Norwegian marine tech startup, Orca, launches its next-generation smart navigation hub, the Core 2 featuring radar support.
Radar is an important navigation tool that helps in many situations at sea, such as for collision avoidance in heavily trafficked areas or to track a storm front. Radar is also incredibly useful at night, helping boaters identify obstacles and dangers that would otherwise be impossible to see.
Orca Core 2 is the next-generation smart navigation hub from Orca. The new hub has been completely redesigned to support high-bandwidth boat networks via ethernet, allowing connection to other chartplotters, network switches and directly to ethernet devices such as radars. It also makes the Core 2 ready for the NMEA OneNet standard.
When connected to a supported radar, the Orca app on a phone, tablet or via an Orca Display will show a radar overlay on top of your charts. Users will also enable radar controls to adjust gain, range and noise reduction – just like a traditional chartplotter.
The Core 2’s built-in high-accuracy compass and GPS ensure perfect alignment between the radar overlay and charts. The radar controls seamlessly integrate with an existing radar setup and all updates made from Orca are reflected on all radar-capable devices.
Kristian Fallrø, Co-Founder of Orca, commented on the Core 2: “For many boaters, radar is essential for navigation. The Core 2 makes radar more accessible and convenient to use, allowing boaters to track targets and maintain focus on their surroundings, even when they are away from the helm via a phone or tablet.”
Radar overlay and controls are only one of many capabilities the Orca Core 2 has.
The Core 2 delivers autopilot control from all major autopilot manufacturers and instrument access on mobiles and tablets via the Orca app. It also provides cutting-edge sailing calculations for ambitious sailors.
A cornerstone of Orca’s design philosophy is to be usable on every device a boat owner has – ensuring users can connect to the Core 2 and control their radar and autopilot, and view all instruments from any iOS, Android and MacOS device. Apple Watch owners can even control their autopilot from Orca’s WatchOS app. The Orca App is free to download from the Apple AppStore and Google PlayStore.
For boaters who want to use an ultrabright marine-grade display with Orca, the Orca Display 2 is a perfect choice. It gives boaters the same easy-to-use experience as the Orca app, with the ruggedness, brightness and reliability of a marine-grade navigation device.
Orca Core 2 and Orca Display 2 are available for purchase immediately from the Orca Online Store.
