Vesper WatchMate XB-8000 smartAIS Transponder

[CaptTom]

I have and use the XB-8000, but I've never used the anchor watch feature. I find that any navigation app on my phone which leaves a track ("breadcrumbs") allows me to see at a glance whether I'm in the proper swing arc or circle.

I often anchor in places where I'd be up on the rocks before I got far enough outside the watch circle to trigger the alarm. I've left an anchorage through a narrow passage having forgotten to turn off an anchor alarm. When it finally goes off I'm left thinking "that would have been WAY too late!"

I know there are apps which allow you to define non-circular watch areas, but the logistics of setting one up while trying to set the hook make it a challenge. Watch areas generally need to have the anchor as the starting point, not where the boat is after the anchor and scope are set. None of this is insurmountable, but I generally find it more effort than it's worth. I tend to be a very light sleeper when I'm on the hook in an unfamiliar anchorage!

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

I have and use the XB-8000, but I've never used the anchor watch feature. I find that any navigation app on my phone which leaves a track ("breadcrumbs") allows me to see at a glance whether I'm in the proper swing arc or circle.

I often anchor in places where I'd be up on the rocks before I got far enough outside the watch circle to trigger the alarm. I've left an anchorage through a narrow passage having forgotten to turn off an anchor alarm. When it finally goes off I'm left thinking "that would have been WAY too late!"

I know there are apps which allow you to define non-circular watch areas, but the logistics of setting one up while trying to set the hook make it a challenge. Watch areas generally need to have the anchor as the starting point, not where the boat is after the anchor and scope are set. None of this is insurmountable, but I generally find it more effort than it's worth. I tend to be a very light sleeper when I'm on the hook in an unfamiliar anchorage!

While I don’t think you can set a non-circular arc in vesper Anchor Watch, you can “reposition” the swing point needs also set your desired alarm diameter.

[dlentz]

Originally Posted by captNordy

I purchased one 2 years ago and used it perfectly up until the Wifi chip died. At that time Vespar was purchased by Garmin and support is now useless. I still use it for the AIS trans/rec, but have moved to a PredictWind DataHub for transmitting NEMA2000 data to other devices over wifi.

Same thing. Vesper/Garmin was little help. The Sp160 splitter also died once, had to repair myself.

[chris in SG]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

This is one of the things that the Vesper employee who used to frequent these forums promised back when they were actively developing and maintaining the XB-8000. There was a whole list of data types they were working on adding, including engine data.

Then they started development on their Cortex line. Something changed at Vesper. Forum support disappeared, and XB-8000 development ground to a halt. The final nail in the XB-8000 coffin was when they sold out to Garmin. Just as with DeLorme before them, a fantastic product line was essentially abandoned. I don't know if Vesper experienced the same massive layoffs and shutdowns as DeLorme did, but it's obvious things are now done "The Garmin Way."

I am pasting the text from a marketing email from Milltech Marine. Could not make a full link work:


"XB-8000 End of an Era
After 10+ years we say goodbye to the Vesper XB series, including the award winning smartAIS Vision and XB-8000.

The very first shipment of the XB-8000, pictured below, was on October 29th, 2012 and shipped from the tiny original Vesper marina office in the heart of Auckland.

We have a few left in stock but once they are gone,
they are GONE...so grab one while you can!


smartAIS
Vesper's smartAIS allows the AIS to be a completely standalone safety device while also allowing for full integration with your navigation system. Share all AIS information with your chart plotter while also having the ability to power down your power hungry MFD while continuing to share your AIS over WI-FI to your smart devices, but also utilize the built-in alarms including AnchorWatch. Even with all the advances of competitive products, the XB-8000 still stands alone with these smart features:

Built-in WiFi
Smart alarm management
Collision prevention alerts
Anchor watch and drift alerts
Man overboard alerts
Integrates navigation sensors, GPS and AIS
Fast 5Hz 50 channel GPS receiver
Low power consumption

BACK WHEN IT MEANT SOMETHING
It's a strange feeling getting emotional about a product but the XB-8000 was so much more than a blue box filled with silicon and plastic. We don't tend to think of inanimate objects as having a personality or soul but it's hard to look at that little blue box without thinking about the voyage Jeff Robbins and Deirdre Schleigh took in their Nordic 40 sailboat named Vesper from Seattle down to the Galapagos before heading across the Pacific to New Zealand. It was during that time aboard Vesper that Jeff began developing what would later become the Vesper WatchMate.


Every time I see an XB-8000 I think about the countless hours spent by the engineers and software developers led by co-founder Carl Omundsen. Or the thousands of miles traveled, dozens of boat shows on several continents, and the untold number of customers that the sales team has spoken to over the years. When the right combination of passion and dedication come together it is truly amazing what can be accomplished. Nowhere was that more evident than with the small group of men and women that came together to save lives and to make boating safer, one little blue box at a time.

In the age of mergers and acquisitions where shareholders are king and executives are more concerned with profits and bonuses over everything, the Vesper story is all too commonplace. Small independent companies are becoming a thing of the past. While there are certainly benefits to having large fully integrated systems or brand specific ecosystems there are also downsides, some obvious, others less so.


Vesper's ethos from the beginning was, “collision avoidance is too important to be buried deep in complex marine electronics.” So while we can look back fondly on the impact Vesper made in boating safety it's hard not to have mixed emotions about this next chapter as they become part of the Garmin ecosystem. It will be exciting to see how the Vesper Cortex gets 'Garmin-ized' but the XB-8000 will always be the little blue box that could, and still does.

BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE
If you've been thinking about getting an XB-8000 now is your chance, your last chance! We have a limited amount of XB-8000's, XB-6000's and SP-160 Splitters in stock BUT once they are gone, they are GONE!"


Apologies if this is already old news..

[moseriw]

in fact the xb-8000 is the heart of my electronics. the collected NMEA's are WiFi'ed to several cheap adroid and linux devices with OpenCPN to maintain the sentence "What I do not have can not brake down"

Once I was on a Bavaria with a fully automated B&G system. We run out of voltage every night at 03:00 a.m. with only one active plotter.

My XB-8000 system runs with 3,2 Amps at full navigation and linux-arm-notebook without autopilot.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by moseriw

..."What I do not have can not brake down"...

Nice philosophy! I think that's part of what kept me from ever taking the Cortex line seriously. Well, that, the price, and the way the XB line was abandoned.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by captNordy

I purchased one 2 years ago and used it perfectly up until the Wifi chip died. At that time Vespar was purchased by Garmin and support is now useless. I still use it for the AIS trans/rec, but have moved to a PredictWind DataHub for transmitting NEMA2000 data to other devices over wifi.

I installed a XB-8000 on my last boat and I loved it. It's a great bit of kit.

With the new boat, I installed a Cortex. I love it. I understand it is not for everyone, but there isn't much space on a Southerly and having VHF/AIS/Monitoring all in one package saves space. Yes - single point of failure, but I have backups for VHF and AIS.

There are some growing pains with a new product, though. I've spent more than a bit with Garmin support trying to resolve issues with the remote monitoring. I believe all of the first and perhaps second tier support for Vesper were laid off. The Garmin 1st/2nd tier didn't have a clue about the Cortex this summer, and likely still don't. It would take two weeks to get elevated to the Vesper team, and then things would usually get fixed directly. Frustrating as Vesper customer support was always so good.