A few simply said they wanted more bandwidth for faster, more reliable service and didn't identify a preferred system for it.

"Money is not the problem," one captain said. "I just need to know what is better and available."

"The same system the cruise ships have," another captain said.

Several captains thought outside of the box and said they wanted a full-time Internet technician as part of the crew. One jokingly said he wanted his very own satellite.

Surprisingly, more than a few captains said they were happy with what they had and needed nothing else - even though money and time were not an issue and they could have any system they wanted.

"Exactly what I have now," said a captain with an Inmarsat system, "except I would invest in Wi-Max to extend it to the Caribbean and the remainder of the Mediterranean."

"Nothing different," said a captain with a twin-system VSAT. "However, we're always looking to upgrade to better technology."

"What we have is perfect," reported a captain with a cellular (3G) system and a DSL connection.

When time and money are an issue, minimum requirements include reliable access, better than average download speed, access at the dock, and the simple desire "to be able to check e-mails at least once a week."

"I would settle for anything that actually worked consistently with decent usable signal strength," one captain said.

A few captains who viewed Internet as more important in their jobs suggested satellite and at least one redundancy for minimum needs.

One thing we didn't ask about was how Internet access played into the work environment on a vessel. We've heard anecdotes from captains who say that, when asked if they have any questions, job candidates only want to know if they have Internet in their cabin. It's becoming that common.

"It's been both positive and negative," one captain noted. "Positive in crew morale being able to communicate with family and friends inexpensively; negative in abuse of privilege during work hours."

"Get whatever you can," another said. "Crew will base a decision of whether to stay with a boat that travels a lot on the Internet facility on board. I was brought up in the days of letters and the post office, but this is the new reality so I may as well get used to it."

We conduct our monthly surveys online. All captains and crew members are welcome to participate. If you haven't been asked to take our surveys and would like to be, log in to www.the-triton.com and you will automatically be added to our database.

[end of Triton article]
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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

http://www.marinebuzz.com/2008/12/22/undersea-cable-cut-disrupts-internet-connectivity-in-europe-middle-east-and-asia/

Damage caused to three undersea cables on December 19, has disrupted internet connectivity between Europe, Middle East and Asia. Cable damages are taking place almost every year. Cableship C/S Raymond Croze from France Telecom Marine is expected to reach the location to inspect and to undertake cable repair. It may take about 7-10 days for completion of cable repair.

Some of the disturbing features of undersea cable damages are:

Cables damaged are:Sea Me We 4 (SMW 4), Sea Me We 3 (SMW 3) and FLAG EA.
Damage is reported to be under the Mediterranean between Italy and Egypt.
Around 75 million people from 14 countries are affected by the current problem.
Maldives: 100% out of service
India: 82% out of service
Qatar: 73% out of service
Djibouti: 71% out of service
United Arab Emirates: 68% out of service
Zambia: 62% out of service
Saudi Arabia: 55% out of service
Egypt: 52% out of service
Pakistan: 51% out of service
Malaysia: 42% out of service
Taiwan: 39% out of service
Yemen: 38% out of service
Syria: 36% out of service
Lebanon: 16% out of service

(more info. at the link for the original article. Credit also given to: NASEEM AHMED for breaking this news on Yachting Industry on LinkedIn.)

* * * * This may not affect you where you live - but it does highlight the fact of how vulnerable national (area and country locations) and international voice and data (Internet) traffic can be if and when something happens to vital undersea cable systems.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

We often go for the "in depth" approach to Internet Access (Internet Sharing Systems / Onboard Yacht Networks) for sail and motor yachts.

Dual Internet Systems for Yachts (WiFi + Cellular) Internet for the Crew, Owners, Guests...

By installing both a WiFi Bridge (aka WiFi Hotspot Sharing Router) and a 3G Cellular Fixed Cellular Terminal (aka Fast Cellular Sharing Router) - we can provide a solution that gives you TWO SERVICES to choose from depending on where you are located with your yacht.

Often WiFi will be the best choice because in the islands of the Carribean or the Bahamas (and other Out-of-the-U.S. locations off the West Coast of the U.S.A.) WiFi is often available at the marina or at anchor. It is often free ... or pay per usage by the day, week, or month - and provides a very fast and reliable Internet access method. That is if you've got the right antenna up top and the right WiFi Internet Sharing System installed.

Cellular 3G Systems also provide fast Internet access and can also be shared onto a vessels inside onboard network (wired and wireless) and can be a viable option not only in the U.S. but elsewhere. This is because we install Quad Band gear which handles the US 850Mhz/1900Mhz and International 900Mhz/1800Mhz systems. This gear also handles voice telephone via a built-in ATA (Analog Telephone Attachment) capability - which provides Analog RJ-11 phone jack - which can be interconnected with onboard phone jacks or PBX Telephone Systems.

Roaming on Cellular both for voice and Internet is a difficult thing to do. Although Cellular Companies outside of the U.S. often offer pre-paid Sim Cards for hand voice cell phones, they aren't as apt to provide them (without a term contract) for Internet Access. You can end up with huge roaming bills for Internet if you are not careful. We've found that AT&T has some International Roaming Plans that can help with that - to keep your Cellular Internet Roaming costs under control.

ASMT knows how to install the systems, provides the gear, and knows how to install also the inside onboard network gear inside the yacht to make a nice network for sharing files, printers, and Internet Access. Allowing management (Captain, Owners,...) to switch to the best available Internet Access Service that they have - be it Satellite, Cellular , or WiFi Hotspot.

ASMT also works with network storage devices - allowing open or password protected "network hard drive" to store your important files and make them available to those that need them without having to leave PC computers or laptops on all of the time.

ASMT can also help you with additional voice telephone savings by installing VOIP - Voice over Internet Protocol systems - which give you a phone number (any area code you want) an inbound and outbound voice calls to Analog Phone Jacks or PBX system - for very low fixed monthly voice telephone service for your vessel.

ASMT also works with a marine electronics expert so if you need help with other electronics, including Satellite TV and Entertainment systems - please don't hesitate to call. We'll forward any inquiries to the appropriate expert.

If you have questions about Computer, Communications, Internet Access, Networks in boats - make sure that you call ASMT!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/792823.html

2008 hurricane season mostly spared Florida
THE BUSY 2008 HURRICANE SEASON BROUGHT SEVERAL CLOSE CALLS. BUT FLORIDA HASN'T BEEN HIT BY A MAJOR HURRICANE FOR THREE YEARS.

BY EVAN S. BENN
ebenn@MiamiHerald.com
Forget about cones of danger, storm shutters and supply kits -- for six months, anyway.

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends Sunday.

Despite a few close calls and a drenching from Tropical Storm Fay, Florida escaped the season mostly unscathed. Our Caribbean neighbors were less fortunate, with Cuba and Haiti getting pounded by a succession of major hurricanes.

''This will probably go down as a nonmemorable year for Florida and a catastrophic year for Haiti and Cuba,'' National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said. ``But we came very close here a couple of times. Any small change in steering currents could have brought us a direct hit.''

As it turned out, Florida's only direct hit came from Fay, a meandering, wet mess that flooded parts of Central and North Florida during its mid-August trek across the state.

Fay made history for being the first Atlantic tropical storm to make four separate landfalls in Florida: on Aug. 18 in Key West, Aug. 19 in Cape Romano, Aug. 21 in Flagler Beach and Aug. 23 in Carrabelle.

A major hurricane hasn't struck Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005

(more at: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/792823.html)

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/bocaraton/sfl-flpparadepndec01,0,3837216.story

Boat parade back in Boca Raton and looking for boaters
By Patty Pensa | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 1, 2008
Last year, disappointed boaters followed the normal route of Boca Raton Click here for restaurant inspection reports's annual boat parade only to find there was no parade after all.

Budget cuts in 2007 caused the first blackout in more than three decades of the holiday tradition. Now with private backing, the parade is making a comeback, scheduled for Dec. 20 along the Intracoastal Waterway. Summit Brokerage Services, a Boca Raton financial services company, is the parade's lead sponsor with a more than $15,000 offering.

"I was thrilled to support it," said Marshall Leeds, the company's chief executive officer, who has watched the parade for 15 years and will be in it with his 70-foot yacht for the first time.

The parade was cut last year in late November about 2 ½ weeks before its scheduled date. When Leeds called the city to try to save the parade, it was too late. The city in 2007 cut special events and programs, laid off 45 employees and eliminated 142 part- and full-time positions because of state-mandated budget cuts.

(more at the link above...)

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

having just launched a satellite at the day job (and another coming this next year), i can confirm that i've never seen *anything* that bunches the undies quite like that.

while losing the satellite during launch tears a huge hole in the project schedule, all birds are insured against launch failures, at least enough to replace the bird. but that is scant solace during the last couple of minutes of profuse sweating. Protostar I went on an Ariane 5E which took a while to establish its credibility, so that was in the back of everyone's minds. The launch did go just fine, but once the solids light, all you can do is watch and hang on for dear life.

As for Internet via Satellite...

With the exception of broadcast services like DirecTV where satellites are usually the best choice, satellite communication is a technology of last resort. The paths are long, the delays are large, and it's all very cranky, especially with a terminal on a boat. But if the choice is *no connectivity*, the satellite link looks pretty good. Compared to terrestrial, though, satellite is very seldom the first choice, if you have a choice.

Posted by: Mike at August 21, 2008 12:50 AM

* Any comments obtained via the web, or articles, that the owner does not want left posted on here - will be removed upon request. I aim only to report relevant commentary and information, always citing sources if not my own. Please email or call me by phone if you want any comment removed.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

The following comes from Power and Motor Yacht, by the excellent Ben of Panbo's Marine Blog.

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/electronics/vsat-fleet-broadband/

VSAT vs. Fleet Broadband
High-end satellite broadband has evolved, but service can still be contentious.
By Ben Ellison

With a solar cell wingspan of 145 feet, Inmarsat's new I-4 birds promise reliable, global coverage.

I was annoyed! I'd found a cozy corner at the Fort Lauderdale airport with a five-bar connection to the free WiFi Internet service there, but I could barely pull up a Web page, and my e-mail icon just spun hopelessly. I tried the normal fixes-renewing my IP address, re-establishing the connection, even rebooting the laptop-all to no avail. At least I understood the probable cause, a phenomenon known in networking terms as a "high-contention ratio," which simply means that lots of users were contending for the same bandwidth. And, sure enough, a stroll around the gate area revealed scores of frowning laptop users industriously renewing, rebooting, etc.

I'll admit to comforting myself with the knowledge that somewhere on the planet-probably somewhere exotic-there was likely a cohort of megayacht users experiencing a similar contention-related log jam. Except that they'd likely paid upwards of $50,000 for a large, stabilized antenna capable of delivering marine broadband at speeds approaching my laptop's tiny built-in WiFi radio, plus upwards of $1,000 a month for even a moderately speedy, always-on satellite service. When that setup doesn't work right, it's truly annoying.

I'd heard some of that annoyance expressed quite vocally during a broadband satellite communications presentation at the Global Superyacht Forum, which runs alongside the annual fall METS marine-equipment extravaganza in Amsterdam (a big thanks to The Yacht Report for permitting me to audit its Forum). The presentation panel included representatives of major satcom companies like Inmarsat, KVH, and Radio Holland as well as lesser-known but noteworthy VSAT (very small aperature terminal) specialists MTN and GMC. They'd come to explain the new technologies that are shaking up the big-yacht broadband niche to a highly interested audience of yacht captains and communications specialists.

But the audience had some things to say, too, and I took their mood as lesson number one on the state of sat com. Megayacht events are generally buttoned up and extra polite, but this bunch got nearly rowdy, especially when the panelists described the data rates each of their services offered. "But what's the guaranteed rate?" and "How about your average speed and maximum contention ratio?" the attendees demanded, and vague answers were not appreciated. It was obvious that there must be some unhappy Web surfers on megayachts-and phone users, too, as that function is rapidly being converged into always-on broadband. And unlike, say, whoever manages the free WiFi at the Fort Lauderdale airport, complaining to the captain is an option. I'd bet the wizened ones have their comms consultant on speed dial.

Even the panelists allowed that satellite-speed claims like "up to 1 Mbps," along with contract phrases like "best efforts," should be red flags to discerning shoppers, and shopping marine broadband already entails boatloads of discernment. On the one hand, there's a seemingly infinite number of VSAT services, each offering its own particular coverage areas and rate schedules. Mega Internet may be a small niche, but there are a surprising number of ground stations and geosynchronous Ku-band satellites already competing to serve ships and oil platforms, not to mention various big terrestrial users like TV broadcasters. If one has some unused bandwidth available on those costly and impossible-to-maintain birds, why not find a partner who can sell it to yachties, preferably as many times as possible (contention be damned)?

The venerable Sea Tel 4006 VSAT antenna weighs 250 pounds.

VSAT hardware isn't sitting still, either. One-meter antennas, like the venerable SeaTel 4006, have new direct competitors, like the OrSat AL-7103 MKII. Plus 2007 saw the advent of mini-VSAT, a new way to put broadband afloat with much smaller antennas and purportedly more efficient frequency management, and hence lower all-you-can-eat rates. KVH's TracPhone V7 is the mini-VSAT innovator, but I know that SeaTel is working on a similar, reportedly more robust system and would bet it's not the only company doing so.

Then there's Inmarsat. Originally chartered in 1979 as an IGO (intergovernmental organization) dedicated to marine-satellite communications, including critical GMDSS safety messages, it has morphed into a publicly traded company competing for land and sea customers. Assuming that the third, and last, of its giant fourth-generation satellites successfully launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly before this prints, Inmarsat will have nearly global and quite modern broadband capabilities. These went into limited service ashore as BGAN a while back and were introduced to boats as Fleet Broadband last November.

Like mini-VSAT, Fleet Broadband packs more punch into a much smaller dome-though bigger, faster domes are available-and it, too, is being offered by KVH, among others. Why offer both? Inmarsat remains a premium-priced service-part of why its third-generation Fleet service lost many customers to VSAT-but it's also one of the few that can be purchased as needed; plus there's the extended range and Inmarsat's history of reliability. There's much more to Fleet Broadband, like Inmarsat's ability to aim the new satellites' many spot beams to take care of a contentious situation like a New Year's mega mob in St. Barts, but at some point I have to leave the discerning to you.

KVH's 24-inch, 60-pound mini-VSAT helps avoid "dome pressure."

I will note, though, that many in the business were unhappily surprised by Fleet Broadband's high hardware and service costs and attributed them to the byzantine layers of distribution left over from Inmarsat's NGO days. Those contracts expire in 2009, and Inmarsat has even acquired a large stake in one of its biggest resellers, Stratos. A quicker, more entrepreneurial Inmarsat is anticipated.

I'll also add that the sat-comms niche suffers like other areas of marine electronics from a surfeit of misinformation. Most is due to the complexity of the business and the difficulty of making fair performance comparisons, but some may be plain ill will. For instance, I've been told repeatedly, usually in hushed tones, that KVH's mini-VSAT had "aiming" and FCC problems. But when I ran these to ground, I found nothing but satisfied early customers.

As for those of you who'd like to be shopping for offshore broadband, many incremental improvements are expected, but no magic tech bullet is in sight. And there's no hope of on-the-water broadband truly catching up to what's happening ashore, like the anticipated arrival of streaming high-definition movies. That's why somewhere there's a yacht owner frustrated about a critical conference call from his suite or just annoyed trying to watch the latest Britney Web video from a teak chaise on the aft deck. I just hope they're easy on the captain, because getting sat broadband right is tough. I learned in Amsterdam that there's even a phenomenon called "dome pressure," which is the need for more big antennas than you can fit aloft, and is likely a problem you can take pleasure in not having.

For the latest on electronics, visit Ellison's blog at Panbo.

http://www.panbo.com/

Please also support and visit http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/ Power and Motor Yacht.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

PS, Sorting out Syrens/Wave/GeoSat Solutions: GeoSat has been making high-end marine WiFi systems for years, but for a while they were distributed as Syrens WiFi by an independent company called Radio-at-Sea. Now GeoSat is doing direct distribution as Wave WiFi, but, whereas Radio-at-Sea owned the "Syrens" name, it's marketing different WiFi hardware under it. So if you're looking for Syrens (Nik is big fan of its hardware and service), go to Wave WiFi. Which doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the new Syrens gear, except maybe the element of confusion.

* This tidbit was gleaned from Panbo's...

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2008/09/kvh_minivsat_easy_but_what_about_dhcp.html#more

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* I wanted to add this to my satellite pages on marinetelecom.net, and although I know this is just a little bit old news, it might still be new to some in marine such as sail and motor yacht people. I'm updating information in my web site about Fleet Broadband and Mini-VSAT to keep up with the changes and information that's available.

19-08-2008 - Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has confirmed the successful launch and acquisition of the third Inmarsat-4 satellite.

The satellite was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:43pm BST on 18 August (4:43am 19th August, local time). Inmarsat's tracking station in Fucino, Italy was able to track the satellite while it was still coupled to the Breeze M launch vehicle. Launch provider ILS confirmed successful spacecraft separation at 8:46am BST on 19 August.

Reference: http://www.inmarsat.com/About/Newsroom/00024238.aspx?language=EN&textonly=False

Third Inmarsat Version 4 (Next Generation / Broadband Internet) Satellite is Launched (this heading by Alan Spicer, news from inmarsat.com)

The satellite is the third in the I-4 constellation, concluding a decade of development and a US$1.5 billion investment. The current constellation of two Inmarsat-4 satellites delivers mobile broadband services to 85 per cent of the world's landmass, covering 98 per cent of the world's population. The third I-4 will complete the global coverage for Inmarsat's broadband services.

Global coverage
Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive and chairman of Inmarsat, said: "The Inmarsat-4s are the world's most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services. Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services."

The Proton Breeze M is one of the few launch vehicles capable of lifting the I-4 satellite - the size of a London double-decker bus and weighing six tons - into geostationary transfer orbit. The I-4 F3 satellite will now undergo a period of deployment and several weeks of comprehensive tests and manoeuvres before being positioned in geostationary orbit at 98º West.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Our apologies, Alan Spicer Marine Telecom web site and blogs has been down for just over 24 hours. We've had a DSL Internet Connection outage and have been working with AT&T to get service restored.

We're on Business Class DSL ... and somehow it went down around 5pm yesterday. It took work on both AT&T and our part to get it back up and running. I would like to thank the Customer Service and Technical Support and the behind-the-scenes IP/NOC services for their help in getting us back online as quickly as possible.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Hello, I'm testing WordPress - and excellent Blog and Content Management System for possible use as a replacement for my current blog and possibly to manage (and clean up) the loads of content that's on my main web site: http://www.marinetelecom.net

If it goes well, even so ... it will be quite a job to migrate all or a good part of my content into WordPress.

Anyway... if you have a chance drop by to:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/wordpress/

and send me your opinions or comments on it. Especially if you've used WordPress yourself and have any suggestions.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Spam may have dropped off as much as 50 to 75% on Wednesday after a hosting center called McColo was shut down by it's upstream provider, Hurricane Electric, and probably as well by Global Crossing company.

It's a fairly hot news item.

Hosting Companies and smaller Internet Service Providers (ISP's) have to get an Internet Connection too, just like rest of us, only more expensive and much better speed (called Bandwidth by many.) They also sign on, as us ordinary mortal users - to agree to AUP or Acceptable Use Policies, which stipulate what kind of activity they can and cannot do on their Internet Connection. Bigger connections do what is called "Peering" which without getting overly technical means that they "jack in" to a Larger Gateway often called an Internet Exchange or IX - or someone that is already big enough to connect to an IX. At the IX basically the "calling plan" of how to get to the "Littler Guys" network is shared and announced to the "Bigger Guys" network. This is how routing (on a basic concept level) works on the Internet. The little guy announces all of his networks (IP Address Blocks) to the bigger guy, who in turn uses it and passes it on to other systems on the Internet. The same happens at least on some level from the bigger guy to the smaller guy. But everyone uses some main "GATEWAY" point to get to everywhere else. An important part of this that most users don't know is that it is as important that 1.) A computer has a Gateway TO the Internet, and 2.) That the rest of the Internet knows how to get to that Computer. In actuality it's not the end computer, but the Network - or Network IP Address Block. This might be a way for spammers to be stopped no matter where they go. The routes to a network are announce by routing protocols. If a bad guy network were discovered, and there were a way to have everyone important (the Big Guys mentioned before) drop the routes to the bad guys networks, then he disappears off of the Internet. You see it's a two way street. Coming in, and going out. If the rest of the Internet were to "forget" how to get to your network, If everybody dropped the ROUTES to your network, then you're network basically disappears. No matter what YOU DO. Nothing has to be disconnected, no connection has to be terminated. The Internet just in effect forgets about you. You can send ip packets out all you want, but no acknowledgement or traffic would pass. Connections would never happen. Because the "return path" to BadGuy Network would basically not exist on a virtual level called Routing Announcements.

Basically Hurricane Electric (and Global Crossing?) pulled the plug on McColo after much apparent evidence of hosting of spamming, bot nets (which use infected zombie computers all over the Internet), and other exploit and possibly criminal server / services running on the Mcolo Network. Allegedly Mcolo turned a blind eye to these activities. I guess money still talks even to the point of almost or actually becoming criminal activity.

