Awards & Testimonials
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WeatherNet took home the Sail Magazine 2004 Pittman Editor’s Choice award From SAIL Magazine Feb 2004, page 58... "Much of WeatherNet’s genius takes place behind the scenes, inside onboard software and shore side servers. OCENS’ goal is similar - efficiently getting you to the bytes you need over a slow connections – but its approach is much more economical (than the competition). WeatherNet offers literally thousands of data options – via Iridium, Globalstar, Mini-M, SSB, or even cellular – for batch downloading. You pay by the piece, even for “free” government data, but the system’s high speed results in a net savings, not to mention less hassle. OCENS has used the same smokin’ technology to create a sister service that lets you run e-mail software like Outlook “20 times faster” over a skinny pipe.” |
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Station
2000 Receives Innovation Award OCENS has received the 2000 Freeman K. Pittman Award for Innovation in Communications Electronics. Awarded annually, the Pittman honor recognizes new innovative products that stand out from their peers. In reaching their decision, judges considered Station 2000's overall design, originality, ease of use, price/value ratio and the potential or realized impact the product has on the sailing community at large. The Freeman K. Pittman Award is sponsored by SAIL Magazine and was presented to OCENS at ceremonies in Atlantic City on January 20. |
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OCENS Mail and WeatherNet services have been recognized by Globalstar as approved value added services for Globalstar. |
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Iridium Solution Certification Based on the completion of the test of OCENS Mail and WeatherNet applications (“Products”) performed at Bethesda, MD, Iridium Satellite LLC hereby issues a Solution Certification. This letter is confirmation that the Products have satisfied the requirements stated in the Value Added Developer Agreement. |
What Users are Saying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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Click Here for the review in
Ocean Navigator 7/25/07 by Chris Parker, author of Coastal and Offshore Weather and prepares forecasts for the Caribbean Weather Center. |
| About OCENS Mail... |
|
Just to let you all know, we are keeping the ocens.net
as our email address, full time. It's a great service !! -Karen Zarley |
| I am currently crossing the South China Sea on my way back to Hong Kong and have to say your OCENS Mail software has been absolutely brilliant! Best regards -David Smith |
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May I just say
the OCENS Mail is all it is advertised to be and more. I used it
exclusively on my annual cruise from Hong Kong to the Philippines and
back and was absolutely astounded how excellent it was. My average
connection time for email was 49 seconds.
Truly
brilliant! Brgds -David (Iridium user) |
| "Hello from off the African coast north of the Cape Verdies.
This OCENS is magic. When our sailmail subscription runs out (ssb - pactor
modem) will buy a second Iridium phone as a back up and use OCENS
exclusively. Thanks," -Scott |
| "Just a short note to tell you how
impressed we are with OCENS mail and the support we have had from your
company. We do appreciate great support people and a company that can
respond quickly to customer problems. Again thanks for the great service." - Bruce & Carla Porter, Carlacat |
| "Just wanted to drop a note to you that the
e-mail system is really really working great. The speed is nothing short
of fantastic. Using Verizon cell, or Verizon wireless card, or Globalstar,
or my "home wireless system" .... All work with such speed it is amazing.
You should be selling this system to every boat that floats around the
world !!!!!!
Just moved "True Grit" from Miami to Ocean City, NJ last week. I have been using the Verizon Broad Band wireless card for 2 months. Sitting in the marina at Coconut Grove, FL the speed of the Broad Band was almost like a cable modem. FAST! On the move to NJ most major areas had the coverage. If no Broad Band coverage card switched to the slower 14.4 Kb that had better coverage. Using the "data" connection (9,600 baud) of the Globalstar phone (where I have no Verizon connection) and using the "OCENS" e-mail compression software, I can down load 15-20 e-mails in less then a min. You prepare you e-mails "before sending" then send all at once. Same with reading e-mails, you down load them at one time, then read them off line." - Bob Wilkins, Ocean City, NJ |
| "I just
installed everything in another computer and weather and email worked
perfectly. I got 41 emails in about 4 minutes. You can quote me in saying
that this is one of the most impressive software programs I have ever
seen. I harkens back to when software developers needed to be smart.
