AIS, Receiver or Transmitter

[TJ D]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Many years ago, I used to ride motorcycles. Bell Helmets had a great ad that they used to put in the motorcycle magazines. It said: If you have a $10 brain, buy someone else's $10 helmet. (Of course, this was in the day when you actually could go down to K-Mart and buy a helmet for $10. Yes, it was that long ago.)

For some reason--I can't imagine why--the discussion about whether or not an AIS transmitter is worth the money made me think of that advertisement.

This one wins the chuckle of the day award in my book. Nice one, and very spot on.

[MarkJ]

Weird how everyone basically agrees a transmitter is best until one person says "its a no brainer" and then a bunch of people say a transmitter isnt any good!

So I should just stop reading this thread... Instead I am posting to it

If now was then they wouldnt even have made receivers. They only did it because of luddites complaining about power consumption. But as we know its negligable and people have better electricity 10 years later.... But the companies can still sell the receive only box as it doesnt cost them anything and they make a profit because of the huge markup.


Transmitting. See the pic below. This is at 2 am in the Florida Straits, no VHF calls, all ships too far from me for me to have started to divert... And count the number that have diverted... 3. Note the red ring is 10 nm miles

This is a "no brainer" screenshot butI know there are some who will try some ******** so let me say soemthing to placate you: its a no brainer!



Lets sing all together... Its a nooooo braaaainerrrrrr...

[h20man]

I am for the TX...
I shall attempt to illustrate this in a different way...

On a dark night... if you are dressed in black, on a black bicycle, with no lights, attempting to ride on a a multi lane highway would you do so, , as you can see headlights.....

or would you prefer to have some lights on your bike.... and a reflective vest....?

I like to have the odds as much as I can on enjoying my experience... The $ for TX are minimal compared to the overall cost of boating...


Safe sailing...



It is a no brainer..... (adding fuel to the fire....)

[rwidman]

My argument is not with the thought of having the transmitting ability being the best choice, but with the arrogance of the poster, claiming that his opinion was the "end of story" and that the decision was a "no brainer".

That's arrogance of the highest level and an attempt to insult anyone who doesn't share his opinion.

For those here who are not so full of themselves, lets consider that some folks might not need the transmitting function because of where, how or when they boat, some would rather spend the several hundred dollars elsewhere and the power consumption of the transmitting function could be a problem for some folks.

How about we give folks credit for having brains and being able to decide for themselves what features would be advantageous for them vs. the additional (total) cost?

Post why you think one is better than the other. Don't try to insult folks who may not agree with you.

[MarkJ]

Ron,

Give the guy a break.

You have called him out twice. First time was personally belittling. Why a second time?

Isnt once enough?

Mark

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by rwidman

My argument is not with the thought of having the transmitting ability being the best choice, but with the arrogance of the poster, claiming that his opinion was the "end of story" and that the decision was a "no brainer".

That's arrogance of the highest level and an attempt to insult anyone who doesn't share his opinion.

For those here who are not so full of themselves, lets consider that some folks might not need the transmitting function because of where, how or when they boat, some would rather spend the several hundred dollars elsewhere and the power consumption of the transmitting function could be a problem for some folks.

How about we give folks credit for having brains and being able to decide for themselves what features would be advantageous for them vs. the additional (total) cost?

Post why you think one is better than the other. Don't try to insult folks who may not agree with you.

Warning: Some may consider the following to be arrogant!

IMO, AIS receive-only devices should have never been allowed to be manufactured!

The AIS architecture hinges on transmissions! If everyone had a receive-only device there would be zero transmissions to listen to!

Collision avoidance is a multiplayer activity! To believe you can 'go it alone' and not allow others to see you by using an AIS receive-only device is far more arrogant than telling someone "end of story". With AIS receive-only devices, you are telling others that you do not need their help with the collision avoidance activity, you will avoid them, they do not need to avoid you! You are depriving others from seeing you! You are stating, "I can handle collision avoidance by myself, I do not need your help!" That is arrogance!

[rwidman]

Perhaps you are unaware that the majority of recreational boats out there have no AIS device at all? Not receive, not transmit, nothing?


Perhaps you are unaware that not every boater plays in the shipping lanes?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by rwidman

My argument is not with the thought of having the transmitting ability being the best choice, but with the arrogance of the poster, claiming that his opinion was the "end of story" and that the decision was a "no brainer".

That's arrogance of the highest level and an attempt to insult anyone who doesn't share his opinion.

For those here who are not so full of themselves, lets consider that some folks might not need the transmitting function because of where, how or when they boat, some would rather spend the several hundred dollars elsewhere and the power consumption of the transmitting function could be a problem for some folks.

How about we give folks credit for having brains and being able to decide for themselves what features would be advantageous for them vs. the additional (total) cost?

Post why you think one is better than the other. Don't try to insult folks who may not agree with you.

Ron, no brainer is just a figure of speech. Was not intended to impugn your (or anyone else's) intelligence or ability to make an informed decision.

Would it be better if he had said "it is an easy decision to make"?

It seems like the issue with power consumption was addressed by Vesper Marine and isn't really much of an issue.

So it comes down to the biggest issue for the majority of the boaters considering AIS is dollars.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Perhaps you are unaware that the majority of recreational boats out there have no AIS device at all? Not receive, not transmit, nothing?


Perhaps you are unaware that not every boater plays in the shipping lanes?

And boating countries have things called "laws" that can differentiate between inland waterways, protected waterways and open ocean. These "Law" thingies are different for each one.

Now stop being so fricking arrogant telling everyone their opinions are arrogant!

[capngeo]

Ahem.... fight nice please

[weavis]

Can we all play nice?

[weavis]

So we have two mods independently moderating this thread... unintentional cross of post but........ seriously guys, get a grip.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Perhaps you are unaware that the majority of recreational boats out there have no AIS device at all? Not receive, not transmit, nothing?


Perhaps you are unaware that not every boater plays in the shipping lanes?

Not disputing the fact that only a small percentage of vessels have AIS. Only stating the IF one decides that AIS is an important tool, deciding to not participate in the system, is a bad decision. Which, BTW, the topic of this thread is NOT AIS yes or no, but "AIS, Receiver or Transmitter"!

AIS is one of many collision avoidance tools. On my vessel it ranks 3rd priority, behind first human eyes and second radar. In certain conditions, i.e. high traffic areas and/or low visibility AIS is very valuable. As I stated, a receive-only device is a half-assed solution as you are depriving others from seeing you.

All IMO, of course!

[Vortec]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Given the small $ difference, I would buy a transmitter.

Small difference? I get my AIS-signal from my VHF-radio -> OpenCPN, but if I had to transmit i have to invest several thousands of DKK.

Does anyone have experience with this: marine ais buoy gps tracker for fishing net beacon ais transponder signal...?

This sells for about 150 USD and can be programmed with boat type and size.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Given the small $ difference, I would buy a transmitter.

It is just so nice to believe that we are seen.

And do not switch off yours, unless you are in a pirate/criminal area.

b.

There is more than a small difference in cost! a transponder costs between $600 -2000 and a receive only unit is builtin to most $200 VHF radios.. That 3x the price minimum to transmit! granted I think it's important to transmit but its a big cost difference and needs to be budgeted for!