Mcolo.com has been around since at least February 2005, according to the Internet Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mccolo.com/ but they are DOWN now. By the way, my guess these guys are Russian (not that there is anything wrong with Russian persons.), from language I saw in the web.archive.org there was Russian Language in missing image files shown. I was viewing an English archived page, there was a link to change to Russian, but no other language option. 2005 page shows them bragging about their excellent connections to the Internet. Their web page design changed several times. Sometime in 2007 became somehow not very well saved by the web.archive.org.

Anyway spam supposedly dropped dramatically. Others say that Spam isn't necessarily dead. That it will just move elsewhere. And that other such large spam hosting operations have been shut down in the past, and the spammers and such just popped up elsewhere. Interestingly two of the recent such sites (the current one being discussed and a previous similar one) were both in California. I wonder what's up with California?

Supposedly they will just move off shore, possibly Eastern Europe. Hopefully those in Eastern Europe are hearing that as well. It would be a shame if there weren't some mechanism whereby it could be detected - where the new location is, anywhere on the Internet, and block it. Shut it off from the rest of the Internet. But that can get more complicated. If you can't get their upstream providers to cut them off, then what else can you do? Block their connection leaving a country? Block their connection coming in to a country (like the U.S., U.K., Australia, etc.?) And what if they spread out more... to multiple locations. It could be a long battle... possibly not really ending any time soon.

If the perpetrators were in the U.S. then why wasn't legal or police action taken? Maybe it still will be. If they are still in the U.S. make an example out of them before they can leave, or via the Internet do a "Virtual" leaving of the U.S. to places that may harbor their activities or support of such activities. Of course I'm not a lawyer and no doubt the legal aspects of this against the Mcolo provider can be complicated as well.

Hopefully our new President-Elect will be listening to these happenings and will give the right empowerments where necessary to get these kinds of things stopped.

An interesting blog about this stuff is here:

http://blog.fireeye.com/research/

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Here's a tip that I've hinted at before here on my blog...

Yachts: [Tip] Saving on International "Internet" Roaming on Cellular GSM/UMTS/HSPA

2008 November 10th - by Alan Spicer - Our Yachting Customers might consider the following AT&T Internet Plans for when they are traveling outside the U.S. and needing to avoid expensive Internet Roaming Charges:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp Affordable World Packages. I found this while following an article lead on the newer 3G iPhone and Packages offerred by AT&T for these devices to travel. But the plans also have potential for other devices such as the Ericsson W25 that we sell here on Alan Spicer Marine Telecom. Note: If you don't have some international plan you should turn off your 3G Internet capability when outside of the U.S. Not doing so could result in $thousands on your cellular bill traveling internationally in a yacht (or any other way for that manner.)

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

ASMT Occassional Bulletin: Hot off the presses. Sorry to invade your INBOXES again so soon, but this looked IMPORTANT. This isn't a Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" and I get regular updates - and my computer NEEDED THIS. Yours probably does too.

* If you don't already have this critical update patch, you need to be getting it NOW! I grabbed it for XP, downloaded quick. Installed quick. And didn't require a reboot. It's also needed for Vista. So grab it now and be safe!

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 - Critical

Heard about 1st on: http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=72382851-39d80d14b042abc4ff667ffb25d5ec69-bf&brand=ZDNET&s=5

MS08-067 worms squirming in the wild

Ryan Naraine: Virus hunters are reporting two new in-the-wild worms exploiting the critical MS08-067 vulnerability. The worms, intercepted on Chinese-language versions of Windows, are being used to install a Trojan downloader, a denial-of-service bot and a rootkit to maintain stealthy presence on infected machines.
READ FULL STORY

* In other news... a Minor Firmware Update (not required) is available for Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Internet Router units: http://www.marinetelecom.net/b2evolution/blogs/ get it at: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/. If you're going to do this update make sure you grab the Release Notes and Upgrade Instructions. Let me know if you have any problems doing it.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Please see: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

and look for the R11B Required Files section.

A new firmware is now available for the W25 to fix some minor bugs with advanced features.

For the US the firmware fixes 'Caller ID' and calling waiting issues.

http://www.fixedwirelessterminal.com/ericsson_w25/downloads.html

This is not an important firmware release just a maintenance upgrade.

* * * * Note: Please make sure to get the RELEASE NOTES and the FIRMWARE UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS. You will need to follow the instructions closely in order to do this upgrade. The file format from release R11A forward has changed from ".img" file to ".arc" file. All upgrades after this will require the type ".arc" file. Please review the instructions and release notes about upgrade and downgrade capabilities and requirements. If you need help with this, let me know...

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* * * * End of Summer Special - Code Name: SUMMER BREEZE - Take $100 OFF! Ericsson W25 now ON SALE for $719.95 including shipping - (within Florida w/tax $760.15.) Sale ends October 30th 2008. Get them now before it's too late. It does voice for your yacht pbx (or Analog Phones) and HSDPA/UMTS High Speed Internet for all of your computers onboard. I'll include FREE 30 days telephone and email installation support (max 2 hours total.) * * * *

Call Now: 954-683-3426

Alan,

FYI: The map is a misnomer in that the new coverage does not represent what the map shows...Lower South America and Africa are not yet covered... ;-)

Here is the KVH Article: http://www.kvh.com/Press/pr.asp?id=874&category=COMPANY

Previous to today's footprint: http://www.kvh.com/footprints/map_minivsat.asp

New GE Footprints: http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/ge23.html

Yes...you can post this if you like. :-)

Thanks!

JeffK

* Thanks Jeff

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

This just in... from:

http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMVII/2008oct00071.html

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is obviously interested in keeping up with what's going on in communications for marine / yachts, so the Tracphone V7 also known as Mini VSAT is quite interesting. The expanded coverage looks good!!!! Anyone having comments or experiences on Tracphone V7 a.k.a Mini VSAT are encourage to write in to us about it - or on any other marine satellite or communications systems. If it's newsworth and we can get your permission, perhaps we'll blog it and / or post an article on it. So tell us! Hows it working? Good or Bad? Write To: communications (at) marinetelecom.net.

KVH extends mini-VSAT coverage
Expanding availability of mini-VSAT Broadband service, KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) has signed a 5-year agreement with GE International Holdings, Inc., (SAT-GE) to lease capacity on its GE-23 satellite to provide coverage in the Pacific Ocean via the satellite's North Pacific Ku-band Beam.

"The extension of mini-VSAT Broadband coverage into the Pacific will allow us to support a significant portion of the world's shipping lanes, including blue water coverage between Asia and ports in the U.S. and Canada," said Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH's chief executive officer. "Broadband connections at sea are essential for shipboard business activities, more efficient operations, and compliance with increased regulatory requirements. In addition, affordable broadband Internet, e-mail, and telephone services are vital as a means of improving the quality of life and the morale of the crew. We look forward to additional service expansion into new regions around the globe throughout 2009."

Expected to go live in December 2008, the new coverage area will include Alaska, the west coasts of Canada and the United States, Hawaii and extend into Asia.

The mini-VSAT Broadband service, along with the KVH TracPhone V7 antenna, comprise the first end-to-end 24-inch VSAT hardware, service, and support package available for maritime communications. Together, KVH and ViaSat are already offering Voice over IP phone service and Internet access as fast as 512 Kbps (upload) and 2 Mbps (download) at fixed monthly rates to mariners throughout North America, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, and Europe.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

I put some new Theboaters.tv videos up on my Boaters and Telecom Video Page, and I'll try to put some more Telecom TV videos and such on there as well. Check it out at:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/boaters-telecom-videos.html

Also make sure you ask about the End of Summer Special on The Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Fast Internet Sharing gear... I can create solutions for your yacht for Cellular, WiFi, Onboard Network (Wireless, and Wired) as well as service or replace Computers used for Navigation, PC's, and Laptops.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is now featured on http://www.redeyeradionetwork.com an online radio station that you can listen to on your computer over the internet. We're Featured At:

http://www.redeyeradionetwork.com/MarineTelecom.html

It's not a big thing. But we sure do appreciate it.

The music can vary on RedeyeRadio but is generally of a Classic Rock Genre. So if you're near a computer with some decent audio and speakers please tune in and give them a listen. It's always fun - and the technology to do it is kind of neat - kind of like VOIP (Voice Over IP) that's used for Voice Telephone (example Vongage). But imagine 96 kb/s, 44.1 khz Stereo ... which means High Quality Music Broadcast.

So stop in a give them a listen. They run several shows a week. I'm sure they will have a schedule up there soon.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Announcing a Special on: Ericsson W25 Marine Pack (W25 + Install Kit) at an unprecedented savings and low price $990.00 (not counting shipping.)

* Ericsson W25 - Voice and Fast Internet System (main unit)
* Marine Omni Directional - Cellular Antenna - handles all frequency bands in the Ericsson W25 (includes Ratchet Marine Mount 1"-14 thread)
* Adaptor Radio Pigtail - connects LMR 400 Main Cable to the E W25
* 30 Feet (10 meters) - Low Loss LMR400 Main Coax Cable
* 30 days telephone and email installation support (max 2 hours total.)
(Note: Other lengths of LMR 400 Coax Cable available upon request)

$ 990.00 (not counting shipping.) To U.S. Customers. Florida Customers will also be charged Sales Tax. We'll have this price with shipping shortly... but I wanted to get this posted NOW!

- This is everything you need to install Fast Cellular (HSDPA/3G/GSM) Internet and Voice (to analog telephone gear and PBX Systems) to your Sail or Motor Yacht.
- New in box equipment - Full Manufacturers Warranty

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* One of our new partners Josh Darville has asked that we publish this article for them. We were more than happy to oblige. Please see more, including 2 videos, on our Yacht Pictures and Clients Page:
http://www.marinetelecom.net/yacht-pictures.html

The article will also be available online at:
Segmented Luxury Travel article - JD.doc

Segmented Luxury Travel

By Jeff Darville, ImperishableMarketing.com

Mixing water and air in pleasure travel is the piece de resistance of luxury holidays. Private aviation has become standard fare in much of luxury travel as yachting remains the most prestigious of excursions. Merging these two elements of travel into a seamless experience has become more stirring as chartered jet service is opening up new frontiers for yacht owners. Whether transporting, chartering or docked watercraft, owners are looking for ways to test themselves in the blue oceans that are best reached through private jets.

Unique destinations beg for a high quality experience every minute of your trip, from the tarmac to cabin to the deck. Taking your charted plane to a few often overlooked yachting areas provides divine moments to savor. The seven Aeolian Islands, cut from the Italian coast are northeast of Sicily and often overlooked by charterers who miss the Grotto of the Sea Lion on Filicudi and the locally made malvasia dessert wine on Salina. Many charter tourists consider flying to the Whitsunday Islands where Australians revel in the Queensland coast along the northeast corner of Oz. Launching near the Great Barrier Reef in the warm clear water and fleets of brilliant fish will encourage many stops. Hook Island has impressive coral as well as the well named, Butterfly Bay. Macona and Nara are memorable anchorages forming two fjord-like inlets.

Many fishing parties are exploring new destinations in South America and off of the African coast and touching base with familiar places in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Belize is a great option for the angler looking for excellent lodging and amenities, warm climate, fine food, and a variety of saltwater flats and reef fishing. Most people think of Cancun & Cozumel when someone mentions the Yucatan Peninsula; however, serious game and sport fishers realize that these tourist destinations are but launch points for some of the most renown light-tackle fishing in the Caribbean. Also, St. Francois Lagoon, 220 nautical miles south by east of Mahe in the Indian Ocean has proven to be that rare gem of locations.

When considering the finest in private aviation contacting a private aviation specialist for a quote is the first step.

Why book with Josh Darville and Halcyon Jets?
As an avid travel enthusiast, Josh Darville linked his love of the finer things in life with his sophisticated, professional guidance in private aviation. Conventional travel agencies could get individuals to and from the airport with a first class ticket but were not willing or able to take the next step to ensure excellence that goes beyond whiskey neat and water back and warm nuts. Driven by his love of open skies and endless horizons he followed his passion and joined Halcyon Jets.

Josh strives to ensure that the experience of every journey meets and exceeds his client's expectations through constantly gathering information and direct knowledge of the chartered jet services he represents.

Halcyon has the experts to make your trip perfect.
Our company is the brainchild of an elite group of specialists and pioneers in the private jet services industry. We are an industry dream team, joining forces and experience to fulfill a shared vision of what a true leader in the jet charter services industry can be - one dedicated to a luxury private flight experience that is based on superior safety and exceptional customer care.

We arrange luxury private jet flights for our clients from and to anywhere in the world. Get access to virtually every size and type of aircraft and the industry's most flexible, client-centered arrangements.

Your flight is custom designed for you.
The world has become flat and very complex. With the fast pace of business today an added demands on your time, it is important to put your trip in the hands of a professional. You want to work with an expert who has your interests in mind and who offers you quality service and peace of mind. Let Josh Darville assist you in your private aviation needs with a free quote by clicking here. You will be pleased you did.

By Jeff Darville, ImperishableMarketing.com

---
Josh Darville



Halcyon Jets, Inc.

561.962.0143

954.547.3751 (CL) (24/7)

561.962.0111 (FX)

JDarville@halcyonjets.com

* Have a look at the Youtube video clips about Halcyon - and if you contact them please make sure you tell them that Alan Spicer Marine Telecom sent you. Thanks!

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom as featured on I've Gotta Guy because Alan Spicer is THAT GUY that you call for Internet Systems and other Communications for your YACHT

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Make sure you check out our Yacht Pictures page on:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/yacht-pictures.html

Also now featuring on there: Halcyon Jets - and our featured partner:

Josh Darville



Halcyon Jets, Inc.

561.962.0143

954.547.3751 (CL) (24/7)

561.962.0111 (FX)

JDarville@halcyonjets.com

* Have a look at the Youtube video clips about Halcyon - and if you contact them please make sure you tell them that Alan Spicer Marine Telecom sent you. Thanks!

---

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

End Of Summer Special on Ericsson W25 - Brand New - with the latest Firmware Software already installed. $100 off our previously advertised BEST PRICE. This is a limited time offer, so Get Them Now! Sale Ends: October 15th, 2008.

In Florida 669.95 + 40.20 sales tax + 50.00 shipping = $760.15, elsewhere outside of Florida $669.95 + 50.00 shipping ($719.95 Total.)

* The sale promotional code is: SUMMER BREEZE. You must tell this code to get this special price! This is a Blog Only Special Price. If you've seen this in my Blog or in a Direct Email - this is the only way to see this.

Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Fast Internet Terminal - very popular in the yachting marine community as an Internet and cellular voice telephone sharing system...

Also usable on land as landline and Internet backup, for remote locations, and as a mobile platform for just about any type of vehicle. Lights up a WiFi Hotspot with a Fast Cellular GSM/UMTS/HSPA Internet connection in and around your vehicle (or other temporary / emergency site.)

Shipping within 3 business days to your door. 30 days install and setup support included with purchase (max 2 hours.) This seller also can provide consulting and support agreements. This seller knows this gear and actually installs them. This seller works for boats/yachts as well as land based users and businesses.

* You Fedex Overnight a check. Upon receipt your order is enroute the same day (business days only.)

* See my Backpage.com ad about it: http://southflorida.backpage.com/ElectronicsForSale/_866_15_ericsson_w25_cellular_voice_and_fast_internet_terminal/classifieds/ViewAd?oid=3553136

* See my Ericsson W25 web pages about it:
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

* The sale promotional code is: SUMMER BREEZE. You must tell this code to get this special price!

* Call: 954-683-3426
* Email: communications (at) marinetelecom.net

On 9/29/08 7:35 PM, Alan Spicer Marine Telecom asked:
--------------------
Marine Communications on Yachts - What do you use? How well does it work?

I do consulting for sail and motor yacht customers for communications of all sorts. I've got yearly consulting and support yacht customers. I do local work on the docks in Fort Lauderdale, as well as remote consulting just about anywhere via Telephone and Email. I recommend systems and equipment, draw diagrams and provide documentation, and often help yachts put it together themselves. Or fix what they already have. Or improve their systems or find ways to save money on communications expenses.

So I'm curious what's out there? What are you using? And how up-to-date is is? How well does it work?

On 9/30/08, Jeff Kietzmann commented:
--------------------

Date: 9/30/2008

Subject RE: Marine Communications on Yachts - What do you use? How well does it work?

Group: Yachting Industry

Jeff Kietzmann wrote:

Alan,

I provide custom services for mega-yacht owners and engineer a wide array of VSAT solutions for at-sea and remote terrestrial applications....

The new V7 by KVH is a good little antenna...The Service Selector function is also nice in that you can run it in VSAT mode or in Fleet Broadband...it is a newer function though and I would wait to see the quarks worked out.....Be careful on the bandwidth bill if you choose a plan to pay by the megabit...in can definitely bite you. Their footprints are not yet fully global, even on a coastal level, but I suspect that will change in the next few years...

http://www.kvh.com/pdf/DS_TPV7_AirtimeRatesKE.pdf

A Great Option is SeaMobile. They just merged with MTN to bring together quite the network for broadband at sea solutions. Download the Yacht Brochure. They use i-Direct & Cisco products which as far as I am concerned is some of the best VSAT and networking products out there...VERY reliable...and they pretty much have a footprints everywhere.... http://www.seamobile.com/market_solutions/yachts.aspx

I definitely recommend SeaTel antennas for all classes of yacht or commercial vessels. Their KVH equivalent is the 2406: http://seatel.com/?area=products;page=model2406 I have a lot of experience with SeaTel products and find them to be extremely reliable.
In Florida, I would contact DVS...they offer the best SeaTel support and also offer bandwidth services...Tell Jerry& Dino that I sent you...  http://www.digitalvideosystems.net/seaTelProducts.htm

C2SAT antennas systems for larger vessels are quite nice too...from an engineering perspective, they are impressive....A luxurious 4-Axis antenna....
http://www.c2sat.com/pages/StartPage.aspx?id=3

On the VPN front, with any system, there will definitely be slight additional costs for VPN and VoIP services, but they should not be debilitating by any means.

As for FBB....yes it is MUCH more expensive at sea than BGAN services on land....Ridiculously so I would say. That differential is mainly because they are targeting commercial vessels and companies for ocean crossings vs. individuals. It is all about the niche market. There is plenty of terrestrial and coastal competition for bandwidth, but there is no competition in the big blue for connectivity (unless you have a vessel with a C-Band antenna). Thus, they can charge what they like.

From a GMDSS/Backup perspective, you should however, have some sort of Inmarsat solution in place.

I can say for certain that the services I have provided to my customers have been exceptionally reliable and cutting edge. You would be surprised what people have out there for connectivity options....

Please let me know if you require more specific details on any given system or solution, I am happy to help in any way I can.

Hopes this answers your questions...

Jeff

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Charter yachts legal in US/FL waters
Many yachts, including US-flagged yachts and commercially registered yachts appear to be not legal to charter in US and/or Florida waters. The fact that charterers are US residents or non US residents does not seem to make any differences, and this is apparently related to tax issues.

Could someone indicate what qualifies a yacht to be legal to charter in US and/or Florida waters?

Posted 23 days ago

William Rizzo
Founder & CEO, AYPIOSS Yacht & Property Services (wrizzo (at)aypioss.com)

---
---

Comments: 2

I have found little information on the subject and made a tentative summary below. If any errors or complementary information available, your posts are welcome.

Sources
http://www.finefocusing.com/Docs/HomelandSecurity.pdf
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/taxes/sut_boat_owner.html

US-built and flagged yachts sold and/or delivered in Florida are subject to 6% sales and use tax. Use-tax applies to foreign-built US-flagged yachts that are brought into Florida. Foreign-flagged, foreign-owned yachts are exempt from Florida use tax if they have a US cruising licenses issued by US Customs and Border Protection. A cruising license requires the yacht is used exclusively for pleasure and is not used to transport merchandise or passengers for hire.

Yachts that were built and flagged in the US with a Florida tax ID number may charter in Florida waters. US-flagged, foreign-built vessel can apply for a MARAD waiver to charter in US-waters. To be eligible for the waiver the yacht must be at least three years old, be owned by a US citizen and cannot carry more than 12 passengers when in service.

Foreign-flagged vessels can be chartered through a demise charter agreement to avoid paying Florida sales and use tax on the purchase price of the vessel. In a Demise charter, the charterer assumes legal responsibility for the vessel, hires the crew, and pays for all operating expenses. The charterer takes full control of the vessel, its operation and navigation. The yacht owner relinquishes possession and command of the vessel, just short of an outright transfer of ownership. This is different from a voyage charter, as defined by MYBA-terms, where the charter is a single voyage between specific ports of call where the charterer rents space for a length of time. The owner retains control over management and navigation and is legally responsible and liable for the yacht and crew.

Conclusion:
- almost every large yachts owned by Forida residents is foreign-flagged to avoid Florida sales and use tax
- on a large multi-millions yacht, neither a charterer would agree to take all responsibilities for the yacht and the crew of a demise charter agreement, nor would a yacht owner take such risk,

which ends with a very few number of large yachts available for charter in Florida waters.
Posted 23 days ago

William Rizzo
Founder & CEO, AYPIOSS Yacht & Property Services (wrizzo (at) aypioss.com)

Welcome to Florida :-) Where I live and work. The foreign flagged thing is a given ... seen all over the place. I do remember a guy once with a Personal Owned Yacht (not for charter) that he just bought, having a deadline date where he needed to be Out of Florida to avoid Sales Tax.