Communications and driver software has long been known to require a few
great software artists, as you clearly have in your company, and not the
flocks of mediocre “teams”. No sane boater would be without this program." - Bill Bane “Satchmo” M/V Nordhavn 46, In the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally |
| "...for some reason I resisted using your
mail for months and finally got it going. It truly is wonderful." - Eric Bloomquist |
| "We would like to renew with OCENS for
another three months. We are so pleased with this service. It is our
lifeline home, family and business on land. Thanks to your staff for being
so accessible too!" - Virginia Daughtrey s/v Chessel |
| "On the good reports to you for your use:
I now have the latest Vodafone "3G" card and service. It is surprisingly
available in Italy, and even for some distance out at sea (once at 9 miles
out). When 3G is not available, I have set the program to drop to GPRS.
With both of these services, the strength of the signal varies up and
down. OCENS ALWAYS finds a way to work with the available signal." - Bill Baine |
| "Your email reminded me of my intentions to
write you a note about our recent exposure to the OCENS software, OCENS
Mail in particular. I have used a number of others, but none come close to matching the ease, simplicity, efficiency and reliability of yours. Your support people were very friendly, knowledgeable and patient. The air time was never more than 60 seconds even when there were multiple emails to send and receive. The system at the server to limit file sizes or except them worked beautifully, as stated. We had both Sailmail and Winlink available as options, but never used them beyond confirming that they worked. If you have the time and interest, check out http://www.marionbermuda.com/2003/notes.shtml. We did a string of emails during our race to Bermuda last month. The Marion-Bermuda webmaster picked them up and posted them on their site. It’s rare that I would write a testimonial, but this was the exception. This is superb software and service!" - Arthur Bone, s/v Ariel |
| "I was able to test OCENS during my cruise in British Columbia, and will be
strongly recommending it. I was able to download and upload with OCENS in
less than one minute, often getting 10 emails. Your product works, and I
appreciate the ability to test it. I will subscribe for next year's use or
sooner if I have need for satellite communications. Thank you for
the opportunity." - Gary |
| "Here is what
I've found so far in SE Alaska on my Globalstar phone. We use it every day
to do mail. We use OCENS (www.ocens.com) mail product that seems to be
working well for us. We can send and get our messages (less than 20 small
messages) in less than two minutes, usually less than one." - Mike Harrington M/V Meander, SE Alaska |
| About WeatherNet... |
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"I use WeatherNet in all my deliveries, it's
the only game in town. You can go ahead and put that in your
commercial!" -Jack Harvey |
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Just so
you know, a small story. We left St. Thomas the same day that boat that
was lost off Cape Hatteress earlier in the month. I believe they were
slightly to west of us as they were headed to Annapolis and we were
basically on the direct line to Newport. We downloaded the GRIB files late afternoon Friday 4 May and took one look at the weather prediction, it was obvious from the surface wind speed and surface pressure data that the gulf stream would be no place to be by Monday. We then contacted our on shore weather router who confirmed our decision to head to safe harbor 15 minutes later by e-mail. We were in a position to make Bermuda, which we arrived Sunday Morning 6 May. By 3 PM Sunday we had double dock lines and watched the very bad weather from the safety of Bermuda Harbor Monday 7 May the day the boat was lost and 3 other vessels issued distress calls. I personally will never again go offshore without access to WeatherNet. I will continue to use a shore based router to gain access to the larger picture and to confirm our decisions based on the WeatherNet file down loads made aboard. Great product, and, seamless reliable software. RGDS -AJ Fougere AVATAR |
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I am
looking forward to crossing the oceans with your system as there is
nothing I am aware of that equals it.
