Old and Modern Marine Gadgets

| Tuesday, September 27, 2011
By Nia Lawrence


Nowadays, a wide range of modern marine tools and equipment such as a Raymarine a50d is available in the market. As such devices are only invented now, many people wonder how it was back then. With the absence of modern marine gadgets, what did ancient sailors and navigators use in their sea journeys? Here's something that can give you a brief peek of ancient sea navigation history.

Even if ancient sailors did not have the fortune to have modern marine tools, they still navigated using a variety of tools. One of them is a compass. Chinese people are believed to have made this tool. A compass is used for directions. Other tools are astrolabe, crosstaff, sextant, and quadrant. They are used to measure the altitude and angle of the sun or any other celestial or heavenly bodies.

They also used maps, but, of course, don't expect something that can rival today's maps and global positioning system such as those that can be seen in a Raymarine GPS device. At first, early sailors did not have any maps; they were even called coastal navigators. This was because they did not really go far away from the coastline; they stayed close to shore as they used towns and the shoreline as their points of reference. They cannot fully embark on a sea travel for fear of being lost at sea. Sea travel improved years later, when someone thought it wise to record previous sea expeditions on charts. These charts were continuously developed to provide guidance to the early sailors and navigators. Since then, a lot of marine tools and equipment have been invented and developed.

It was in the 1930s when the first practical radar was invented and used. Radar is short for "radio detection and ranging." These days, we have the likes of Raymarine radar. Radar is used to determine the location of objects that are beyond a person's range of vision. It locates them by projecting radio waves against these objects. Since then, radar has been a useful tool for sailors as it helps them locate other marine vehicles, especially when sea visibility is reduced. Radars today are naturally more modern. The Raymarine gadget, for one, is being run by computer software. One can have his choice of either a radome or open array antenna for this radar gadget. Its multi-function display provides the user with ease of use in terms of control and operation. It is also adaptable to the ever-changing sea environment.

Modern technology and man's continuous quest for modernization paved the way for the invention and innovation of many modern marine devices. These days, different companies make it their business to manufacture modern marine equipment. Raymarine, a top leading provider of marine gadgets, is one of those companies. Their products, like the popular Raymarine a70d, are available online. As evidenced by many positive reviews on their products, Raymarine continues to be a top source of quality, effective, and trusted marine tools.




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