I wonder if - for charters - exceptions being local boats? - if most of the big yachts come here either to sell, or be refit / worked on. (take time off from Chartering.) And then they go elsewhere to charter! ? Hmmmm ?
Posted 23 minutes ago

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Land and Sea (Marine) Communications, Computer, Internet Networking Consultant

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

"LVMH Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, the world's leading luxury products group, has signed an exclusive agreement with Egeria, an investment company based in the Netherlands, to acquire Royal van Lent, the Dutch designer and builder of luxury custom megayachts sold under the Feadship brand."

After the acquisition last June of Princess Yachts by L Capital, also controlled by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, both acquisitions should create synergies and joint product developments opportunities in the field of yacht design & decoration by luxury fashion brands owned by LVMH such as Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, Givenchy and bring closer the yachting, luxury brands and fashion creators, where France plays a major role.

Read more:
http://www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/14/article/id/2055

Posted 25 days ago

William Rizzo
Founder & CEO, AYPIOSS Yacht & Property Services (wrizzo@aypioss.com)

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is proud to have an article featured on http://www.crewtraders.com.

Please check it out at:

http://www.crewtraders.com:80/ar_104.php?articleId=104

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom article on Cellular Internet for Sailing and Motor Yachts - is featured on CrewTraders.com

* And please make sure that you check out the rest of their web site - described as "Classified Ads for Yachties, Expats & The Marine Industry - Worldwide". And hopefully we can write some more articles and share them with their site in the future. Thanks again,

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* I wish "The Sails" Project in Fort Lauderdale - http://www.thesails.com/ the best of luck in building their proposed replacement for the old Pink Plaza or Pink City and the Best Western Marina and Hotel that used to be there. It looks like a very beautiful site and facilities that they will make out of this site. I think it will be great for local business especially the marine industry and for mega and super yachts visiting the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. The marine industry drives a lot of what Fort Lauderdale is made of and is know for as the "Venice of the Americas".

I've worked on and for boats on that site... including large yachts docked on the face docks on the Intracoastal Waterway there. Those that have been there will recognize when I say that I hope they fix that rickety old pathway down to the farthest west dock. You can see what that long and winding pathway was like and what the whole property including the hotel looked like before it was torn down by using Google Earth Software. I'm not sure if the non-free versions of Google Earth have newer images (probably not) but the free one definately shows the old hotel, marina, and the adjacent plaza still intact.

Someone has a photo online at: http://www.splashvision.com/Video/photo.php?pid=186 that shows Excellence III docked there on that long face dock with the old rickety path. You can't see much of that in the photo, but the Google Earth Satellite shot shows it better. Anyway they seemed to be always fixing that dock as the wood rotted or got broken. It wasn't very wide - and if you were carrying any heavy gear on your walk down that path you pretty much took your life in your hands (and feet.) If a heavy wind came you could easily end up in the water on either side of that long long dock. Not something that would make for a good day for you if it happened. So again I wish The Sails project best wishes and good luck, and I hope they make that dock safer to walk!

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is listed in the www.the-triton.com's The Captains Mate - available at:

http://www.the-triton.com/archives/pdf/0805/TCM0805.pdf

Computers or Networks

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Alan Spicer.............................................................954-977-5245
www.marinetelecom.net • a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net

* Please enjoy the rest of The Captains Mate as well. It's a great read and great reference when looking for trade professionals.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* I'm always looking for ways to save boats and yachts (marine customers) money on their communications needs, and to avoid huge expenses in cellular communications such as voice and Internet. In that light the following has come to my attention...

* I don't know if anybody saw these, but this could be helpful to some of our yacht customers and friends on Cellular Internet and Voice. I found out about this originally because of the two that say they are Apple iPhone only, but there are others that can qualify for cellular devices that we are using.

Check out information off of this link from AT&T.

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/index.jsp

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* The following is an un-edited comment from a sailing yacht cruiser regarding Cellular Internet in the Carribean. Again we've not edited this for content or length or anything. Here at ASMT we like reporting things AS people say them. Nothing here has been confirmed by any other sources - but I have to tell you that we had similar troubles obtaining a single fluid inexpensive reliable GSM 2g or 3g solution for sailing or motor yachts in the Carribean. If anyone has any further insight or comments on this ... we'll publish them. We don't BS here. I sell gear and solutions but I do my best to leave out the BS or what I call "dB Myth" factor. If it doesn't work it doesn't work. If it doesn't work well it doesn't work well. If it doesn't work reasonable inexpensively (even for yachts) then it doesn't work out very well, does it? Now keep in mind some yachts have a more robust budget, and can support VSAT Satellite at $2000+ monthly. There's nothing wrong with that. But a lot more yachts of all sizes simply don't support that kind of budget. Regardless of your budget you should take steps (and consultations) that help you reduce your costs on such things.

(begin quote)

The other item is about the Ericcson W25. I think you guys were looking at this (or something similar) for email and browsing. It works great in the US and wherever you have access to high speed wireless telephone networks. It also works well for multiple computers on board by creating your own little wifi network. If you plan to spend anytime in the Caribbean leave the W25 at home. It does not work on the wireless networks in this part of the world. Two primary problems. First of all they do not have 2g (never mind 3g) bandwidth. Even email is painfully slow. Even worse, they block 90% of the URLs at their gateway. I made some calls to friends at Cable and Wireless when we got down here and tried to get some unlocked. They did a few but the speed was so brutely slow that I gave up. We are now using public and paid wifi signals that people blast out over the anchorages. BTW...we use Skype for all our calls. We have complete video confernece capabilities on board via skype and the Mac network. The only thing I can suggest is a wifi booster antenna. I bought and Engenius from Senao and it works great. Hope this helps...
-T

(end quote)

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

It seems we have caused some confusion with our last newsletter...

The ActiveCaptain website (www.activecaptain.com) has always been and
remains FREE - no charge, without cost, gratis, costless - you will
not be charged for using the website.

The pricing change that we made reference to in our recent newsletter
was for our mobile phone software ActiveCaptain Mobile. ActiveCaptain
Mobile is a commercial application which we do charge for. While we
hope everyone will rush to purchase ActiveCaptain Mobile (only $19.95),
you do not need to pay anything to use the ActiveCaptain website. Ever.
Period.

We are sorry for any confusion and thank all of you for your continued
support. If there are any questions please email me at
karen@activecaptain.com.

==================================
Karen and Jeffrey Siegel
aCappella
Castine, Maine

www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Email newsletter I received - I thought I'd pass it on - here on my blog.

http://www.activecaptain.com/

Subject: ActiveCaptain Mobile News...

From: Jeffrey Siegel
Date Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:58:51 -0400 (EDT)

Changes In The Air
==================
Today is the first day we've felt a nip in the air here on the Maine
Coast. A couple of leaves are showing some color and the boat is begging
for at least one more Penobscot Bay excursion. Fall is a time of change
as some boats move south and others begin preparing for the coming
winter cold.

In the time we have been building the ActiveCaptain website
(www.activecaptain.com) we have learned that many of our Captains love
to provide information and feedback. How else could we have acquired
over 30,000 marinas, anchorages and local knowledge markers, and
300,000+ updates? Well, you have spoken again and we are listening.

Beginning November 1st we will be changing the pricing structure for
ActiveCaptain Mobile. You told us you wanted a low cost way to access
just the charts you need. So we will be breaking down the NOAA charts
by region and offering them for only $19.95 per region. This change also
allows us to better accommodate international chart regions which will
have varying prices depending on the royalties charged by the
governments who own them. Watch for international charts appearing later
this year.

Why Are We Telling You This Now?
================================
We want to give all of our potential ActiveCaptain Mobile users who want
to access all of the NOAA charts a chance to take advantage of our
current pricing. Any Captain who purchases ActiveCaptain Mobile before
November 1, 2008 will gain access to all of the thousands of NOAA charts
and all 14 NOAA regions for just $49.95. Of course, existing
ActiveCaptain Mobile users will continue to have access to all of the
NOAA chart regions.

So you decide. Buy ActiveCaptain Mobile now for $49.95 with every NOAA
chart, or wait until November 1st and purchase only the regions you
need.

ActiveCaptain Mobile for Windows Mobile Too
===========================================
ActiveCaptain Mobile for Windows Mobile is finishing its final beta
testing and will be available by October 1st. We will be extending the
current pricing for our Windows Mobile version but only if you purchase
before November 1st. Anyone interested in purchasing ActiveCaptain
Mobile for Windows Mobile now, please email me at
karen(at)activecaptain.com for information.

We thank you for your continued support of ActiveCaptain. You have made
ActiveCaptain the most visited living guidebook on the web.

==================================
Karen and Jeffrey Siegel
aCappella
Castine, Maine

www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

ASMT is Temporarily Rebroadcasting (streaming) National Weather Service Houston / Galveston Texas Skywarn Amatuer Radio WX5HGX - Hurricane Network (courtesy KA4EPS repeater in Margate, Florida - and my scanner and Shoutcast Server [KA4UDX - Alan Spicer].) our hearts and sympathies go out tonight to the areas of Texas being affected by Hurricane Ike. Just press play (above) right on this web page, or take your web browser to: http://www.marinetelecom.net:8086/

This is a good demonstration of how amateur radio *is* used to back up public service in emergencies such as hurricanes. There are EchoLink, IRLP - Internet Radio Linking Project, Voip Hurricane Net, operators such as the WX5HGX in the National Weather Service Houston - Galveston Texas, and many more amateur radio operators in shelters and other locations.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Radio Amatuer: KA4UDX
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Please make sure to visit and join the Marine Communications Online Forum on: http://www.marinetelecom.net/phpBB3/index.php

* We have lots of interesting topics related to marine communications and electronics for boats / yachts / marine environment. We have a few interesting users... and Alan Spicer has so far done most of the posting. That's fine - but I'd like to get some more users, stop in - give advice and knowledge - or ask questions. The only stupid question is the one not asked on the Marine Communications Online Forum @

http://www.marinetelecom.net/phpBB3/index.php

* Here are some of our Forum Names and Stats...

Introduce Yourself Here
Introduce Yourself here, if you want. Say hello! Tells us what you do, or interesting things about you.
Moderator: aspicer 2 Topics 7 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Sat May 24, 2008 12:10 am

Ericsson W25
Discussions on Ericsson W25 Fixed Cellular Terminal also known as Cellular Mobile Voice and Internet Router - popular in Marine environments particularly Yachting
Moderator: aspicer 12 Topics 16 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:57 pm

Ericsson W35 (Now with HSUPA) August 2008
Welcome to the Forum on the Cellular GSM/UMTS/HSPA Voice and Internet Router called Ericsson W35 - on Alan Spicer Marine Telecom. This router will be very popular for Sail and Motor Yachts. Feel free to post your discussions on it on here. This unit continues the fantastic Ericsson legacy of outstanding cellular gear, popular on yachts, including the W25; however this unit adds the newest High Speed Upload capability as well as the download side. This is called HSUPA - High Speed Uplink Packet Access. This forum is for discussion of this unit only and the related HSPA - High Speed Packet Access - UMTS /GSM Cellular Technologies, and user experiences with this specific gear and similar gear using the HSUPA capability.
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 12 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:13 pm

Fleet Broadband
Discussions of Inmarsat Fleet Broadband Internet System for Marine
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 3 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:38 pm

Forum Suggestion Box
Welcome to the Forum Suggestion Box. If you have a suggestion for a Forum Topic / Header - please drop a note in here. And I'll look into it.
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 1 Posts Last post by admin
on Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:25 pm

General Computer (Marine Users Only)
Moderator: aspicer 3 Topics 3 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:19 pm

Internet Access and Networking (Marine Users Only)
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 1 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:04 pm

Mini VSAT
Discussions on the Marine Mini VSAT Internet System by KVH
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 1 Posts Last post by admin
on Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:10 pm

Marine Satellite TV
Discussions about Satellite TV in the Marine environment. That usually means on yachts.
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 1 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:12 pm

Navigations Computers and Software
This is a forum on the subject of Navigation Computers and the Software that is used on them, example Nobeltec, The CapN, Maptech, and such...

But can include other Navigation Electronics Instruments, and discussions about GPS, AIS, Radar, and other things that hook up to Navigation Displays and Computers.
Moderator: aspicer 1 Topics 1 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:17 pm

Telephone, PBX, and VOIP
Articles about Telephones, PBX's, and Voice Over IP.
Moderator: aspicer 2 Topics 3 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Fri May 23, 2008 11:03 pm

Marine WiFi Hotspot Sharing Systems
Moderator: aspicer 3 Topics 3 Posts Last post by aspicer
on Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:20 pm

* I'll thank you for stopping by, later, after you join in there!

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=can+a+marine+tv+play+on+land+also&btnG=Google+Search&aq=o&oq=

Which translates to: can a marine tv play on land also?

Well... marine tv on land would just simply be Satellite TV. And that's not hard to get installed.

If they mean would the auto-tracking satellite antenna for television work on land, well yes. It doesn't really know where it is on land or on a boat on water.

But what would be the point? On land you would not be moving - like you would be on a boat. So you wouldn't really need to have an auto-tracking marine antenna. You might want that on an RV or something? But there are already antennas made for that purpose.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

I just saw an article on Network World in a special section called Cisco Subnet - The Independant Voice of Cisco Customers, that is about Fax over IP (FoIP) methods and what are the pro's and con's and what's popular. The article is at:

http://www.networkworld.com:80/community/node/32325?netht=rn_090808&nladname=090808dailynewsamal

* This is interesting because the Ericsson W25 that we sell and install (and consult for others on installing) has the T.38 Fax over IP Protocol, but we've still been waiting for the needed infrastructure to be available from someone to make that work. The latest word is that our Ericsson Distributor is going to provide that service over cellular starting sometime in late 2008. We'll have to keep you updated as more information comes in on the availability of this.

Coming in late 2008....

Reliable Fax over the Mobile / Cellular Network

Being one of the only providers to fully support T.38 Fax termination (Fax over IP), the Fax Termination service will enable users to send and receive faxes via a IP link or over the 3G mobile networks using a standard analog fax machine.

Faxing over the mobile networks has generally been temperamental, the Fax Termination service will offer a much more reliable and stable connection for fax transmission.

Whilst many companies outsource their T.38 fax service, Fax Termination servers are inhouse offering full backup support.. As a result we can reduce telecommunications costs to the end user and can offer an extremely reliable service.

If you would like to be notified when this service will become available please email communications (at) marinetelecom.net

What is T.38 Fax?

T.38 is a protocol for sending faxes over an IP network or the internet.

The T.38 fax protocol was developed as a way to permit faxes to be transported across IP networks between analog fax machines. Traditional VoIP systems were developed for voice rather than fax calls, conventional fax machines worked poorly or not at all. Thus, some way of transmitting fax over IP was needed.

T.38 fax is now recognized as the preferred method for sending faxes over the 3G mobile or cellular networks. The traditional way of sending a fax over 2G is using CSD (Circuit Switch Data). Service providers are starting to phase out CSD and the new T.38 method will rapidly take over.

The Ericsson W25 enables you to connect a standard fax machine and send faxes using the T.38 protocol over the mobile or cellular networks.

* And now... The Network World article (for you techies!) reads as follows:

http://www.networkworld.com:80/community/node/32325?netht=rn_090808&nladname=090808dailynewsamal

Transporting Fax Communications - Passthrough Versus Relay
Submitted by dhanes on Fri, 09/05/2008 - 8:05am.

Those that are new to the transport of fax communications over IP (FoIP) are confronted with two different transport methods, passthrough and relay. Conceptually, passthrough is the same as a voice over IP (VoIP) call except that a low compression codec such as G.711 must be used. The reason that a codec such as G.711 must be used is because high compression codecs are optimized for human speech. Consequently, high compression codecs distort the fax tones and will cause FoIP calls to fail.

Fax relay, on the other hand, does not use a voice codec to sample and digitize the fax tones like passthrough does. Instead, relay demodulates the fax tones. Faxes communicate using basic HDLC frames that are modulated into audible sounds. Relay strips out the HDLC information carried by the modulated fax tones and then simply transports the fax HDLC information across the IP network using a fax relay protocol such as T.38. On the terminating side the HDLC frames are modulated back into fax tones so that they are understood by the receiving fax machine.

So, is one of these transport methods preferable over the other? Well, that depends on a number of factors but I can tell you that from my experience with Cisco customers these days, T.38 fax relay is the unanimous choice. However, passthrough is still used quite a bit as well. Below are some of the key differences between passthrough and relay, which may be helpful if you have to decide upon a FoIP transport solution.

- Relay consumes less bandwidth than passthrough. In LAN topologies, this may not be a big deal but over WAN links where bandwidth is often contentious, relay offers significant bandwidth savings.

- T.38 fax relay is the de facto standard for fax transport and because it is a standard, interoperability between the devices of different vendors is much easier. For example, if you want to integrate a dedicated IP fax server into your Unified Communications network, then T.38 fax relay is the protocol that you must use. The standard for passthrough is V.152 but I have not seen this implemented yet. Therefore, vendors tend to use different passthrough switchover methods, which can make interoperability difficult.

- Because of its multiple levels of configurable redundancy, T.38 can handle much larger amounts of packet loss than passthrough. In networks with packet loss and/or other impairments fax passthrough calls are less reliable.

- Passthrough supports Super G3 (SG3) or high-speed V.34 faxing natively. The benefit with SG3 faxing is that the top transmission speed is 33.6 kbps compared with the typical G3 fax call with a maximum speed of 14.4 kbps. Therefore, more faxes can be sent in a much quicker amount of time with SG3 fax communications. The T.38 specification offers a provision for SG3 support but this will not be supported by Cisco's T.38 implementation until sometime next year.

- Many customers like passthrough for its simplicity (its just like a voice call) and because it uses the standard voice RTP packet header. This makes it easy to implement a feature such as Secure RTP (SRTP). Cisco's implementation of T.38 does not use RTP so running SRTP is not possible.

For most organizations, T.38 fax relay is the best choice for transporting fax communications and it is Cisco's recommended best practice. However, passthrough is still a viable alternative for some and it merits definite consideration if SG3 fax support and/or SRTP support are desired.

-David

* Alan Spicer says... so basically to take that apart and bring it back down to the level of the non-techy persons reading this... T.38 is the recommended and "standard" way to transport (send and receive) faxes over cellular and thusly over IP networks such as the Internet.

I didn't say it was the only way. There are other services (such as Efax.com) that give you the capability to send and receive faxes on your computer - all you need is a scanner and a computer (, and decent Internet Access.) Most all in one printers are document scanners out-of-the-box. So with Efax.com you can use their software and send and receive faxes by email over the Internet.

But back to T.38 Fax ... basically the "Server" run by a "Service Provider" such as the upcoming Fax Termination Service, will receive your fax transmission, will remove the data from the "tones" that are modulated with your fax data, and leave only the *meat* of the fax - the fax itself in a package (consider it like an envelope in the mail, or a package going via UPS or Fedex) called HDLC Frames - it will then dial that back out over the regular telephone network (we call that POTS) and again modulate that fax into normal fax tones that the end fax recipients fax machine can understand.

I'm not sure at this point what this service will cost, but I imagine there will some cost related to managing and providing the service, and whatever it costs to dial the fax calls on towards the end recipient over the regular telephone networks.

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom has been around long enough to have seen when cellular carriers such a Cingular (now AT&T) used to support WFAX (Wireless Fax) over CSD (Circuit Switched Data) over 2G Cellular, and ASMT has been concerned over marine customers being able to continue to use fax services over Cellular or WiFi or whatever is available. I try to stay up on the technologies, what works and what doesn't work, and why! So give me a call or drop an email, and we'll Get 'R' Done.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

So what is TR-069?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TR-069

TR-069
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TR-069 (short for Technical Report 069) is a DSL Forum (which was later renamed as Broadband Forum) technical specification entitled CPE WAN Management Protocol (CWMP). It defines an application layer protocol for remote management of end-user devices.

As a bidirectional SOAP/HTTP based protocol it provides the communication between CPE and Auto Configuration Servers (ACS). It includes both a safe auto configuration and the control of other CPE management functions within an integrated framework. In the course of the boom of the broadband market, the number of different Internet access possibilities grew as well (e.g. modems, routers, gateways, Set-top box, VoIP-phones). At the same time the configuration of this equipment became more complicated -- too complicated for the end-users. For this reason the TR-069 standard was developed. It provides the possibility of auto configuration of these access types. The technical specifications are managed and published by the DSL Forum. Using TR-069 the terminals can get in contact with the Auto Configuration Servers (ACS) and establish the configuration automatically. Accordingly other service functions can be provided. TR-069 is the current standard for activation of terminals in the range of DSL broadband market. Other fora, such as Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) and DVB, are endorsing CWMP as the protocol for remote management of home network devices (e.g. the HGI gateway) and terminals ( e.g. the DVB IPTV STB ).

...more at the wikipedia link above...