Thanks again for all your help... Out for now," -Robert and Elyse |
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"OCENS is amazingly fast. To be able to
look at the actual images, the 72hr wind and wave predictions, enlarge
them, etc. PRICELESS. You have a very good
product. Only a fool would not have OCENS on board when doing any
coastal cruising or blue water crossings. Here the storms are rolling in
one after another, you just cannot ignore the weather and be safe. The more I use it the more I am impressed. Thanks" -Peter Treleaven Soul Sender Abacos, Bahamas |
Skippers praise OCENS Weather Net forecasts'No record without it' |
| MacWX has proved very useful. Last month while at sea off Chile, I had an email from a colleague encountering storms off New England. They assumed I was at work in Massachusetts. Instead I used MacWX to request the surface analysis and forecast products for the western N. Atlantic and was able to develop good guidance for the research cruise off New England. Thanks for a good program! -Bob Weller |
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"I want to tell you how helpful your GRIB
Explorer Software and OCENS WeatherNet Gold were to me in the 2006
Newport-Bermuda Race. As the navigator and foredeck man on a boat
entered in the Doublehanded Spinnaker Class, I had very little time
for navigation. Using your fast and valuable product, I got
decisionable information very quickly. This was of great help in
getting me a strong finish." - Ron Canizares |
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"I used WeatherNet and the GRIB
Explorer in the Regata de Amigos race last month and finished first in
class. Results are at
http://www.veracruzregatta.com/2006results.htm.
My boat is Rosalita. The winds were extremely light for a few days
and everyone in our fleet had to motor some thereby being classified
as motor sailing with penalty time for the motoring." - Jeff Hart |
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"Thanks so much for your visit to MAKAI prior to the big Race and for your
tutelage on OCENS weather software. We won 2nd in Class honors
so your education paid off!" - Jeff White |
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"Thank you for helping set up weather net for Regatta. It worked very well
and easily. We viewed it daily and it helped with our strategic decisions." - Bill Wade |
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"Just in passing too. My compliments on the
GRIB Explorer package. I'm sure I have not got the absolute
best out of it yet, but the presentation of data is excellent and it seems
pretty user friendly, even to the 'barely literate'" - Peter |
| "WOW, WOW,
WOW!!!!!!!!!!! =) =) GRIB Explorer
ROCKS. Very nice weather info. Very nice product," - Gino |
| "...you folks
are wonderful! Wish everyone else would give support and service like you
do." - Sara Wise - s/v Wayfinder |
| "The email and WX stuff you installed is
outstanding. We use it effortlessly and are astonished at the email speed." - Chuck Wistar s/v Celebrate |
| "Success in the Transatlantic race with a
first in our class. The software and e-mail system worked well, and was
very effective over the Mini M connection as well as Globalstar." - Michael Lawson, s/v Tempest |
| I have been most impressed with your
software and with you personal service. I want you to know that I have
been impressed not only with our mail program but with the WeatherNet.
