Dockmate, manufacturer of wireless remote controls for yachts, announced its next generation of receivers that are built with advanced hardware and communication features. The new Dockmate receiver includes a modernized look and rugged design that is fully compatible with all electronic engine and thruster controls. The receiver is made completely of aluminum, waterproof to IP67. Dockmate® offers the latest in advanced, yet very affordable, wireless remote control technology for your boat.Dockmate® will allow you to operate your boats electronically - controlled engines, thrusters, anchor winch and horn from anywhere on your boat using a small handheld device!
I spent the afternoon with ECRuff Marine and Dockmate to see what it takes to install and use the latest dock assist remote control from Dockmate.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: Hey Sarah O’ Kelly here with Skipper’s Review TV and I am on location with ECRuff Marine and dockmate. We are actually in Naples Florida on a 58-foot Absolute yacht. EC Ruff has installed a dock assist remote control. Basically this remote gives access to all your equipment that’s needed to dock your boat but with the luxury of being able to leave the helm. I’m gonna let dockmate fill us in a little bit more on what is different about this particular remote as opposed to other ones out on the market.
DOCKMATE: How you doing Sarah, good to see you, thanks for having us. So we got Nikko here, one of our great dealers EC Ruff Marine, did the installation on this boat. This boat has Volvo IPS drives and a side power on/off thruster.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: So tell me a little bit about dockmate, how is it different to install or use than any other remote that’s out on the market at the moment?
DOCKMATE: So dockmate is a completely plug-and-play product.
What is plug and play and what’s so great about it?
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: I’ll stop you right there, what does that mean, plug-and-play?
DOCKMATE: So it basically means that we don’t cut any wires, we don’t splice any wires. We plug right into the existing wiring harness that’s already on the boat. We have pre-made cables for every product that we use. So for side power and and Vitas and you know Volvo Penta everything is plug-and-play.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: If you could give us a quick demo, we’re obviously away from the helm.
DOCKMATE: Let’s do it. We’re gonna turn this baby on. We got control. We’re gonna… you’ll see the background move a little bit. Now I just put the remote in reverse and you can see us move in a bit. We go forward you can see that. We can twist the boat as well. You can probably hear the engines moving. See us twisting a bit right? We want to make sure we see stay clear of the side and everything here. We also can operate the thruster and then we have the the anchor, and the horn as well.
ECRuff Marine did the installation here in Naples, Fl on this Absolute Yacht. So I’m going to engage the DPS and we’re back engaged.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: What we’re gonna see next I think, is Nico’s actually gonna dock the boat using the remote We’ll see how that goes.
We just saw the boat being docked by the dockmate remote. How does the remote communicate with all the main systems?
How does the remote connect with the main systems on the boat?
DOCKMATE: This is a transceiver so it actually transmits and receives. It has a light here to let you know that it’s in communication. We use some special technology called frequency, hopping, spread spectrum which means the system uses five different channels of the four 33 megahertz frequency range simultaneously. It’s hopping five times a second. It really means there are no dead spots on the boat. No loss of communication and our range is like a hundred and fifty feet. You could really go on any edge of the boat and still have full communication.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: Say the bow thruster stops or one of the engines stop, you’re on the deck, you’re maneuvering your boat and one of the main, crucial, systems craps out let’s say. Okay, politely, what are you gonna do?
DOCKMATE: This plugs into the existing systems on the boat so you know if something fails on the boat then it’s also gonna fail on the remote.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: Can you adjust the speed of the engine from say low power, high power is that adjustable or is it just a standard this is what it is?
DOCKMATE: Yeah so that’s where the dockmate is very different than any of the other products out right now. The more you push it forward the more throttle you’re gonna get. If the boat is equipped with proportional thrusters they’re gonna work the same way. The more you move the joystick the more it’s gonna thrust. That’s very unique and that’s something that is especially unique with the dockmate.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: Okay, so let me understand this…normally, on any other system you have one option of let’s say 0 to 25, that’s it, that’s all you get. With dockmate it can be adjusted to go from zero to forty five if you wanted too, or you can keep it at zero to 25? Is that what you’re saying?
Can I have different levels of thrust while using the remote control?
DOCKMATE: So if the boat has proportional thrusters, absolutely. We have our next generation software that can dial in how much thrust you want. If a boat has a bow thruster and a stern thruster, you know that the bow is always gonna overtake the stern, right. We can dial down the bow thruster so that the boat moves exactly even. Our customized software can give the personal touch to this joystick.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: That’s unique to this dock assist remote?
DOCKMATE: Yes it’s unique to ours. Our next generation software is cutting-edge. You literally can change all the little parameters on the joystick.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: Where is it originally designed?
DOCKMATE: The product originates in Belgium, been around for eight years and we’ve been in business here in the United States for two years.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: How is it doing?
DOCKMATE: It’s doing phenomena. Yeah so more often than not people don’t know that the technology exists. We tend all the the main boat shows locally and nationwide. We also offer a money-back guarantee so… 30 days has satisfaction guarantee. We’ve never had anybody take us up on it but we’ll see how it goes.
SKIPPER’S REVIEW: Well Mark, thank you so much and good luck.
DOCKMATE: Thank you very much Sarah I appreciate it.
Dockmate, manufacturer of wireless remote controls for yachts, announced its next generation of receivers that are built with advanced hardware and communication features.
The new Dockmate receiver includes a modernized look and rugged design that is fully compatible with all electronic engine and thruster controls. The receiver is made completely of aluminum, waterproof to IP67 rating and measures a mere 9-inches by 8-inches by 3-inches. Additionally, installation is made easier with four newly-incorporated outside mounting slots.
Each receiver integrates the proprietary communications protocol DockLink – a state-of-the-art two-way FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) communication with handshake and GFSK (FM) modulation on the 433 MHz frequency band in North America. FHSS means that every Dockmate uses a unique set of channels in the entire band of 72 channels, and changes from one frequency to another. The FHSS rolling code changes six times per second over six different channels, virtually eliminating any possible chance of interference. The Dockmate signal reaches up to 165-feet.
With two-way communication between the remote (transceiver) and the receiver, the Dockmate system ensures the operator is always aware of communication status. In the unlikely event that the signal is lost, the Dockmate remote control transmitter will sound three alarms: audible (buzzer), visual (flashing light) and tactile (vibration).
Dockmate Dock Bumper Fender
In addition to advances in the Dockmate receiver, the company has also announced the release of two new wireless interfaces for connections with Volvo Penta joysticks and their TJS Gateway. This eliminates the need to install a cable between the main helm and flybridge, which can be time-consuming and sometimes challenging. These new wireless interfaces use the exact same communication protocol as the receiver and remote controls.
Dockmate has also recently developed an Engine Universal Speed Control Interface which enables smooth, fully-proportional and variable-speed throttle control on a wide variety of analog engine controls. This type of engine throttle control allows the user to increase the engine RPMs to have a greater and safer amount control of the boat in a marina when there is current or wind and idle speed is simply not enough to properly maneuver the vessel.
Dockmate Mooring Whips
“We design our products to be the safest remote control systems on the market,” said Brian Sheehan, Dockmate U.S. spokesperson. “The Dockmate system is an effective slow-speed maneuvering system, and our receivers give customers the most affordable and reliable solution available.”
Dockmate Products
For more information please visit www.dockmate.us.