---
Hmmmm. does this sound like the "SkyNet" from the Terminator Movies? Where the Machines take over????

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Ericsson W25 firmware software update to what is called "2.0" is now available. This is the latest, and a.k.a. the "R11A" release of the software that runs on the Ericsson W25 Cellular Terminal.

Lots of "issues" that were reported are fixed, and the following new functionality is added...

New Functions

Firewall
IPSec termination
L2TP (BCP) tunneling
DHCP Relay
TR-069 client (CWMP)

........................
This firmware upgrade, as any firmware upgrade on the W25, should be done following instructions and very carefully. It is possible to "brick" your W25 and break it to where it is unuseable.

* I have this firmware online for U.S. Customers for a short period of time on: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

Thank You,

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

What's a WiFi (Hotspot) Access and Sharing System? -- By Alan Spicer

* I just banged out an article on Cellular Internet using the Ericsson W25 device, so I figured I might as well go ahead and hit WiFi while I'm all warmed up.

Many businesses, homes, and for marine... many marinas - provide WiFi Hotspot Systems to their visitors, workers, or clients.

So what's a Hotspot System? Well it starts with an Internet Connection which is very likely land-based DSL or Cable Modem - that plugs into a specially configured WiFi Access Point/Router which has special outdoor (well sometimes indoor too, but who cares?) antennas covering either omni-directional (all directions) or Sectors (certain selective areas such as Marine Docks where boats can usually be found. WiFi Hotspot systems are often free, but there are also Public Hotspots which are commercial in nature and have Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly Subscription Fees. Often you can sign up from your computer using a credit card.

A WiFi Hotspot Access and Sharing System - is something that gets installed (well could go in a house, a building, a motor vehicle) [we do yachts] in marine vessels. It's usually a higher powered WiFi Client Device that connects to a Hotspot System - and allows you to share that connection within your (house, building, motor vehicle) [we do yachts!] to multiple wired and wireless clients (computers, PDAs,etc.) so that you can sign on your SITE (vehicle, vessel) just once and have everyone onboard be able to use it. This consolidates connections and can help save you money in commercial hotspot fees as well as the aggravation of having everybody connecting seperately.

I have a system that I'm currently recommending for marine - yachts that can do 250mW transmit on 802.11g and 500mW on 802.11b, which is High Power in the WiFi World. It comes with the marine omni-directional antenna, low loss coax cable, and the Main Unit that makes it all happen. Ask me about it!

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

What's an Ericsson W25? -- by Alan Spicer

* I often get asked... or find myself explaining... Just what is an Ericsson W25?

An Ericsson W25 is called a "Fixed Cellular Terminal" by the manufacturer because this line of technology/products was originally envisioned as a "Landline Replacement" product on land. But yachts found out quickly that this line of products are valuable onboard marine vessels as well.

I wrote an article this year in July that may explain some of the history of this technology and product lines... and how they are used. It is available here:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Yacht-Cellular-Internet/

I prefer to call the Ericsson W25 a "Mobile Cellular High Speed Internet and Voice Router" because that's what it's mostly used for, to provide mobile platforms such as land based vehicles and marine based vessels (e.g. sail and motor yachts) with a "Mobile Platform" to enhance their Internet and Voice Communications Systems.

The Ericsson W25 is a neat little box. And by little, I'm serious, you can install it just about anywhere. It will hang with screws on a wall or bulkhead or even with some Super Velcro (recommend 3M Dual Lock). It includes a little antenna that screws on the top of it that it uses to connect to the cellular network, however most mobile (and even fixed land) users will want to connect an external antenna of some sort. The connector is a common SMA coax connector and we can easily obtain radio pigtail cables and adaptors to connect it to an external antenna.

The unit works on the GSM UMTS chain of technologies and provides high-speed Internet connectivity along the lines of Laptop Internet Cards. It provides this connectivity to a built-in 4-port Fast Ethernet Switch-Hub which allows wired computers to be easily connected to it. It also has built in 802.11b/g WiFi to allow laptops and other wireless devices in your vehicle (building) or vessel to link up with it as well.

And we haven't even mentioned Voice Telephone as well. Not only that but regular analog telephone equipment can be connected to it - that means cordless phones or desk sets like you would use in your home or office - can be connected to the Ericsson W25 and allow incoming and outgoing telephone calls. Not only that but offices or yachts with a PBX Telephone System can connect the Ericsson W25 right into the "CO" inputs and share the Cellular Voice Telephone service as well throughout the PBX extensions.

The Ericsson W25 basically creates a LAN (Local Area Network) and sends automatic IP configuration settings to any wired or wireless computer that links up with it. It also has a built-in Samba (that's Linux/Unix for Windows File Sharing) which allows External Storage (hard disk drives) to be plugged into its USB port and shared to everybody on the LAN within the location.

Oh... I haven't mentioned its travel capabilities. The Ericsson W25 is an "unlocked" Quad Band GSM / UMTS device. What does that mean? It means you can put any Sim Card made for GSM UMTS (3G) into it, on any network the world over... and it will work. You might have to do a little configuration for the Internet (settings are given by the cellular carrier or provider) but it's certainly not "rocket science". Note: I didn't say that getting Internet Sims was easy, we had some trouble getting One Sim to cover, say, the Carribean. And you've got to be warned to not let it roam with a US Sim in International locations or you could get clobbered with huge Internet Roaming bills. (That's why you got me for consulting, right?)

Some have call it "Super Cellularistic" since it is most certainly a Super Cellular Connection Sharing Device.

If you need help in getting one, and installing it, by all means give me a call.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* New ads placed on backpage.com highlighting our current land and marine communications and computer consulting services and products.

Backpage.com: Business Computer and Communications Services (T1, T3, Voice, Internet) (Fort Lauderdale)

Backpage.com: Marine Communications (Internet, Voice , Fax) and Computer Services (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Backpage.com: $866.15, Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Fast Internet Terminal (Fort Lauderdale)

Backpage.com: $900, WiFi Access and Sharing System (Marine - Yacht) (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

1. NETWORKING TOMORROW
2. CAPTAINS LUNCH TOMORROW
3. UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Tomorrow is the first Wednesday of September and it's time for Triton networking. Join us from 6-8 p.m. at Headhunter to socialize, make contacts and meet new friends. Find Headhunter (the wastewater system folks) just off Perimeter Road at 3380 S.W. 11th Ave. in Ft. Lauderdale. Read more about the company and get directions on page C2 of the September issue, or visit the story at www.the-triton.com/megayachtnews/index.php?news=2744 .

2. If you make your living as a yacht captain, you are invited to attend The Triton's monthly roundtable discussion of issues. Space is limited, though, so request an invite by e-mailing lucy@the-triton.com. We're meeting in Ft. Lauderdale at noon. Captains only, please.

3. Briny Riverfront Irish Bar on the New River in Ft. Lauderdale (site of our big Spring party) is having a Halfway to St. Patrick's Day party on Sept. 20. For more, see the ad on page C16 of this month's issue.
And the guys at National Marine in Ft. Lauderdale are planning a poker run on Oct. 29 to benefit the Boys and Girls Club's Marine Academy. That's the Wednesday before the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, and space is limited. For more information and to register, visit www.yachtbikers.com.
Don't forget to visit with David and Lucy at the SeaKeepers Professionals Soiree on Monday, Sept. 22, in Monaco. For more information on that, visit www.seakeepers.org/professionals.

Fair winds,
The Triton crew
http://www.the-triton.com

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

A little bit more about Telarus and Shop For T1, which can be reached via Independent Agent: Alan Spicer Telecom:

Alan Spicer Telecom (later also "Alan Spicer Marine Telecom") has been a Cognigen / Telarus Independant Representative for 5 years - Cognigen is now River Offers and Telarus is still a very big part of this system. We've got plenty of expert help to get your business what you need at the best pricing available. You can feel confident in submitting for a quote via the GeoQuote System on Shop For T1. Our privacy pledge is on the page linked above for Shop For T1.

Top Reasons to Shop With Us
by Patrick Oborn, CIO - Telarus, Inc.
September 3, 2008 - If you are going to do price research for T1 prices on the internet, who are you going to trust? The people who pioneered the worlds' first and only real-time price software (we have the patent to prove it!), or professional "lead generators" who are only interested in earning a referral fee by sending your information to every vendor under the sun?

Up until the year 2003, shopping for T1 lines meant doing the research yourself. Recently, agents who specialize in high speed DS1 (T1) and DS3 (T3) lines have popped up to volunteer to do this research for you, by hand, in less than 7 days. If you are looking to price out bandwidth and routers for your WAN or LAN network in less than a week, you would fine nothing but frustration and eventually high prices. You perform a search in your favorite search engine and you see millions of pages, all of which claim to save you money. In reality what your are seeing are a bunch of internet marketing entrepreneurs who know little about dedicated service at all. They create simple HTML forms that look like they have been programmed by a seventh grade student which captures your information, and either sends it to every vendor in the universe or some in-house former used-car salesman who will sell you whatever will pay him the biggest bonus. The internet is littered with this garbage, confusing customers and leaving a sour taste in their collective mouth. What started out as a search for competitively priced dedicated services has turned into a circus!

Rolling Up Our Sleeves to Provide Information Quickly
In 2002 my partner, Adam Edwards, and I decided to take the road less traveled. We realized early on that in order to create an online experience that was worthy of your time, we needed to provide information you can use - not your typical "enter your information here and we'll get back to you" elementary page. In order to do this, we invested a full year researching all of the different T1 providers in order to understand their pricing models, many of which were created long before we were born. Based on information we extracted from this research, we invested heavily in complex programming that would allow us to calculate loop prices, or the cost that the local phone companies pass on to the dedicated service providers for access to their network. This cost varies by mile, by market, and by geographic region of the country. Once we rolled up our sleeves and performed extensive testing, we called our product 'GeoQuote' and released it to the public on this very web site in 2003. We are currently in the process of patenting this unique technology.

ShopforT1 is a Name You Can Trust
On January 1, 2007, ShopforT1.com reached $2,000,000 in monthly billing revenue. Such a milestone not only validates our commitment to excellence, but our commitment to you - our prospective customer. We process massive quantities of orders each month, but at the same time pay meticulous detail to every need of each and every one of our clients. That is how we are able to sign up and retain a vast pool of customers that include the United States Government, Defense Contractors, Hospitals (including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, home to our recovering troops), Law Offices, Internet Service Providers, Wireless ISPs, State Universities, Web Hosting Companies, and more. When you talk to a ShopforT1 specialist, you do not receive a sales pitch - you tap into years of experience and expertise. Helping businesses find the right T1 provider at the right price is the ONLY thing we do!

Total Telecom Management - The Winning Formula
In the past year, online shoppers just like you have generated 653,096 unbiased real-time quotes using this web site. Over 200,000 people have discovered that you don't need to wait days to see pricing when you can get the T1 service information you're looking for in just seconds. Throw in the courtesy phone call that you will receive from one of our certified unbiased broadband consultants who can answer your questions, help you design your network, and give you the strengths and weaknesses of each of our providers. Best of all, your ShopforT1 consultant can be your total telecommunication management resource - one person that you can call to find any telecom products you need now and in the future.

We Are the First Company to Provide this Unique Service
Don't be fooled by the imitators! Since we launched this site in 2002, many have attempted to copy our concept, our business model, and even our domain name! It's amazing how in-style real-time shopping has become, especially considering that the reaction we received by our vendors when we divulged our plans to create GeoQuote. Some of the reactions we received include "that can't be done - it's never been done before" and "that is an interesting business model". Now these same vendors have become believers, and our very best partners.

Our Commitment to You
I don't mention these awards to boast, but to demonstrate the industry's recognition of our singular commitment to excellence, our commitment to our agents, and most of all, our commitment to our customers who trust us to find the best T1 products and services on the market. Change has been embraced. Thousands of data DS1 lines (1.5 mbps bi-directional transfer, upload and download, rate), fractional T1 circuits (256 kbps to 1024 kbps), bonded (load balanced) T-1 lines (3 mbps to 12 mbps), DS3 lines (6 mbps to 45 mbps), point to point private lines, Virtual Private Networks (with MPLS), WAN (wide area network) configurations, Point of Sale systems, inbound and outbound call center services, ACD systems, dynamic and channelized integrated T1 lines (both with VoIP and TDM protocols), and Local PRI Circuits have been sold. We also have experience with enterprise products typically employed by larger corporations, namely; gigabit ethernet, OC3, OC12, OC48, OC192, OC256, and OC768 lines delivered over a fiber optic backbone. Many of our carriers even offer free managed cisco routers for multi-year contracts! The way people shop for business class telecommunication services and optical carrier products will never be the same again. GeoQuote is the future, and now the present, of broadband shopping and business voice (local and long distance) services.

Multi-site Networks
Lately we've come across an increasing number of growing business that find themselves needing to communicate securely over the internet. As the number of locations grow, so does the importance of integration and coordination. A Virtual Private Network with MPLS encryption can turn the web into a virtual pipe that connects all of the many locations of an enterprise, enabling sensitive data to flow back and forth without the risk of interception. You can build two types of VPN applications; an intranet VPN and a extranet LAN connection. Both allow users in multiple locations to work in a shared, secure environment. Best of all, a VPN allows you to scale the size of your network quickly and cheaply, compared to the old-school leased T-1 line approach. We have many T-carriers that specialize in VPN and even in double-encrypted VPN, but best of all we have specialists who have extensive experience that you can draw on to create a cost effective solution for your business.

Voice T1 Service
Many web sites you will find during your search for dedicated services will focus exclusively on broadband (Fractional T1 through OCX). Here at ShopforT1 you will find that we have a unique focus on voice t1 services, both local and long distance, including the popular PRI (23 voice channels plus 1 data channel dedicated for the transfer of information, such as Caller ID for example). Our product specialists have many years of experience helping inbound and outbound call centers, customer support centers, dental offices, law offices, and other business who rely heavily on reliable business telephone service. Not only will we save you the most money, we'll figure out a way to do it without sacrificing the integrity of your t1 voice service.

Recently we added dynamic integrated T-carrier service which has been a hugely popular with SMB's throughout the country. These digital trunks allow you to use all 24 channels for high-speed data broadband connectivity in the event that none of your voice channels are in use. The majority of the time you are able to effectively receive a full 1.54 Mbps, not to mention a new feature-rich voice T1 with local PRI and voice access to the outside world. Not only do these dynamic T1s come with more capability, they also come at a fraction of the cost of old analog circuits. Currently, the average price of a dynamic instraged circuit is $450, as opposed to $750 for a standard integrated access line.

Telephone System Hardware
On June 22, 2006 we announced the release of VARSearch(tm), our second industry-leading technology that allows you to perform a real-time search for telephone system installers and dealers in every local market across the United States. These dealers in your local area can find you terrific deals on all of the hottest pbx systems, including Avaya, Nortel, Cisco, NEC, Artisoft, Toshiba, 3Com-NBX, AT&T, Bogen, Comdial, Executone, Fujitsu/Focus, Harris, Inter-Tel, ITT, Meridian, NEC, Nortel, Plantronics, Prostar, Siemens/Rolm, Telco Systems, Telesynergy, Telrad, Toshiba, Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, Ericcson, Extrom, GTE, Hitachi, Isoetec, Lucent, Mitel, Nitsuko, Panasonic, Polycom, Samsung, Tel-Plus, Telect, Tellabs, TIE, ADTRAN, A+, Artisoft, Linksys, Zultys, and more.

Network Equipment
If you are in the market for a complete high-speed internet overhaul, we can now offer you both the T1 line as well as the T1 router to go with it. Simply use our cutting-edge VARSearch(tm) Search Engine to find, in real-time search, a credentialed pbx phone system dealer (One of our thousands of VAR Partner associates) and/or technicians in your neighborhood. Our search engine includes VARs from every local market in the continental United States, so you can be sure that you will find the help you need. The networking dealers in your local area can find you terrific deals on all of the most popular net gear, including Advantech, CePoint Networks, Cisco Systems, Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, Emulex, Juniper Networks, Linksys, Netopia, Redback Networks, Qlogic, Motorola, and SBS Technologies.

VoIP Equipment and Service
If VoIP is what you are looking for, you've come to the right place. Our product specialists can find you any service under the sun, and our VARs can find any of the following ipPBX, and VoIP equipment brands including 3Com-NBX, Artisoft, ADTRAN, Accutone, Adix, AltiGen, Amtelco, A+, Avaya, Bogen, Cisco Partners, Executone, Asterisk, Extrom, Hitachi, Fujitsu/Focus, Nitsuko, Meridian, Polycom, Prostar, Plantronics, Samsung, Telco Systems, Telect, Tel-Plus, Telesynergy, Telrad, Applied Voice Technology (AVT), Artisoft, Aspect, Asterisk, Asuzi, AT&T, Atlas, Avaya, AVG-Eagle, BBS Telecom, Bizfon, Bosch, Cisco, Cohort, COM2001 Technologies, Comdial, Computer Talk Technology, Cortelco Kellogg, Creative Integrated Systems, Dash, Dba Telecom, Duvoice, Encore, Ericsson, Estech (ESI), Executone, Extrom, FCI, Flash Communications, Fujitsu, Galaxy, Harris, Hitachi, IDS, Intecom, Inter-Tel, Interactive Intelligence, Isotec, ITT, Iwatsu, Kanda, KS Telecom, Lucent Technologies, Macrotel, MCK Communications, Merlin, Mitel, NBX Corporation, NEC Communications, Newtronix, Nitsuko America, Nortel Networks, Northcom, OmniLink, Omega, Premier, Picazo Communications Quintum, Prostar, Redcom, Samsung, Spectralink, Spirit, Sprint, Starplus, Rolm, Teleco, Tadrian, TalkSwitch, Telematrix, Telrad, TIE, TMC, Toshiba, TouchWave, TransTel, Teltronics, Triad, Trilium, TT Systems, Vodavi, Walker, and more!

Our Future Together
As move forward, our goal is to continually improve our gateway products, our site, our knowledge of the industry and products, and most of all, to build a bond with you - our customer - that will last for years to come. Earning your trust is what we do here. Saving you money is how we keep it.

Technical Note
A technical quick note about the CSU/DSU, which is made as a separate product or is sometimes part of a T-1 WAN card. The Channel Service Unit - CSU - converts the data from and to the WAN line into a format the router can understand. The DSU provides an interface to the data terminal equipment (DTE) using a standard (EIA/CCITT) interface. The unit likewise provides testing capabilities. If you have any questions or need assistance with the installation of any network hardware of telecom equipement, we can help you find certified T1 technicians in your area using VAR Network.

---
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and for considering us for your business communications needs.

The Telarus 2008 Brochure is now online at www.marinetelecom.net as well as the following link: http://shopfort1.com/?cogid=aspicer (brochure direct link: http://www.marinetelecom.net/telarus_flyer_2008.ppt

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* I had one of my yacht customers just email me and ask about Land based services for Condos they will be staying in this year - they asked about Internet and Voice over IP (a.k.a. Broadband Internet Telephone), to which I replied...

We've got all that!!!! Please see:

http://riveroffers.com/?cogid=aspicer

Alan Spicer Telecom on Land: Residential Voip, Cellular Phones and Service, T1 and other Internet / Voice Services, Credit Card Offers - Alarm Systems - Computers - Satellite TV and More

---
And if you've got questions or need help, I usually know how all of these things work as well. I don't like to just SELL THINGS - I like to help people save money and to use things like equipment and services to their best advantage. So please drop in to:

http://riveroffers.com/?cogid=aspicer

...and let me know if you have any questions. If want to reach a real human being on the phone... I can do that too!!!! :-)

* * * * Note: If you call any of these offers by telephone make sure that you tell them - crid: 14457 | cogid: aspicer (for the best pricing.)

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Yacht customer says the following:

PS: the Ericsson is working great here in Puerto Rico and the neighboring islands of Vieques and Culebra.

(referring to the Ericsson W25.)

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

The VSAT business weathered the storms of DSL proliferation and a lack of awareness of the capabilities of the latest broadband IP VSAT systems in the enterprise market, to grow strongly since 2005.

Technology developments, greater bandwidth efficiency, application load balancing in high availability hybrid networks and just simply demand for broadband everywhere continues to drive purchase decisions for VSAT globally.

From the US Military to Chinese Air Traffic Control and from the small school in Brazil's Amazon to the oil tanker somewhere in the Pacific Ocean broadband connectivity has become essential and for all of these types of customer, VSAT is the only viable solution.

The past year has seen the introduction of new VSAT platforms bringing far greater bandwidth efficiency and much higher levels of functionality. At the same time, application demands have evolved and with the maturation and decline of once key verticals, new ones are taking their place, often placing VSAT in hybrid role opening even larger market opportunities. The distinctions between voice and data, star and mesh systems as well as interfaces and bandwidth have begun to be blown away and, in their place, technology which integrates a satellite network with the terrestrial infrastructure has become the battleground.

There is now a real sense that the diversity, redundancy and load balancing capabilities that VSAT can bring to a large terrestrial network is not just nice to have, but essential for those enterprises focused on the quality and real-time operation of their businesses. Video is helping to drive these initiatives and front of store digital display networks are now being rolled out based on IPTV systems. Government focus on bringing broadband to rural areas, the growth of retail opportunities in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, consumer services in North America and Europe and key strategies to reach down into the mass markets in Africa all offer exciting new areas of business development.