When we were in a bad low pressure system three days ago and trying to
make decisions based upon weather. The ability to get information via your
programs was greatly reassuring. Thanks again, - Bill Huddleston aboard Shearwater III |
| Thanks for getting back to me. Before we
get all busy here again, we wanted to take the time to say ( again) that:
You and your company have consistently exceeded our expectations in terms of customer service and excellence. In the dozens of interactions we have had with many members of your staff, about a wide variety of subjects, everyone has always been intelligent, courteous, knowledgeable, and fast to respond. Goods have always been shipped exactly as requested, exactly when promised, and correctly addressed. Questions are always answered fast and accurately. We do business with a wide variety of companies and find that consistent excellence is very very rare. With you, there don't seem to be "good days" and "bad days." Every day is excellent.. This kind of overall superiority has to be more than coincidence, it is obviously a company culture or philosophy, and we applaud it. - M/V Ocean Explorer |
| Thanks for your help. Your technical
support and products are outstanding. - Glenn Tuttle |
| In addition
email via Outlook and the OCENS gateway, I demo'd Xweb with both the BBC and CNN as well as
WeatherNet. Just amazing what you and your team have built ... it really
does work better than I had dared imagine. Thank you again for your
patience and support throughout this past week. You won both a fan and for
OCENS a long-term client. Kindest regards, - Ralph Ingersoll |
| I really cannot express how happy and
useful this product is Thank you, - Bruce w Porter |
| It works
GREAT!! Terrific...as promised. This is the greatest thing for mariners
since sliced bread. We will certainly sing your praises to all whom we
meet. It seems perfect, no glitches at all. - M/Y Ocean Explorer |
| I am aboard my Hunter 466 and just got HIT
by a weather front out of the NW I was NOT prepared for. On a moonless
night at 3am heading for the shallow, narrow Davis Channel at the south
tip of Eleuthera, Bahamas and the rocky lee coast. I would like to have
your software "WeatherNet" that was presented at the Miami Boat Show. I
have an ICOM IC-M710 and the new Pactor III. - Mike Harker |
| "I was competing in the Daimler Chrysler
North Atlantic Challenge as the navigator and tactician aboard Zukunft IV.
We finished 4th in RC and 2nd in IMS on corrected time. WeatherNet was a
valuable and reliable tool for the download of weather fax charts and text
forecasts throughout the race. The download times via SSB and Iridium were
as short as it is claimed by OCENS. We would not have been able to use the
SSB for downloading weather fax charts without WeatherNet." - Berend Terveer, Daimler Chrysler North Atlantic Challenge |
| We recently downloaded 2 Gulf of Mexico
ocean temperature charts over a Globalstar phone. Using the conventional
tools the download took 10 minutes. Using WeatherNet the same download
took 50 seconds for a savings of $7.50. - WeatherNet User |
| "The trip back was near-ideal, due in part
to the excellent WeatherNet predictions. We made the 360 miles back to Key
West in 47 hours. Several other boats found out about our GRIB files and
used the current and weather information to plan their return trip and
travel along with us. The correct file was especially useful in allowing
us to plan the most favorable route both ways. All in all, our experience
in Isla Mujeres has been the best of our sailing ventures." - Pat & Bill Garner, s/v Ubiquitous |
| "To anyone who makes their living on the
water the OCENS WeatherNet product is a must."
- Tom Branshaw, Owner & Captain, FV Northern Mariner, Cordova, AK |
| "Thanks Rachelle. We had fun and with the
Bermuda race we would not have won without being able to download the Gulf
current temperatures. For Halifax it was nice to check on the changing winds since the weather models were wrong at the start. We didn't break the record because of the light winds but at least on elapsed time we won the entire race." - Lars Svensson |
| "Be assured , so far they are rating the
product as one of the best Weather forecasts for the North Sea they have
ever seen." - Andrew (Selex Communications) |
| About our Customer Service... |
| "Thanks again
for everything.. I really appreciate your attention and follow through..