At the same time, niche market opportunities remain strong and some, such as maritime VSAT services, offer huge possibilities for expansion as the next tier of the pyramid of commercial shipping lines opens up with real needs for broadband at sea. comms-on-the-move (COTM) is being implemented by military forces as a strategic necessity and the GSM backhaul market is set to change radically with new base station designs. VSAT technology is helping to enable these opportunities with integrated functionality increasingly making satellite services transparent to the user wherever they are.

At VSAT2008 you will hear speakers addressing both critical market-driven technology developments and trends within key niche markets. The conference draws the highest profile speakers and delegates from the four corners of the globe because it is the only event which covers operational experiences and customer application examples from all regions of the world.

With industry-leading speakers, increased floor-space and additional features the COMSYS VSAT2008 conference is set to be the best yet. The objective is simple - to focus on the key issues, latest developments and strongest areas of opportunity in the global marketplace by bringing together the major decision-makers and most successful exponents in the industry. Whether you require an industry update, coverage of new technologies and market developments, a chance to network with some of the most influential people in the VSAT business or just some inspiration, the COMSYS VSAT2008 Conference will meet your needs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key issues to be addressed at VSAT2008 include:

IPTV/IP Video opportunities in the retail and enterprise space.
Hybrid DSL/VSAT network services for the enterprise: are they the next major operator opportunity.
Bandwith efficiency through DVB-S2, compression and acceleration technologies, what should operators be considering and where is the competitive distinction.
Mobile VSAT services, where are the opportunities and how much demand is there?
GSM backhaul via satellite, how is the niche changing and what what is its long term future?
Segment and application specific topics:

Maritime
Military
Hybrid High-Availability networks
Ka-Band
Back-up and disaster recovery
Digital divide rural connectivity projects
Regional case studies:

Pakistan
Saudi Arabia
West Africa
Europe
Latin America
Russia

Speakers at VSAT 2008 include:

Adrian Morris
Executive Vice President, Hughes

David Bettinger
CTO, iDirect

Mark Dankberg
CEO, ViaSat, Inc.

Lincoln Biederbeck
Sales Director North America, Tandberg, USA

Imran Malik
CEO, Supernet, Pakistan

Amiram Levinberg
CEO, Gilat Satellite Networks

David Hartshorn
General Secretary, Global VSAT Forum

Delio Morais
President, Hughes do Brasil

Salim Suleman
President & CEO, MWeb/Afsat, Kenya

Matthew O'Connor
Managing Director, Networks, Avanti Broadband, UK

Jack Waters
CEO, Xiplink, USA

Travis Mooney
COO, Talia, UK & Iraq

Andy Lucas
Global Sales & Technical Manager, Schlumberger

Joe Simmons

Project Manager, NetHope, USA

Joe Spytek

Vice President, ITC Global, Australia/USA

Mark Rasmussen

Regional Vice President, Intelsat

Peter Seybolt

Strategic Product Manager, Ericsson

Phil Austin

Managing Director, The Life Channel

Susan Irwin

CEO, Irwin Communications

Tom Eaton

CEO, Arrowhead

Some of the market's leading innovators, both from a service and user perspective, will deliver their views on the future needs of customers and the likely development of new applications and platforms. Key figures will talk about the practical aspects of providing global and regional services addressing subjects from technology enablers to regulatory access.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/topnews/24248.html

Production, Testing Begins on Globalstar Constellation
August 27, 2008

[Satellite Today 08-27-08] Thales Alenia Space has begun production assembly, integration and testing of the first Globalstar second-generation flight model satellites, Globalstar, Thales Alenia Space and Arianespace announced on Aug. 27.
The new satellites, scheduled for delivery beginning in less than a year, will be used to provide Globalstar's next-generation of advanced mobile satellite voice and data services.
Globalstar's current constellation is suffering from degraded performance that is leading to some loss of service. The new constellation and ground network are expected to provide faster data speeds to support a variety of IP based services as well as commercial and consumer wireless services including push-to-talk, multicasting, duplex SMS, advanced messaging and mobile video applications.
Globalstar signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space in November 2006 for the design, manufacture and delivery of 48 second-generation satellites. Globalstar signed a contract with Arianespace in September 2007 to launch the satellites beginning in the second half of 2009.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

The Ericsson W35 is nearing becoming available. We now have a sneak peek of what it will look like. The look is quite different than the current model Ericsson W25. (Note: This blog entry is NOT saying that I have one of these in hand. Noone does. We do however have images of the W35 from Ericsson Distribution.) Thanks for having a look at the preview information and images. Alan Spicer Telecom - Alan Spicer Marine Telecom will be selling these as soon as they are available. This is expected to be in the first 2 - 3 months of 2009. And we are very excited about this! This should coincide with the 2009 Yacht Business Season being in full swing and lots of yachts seeking Voice and Internet Connection options. We will have pricing information just as soon as it become available.

Technical Data (Features)

- Tri-band WCDMA 850/1900/2100
- Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
HSUPA, Category 1-8 and 11/12, 7.2mbps (Downlink), 2.0Mbps (Uplink)
WCDMA, up to 384 kbps
EDGE, multi-slot class 10 (4 + 1), (3 + 2) up to 237 kbps (Downlink
GPRS, multi-slot class 10 (4 + 1), (3 + 2) up to 86.2 kbps (Downlink)
Two RJ11 ports, max 600m, up to 3 devices can be connected in parallel
Analog Fax Connectivity (T.38 fax of IP)
One USB 2.0 port (Print Server and Mass Storage)
Wireless LAN Access Point IEEE 802.11 b/g
Four ports Fast Ethernet Switch (RJ45)
Protocols - Routing, NAT, ALG, DHCP Server/Relay and DNS Server
Security - Internet Security: Firewall, VPN termination, Wireless Security: WEP, WPA/WPA2
User-friendly Web Interface
Automatic Software and configuration update
Remote Management capability

Technical Data (Specifications)

Dimension (H x W x D) 105 x 210 x 35 mm
Weight 320 g
Power adapter Input: 100-240 VAC, 50-60 Hz , Output 12 VDC
Unit power input 10-28 VDC
Power consumption data usage Approx 15 W
Power plug EU, UK, US, AU
Operating Temperature 0°C to 50°C
Operating Humidity 5-95 %
Storage Temperature -45°C to +85 °C
Storage Humidity 10-100 %
SIM Card Standard Sim & USIM

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

1. SEPTEMBER ISSUE
2. NETWORKING IN LAUDERDALE
3. NETWORKING IN SAN DIEGO
4. NETWORKING IN MONACO

1. The September issue of The Triton is on the street and online (www.the-triton.com). South African crew heading to St. Maarten can continue to use their seaman's book until the end of the year; vessels over 1600 tons need to get their NTVRP up and running; and the Bahamas have started taxing imported marine parts. Read all about it in your September Triton.

2. Make plans to join us on the first Wednesday in September when we gather at Headhunter, just off Perimeter Road at 3380 S.W. 11th Ave. in Ft. Lauderdale (from 6-8 p.m., same as always). Read more about the company and get directions on page C2 of the September issue, or visit the story at www.the-triton.com/megayachtnews/index.php?news=2744 .

3. We have two four-day passes to YachtFest in San Diego, the U.S. West Coast's largest yacht show, from Sept. 11-14. If anyone wants them, reply by e-mail. We also have one ticket to the opening night party, one ticket to the crew party and one ticket to the sunset rendezvous.

4. David and Lucy are heading to Monaco for the SeaKeepers Professionals Soiree on Monday, Sept. 22. All captains and crew are invited to join us. Tickets are 100 euros for non-members, but for a little bit more, you can join this group of yacht crew dedicated to restoring and protecting the oceans. For more information, visit www.seakeepers.org/professionals .

Fair Winds,
Your Triton crew

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

We are releasing a new version of the simulator with new equipments such as Inmarsat B, Radiotelex, EPIRB, SART, RADAR and Watch Receiver 2182.

About the prices, as the simulator has new equipment they are modified:

Vox Maris GOC Version:
VHF, VHF DSC, MF/HF, MF/HF DSC, Navtex, Inmarsat B, Inmarsat C
RadioTelex, SART/RADAR, EPIRB, Portable VHF, Watchkeeper 2182

- 1 Instructor: USD 8000
- Each student: USD 5200
- 6 or more students stations we offer a 50 % discount on Instructor
- 10 or more students stations, we offer a 100 % discount on Instructor

Vox Maris GMDSS ROC :
Equipments: VHF, VHF/DSC, Navtex, VHF portátil, SART/Radar and EPIRB.

- 1 Instructor: USD 3300
- Each student: USD 2150
- 6 or more students stations we offer a 50 % discount on Instructor
- 10 or more students stations, we offer a 100 % discount on Instructor

We also are offering a version for students that runs on one single PC, Vox Maris VHF for Students (Stand Alone version).
This Stand Alone version is now only available for VHF equipment, but in the future if required we can release stand alone versions for other devices included in the full version (HF/DSC, Navtex or Sat C).

Price of the VHF Simulator (stand alone): USD 130

We have pending an upgrade of our site with all the news about our product and our company, and also we should publish a new demo of the simulator. One important news is that our company is ISO 9001:2000 certificated. This certification is an additional warranty of the quality of our products and our developing process.

http://www.marinetelecom.net/gmdss-trainer.html

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Hello again,

Solutions for sail and motor yacht for cellular + wifi Internet Connection Sharing solutions are available from Alan Spicer Marine Telecom, as well as Integrations with new or existing satellite Internet and voice communications systems. The bottom line is finding ways that we can optimize your yacht for the least expensive solutions, and options (we're all about providing options and ways to save money on satellite fees and roaming fees) for mobile sail and motor yacht communications.

Over 65 motor and sail yachts have been served by local and remote (worldwide) consultations and service by Alan Spicer Marine Telecom. You can be here locally or get service by remote via telephone, email, and Internet. New boat and yacht builds are a great time. Existing yachts are always needing a refreshing or rebuilding of their Internet and Fax / Voice Communications structures. Please don't hesitate to call me.

Criminal Search Results Details

For: Alan Spicer
Date of Birth: private
Last Search Date: 8/19/08
Results Received: Complete
# of records found: 0
Classification: Clear in the available public records.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Check it... Redeye Radio Network, done by my friend since the 1980's - that's over 20 years.

http://www.myspace.com/redeyeradio1

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.myspace.com/redeyeradio1

My long time friend is doing his radio show, tonight (a special event) - Please stop by and listen to it, especially if you like classic rock.

http://www.myspace.com/redeyeradio1

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net

I have created a new group on Youtube.com, where my video Alan Spicer Marine Telecom Owner Intro. also lives.

marinecomputing-communications

This group is all about marine computer use and marine communications including Internet Access Methods by Cellular, Satellite, WiFi, and others. This can include Voice, Texting, Data, Fax, Computer Networking, and Ways of putting a vessel on the Internet and having everyone onboard be able to use it.

This is located at: http://www.youtube.com/group/marinetelecom

---
Alan Spicer (Marine) Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom works on both land and sea for land-based small to medium sized businesses as well as on sailing and motor yachts. So if you've got a need for a project in your small to medium sized business such as a need for Internet Connection and Office Networking, Computer Systems, Firewall, VPN, and such we'd love to hear from you. On yachts we provide the same thing - with Mobile Internet systems such as Satellite, Cellular, and WiFi - along with onboard sharing of Internet and networking onboard for wired and wireless computers. If you need price quoting we'd love to do it. We can provide Internet and Voice systems installation and provisioning, PBX Office Telephone Systems, installation and support.

Please don't hesitate to give us a call or send an email.

---
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

New Article: Cellular Internet for Sailing and Motor Yachts

* Alan Spicer of Alan Spicer Marine Telecom has just authored a new article on the web site, located at:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Yacht-Cellular-Internet/

...regarding Cellular Internet for Sailing and Motor Yachts

It gives somewhat of a history of the last 4 years of cellular Internet technology as used on sailing and motor yachts, and what's currently available today.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

* ASMT Note: KVH is the company that provides automatic tracking marine antenna systems and markets the entire systems and service used by newer Fleet Broadband, and older Mini-M, Fleet 33, Fleet 55, and Fleet 77 systems common on Sail and Motor Yachts and other marine vessels. They also provide Marine Systems for Satellite TV among other excellent products.

http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/headlines/24073.html

SATELLITE TODAY :: DAILY NEWS FEED
KVH Names Vice President of Business Development
August 8, 2008

[Satellite Today 08-08-08] KVH Industries Inc. appointed Brent Bruun vice president for business development, the company announced Aug. 7. ...

... more at the satellitetoday.com link.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

* ASMT Note: Inmarsat is the company that provides the geosynchronous satellites and service (space segment) used by newer Fleet Broadband, and older Mini-M, Fleet 33, Fleet 55, and Fleet 77 systems common on Sail and Motor Yachts and other marine vessels.

http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/topnews/24078.html

SATELLITE TODAY :: TOP NEWS ITEM
Inmarsat CEO: 'We Have a Healthy Present and Future'
August 8, 2008

[Satellite Today 08-08-08] While talk surrounding Inmarsat centers on whether Harbinger Capital Partners Funds, which owns 28 percent of Inmarsat, will look to acquire the mobile satellite services company and combine it with SkyTerra Communications, Inmarsat continues to focus on growing its business rather than any potential strategic combinations.

... more at the satellitetoday.com link.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

I dug a little deeper and found additional information about Aircell and Gogo In-flight Internet Service current technologies and plans going forward to the future...

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/07-16-2008/0004850069&EDATE=WED+Jul+16+2008,+09:00+AM

Aircell Selects LTE as 4G Wireless Standard for Inflight Connectivity

First and Only Provider of Air-to-Ground Inflight Internet for Commercial
Airlines Announces Technology Path for Delivering Next Generation Mobile
Broadband Services

ITASCA, Ill., July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircell(R), the world's leading
provider of airborne communications, today announced its intention to base
its fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband network on Long Term Evolution
(LTE), the emerging standard for advanced mobile broadband networks and
services. Having pioneered the first commercial Inflight Internet service
in North America, Aircell plans to deploy LTE to enable the next generation
ultra-high bandwidth mobile services such as hi-definition and interactive
TV and multi- player immersive gaming that passengers will come to expect.
As Aircell migrates toward full LTE deployment, planned network and
technology developments will enable Aircell to serve North American
airlines with state- of-the-art mobile broadband technology.

Aircell's LTE announcement expands on the company's vision and
leadership in the airborne communications market. With a 16-year history in
airborne communications, Aircell's continuing innovation and leadership
were confirmed recently by the company's demonstration of the first and
only air-to-ground mobile broadband Inflight Internet solution for
commercial airlines, Gogo(TM). Gogo turns a commercial airplane into a
Wi-Fi hotspot, providing full Internet access - including Web, personal IM
and email accounts and VPN access to corporate email and systems - to
passengers with Wi-Fi enabled personal devices such as laptops, smartphones
and PDAs.

Aircell is working with the standards organizations that support
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and its global membership
of networking, device and technology partners to advance the LTE standard
that will enable Gogo to deliver unprecedented wireless broadband services.
Aircell joins wireless giants AT&T, Verizon and Alltel in selecting LTE as
the choice for 4G network technology. LTE will enable networks to deliver
mobile data with greater speed, better throughput performance and lower
latency. The end result is the availability of the ultra-high bandwidth
mobile services and pervasive Internet that consumers are coming to expect.

"The 4G market is still evolving but one thing is for sure, passengers
will want the same mobile broadband services in the air that they have on
the ground," stated Joe Cruz, CTO, Aircell. "Aircell's choice of LTE
ensures that our network will continue to support the services customers
demand today and in the future. With LTE, Aircell's Air-to-Ground (ATG)
Inflight Internet technology is future-proofed."

In addition, airline operations will benefit directly and significantly
from Aircell's deployment of 4G technology, which will enable a wide array
of powerful operational applications such as high-resolution
weather-to-the- cockpit.

Aircell has pioneered ATG technology to deliver its mobile broadband
service, Gogo, to the airplane cabin. Using an exclusive FCC frequency
license, CDMA Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Rev A protocol and network
optimization and acceleration technology, Aircell is able to deliver an
effective data rate of more than 12 Mbps peak to Gogo-equipped aircraft. By
the end of 2009, further advances in existing technologies will enable
Aircell to deliver a raw data rate of up to 22.7 Mbps to aircraft. By the
beginning of 2011, Aircell expects to deploy its 4G LTE network, which will
enable a throughput of up to 300 Mbps to aircraft.

"The unique advantage of ATG inflight connectivity is its rapid
scalability," continued Cruz. "Unlike satellite-based systems, which must
contend with significant technology hurdles and a slow technology evolution
path, ATG benefits from every ground-based advance in wireless technology.
The result is a highly scalable, rapidly advancing inflight connectivity
technology."

About Aircell

Aircell LLC is the world's leading provider of airborne communications.
As winner of an exclusive FCC frequency license in 2006, Aircell has built
a revolutionary new mobile broadband network for commercial and business
aviation. In 2008, the Aircell Network and its inflight portal, known as
Gogo, will revolutionize the commercial airline passenger flight
experience, delivering a robust Internet experience at 35,000 feet. The
Aircell Network will also provide airlines with connectivity to operations
and a path to enhanced cabin services such as video, audio, television,
cellular voice, cellular data and more. Business aircraft operators will
soon be offered a similar feature set. Aircell has facilities in
Louisville, Colorado, and Itasca, Illinois. Aircell's vision is to give
everyone the ability to stay in touch, in flight(TM). For more information
about Aircell, please visit http://www.aircell.com.

About Gogo

Gogo Inflight Internet turns a commercial airplane into a Wi-Fi
hotspot, enabling passengers to surf the Web, check any e-mail, log on to
their corporate VPN and more. Plus, each paid Internet session includes
access to The Wall Street Journal(R) Online. Gogo, powered by Aircell, will
be available on American Airlines and Virgin America in 2008. For more
information about Gogo, please visit http://www.gogoinflight.com.

(C)2008 Aircell LLC. All rights reserved. Aircell, Gogo and in touch,
in flight are registered trademarks of Aircell LLC. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:
Brenda Chroniak
781-455-8250
Aircell@rfbinder.com

SOURCE Aircell LLC

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

There's a buzz around the Internet Waves (like the Airwaves?) about Delta Airlines getting "WiFi" onboard for domestic flights via a service (and system) from Aircell called Gogo. How quaint... isn't that cute? I've gotta go go...

Since I work with technologies like cellular and wifi for the marine environment (like sailing and motor yachts) I deal with WiFi 802.11 and Cellular GSM UMTS HSDPA and CDMA EVDO on a regular basis. It bothers me a little bit when the masses call things by the wrong names like technologies. Yahhhh there's going to be WiFi on the planes and that's what your laptop will connect to (or your pda or whatever gizmo you brought with WiFi in it) on the plane, but What's really powering this thing??? Not too many of the masses of news sites running this story topic bothered to ask that question. I know WiFi is very limited range normally, especially from a moving target like a boat or a plane. So that means using an omni-directional antenna. I figure it had to be Satellite (which would probably be too expensive to implement) or Cellular. Then the question also became... was it typical cellular (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) ? Or was it something private that Aircell is doing on their own independent of the normal big cellular carriers?

I found one article, not surprisingly from DSL Reports:

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/InFlight-Broadband-A-Gogo-92587

that seemed to have more of a clue than the rest...

It seems that Aircell put a lot of money into doing their own thing. They reportedly got their own frequency spectrum (not something cheaply done these days) and decided to do something that Normal Cellular Carriers don't do. They decided to "look up". You see normal cellular signals are going to tilt down towards the earth where most of us humans spend a good deal of time, and where we normally use our cellular devices (when we're not flying.) Airgo reportedly installed 92 cell sites (that doesn't sound like enough, but umm where are the domestic routes for US based planes?) using EVDO technology (like CDMA EVDO Cellular, like ummm Verizon does) aimed upward (where the planes are) instead of towards the ground.

So there yah go. It's a CDMA EVDO CELLULAR NETWORK privately done by Aircell for aviation. Supposedly it has around 3 Megabits per Second of bandwidth / speed for any particular plane (I guess that assumes that only 1 plane is accessing a particular cell tower/site at any one time). Supposedly onboard caching (That's saving files from web sites on a local server computer so that they can be loaded faster locally on subsequent accesses... which by the way only works on non-changing content) and compression (which sometimes tends to ruin things like images/pictures) to deliver 2mb/s to each and every passenger. Good luck with that one. But anyway it's a good thing, I guess, to get Internet Access into the air. Good Job Aircell.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

http://www.pcworld.com/article/149642/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws

[partial quote]

Fake CNN Alert Still Spreading Malware
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Aug 9, 2008 2:24 pm

The massive attack that has infected PCs by tricking users into clicking links in fake messages from CNN.com shows little sign of ending soon, security researchers say.

[end of partial quote]

* This, again, comes down to the same old common sense stuff. Don't click on stuff in email messages of unknown origin. If you don't get CNN News by subscription why would you be getting it all of a sudden now? Even if you do, take a look at the bottom of your mail reader (or web browser for webmail readers) - where does that link really go? You can see it. I'll be it doesn't start with "http://www.cnn.com" does it? I don't care if it has CNN in it. Anybody can do that. I can make a URL with CNN in it. KNOW HOW TO USE YOUR WEB BROWSER. KNOW HOW TO USE YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM. KNOW HOW TO TELL WHERE A LINK IN A WEB PAGE OR AN EMAIL IS GOING!!!! AND USE THIS KNOWLEDGE. ALWAYS LOOK. SEE WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO CLICK. A BIG PERCENTAGE OF LINKS ARE MALICIOUS IN NATURE. DON'T CLICK IT. OK? IF IT'S THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU, GO SEARCH ON YOUR FAVORITE SEARCH ENGINE FOR THE SAME ARTICLE SUBJECT. READ THE NEWS ON RELIABLE SOURCES OF KNOWN ORIGIN.

If you are not expecting an email, from a particular sender or source, it's probably SPAM. It's probably going to lead you to give up your identity for identity theft or cause you to click on links that download malicious software. That's a fact of life in 2008 on the Internet. It's better you get educated now rather than later. If you're new on the Internet go under someone elses wings for awhile that's been on the Internet for awhile... or take a class. Learn what things to watch out for. Save yourself a lot of aggravation and cost later on.

Get yourself good Anti-virus and Anti-spyware software and install them, and keep them update. This will at least give you a level of protection up from nothing. Be wary, be very (careful that is), don't trust others, don't trust web pages and emails. Friends comments on web pages, especially little-know "internet friends" and posts and links are not to be trusted. Emails that you aren't expecting or don't know why you got them are not to be trusted. Any questions?

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

PC World reports:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/149632/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws

Sophos Warns of Facebook Malware Attack
Joan Goodchild, CSO

Aug 10, 2008 10:10 am

[partial quote]

According to Sophos, messages left on Facebook users' walls are urging members to view a video, which appears to be hosted on a Google website. But users who click on the link are taken to a site which urges them to download an executable file to watch the movie, according said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. The file downloads malicious code and displays an image of a court jester sticking his tongue out.

[end of partial quote]

This isn't new... it's been happening on web sites for quite a long time. This particular method or web site might be different, exploiting social networks like Facebook to deliver their mal-ware. Butt heads (yes that's what they are) have been putting up on Facebook.com pages a video - that entices you to download a program in order to play the video.

Never download a program, a software, a codec (supposedly) to play a video unless you've had professional help or you are yourself knowledgeable or expert enough to do so. If you need Codecs to play certain kinds of videos... close your web browser right then and there and go to a reputable source for such codecs. (Codecs are Coder-Decoder software drivers that decode the format that popular video files are stored in and allow your player to show them on your computer.)

Generally speaking, facebook or elsewhere, being invited to download a software is a VERY BAD IDEA. Don't Do It. You've been warned. You'll need professional help once you've infected your computer with a Spyware or Virus. Chances are you'll get more than one. I see computers all of the time that are so jammed up with Viruses and Spyware that they can barely boot up - and barely can do anything else at all. It literally takes hours to days to remove some of the worst infections on PC's and Laptops. Often something bad on the computer keeps re-downloading and re-installed the other stuff. Anti-virus software and most Anti-Spyware software alone won't get it. Your browser gets hijacked, you get advertising pop-ups, things you type get sent to others without your permission. It's not a good way for your computer to be. Avoid downloading stuff from unknown sources at all costs. I'll say it again... avoid downloading stuff from unknown sources at all costs. Don't do it.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

* I've noticed some search hits lately in my logs for the web server... some have been finding me for Marine Computer Repair (e.g. maybe with the added city of "fort lauderdale" which is where I work out of.)

So, I added a note to my main web page, near where it already announce Laptop Repair Service for yachts, to also add PC Repair for Yachts. I added the following text on there. So look for it, and call me.

Note: I know you are going to ask, so yes this extends to Marine Computer / Yacht Computer desktops as well. So if you are looking for Marine Computer Repair or Yacht Computer Repair you have come to the right place. Also if you need Nobeltec Navigation Software installed or fixed, or if your GPS signal to the PC went south, or you have the famous "Crazy Mouse" ... I'm you're guy! Come on In! We're Open!

P.S. I've been working on computers for yachts for years now, I just kind of assumed that everyone would know that I do that already. Well here's the confirmation. I do work on computers for boats / yachts. And thank you very much for asking!

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

Hello,

Alan Spicer Telecom (a.k.a.) Alan Spicer Marine Telecom - has been around for quite awhile. AST/ASMT does consulting and sales both for land-based customers and businesses, as well as Marine - Sailing and Motor Yachts.

In order to provide a wide variety of products in both communications (Telecom) and other things as well, certain affiliations or partnerships have to be formed. One that I've been with for quite a few years was Cognigen. Cognigen has gone through some changes and is now River Offers and still provides the staples like T1, T3, DSL, OC-x data and voice circuits as well as Broadband Telephone (LANDLINE REPLACEMENT) or VOIP, but also other things that you might not think of...

So hence the title of this blog article "And if you don't think we do enough? Have a look at..." is an indication that you might want to have a look at:

http://riveroffers.com/?cogid=aspicer

and see what else we offer. Noone gets left out. I'm sure that you will find what you are looking for, what you need, on there.

We've got High Speed Internet, Residential VoIP, Domain Names, Web Hosting, Satellite TV, Identity Theft Protection, Home Security, Computers, PBX Systems (including IP-enabled PBX), T1 (Metro Ethernet) and other Internet - Voice - Data lines with real-time price quoting for the guaranteed best pricing, Cellular Phones and Plans, Credit Cards, Prepaid Credit Cards, DirecTV, Dish Network; and no doubt more...

So please check it out. Find your product or solution. The ordering and delivery is mostly automated so you order right online.

Thanks for looking!

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

* A yacht customer comments on the WiFi Hotspot Sharing System from Alan Spicer Marine Telecom.

Alan -

Think I may have figured it out. In that there are six open Linksys routers the WiFi Hotspot bridge brings in I was having trouble connecting to the one I wanted. All are on channel 6, probably a default, the SSID is still linksys, and the bridge software will usually not connect to the one you want. Sometimes it will switch to one you have selected after locking on to a different SSID but normally it goes back to the last "linksys" you were connected to rather than the one you have selected. Signal strength may have something to do with it - I never saw it lock on to one of the weaker ones.

There is a choice on the Link Setup page, "Lock to AP MAC" that you can insert the MAC of the "Linksys" you want and it will use that one. It is obviously an option as it's usually blank and does not fill in with the MAC of the spot you are connected to.

The bridge has definitely improved my ability to see other networks. Use to see just the one Linksys and now there are six, and a friends router that only showed up with the hurricane shutters and curtains open now occasionally shows with just a small opening in the shutters.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom now has a page on Shopit.com with several products and services listed on there. Please check it out at:

http://www.shopit.com/aspicer

Video Infomercial ASMT Owner similar to the one on Shopit.com/aspicer

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

(Alan Spicer is personally a big believer in Free and Open Access to the Internet for Everybody, and Dead Against ISP's that would block peoples access from doing anything legal and reasonable online. So I've been following the Save The Internet Campaign. And this just came in...)

Your hard work is paying off! Just one hour ago, the Federal Communications Commission voted to punish Comcast for violating Net Neutrality and blocking your right to do what you want on the Internet.

This win is yours. Defying every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington, activists, bloggers, consumer advocates and everyday people have taken on a major corporation and won.

Today's vote at the FCC is also a precedent-setting victory that sends a powerful message to phone and cable companies that blocking access to the Internet will not be tolerated from this time forward.

News of this win is now being covered by every major news outlet as a turning point for Net Neutrality. Many more people are discovering our people-powered movement for a free and open Internet.

We need to capitalize on this momentum to grow the movement and ensure that Net Neutrality is protected on all 21st-century networks. Help us send a message to this Congress -- and the next one:

Join the Internet Freedom Movement: Stand Up and Be Counted

In the past two years, more than 1.6 million of you have already contacted Congress and the FCC. But that's not all. You have sacrificed time and energy speaking out at town meetings, collecting signatures on street corners and on campuses, and spreading the word via blogs, Facebook and house parties.

With your help today, signing this letter and forwarding it to friends, we can increase our ranks to more than 2 million.

Today's FCC victory is a milestone, but our work is far from done. Companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon are continuing to fight Net Neutrality using lobbyists, lawyers and campaign contributions. These special interests should not be allowed to set Internet policy for the nation.

Tell Congress: Keep the Internet Open for Everyone

The Internet's true greatness lies in those of us who use its level playing field to challenge the status quo, create and share new ideas, take part in our democracy and connect with others around the world -- without permission from any gatekeepers.

With your help and commitment, today's win will be just the first of many to protect innovation, free speech and democracy on the Internet.

Thank you!

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net
www.savetheinternet.com

P.S. Help us spread the word about this important victory for Net Neutrality. Tell your friends and join SavetheInternet on Facebook and MySpace.

P.P.S. Want to learn more about this historic ruling by the FCC? Check out these great articles:

Historic Victory for Net Neutrality, at SavetheInternet.com
Comcast Unleashes the Lap Dogs, at Huffington Post
Kevin Martin’s Open Network Manifesto, at the New York Times
Adelstein and Copps: Voices at the FCC for a Free and Open Internet, at the Huffington Post

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net

Along with Higher Speed @ Sea Yachts... make sure you take along Higher Speed at Sea Internet - and save money with diverse Internet Connect Systems giving you more options and lower costs.

Give me a call, or drop me an email...

---
Contact: Alan Spicer

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
+1 954 683 3426
+1 954 977 5245

Mega Yachts Higher Speed @ Sea

article in Maritime Reporter and Engineering News

Megayachts - Bigger, Better, Faster

The market for Megayachts continues to expand...

The Yacht ERMIS2 can go 55 Knots max, 35 Knots cruising; advanced carbon composite; 37.6 meters (123 feet). That's gotta be some feat to make something that mega go that fast!

also: Pershing 115 GT Powered by Turbine

Burger Wins an order to build 140-foot yacht, and Miami Yard Preps for Yacht Production (Merrill Stevens, by the way. * I've been there!)

Boldmar Advances MegayYacht Production...

The facility user to build the giant external fuel tanks for NASA's Space Shuttle program will soo share space with a new shipbuillder aiming to construct a new generation of advanced military vessels (and *OH* luxury yachts) (too) ;-)

Fort Lauderdale, Fla (wow that's near me!) -based BoldMar Inc. signed a three-year lease at the ... in eastern New Orleans and aims to use space-age technology to build stronger, faster and more fuel-efficient vessels for both military and recreational customers.

(more at Maritime Reporter / marinelink.com)

page-20, online page seems to be 26
http://m3.digitalwavepublishing.com/pubs/NWM/MR/200807/index.asp?pgno=26

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426
WiFi and Cellular High Power Internet Systems for Yachts
...General Consultant and Support Organization (VAR)

While you're surfing the Internet, make sure you check out the Fort Lauderdale Marine Directory. You'll see our listing in there - as well as other excellent information and news for boating and yachting.

http://www.fort-lauderdale-marine-directory.com/dir/a/1312.php

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426
WiFi and Cellular High Power Internet Systems for Yachts
...General Consultant and Support Organization (VAR)

ASMT is now shipping a complete Cellular (Ericsson W25, Omni Antenna) and WiFi Hotspot (ask about this one, it's secret!) Internet Connection and Sharing (onboard network as well) System to an undisclosed client for a sailing yacht being built in South Africa. We're testing the systems twice, once here in Florida, and once again up in the Northeast US, before shipping on to the electricians and installers in South Africa. The yacht is a new build, and the Cellular and WiFi Internet Connection and Sharing Systems is a new build as well, and we're rather proud of it.

An interesting requirement of the project was that everything needed to run on 12vDC rather than using the typical 110vAC "bricks" adaptors that comes with most gear. ASMT happily specified gear that could meet the 12vDC power requirement and tested all of the gear on 12 and 13.8vDC to make sure it worked and complied with that design specification.

So if you're interested in Cellular and Wifi High Speed Internet gear that can run in a Marine-Yacht environment (or other mobile environment) where 12vDC power is important... give us a shout! It's NOT a PROBLEM.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426
WiFi and Cellular High Power Internet Systems for Yachts
...General Consultant and Support Organization (VAR)

2009 International Marina & Boatyard Conference

Fort Lauderdale Convention Center
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
January 25 - January 28, 2009

The only conference geared toward marina and boat-repair owners, operators and personnel. Brought to you by the Association of Marina Industries and the American Boat Builders & Repairers Association.
IMBC is where everyone gathers to exchange information, talk about the future of the marina and boatyard industry, explore new methods and techniques, receive updates on revised standards and established rules, and see what's happening in other parts of the country. Come network with internationally acclaimed marina-industry professionals while mingling with Certified Marina Managers, potential Certified Marina Managers, other marina operators, boat repairers, and more. Over the course of three days, join the other 600 conference attendees at the highly informative seminars then walk the show floor to visit with any of IMBC's 130 exhibitors. At the end of the conference, re-establish contacts made at the show or connect with new people on a field trip to area marinas.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426
WiFi and Cellular High Power Internet Systems for Yachts
...General Consultant and Support Organization (VAR)

Superyachttimes.com reports...

Superyacht of the Week: Feadship unveils 61m (200ft) Secret
Saturday, 19 July 2008

Built by Feadship's Royal Van Lent yard in the Netherlands, the 61.20-meter (200'9") Secret is full of surprises. Designers De Voogt Naval Architects, the owners and interior designer Jim Harris have taken the classical concept of a Feadship as their blueprint, then created a yacht that is very much at home in the 21st century. In doing so, the partners have ensured that Secret combines unprecedented attention to detail and nautical elegance with the very latest technologies. The secret to success is out.

* More information and photos at:

http://www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/3/article/id/1906

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954-683-3426
WiFi and Cellular High Power Internet Systems for Yachts
...General Consultant and Support Organization (VAR)

Permanently mounted base unit with fixed omnidirectional antenna. 12vDC or 110vAC operation. Save on coax cable losses because the main unit can mount up closer to the antenna and Power and Network are passed over standard ethernet network cable.

A network can be created onboard for wired network computers as well as wireless access points for wireless laptops and such.

Contact: Alan Spicer

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
+1 954 683 3426
+1 954 977 5245

* Alan Spicer of Alan Spicer Marine Telecom has just authored a new article on the web site, located at:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Yacht-Cellular-Internet/

...regarding Cellular Internet for Sailing and Motor Yachts

It gives somewhat of a history of the last 4 years of cellular Internet technology as used on sailing and motor yachts, and what's currently available today.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom has just shipped communications gear (Ericsson W25 cellular, antenna, etc.) to undisclosed client in Historic Island: Statia (St. Eustatius)

Not being aware of the historic significance until just now, some research on Google Earth and Wikipedia turns up the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Eustatius

Just coming off the 4th of July holiday in the United States, the history behind this island is quite interesting and probably little known by most U.S. Citizens. A partial quote from Wikipedia follows:

I was definately not aware of the historic signifigance of St. Eustatius. Having just come off the 4th of July Holiday - that little bit of history... that most Americans would definately not know, is quite amazing.

Since the island sold arms and ammunition to anyone willing to pay, the island was one of the few ways for the rebellious Thirteen colonies to obtain weaponry. This good relationship between Sint Eustatius and the United States resulted in the famous "flag incident" of 16 November 1776, when Commander Johannes de Graaff of Sint Eustatius decided to return the salute fire of the visiting American brigantine Andrew Doria. The United States gave the answering salute great publicity because the salute was the first international acknowledgment of the independence of the United States.

The British did not take the incident too seriously, although they protested against the continuous trade between the United States and Sint Eustatius. In 1778, Lord Stormont claimed in Parliament that, "if Sint Eustatius had sunk into the sea three years before, the United Kingdom would already have dealt with George Washington".

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
Consulting for U.S., Carribean, and other world locations -
and shipping to legal worldwide locations convered by Fedex
Shipping

http://www.marinetelecom.net
+1 954 683 3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

ASMT Bulletin: Trains, Automobiles, Yachts, and WiFi / Cellular Internet

I was just reading something about Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) deploying WiFi on their trains. It's interesting how some of the logistics (problems?) can be similar because a train is a traveling mobile platform like yachts and boats are. They can have the same problems of WiFi Internet not being everywhere, and even Cellular Internet not being available everyhere (unless they provide some special infrastructure.)

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/news/interview/0,289202,sid7_gci1318622,00.html?track=NL-79&ad=643937&asrc=EM_NLN_3905812&uid=809317

Because I found that interesting I went looking around some more for Amtrak WiFi related articles. I found this one:

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/05/amtraks_choice_1.html

This one was interesting as well because I guess I had no idea how the fuel prices have affected commuters. Some businesses could be severely adversely affected now (see the SUV Manufacturing stories), while other businesses that were previously hanging off the cliff so to speak, can suddenly be making a killing in business. Anyway the bottom line about the articles I've mentioned (and given links to) is that Amtrak is having to provide WiFi in order to continue to attract the business class customers that are (pardon the word usage) "fueling" it's comeback. It shouldn't be funny that fuel prices are Fueling a sudden Success Story. But I guess one mans junk is another mans treasure. And some companies mis-fortune (fuel costs) could be other companies Fortune.

I have to wonder if in the motor yacht industry some yachts are staying in dock more than they have in previous years when the fuel was less expensive?

I've also mentioned before, in other articles that I've written, that more and more Internet Access is becoming a "must have" on yachts as well. It's necessary for getting the business of running the yacht accomplished. It's necessary for vital communications. And it's necessary for crew morale in that they can keep in touch with family and friends and take care of their own personal business issues.

I strive to keep up with what's going on in Communications, in particular Marine Internet Access. I work with everything from Satellite to WiFi and Cellular. But I specialize in WiFi and Cellular Shared Internet Access Systems - along with Computers and Networking onboard yachts. I also work with voice, fax and other communications methods and technologies that are related to these things. I've even touched on Satellite TV and High Definition Television lately to keep my understanding and knowledge up on how things work.

I provide support services for yachts both near and far. Local onboard, and remote telephone and email support.

---
Talk to you Soon,

Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

Computer and Laptop Servicing for Boats and Yachts - Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

ASMT provides computer services, re-installs, virus and spyware removal, computer replacements, and laptop services as well.

For marine vessels in the Fort Lauderdale (Southeast Florida) area - laptop pickup, estimate, and delivery is just $50.00. The cost of repairs if any will be estimated before any work is done.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
Tel: 954-683-3426

Most Essential Tools for Wireless Internet and Communications for Land and Sea (Boats and Yachts)

More and more these days, yachts need communications services similar to businesses on land. They need fax, voice telephone, and high speed Internet Access. ASMT provides solutions for wireless communications using Cellular and WiFi technologies to provide these services, shared to multiple users, onboard marine vessels such as sailing and motor yachts.

Several Featured Products are available. WiFi Hotspot Sharing System for Yachts and the following 2 Cellular Internet Sharing Products:

1.) Ericsson W25 - Cellular Fast Internet and Voice Router. Features 4 port hub-switch, built-in voice jacks for PBX or Analog Phone gear, and onboard wireless for laptops all built-in to the unit. Great for small yachts, and great for large yachts because it's expandable to build a whole network onboard.
Have a look at: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

2.) Cradlepoint MBR1000 - Cellular Fast Internet Sharing Router - Features 4 port hub-switch, onboard 802.11 N wireless for laptops, handles newer USB as well as Express type of Laptop Cards - which is something that other routers just cannot do.
Have a look at: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Cradlepoint-MBR1000.htm

* These days many marine vessels go for a better prepared communications setup - which means having more than one Internet Access System. Alan Spicer can set you up to be able to switch between multiple Internet Connection Systems such as Cellular, WiFi, and Satellite - Marine Internet Access Systems to an onboard network of any size from a few laptops to many laptops and desktop computers using any combination of wireless and wired network connections.

Contact me at communications (at) marine telecom.net, telephone 954-683-3426.

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is a consultant in the marine, mobile, and fixed wireless industries.

* Some of the cellular carriers such as AT&T are coming out with USB (Universal Serial Bus) Internet Cards for their fast Internet Services. Alan Spicer Marine Telecom (ASMT) has the skinny on how to share the Internet using those devices onto your boat.

There's a new Internet router for USB (and other new) cellular Internet cards now available. I've just deployed my first one on a yacht and they are loving it. Sharing it across 5 Linksys wireless routers on the boat so that captain, crew, and owners can get on the fast Internet when they are in range of the signal.

And that's a lot better! -- they say, than having to plug it into individual laptops one at a time where the other laptops are starving for Internet Access. And they got it all done by ASMT without breaking the bank. That's what we're all about! Saving yachts money on Internet Connection Sharing (and other communications and computer services.)

This differs from in the past where most cellular Internet cards were Laptop PC Card type of network cards. I've done some other Internet router gear for those, but we've got to keep up with the times and technologies here and keep providing solutions for what's out there.

Any questions please give me a shout!

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

Happy Summer Time from Alan Spicer Marine Telecom!