It's service like yours that makes me feel good about doing business with
OCENS." - Derik Wagner - Global Satellite USA |
|
"Thanks for the update. I am pleased to see you guys take such quick action
but not really surprised since you have always been very responsive to any
problem I have had in the past. I hope this can help make your product
even better. A happy customer," -William Headrick |
| "Thanks for getting back to me. Before we
get all busy here again, we wanted to take the time to say ( again) that:
You and your company have consistently exceeded our expectations in
terms of customer service and excellence. In the dozens of interactions we
have had with many members of your staff, about a wide variety of
subjects, everyone has always been intelligent, courteous, knowledgeable,
and fast to respond. Goods have always been shipped exactly as requested,
exactly when promised, and correctly addressed. Questions are always
answered fast and accurately. We do business with a wide variety of companies and find that consistent excellence is very very rare. With you, there don't seem to be "good days" and "bad days." Every day is excellent.. This kind of overall superiority has to be more than coincidence, it is obviously a company culture or philosophy, and we applaud it. again." - M/V Ocean Explorer |
| "Thanks for your help. Your technical support and
products are outstanding." - Glenn Tuttle |
| "Hi Mark&Jeff, I have been back home from
the Global-Challenge for a couple of months now and things are starting to
feel a little more normal! While the Global-Challenge ended farther
differently than I imagined, Sark won both Southern-Ocean Legs, holds the
record for Leg2 and was the first boat round Cape-Horn and the first boat
to complete her circumnavigation. OCENS made this possible! I would like
to thank you & OCENS for your support :) I have valued our relationship
immensely and learned so much personally from you...please accept my
warmest thanks from the bottom of my heart. Thank you :)" - Simon Bell, "s/v Spirit of Sark" Global Challenge |
| In General... |
| "The MSAT system and OCENS software have
revolutionized vessel communication and made it affordable for the average
mariner." - Tim Kinkopf, Marine Operations Mgr, Naknek Barge Lines |
| I am writing to thank you for all of your
advice and assistance over the past 4 months as I have worked with OCENS
mail and WeatherNet. You were always available, returned every call and
solved all of my problems, allowing me to enjoy these tools that will make
our voyage safe and comfortable. I also want to complement you on the
clarity and helpfulness of the Help sections - they are a model for other
tech support services and a concise reference for refreshing the
information after a period away from the computer. Again, we thank you. - Patrick, Susan and Jonathan Coonan |
| Success in the Transatlantic race with a
first in our class. The software and e-mail system worked well, and was
very effective over the Mini M connection as well as Globalstar. - Michael Lawson, s/v Tempest |
| "Dear Sir, Colin Thomas at Straits sailing in Gibraltar has steered me to your products. Being a luddite where computers are concerned I have surprisingly experienced little problems setting the programs to work with Iridium. Your product is great. Rachelle in your support team has proved absolutely fantastic, she has replied to e-mails immediately and seems to have bent over backwards in order to get us to sea. She is a credit to your company and as you know it is the people we talk to that sells your product. She is polite, humorous and extremely efficient. Thank you," -Andy |
| Thank you very much for this first class
reliable service of yours! Best Hubertus Brockhaus |
| I recently saw your OCENS software [WeatherNet
and email service] working on a visiting yacht here in Gibraltar and was
very impressed. So much so that I would now like to install the system on
one of our charter yachts that makes the trans-Atlantic crossing every
year to the Caribbean. - Colin Thomas, Straits Sailing - http://www.straits-sail.com |
| You have two of the best cruising products
out there and look forward to using them next time we head out. - Graham Norbury |
| Hey guys and gals, Thank you very much for
your rapid help. I really rely on OCENS for both my mail and weather. We
could not have made the trip from the USA to Venezuela without your
reliable service and dependable weather downloads. I am not a computer
genius and I often will encounter a problem that is beyond my abilities to
fix. I appreciate your dedication to your products and service. - Grant Grove, On board "Reality", Venezuela, South America |
| "you guys are great and I am very happy
with the system and mostly your information." - Chris D'Amore |
| "Your support of this project has made such
a difference. We presently have Adrian tucked away only a few miles from
land but also the same storm that is demolishing the Volvo Ocean Race
fleet off the west coast of Portugal. This degree of accuracy would not
have been possible without your software." - Ricardo Diniz, Delfinus Solutions - www.goportugal.org |
| I have been most impressed with your
software and with your personal service. I want you to know that I have
been impressed not only with our mail program but with the WeatherNet.
When we were in a bad low pressure system three days ago and trying to
make decisions based upon weather. The ability to get information via your
programs was greatly reassuring. Thanks Again, - Bill Huddleston aboard Shearwater III |
| "You have two of the best cruising products
out there and look forward to using them next time we head out." - Graham Norbury |
| "I really have to admit, after screening
all the sources, OCENS has established itself in a unique market position.
Very pleased with software and service." - Thomas Gattinger |