Some of my yachting customers and friends are up north on the East Coast of the U.S. Some are still here in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. Others are on the West Coast of the U.S., California, down in Mexico, and up in Canada. I've heard from others over in the Mediterranean Sea such as Genoa Italy. I love hearing from all of my customers and friends in the yachting industry, as well as from new friends and customers on yachts.

I hope everyone is having a good summer season. Things are warming up here in Southeast Florida. I've done some repeat business for captains that I've worked for on other yachts that have moved to new commands on different yachts, as well as worked on some new boats. This is an exciting and fun business to be in.

If anyone has any questions about communications (Internet for Yachts) or computers please give me a shout. I usually have the latest tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Internet and other Communications dollars for marine motor yachts.

Tight Lines and Following Seas....
God Bless you all and thanks for continuing to be a friend and customer!

---
Alan Spicer (Marine) Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Hello again...

Just a quick update. ASMT has been working on several local yachts for Internet Communications Services and other General Computer Services. I have mentioned on the main web page that ASMT now offers Laptop Repair Services for Yachts so you may be interested in that. ASMT is also, as always, doing a number of remote consultations by telephone and email. If you've got an problem or something that you need to accomplish related to marine communications, particularly related to satellite - cellular - wifi - and onboard networking (sharing Internet on the yacht) then you could contact me about it. I offer a very reasonable yearly consulting and support agreement that will consolidate the costs down to one very reasonable dollar amount.

ASMT has had server troubles in the past couple of weeks. A server suffered thermal CPU related shutdown problems and was taken offline. We throttled right away over to the backup server as soon as we became aware of the problem. The primary server CPU thermal problem was solved with a new CPU cooler, burn-in tested for 24 hours, and was just put back online. So we are back up on the primary server with the backup server still humming away ready to take over if neccessary. There are also more computers available here also in standby in case we need to do anything else to remain online. So we will not normally ever go down. We host our own web sites so we don't share server power or bandwidth with anyone else. We can also respond quicker to problems because the gear is right here. It also keeps us sharp as to how Internet, Server, and Networking things work.

Anyway... if anyone notices anything wrong, or out of date, please drop me a line and let me know.

Thanks,

---
Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom / Alan Spicer Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://telecom.dyndns.biz
http://www.wifiyacht.net

communications (at) marinetelecom.net
Telephone: 954-683-3426 (Mobile/Anywhere)

FIRMWARE RELEASE R10C

Ericsson today released new firmware for the Ericsson W25 which we recommend customers in the USA upgrade to.

Bug Fixes

- Sometimes not possible to register on 1900MHz networks (USA)

- Improved 850Mhz network connectivity (USA)

- Phone connected to the W25 will only ring once when connected to certain 2G networks in South America and Europe.

This current firmware release will mean that W25's shipped to the USA will now be open for the European bands. Previously we had lock units to US bands to avoid the connection issues above.

* Customers of ASMT - please contact me for the firmware and instructions. Thank You.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

You see them a lot around the waterways in Southeast Florida. Sunning themselves and warming up. If you scare them they'll jump into the water and swim away.

It wasn't terrorists, or a car accident hitting a power pole, but an Iguana - that killed power to supposedly 20,000 in Tamarac and Pompano Beach. Although ASMT is near the area we were not affected and had no power or Internet outage from the incident. It is interesting because it was so close by.

I guess they are going to have to word those "Danger High Voltage" signs in Iguana language as well as English and Spanish. The Iguana was pronounced dead on discovery by Florida Power and Light (not normally a medical organization.)

I guess they are going to have to "Beef up Security around the Whopper" (as a pun and quote from the old War Games movie.) If an Iguana can get in then who/what else can get in?

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net

I've posted a new Ericsson W25 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page online here: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25_FAQ/

This is in order to assist visitors and customers in finding answers to their questions about the Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Internet GSM/UMTS/HSDPA Router.

If you still have unanswered questions please give me a call.

Thanks,

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

Ericsson W25 Main Page:
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

* This blog posting is on behalf of another party. You will be dealing with them direct. No warranty, guarantee, or recommendation is implied on the part of Alan Spicer or Alan Spicer Marine Telecom. Please deal with the seller directly.

A large lot of TopGlobal MB8000 - Mobile Bridge - Wireless Laptop Card Router with built-in 802.11b Wifi Access point. 600 pieces available.

Feel free to contact the seller direct: dewey@powerlinkproducts.com

$225.00 each for single unit purchases.

Discounts for quantity purchases. The seller is looking primarily for purchasers of large quantities.

This is a router with VPN passthrough capability, for mobile or fixed home or business use. It takes a lot of PC Card (Laptop Card) type of Internet Cards by Verizon, AT&T, and others and shares it onto a local wired or wireless network.

External antennas can be done as well, you just have to get a card that has an external antenna jack, and the correct cables to connect it to an outside antenna.

Feel free to contact the seller direct: dewey@powerlinkproducts.com

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

The Ericsson W25 - 3G Internet and Cellular Voice Router - $769.95 + Shipping (new lower pricing, save around $200)

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

New lower pricing on the Ericsson W25 - add worldwide capable voice and Internet capability to your vessel.

High Speed Downlink Packet Access - HSDPA fast Laptop Connect type of Internet Service - shared onto an onboard network for wired and wireless computers.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

For Marine/Yachts, Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is working with a new Marine Rated Mobile WiFi Hotspot Sharing Product.

Features...

1.) High Quality Outdoor/Marine Rated Main Unit

2.) 9dB Marine Omni-Directional Antenna

3.) Smaller cable to run down from Arch or Mast area. (We used to have to run LMR-400 fat coax cable) now we can run CAT5 type network cable to carry both power and the network data connection.

4.) Antenna goes closer to the Transmitter/Receiver. Lower power loss because the Transmitter/Receiver is up by the Antenna, instead of 50 feet away from it.

5.) High power on 802.11b and g, as compared to other solutions.

6.) We can do N- onboard wireless for Multi-antenna / Multi-in Multi-out antenna for better range. Also Power over Ethernet in case there is no power in the location where the onboard access point will get installed.

* Call and ask about it. We're known for fair and reasonable pricing for the marine - yachthing industry. Remote consulting available for Do-It-Yourself, or local installation onboard in the Southeast Florida area.

P.S. Also new lower price on high speed Internet and voice for your phones or PBX using the Ericsson W25 Cellular Terminal. Save about $200 on the previous pricing.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426

* A lot of yachts are using the AVG Free Anti-Virus software made by Grisoft.com. Several yacht customers are purchasing the paid version: AVG Internet Security version 8. This version has a Full Firewall that you may not be used to since the free version did not have that. This breaks some things that your computer wants to do on the local area network. Here's how to get back one of the important things: File and Printer Sharing...

I've made a lab with 2 Windows XP computers and installed AVG Internet Security v.8. I've figured out the steps to allow Windows File and Printer Sharing. This needs to be done on all computers with AVG 8 installed.

How to allow File and Printer Sharing in AVG Internet Security Version 8.

1.) Open Start > Control Panel > Firewall and disable Windows Firewall. If you just instal-
led AVG 8 on this particular computer then chances are this got done for you by AVG.

2.) Double click the AVG icon on the bottom Task Bar by the clock. This opens the AVG
Internet Security control center.

3.) Double click on the Firewall icon in the Security Components and status overview. This
opens the Firewall Component.

4.) Look in this window at Firewall settings section. Make sure you know what your
Selected Firewall profile: is. (Recommend: Small home or office network.) If you aren't set
at this profile run the Configuration Wizard again and select: Small home or office network.

I will use "Small home or office network" from now on in these instructions, so if you are
not using that adjust accordingly these instructions.

5.) In the menus at the top of the AVG Internet Security window click on:

Tools > Firewall Settings

Another window box opens. This is Firewall Settings.

6.) Click on the "+" to the left of "small office or home network". The tree of settings now
expands below that.

7.) Click to highlight "System services".

8.) Click the "Add" button. New system rule opens.

9.) Change the name of "New system rule" to "File and Printer Sharing" that way later if
you view it you know what it is there for.

10.) Change the "System Rule Details" drop down box from "Block" to "allow for all".

11.) Under "System Rule Action" click the "Add" button.

12.) Below that in the list of "Service name" scroll down to find "SMB - Microsoft Printer
and File Sharing". Check the box to the left of that. Don't check any other boxes in there.

13.) At the bottom of that window box click "Apply" and "OK" buttons one after the other.

14.) You've just allowed FILE AND PRINTER SHARING to this computer's AVG Firewall.

* * * * Do this for all computers with AVG Internet Security version 8

---
Alan Spicer
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
http://www.marinetelecom.net

954-683-3426

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom - has always provided services for laptops such as Virus Removal, Cleanups of the OS and Re-Installations (and such). ASMT is working with a local professional laptop repair company in Southeast Florida to provide laptops repairs and data recovery (if the laptop is beyond economical repair) to yachts in the Southeast Florida area.

ASMT will provide pickup and delivery of laptops for service in the local area. The pickup, delivery, and estimate charge is $50.00 for each laptop. A quote will be given before repair. For laptops not worth repair you're only out $50.00. Data recovery is often possible as well for laptops not worth repair or laptops where the Operating System has to be re-installed.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

ASMT Bulletin... I received the following information from Captain John on Trinity Motor Yacht - Serendipity II. I've already heard reports (AT&T Wireless Engineer here locally) that Digital Antenna amplifiers, and particularly the DA4000SBR type of "repeaters" can cause problems to cellular providers towers. I had never received an actual report from a yacht customer of having any problems (other than non-working units that get replaced) with the gear. Well now I'm a believer. Now I have a real life report of a problem happening. And it was with a DA4000SBR that had been replaced already so it's fairly new. For those of you running Digital Antenna DA4000SBR "repeaters" you might want to consider taking it out. If you cannot, then at least check it periodically. Maybe add it to your daily checks or "watchstander list of checks" to check and see if the unit has a green light. If it ("occassionally and briefly blinks "Red"".) Unplug it right away. When you plug it back in watch it even more closely after that. If it continues to be found to occassionally and briefly blink "Red"... you've got a problem!!!!

We are all responsible for radio signals that we emit from our equipment. We need to be good R.F. (Radio Frequency) neighbors to others on the airwaves and especially to radio carriers such as cellular service providers. We should do whatever we can to make sure that our gear is not causing harmful interference. I am going to stop recommending Digital Antenna DA4000SBR for this purpose. If I get reports on any other Digital Antenna gear I may stop recommending their amplifiers altogether. I've been told that it is already a very grey area to even be authorized to run such amplifiers and that such use may go away any day now. I've been told that newer cellular tower systems already employ power control capabilities that monitor and adjust automatically the cellular tower power, and the power from customer cellular equipment. Amplifiers, going forward, may not even be as necessary as *some people* think they are. A good antenna and cable system may be all that's needed to have a good Cellular Internet and Telephone System.

[Begin Quote]

I wanted to touch base with you to let you know about the Digital Antenna PowerMax I "was" using with the Ericsson Cell Phone/Data. Alltel Network came knocking on my hull yesterday saying an interferance was coming from our boat to their Channel 294 A-Band and blocking cell phone calls. She showed me on this really cool frequency tracking device and the spike in the frequency. As soon as I shut the power off to the PowerMax the problem disappeared. She told me these particular units made by Digital Antenna have caused problems in the past.
Before unplugging the unit we both noticed the usually green power light would occassionally and briefly blink "Red". So the unit must have been on the blink again. Remember in November [2007] you found the unit not working at all and I had it repair.
I am removing it from the boat for good and attaching the antenna directly to the Ericsson. So there will be no worries about this in the future. But I thought you might want to know about this product and that I am not an isolated incident.
Regards,

--
John & Crew
M/Y SERENDIPITY II

[End Quote]

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom - we had a network outage this morning around 03:00 Eastern Time. The entire Internet link went down. It appears to be on the Bellsouth.net side of the link. All gear seems to check out here. Rebooted WAN Router, Rebooted Server, still no link to Bellsouth.net (now affectionately known as AT&T.)

About 03:30 - called the outage in to Bellsouth.net/AT&T. Was given a trouble ticket # and appointment for approx. 08:00.

About 09:30 - having received no phone call from Bellsouth/At&T I tried again to bring up the link. It worked! Throttled the firewalls (2 of them) and the Alan Spicer Telecom Network is back up. The web services are back on the Internet.

About 10:30 - received a phone call from Bellsouth/AT&T, the "inside" tech that comes to check your computer and WAN Router and such wanting to come and check the problem. I advised him that he didn't need to come as we're back up as of around 09:30 approximately.

* Note: About every 6-months or so this seems to happen. The problem is usually a card for my "port" in the router at the Bellsouth/AT&T box down the street. We're copper wire pair for only a couple thousand feet to there, the card and their router, and then Fiber Optic back to the Central Office (C.O.). Usually replacing the card fixes the problem. I'll assume that's what they've done.

* I apologize for any inconvenience to visitors to my web site. Please report any lingering problems that you may notice in my web services.

[Event End]

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
954-977-5245

New: CradelPoint (spelling correction: CradlePoint) MBR1000 Mobile Broadband Router

New Product. Yes sir! Another one of those super-cellularistic things. What's neat about this one is that it handles the newer Express Card as well as USB Cards being issued by the cellular providers these days.

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Cradlepoint-MBR1000.htm

It also has the capability of being tethered (in a pinch?) to some handset cellular devices with 3G Cellular Internet.

It doesn't have voice cellular but it does have lots of other nice features such as:

Express Card Slot
2 USB slots
WAN Port (for landline or other "Ethernet LAN" type of Internet)
Failover capability to up to 3 Internet Connections besides Ethernet
VPN Passthrough capability

* Because it uses Cellular Modem Cards from the Cellular Provider, yachts or other mobile platforms would still have to figure out the External Antenna problem. You'd have to get a cellular card (or cards?) that has an external antenna jack, as well as the jumper coax cables with the correct plugs. Not to mention the main coax cable and the cellular antenna itself. But it's as do-able as other ones that I've deployed such as the Junxion Box.

If you don't mind it not having cellular voice (no RJ-11 jacks and Analog to Cellular conversion such as on the Ericsson W25's) then this could be another good option for yachts, boats, and other mobile platforms. You could always do Voice-over-IP (Broadband Internet Telephone) as long as you are in connection range. And use something else for cellular voice when roaming.

Cradlepoint was already a great thing, but they've also just been acquired by Sierra Wireless. If you've paid attention to cellular cards for the last few years, well YES you've heard of Sierra Wireless. That can only be a great thing as well.

I've not had my hands on one of these units yet, so I'm looking for any yachts that would be interested in trying one. I'm sure it's a GREAT PRODUCT. And I'm seeking my first marine vessel customer to try one. If it doesn't work out we could always put something else on the same Marine Cellular Antenna. But I'll bet it does work out.

Oh did I mention 802.11n built-in WiFi. Mimo with 3 antennas. Might cover a good chunk of your boat as it is, and more access points could be added in a network using the MBR1000 anyway.

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

4 x W20a demo units in stock (at distributor) Special Price 1/3 the price of Ericsson W25 (note: no voice, and US only 850/1900 Mhz Cellular Networks):

- 850/1900 (only work in the North America and Telstra in Australia)

- Missing packaging parts but all accessories

- Units may be slightly marked

- Speed limited to 1.8mbps

- Data only (no voice)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who would be interested in this? Yachts/Boats/Marine that want to put cellular fast Internet but don't care about the PBX/Phone Line Voice jack that the W25 has, and want to save a lot on the W25 price. These users would only want to use the unit in North America (the U.S.) and won't care about going to other countries that use the 900/1800 Mhz cellular bands. Other users on land such as for remote locations (e.g. house on a remote site for remote camera/security monitoring) or land mobile vehicles of all types that don't have to travel outside the U.S.

This is a limited time offer, as available (there are only 4), and the cost is about 1/3rd of the W25 pricing. The buyer would be responsible for shipping. Please contact Alan Spicer - 954-683-3426 if you are interested. Each one, single unit price, $350.00. 30 days install support by telephone and email by Alan Spicer Marine Telecom.

Ericsson W20a for Americas

Data/Internet Only - 1.8mbps
Dual-band WCDMA (850/1900)
Dual- band GSM (850/1900)
HSDPA/EDGE/GPRS Data
USB 2.0 Interface
Ethernet Port
4 port 10/100 Mbit Router
WiFi 802.11

Note: Brochure and Manuals for W20A are available here:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W20A

---
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
954-977-5245

Software Release Announcement
Date: 3/27/2008
Technical Bulletin

No. 08-02

Northstar PRN32 Status

Software Release Announcement

Dear Northstar Customers, Dealers and Sales Representatives,

Several older generation Northstar products are potentially affected by the introduction of the new satellite PRN32 into the GPS constellation. This new satellite was activated 27th of February 2008. The internal GPS engine used by Northstar in these affected units may not recognize the new satellite which may cause the unit to operate incorrectly or fail when this satellite is in view. The affected GPS software versions were used in production from 1997-2003. These units are no longer covered under a warranty period.

It is recommended that users of the affected products check their current GPS RX software version (not the same as system software version) on the "Service" information menu accessed by using the star key. Note that units that have been serviced or upgraded may have newer software.

If the GPS software version is on the list shown below, then a software patch will need to be installed on the unit to remedy this issue.

Affected System Information

The following Marine systems are affected:

941/951/952 Navigators

w/ GPS Software Versions:046, 050, 052, 054, 057, 058, 059, 060, 060B

961/962 Navigators

w/ GPS Software Versions: 046, 050, 052, 054, 057, 058, 059, 060, 060B

For more information, please read this Technical Bulletin.

* See the Northstar web page:

http://www.northstarnav.com/About/News/Software-Release-Announcement/

For that link, in case it may be newer than the bulletin that I'm making available on www.marinetelecom.net/Northstar

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Panbo's Marine Electronics Blog is also on the story regarding the GPS glitches occurring to some Northstar GPS equipments. So you check out:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2008/04/another_gps_glitch_some_northstars_affected.html

And see what else they've found out about the issue.

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Another report in on GPS Satellite receiver problems related to the new GPS Satellite Launch. Northstar 941's had problems, Northstar 6000's did not have problems:

ALAN... Thanks for the info ...just arrived Ft. Laud and our 941's have had to be rebooted about every 12 hours since we left St. Barts. However our Northstar 6000's gave us no problem. I will pass this info on to our tech upon his arrival. Thanks....Capt. Dan....M/Y HIGH TIDE II

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Before I owned a newer PC computer myself I made some attempts to play High Definition Videos downloaded from the Internet, such as High Definition Movie Trailers and Nasa Videos. My aging Pentium 4 with about 768 Mb of Memory struggled with those videos so I gave up for awhile.

I recently got a re-conditioned HP Desktop machine with an Intel Core 2 Duo and 2Gb of Memory. It also has Windows Vista Home Premium. I was happy to find out that it did very well with High Definition Video Downloads off of the Internet.

So if you're wondering what to do with that new Core 2 Duo Laptop that you just got for your yacht, or that Core 2 Duo Desktop PC that you just got. Give HD Video a try. Just search for that in google.com or your favorite search engine.

The Windows Media Player, as well as the Media Center (Media Center PC's or Laptops) both seem to come equipped with the proper Decoders to handle the new HD video formats. Also Apple Quicktime which now comes with Itunes bundled together has HD Video capability, and their web site has videos for you to try out.

Be careful though, because HD videos are much bigger than some of the videos that you may be used to from off of the Internet (such as YouTube.com and such) but are usually worth the wait to download them. Some will start playing as they are downloading. Yachts watch your bandwidth usage if your Internet connection has any kind of bandwidth limitations or extra costs for lots of download usage.

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

Hey Alan,

Thanks for that update. My Northstar 941 has been on the blink for weeks now.

I have forwarded this on to my friends out on the West Coast to bring them up to speed.

Keep up the good work, Robb

Captain Robb
Motor Yacht Adventurer

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

(I received an email from Captain John on Motor Yacht Serendipity II. It seems he had problems with two Northstar 941X GPS units onboard the vessel while underway. The problem seems to be, interestingly, related to a new GPS Satellite launch. Here is the complete email. I'm also providing a PDF doc of the Northstar bulletin, which I originally received from John as an MS Word document.)

Hi Alan!
An interesting experience on our way up to Virginia I thought you might like to know about as I see you keep track of satellite technology. I discovered the hard way there is a new GPS Satellite [PRN32] that began transmitting last month. The problem stems from the older receivers' non-compliance with the GPS interface standard, IS-GPS-200. I have two NorthStar 941X GPS and for about six hours a day the receivers went blank. One is tied into my Sat Phone and the other into the ARPA Radar, Transas Electronic Chart and the Naiad Stabilizer. So for a part the day the delivery became quite lively as everything stopped working.
I've contacted NorthStar and they just came out with a fix last Thursday. I've just sent ours in for a software update. I have attached their bulletin in case you find someone asking you about it.

--
John Wolff
M/Y SERENDIPITY II

---

* I've posted Captain John's email pretty much just as I received it. There was a file attachment with NorthStar's bulletin about this issue. I'm making it available here:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Northstar/

* I don't know if any other (yacht) marine GPS gear has had problems because of the new GPS Satellite, but if yours does you should get in touch with your equipment vendor as soon as possible for a fix.

There is GPS information available from the US CG at:

https://navcen.uscg.gov/navinfo/Gps/ActiveNanu.aspx

Some interesting links and information were also found by doing the following search via google.com's search engine:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&suggon=0&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS265&q=GPS%2BPRN32

Supposedly some older GPS receivers cannot recognize the 32nd satellite, or otherwise cannot handle the signal from the new satellite.

---
Alan Spicer

Radio Amateur (General): KA4UDX
Restricted Radiotelephone: RR00022962
General Mobile Radio Service: WQHB349
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office

http://www.marinetelecom.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=48&start=0

* I want to run a longer poll, like I ran on Yacht Forums...

Would you use Analog Fax over Cellular if it were available? We're trying to work with AT&T to get the T.38 Fax over IP Protocol implemented. That would allow Analog Fax equipment to be connected to a normal RJ11 telephone line interface and send/receive faxes over the cellular network (such as AT&T Wireless).

At least one piece of gear, the Ericsson W25:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

supports this protocol, but we need it to be implemented in the cellular carriers network, and there needs to be a gateway that can handle to connecting from Regular Telephone Service to the Cellular Network.

---
Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net
954-683-3426
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

AT&T tells me that High Speed Uplink Packet Access has been added to their AT&T Wireless Network. That's another part of the Cellular High Speed Technologies in UMTS with HSPA - High Speed Packet Access. Many have already gotten HSDPA in Laptop Cards and Voice and Data Routers such as the Ericsson W25.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Speed_Packet_Access

Those that use laptop cards can replace their current card now with one capable of the high speed uplink as well as the existing downlink speeds. Ericsson is coming out with an HSUPA capable unit Ericsson W35 reportedly in August this year. I've created a web page for it which is basically just a stub for now (a marking spot, kind of like parking spot!) where I will have them available for sale just as soon as I can get them. I will have information on that page as it becomes available.

http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35

High Speed upload may not matter to some, but if you ever have to send large files (video, audio, picture images) you might like the boost in speed.

Speeds in the Internet world are often not symmetrical for consumers. That's why the most common DSL is called ADSL, Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line. The same thing has been the case in Cellular Internet. The upload speed was not as fast as the download speed. I guess the Internet Speed landscape is changing. Now I'd just like to see if we really get all of that speed that they are promising. I'd like to see us getting 3.6 and 7.2 Mb/s download speeds, and the same kind of speed in the upload side as well.

Cable and DSL users get 3 Mb/s and even 6 Mb/s download speed these days, but the upload speeds are usually not anywhere near that. Again it would be nice for our boating and yachting friends to get these kinds of speeds on download, and soon on upload as well.

HSUPA and HSDPA with compatible devices (Ericsson W25 now, and soon Ericsson W35) will allow yachts to be online at high speeds while using the cellular voice for telephone calls simultaneously. This same capability can be deployed in land based vehicles as well and in remote sites to provide Internet and Landline Telephone Service replacement or backup functionality.

Thanks,

---
Alan Spicer

Radio Amateur (General): KA4UDX
Restricted Radiotelephone: RR00022962
General Mobile Radio Service: WQHB349
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office

From: Ben Ellison
To: Alan Spicer
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 17:10
Subject: Micro295 comment

Hi Alan, I tried to comment on your latest blog entry, but got booted. Here tis:

This looks a heck of a lot like an EnGenius EUB, which costs about $50. I've heard that EnGenius stuff is pretty good, but this unit is limited as you note.

And thanks for plugging Panbo.com!

Best, Ben

---
I don't have problem plugging Panbo.com, Ben, because it is Fan-Electro-Nautical-Tastic!!!!!!!!!!! And I love it. And so do a lot of people.

Good hearing from you,

Alan Spicer

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Micro295

I'm checking a bit into this Micro295 thing that's supposed to be for marine / boats / yachts (?) that I saw in West Marine today.

To each his own... and West Marine is great place. But I wonder how many people, really? are putting just one computer on a WiFi connection? These must be really small boats? I have to wonder about a USB connection to a WiFi Hotspot connection device. What else can you connect that to?

Most of my customers want 2, 3, 5? laptops; and maybe some other PC computers and probably printer(s) on their network as well.

So I guess with this Micro295 thing that you're gonna have to share it with Windows, if you're gonna have your wife (your crew? your guests?) get online as well. And Windows is an ugly beast for sharing Internet Connections on a boat. Good luck with that!

200mW ? Well that's already being beat. Been there, do that...

I also have to wonder about anything less than LMR400 cable for a WiFi antenna? And 20 feet, that's not even going to reach outside.

---
Alan Spicer

Radio Amateur (General): KA4UDX
Restricted Radiotelephone: RR00022962
General Mobile Radio Service: WQHB349
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office
* skype:alanspicertelecom

* New firmware is coming on the current W25's being shipped, and is available for updating current units. My customers please contact me if you need this update. It's needed mainly for those traveling out of the U.S., and provides a manual as well as the automatic setting of GSM/UMTS Frequency Bands.

Please see my W25 page.

Thanks,

---
Alan Spicer

Radio Amateur (General): KA4UDX
Restricted Radiotelephone: RR00022962
General Mobile Radio Service: WQHB349
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office
* skype:alanspicertelecom

We have a very interesting poll online on Yachtforums.com. All U.S. Yacht Owners, Captains, Etc. should check it out and vote in the poll.

Here's the link:

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/technical-discussion/8659-cellular-fax-yachts-u-s-t.html

Cellular Fax for Yachts in the U.S. (AT&T)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

I'm trying to find out how much real need and desire there is for Fax Capability over Cellular in the U.S. (for now). AT&T doesn't seem to think there is enough interest in it to add the capability into their Cellular Network.

Newer cellular gear, such as Ericsson W25 comes with a T.38 Fax Over IP capability but it doesn't work unless there is certain things in the cellular carriers network as well as someone doing the Gateway to the normal Telephone Landline system.

It seems that most yachts that I've worked on are faxing one way or the other, or are needing to. Many have to walk down to a marina office to fax out and receive faxes. Most yachts have "all-in-one" style fax-capable printers. So would you like to be able to send and receive faxes from the yacht????

So I'd like to poll and see what the interest is on here for Fax over Cellular - with a bent towards AT&T in the U.S. Because AT&T is the one many yachts will be on for Cellular Voice and Internet (because GSM/UMTS).

So what do you say? Please take the poll...

---
Alan Spicer

Radio Amateur (General): KA4UDX
Restricted Radiotelephone: RR00022962
General Mobile Radio Service: WQHB349
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office
* skype:alanspicertelecom

I just wanted to give a local update. I've been working on a number of remote projects consulting on do-it-yourself cellular, satellite, or wifi Internet access systems, as well as having finished up some local yachts. I've one more local job to finish here in the next few days; and then I'm open for any yacht needing my services.

Anyway, feel free to call me at any time. Ordering equipment and other gear for systems can be ordered at any time, as this often takes time to have shipped in.

If you're on a yacht and need consulting or other help related to Internet, Computer Networking, Communications, and such please give me a call or drop me an email.

WIFI INTERNET ACCESS FOR YACHTS
CELLULAR FAST INTERNET FOR YACHTS
ONBOARD YACHT COMPUTER NETWORKS AND INTERNET CONNECTION SHARING
PHONE/FAX/DATA AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

Thanks,

---
Alan Spicer

a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office
* skype:alanspicertelecom

Internet for Boats! Step up the HSDPA 3G Fast Internet!

Ericsson W25 released in the USA.

Voice / Fax / High Speed Internet
Voice for your analog jacks or PBX Cell Line + 4 port
CAT5 Ethernet Router and Built-in WiFi Wireless
Replace older Ericsson F series or Telular Boxes
Go To:
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

ASMT Bulletin: Savetheinternet.com - Net Neutrality - New bill in the U.S. House

THIS WOULD BE A SPECIAL BULLETIN FROM ALAN SPICER MARINE TELECOM...

* This is something that I believe in. And I think you will too. Under various excuses our Internet Providers are moving forward to snoop into our traffic and filter or block whatever they decide they want to block. Some reasons might be the RIAA or MPAA because they think we are downloading or uploading movies or music. Other reasons might be that we use too much speed or bandwidth compared to other customers (who must be doing nothing on the Internet?). Anyway they either are, or are planning on telling us where we can and cannot go on the Internet, or how fast we can go (if one company paid them money we'd go there faster, going to other companies web sites we'd either be slower or maybe one day not be allow to go at all?)

I've been following this for a couple of years myself, and have contacted my representatives at every opportunity that www.freepress.net and the www.savetheinternet.com have given me by notifying me by email. If you would like to keep a free Internet - and let Lawmakers know that we'd rather not be sold-down-the-river by our ISP's - then I think you should go to Savetheinternet.com and put in your zip code and let your representatives know. This includes those of us on Cable, DSL, Cellular, WiFi, and Satellite Internet services. We can ALL be affected by this. IF THEY CAN LET US HAVE VIRUSES AND SPAM, THEN THEY CAN DARNED SURE LET US GET WHATEVER ELSE WE WANT ON THE INTERNET. (I don't condone copyright infringment of movies, music, or software; but there are other kinds of Video and Audio that we'd like to be able to download and upload freely [our choice] on the Internet. I'd rather not have our ISP's sniffing our traffic and telling us what we can and cannot do.)
Dear Alan,
Video: Rep. Ed Markey talks about his new bill

Last night, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House that would stop Comcast, Verizon and AT&T from controlling the free flow on information on the Internet.

The only way we can stop these gatekeepers is if we all take action to support this crucial legislation:

In 2006, your voice helped stop mighty phone and cable companies from gutting Net Neutrality. In 2007, you pried open their cell phone networks and gave users a choice.

This year, we're going to stop Internet blocking and censorship once and for all.

Why This is Important: Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) introduced the "Internet Freedom Preservation Act" (HR 5353) to stop relentless corporate attempts to set up roadblocks on the information superhighway.

It guarantees Net Neutrality by restoring it in the foundation of communications law. This bold move promises that the public -- not phone and cable companies -- will control the fate of the Internet.

The legislation also calls for a nationwide series of public hearings before anyone in Washington hands these gatekeepers and their lobbyists more power. (Read more about the bill here)

How Far We've Come: In 2006, more than 1.5 million Americans called on Congress to keep gatekeepers off our Internet. Last year, more than a quarter-million people sent comments to the FCC and opened up cell-phone networks to user choice and innovation.

This new bill was made possible by our amazing grassroots movement. SavetheInternet.com has brought together Democrats and Republicans, consumer groups and small businesses, bloggers and video gamers, in a new bottom-up majority that's shaking up the status quo.

What You Can Do: For too long, communications policymaking has been rigged against us. But by taking action to support this bill, you're telling Congress that high-priced lobbyists will no longer set the agenda.

The purpose of the Internet is to give power over information to everyone. The role of our elected leaders is to protect our basic right to communicate from those who want to take it away from us.

We've started a new chapter in the fight for an open Internet. We realize that it takes more than one piece of legislation to reverse decades of corrosive telecom policies.

But with this bill -- and your help -- we are on our way.

Thank you,

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
SavetheInternet.com

P.S. Bloggers, activists and Internet experts are logging on to the Free Press Action Network to discuss Net Neutrality, an open Internet and people-powered broadband policy. Join the discussion at http://www.freepress.net/action/

---
Alan Spicer

Radio Amateur (General): KA4UDX
Restricted Radiotelephone: RR00022962
General Mobile Radio Service: WQHB349
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting...
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)

* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
*
* 954-683-3426 Business Mobile
* 866-977-5245 Toll Free 800#
* 954-977-5245 Office
* skype:alanspicertelecom

Internet for Boats! Step up the HSDPA 3G Fast Internet!

Ericsson W25 released in the USA.

Voice / Fax / High Speed Internet
Voice for your analog jacks or PBX Cell Line + 4 port
CAT5 Ethernet Router and Built-in WiFi Wireless
Replace older Ericsson F series or Telular Boxes
Go To:
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

Yacht Communications is another "mobile platform" that many on land don't think about very often. And you wonder sometimes, as much as the carriers talk about "mobile", that they haven't noticed yachts passing by or docked in a nearby marina. They must all be inland somewhere. Helloooo? Yachts are People too! Many of your customers are on yachts. Hellooo? Can you hear me (us) now????

Convergence it's what's for Dinner. You may or may not be familiar with the term, but it gets bounced around in the telecommunications and computer (I.T) circles a lot. It mainly describes what's happening with voice (audio), video, and data communications and services these days. Things are definately different than they used to be. The traditional telephone service has moved on to the mobile environment not only by cellular but by Broadband Phone (Voice over IP) over the Internet. Voice often no longer just pertains to talking, but audio including high fidelity and stereo music and surround sound on capable equipment. Video is traveling with us everywhere via DVD's and Satellite TV services, and is not only viewed on the traditional salon (living room for you land lubbers) but on desktop and laptop computers as well.

Computers have had to become more powerful to handle playing DVD's or to receive video content from other services, the up and coming one being the Internet.

Audio Visual (A/V) equipment has crossovers into the Networking realm and some such gear talks on a CAT5 (Ethernet) network or Fiber Optic, and Fiber Optic is used for some high quality equipment interconnections.

High Definition Television is definately all the buzz, although one blogger I read said it's approaching where any improvements in the future to TV/Video resolution may be stretching the limits of what our eyes and ears can detect as an improvement. Also some video content begins to show it's limitations (or age) showing the quality of the original source material which can show grainy film, or other defects.

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are still battling it out, and it may turn out in the distant future that DVD won't exist anymore at all. Hard Drives in computers will be replaced by Solid-State storage devices, probably not massively though until the prices come down quite a bit. But it may make computers as well as stored data and video last longer. We've all found out that CD's and DVD's can get scratched and go bad.

Anyway, a lot of things are seeming to "Come Together", Convergence they call it. IPTV - is television or video over an Internet Protocol Network - commonly the Internet. This is also a big buzz. The Telephone Companies, Cable Companies, and just about everyone else are in a hustle and bustle to roll something out. You can already watch TV Series from some networks over the Internet. There are other video content services online as well. Some of the current stuff, such as Youtube, is fun for the occassional entertainment, but the quality (and size of the video screen) leaves a lot to be desired. The Satellite companies are already rolling out Video on Demand (and some cables companies are already pitching a virtual bitch about it, and planning on making US PAY for such insubordinance as to expect to watch TV without paying them to subscribe to it from THEM) and this is going over the Internet. We'll have to see what the quality is like. It's kind of hard to get even Stardard TV (SDTV) over the bandwith of most peoples Internet connections, much less expect HDTV to fit across the pipe.

Compression, Compression, Compression. Location, Location, Location. You thought land was valuable, Bandwidth is likely as valuable as land these days. You've probably heard of CODEC's (Coder Decoders) which is the software side of how to play an encoded movie. All movies are encoded. DVD's used MPEG 2, as the compression technology to make those nice long movies fit on a DVD. Many noticed that to move up to the even longer 2 hour plus movies - the technology had to kick up to Dual-Layer DVD at 8.5 Gigabytes per DVD, instead of the 4.7 Gigabytes of the original DVD. The movie companies didn't tell us that, and it doesn't say that on store-bought DVD disks. But if you've bought a computer or DVD Writer (Burner!) lately chances are you've got a Dual-Layer capable one. The Dual Layer Disks cost more, and I think most people still don't buy them. But if you've ever burned some video content onto a DVD that was 2 hours plus (more than 4.7 Gb) then you ended up buying Dual Layer Disk media to burn it on to. Either that or you used something else like the free DVD Shrink, or the stuff that comes with Nero Burning Rom software, to shrink that movie even more so that it would fit on a 4.7 Gb Disk. DVD-9 is another name for Dual Layer 8.5 Gb DVD. DVD-5 is another name for Single Layer DVD. So if you took the latter method, to save money on DVD media costs, and traded the costs for the (much) extra time it takes to shrink it, then you've done some more compression. Probably introduced some loss of quality or what they call compression artifacts. Hopefully you got the quality good enough that noone, including yourself, probably will notice.

The same problems are happening over satellite, for satellite TV; and for the IPTV (Video On Demand) Services that are or will go across the Internet. That's why the videos are such minimal quality and size on sites like YouTube.

Transponders on satellites are VERY expensive. You wouldn't want to have one for yourself. As Sean Connery said in Hunt for Red October (besides saying "Con,Sonar, CRAZY IVAN!!!") - "They're more expensive than drugs". So Satellite TV moves from MPEG 2 - to MPEG 4 AVC for the compression method. This is also used in the IPTV stuff. And probably in the newer DVD technologies as well. So a Satellite provider needs to squeeze (compress on their side, decompress on your side) as much into a transponder as possible. That and have a shoot load of customers to help pay for all that... (At least Bartyles and Jaymes used to say in their commercials "Thank you for your support".)

Voice Telephone and Fax are also moving into the network. Voice over IP it's called. You probably know about Vonage... So besides your landline at dock, if you use it, and cellular voice lines (Cell #1, Cell #2), you could have Broadband Phone - aka - Voice Over IP as a PBX line as well. Fax capability worked for awhile on GSM in the U.S., called Circuit Switched Data and WFAX (Wireless Fax), but Cingular discontinued that due to lack of use (nobody on land cared, although marine mobile still cared about it! But who listens to them???). Last I check some limited success with Fax was still being had over CDMA, ala Verizon. A newer protocol for Fax called T.38 Fax over IP (FoIP) is available. The question is does anyone support it? It sounds a lot like Voice over IP (VoIP) doesn't it? Well it's close. It goes over the IP Network, ala Internet, so therefore it needs a server to handle it. Some newer cellular gear, such as the W25 Cellular Voice and Internet Router by Ericsson, handles the T.38 FoIP protocol, but there still needs to be someone doing The Gateway in the Cellular Network. Word has it AT&T may be giving this a look see for possible implementation. There's also another entity working on being a service provider for that. Anyway it would be nice to have fax back working on the mobile platform such as Yachts! So stay tuned.

* I like to hear from my customers, and potential customers, so if any has ideas about services that I can provide related to Communications/Computers/Internet (Convergence) please let me know.

Thanks again,

---
Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net

954-683-3426
954-977-5245
communications (at) marinetelecom.net

I wrote here in an earlier blog post about how AT&T and others may be getting ready to snoop and filter their customers Internet connections.

Also the word is out about Time Warner Cable, see the following (below), wanting to charge more depending on how much you download. So now it's not just a matter of having to pay more for a faster speed (or just to plain have broadband Internet) now you may have to pay in tiers depending on how much you want to use it. It's kind of like having a car that can go 200 miles-per-hour - there aren't many places you could drive it that fast, I supposed your just supposed to be happy THAT IT COULD GO THAT FAST. I guess we're supposed to accept the Internet that way as well. You can't download fast (for very long/for very much) but you can brag to your friends that you have X Megabits Per Second Internet Speed.

I guess this means we're supposed to accept that we can have our Internet Cake, but we can't Eat it Too!

So now they're again going to tell us what we can and cannot do. And who can go so fast or how far (how long). It sure smells like more Net Neutrality stuff, but now instead of being a problem of the threat of net in-equality at the backbone level, now we have to worry about the threat of Net In-Equality in the Last Mile. The part going to our homes and such.

(quote)
Time Warner Cable in Beaumont, Texas will begin testing a new program where they will charge new customers for the amount of bandwidth they use. Customers will be able to select bandwidth packages which they feel is best for their expected usage, planned packages include 5GB, 10GB, 20GB and 40GB packages. Users going over the bandwidth limits for the month will be charged an overage charge for each additional GB (gigabyte) the customer uses. (Customers will receive an email before their bandwidth limit is passed alerting them that they are about to go over their limit)
(/quote)

The above and the following from:
http://www.multichannel.com/blog/350000435/post/1650020365.html?nid=3909

Satellite TV companies are rolling out video on demand via fast Internet Connections that people have in their homes (or other premises - and even mobile environments [such as marine/boats/yachts]) Scott Greczkowski of the multichannel.com blog (and http://www.satelliteguys.us/ The Satellite Guys Forum) says the following:

(quote)
And So It Begins
January 18, 2008
As the year 2007 came to a close both satellite companies rolled out their new Internet based video on demand services, I wrote in my column wondering how long it was going to take the cable companies providing the bandwidth to consumers to put their foot down on this type of activity. Well now we know.
(/quote)

More at Scott's Blog as given above.

Some people might begin to think they are paying good money to be on a "Sphincternet"! See:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=internet(s)&page=2

(quote)
a really crappy internet connection made by compounding the words Sphincter and Internet.

i hate my sphincternet. im only getting 1 kb/s.
(/quote)

Anyway I hope this causes some campaigns against this type of stuff. I hope something, some agency, someone; forces Internet Providers to give us whatever speed level we pay for, for as much as we want to download. And I hope they don't start telling us that we can't watch video, or download large files such as operating system cd's (read: Linux and such). They don't need to be telling us what we can do AT ALL with our Internet connections as long as what we do is legal and doesn't harm anyone or anything. If they don't have enough bandwidth then they should have to own up to that fact and tell every one of their customers. It's a bit late in the game to not have enough bandwidth and keep signing up customers.

---
Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Teleco