Tracking voyage from home

[conachair]

Originally Posted by jessehunt

Class A (commercial vessels) my use satellite, but Class B (pleasure craft and small fishing vessels) transmitters operate on VHF. If you are out of range of VHF, no signal.

Not quite, both class a and b ais operate via the same vhf frequencies and both are capable of being monitored via satellite, though class a is more robust.
http://www.imisglobal.com/applicatio...ellite-ais.php

Probably not the best option here, though.

[steve77]

From my reading on the internet, there are several firms that operate satellites capable of receiving AIS signals, both Class A and Class B. They take care to point out that class B signals may not always be received due to the lower signal strength and less frequent transmission.

However, these companies do not offer this information to the general public for free. They offer paid subscriptions to allow shipping companies and other interested parties to track their vessels.

The free AIS tracking services appear to all be from terrestrial stations.

Am I mistaken?

Cheers!

Steve

[conachair]

Originally Posted by steve77

From my reading on the internet, there are several firms that operate satellites capable of receiving AIS signals, both Class A and Class B. They take care to point out that class B signals may not always be received due to the lower signal strength and less frequent transmission.

However, these companies do not offer this information to the general public for free. They offer paid subscriptions to allow shipping companies and other interested parties to track their vessels.

The free AIS tracking services appear to all be from terrestrial stations.

Am I mistaken?

Cheers!

Steve

Pretty sure that's it. And just noticed it's already been mentioned by Paul Elliot

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by conachair

Pretty sure that's it. And just noticed it's already been mentioned by Paul Elliot

Yes, we're all three of us correct!

I was probably unclear in my post though -- as you guys say, the satellites are receiving the VHF AIS transmissions from vessels on the high seas.

Yes, there are numerous satellite-based tracking services that use direct-to-satellite transmitters on the boats (Spot, Yellowbrick, InReach, and others), but the AIS VHF reception by satellite is a fairly new thing. There have been experiments with this for several years, and it has recently gotten good enough that it is now being done commercially. Pretty amazing, really!

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

My daughter will be one of our emergency contacts. She asked if there was a way of displaying our position on her computer in real time.

I'm pretty sure there is but I can't remember how it is done or what equipment I need.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Rich


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Delorme InReach SE is what you seek
I have used it on three trips
Copenhagen to Cartegena
UK to Belgium and then down the French Coast
The length of Long Island Sound
It has worked flawlessly, battery lasts about 3 days between charges
Delorme service is great
Cheers

[lamadriver]

On a recent SAR the RCC was able to provide a position class B AIS transponder from the sat. It was 3 hours old +-.

The technology is improving at an amazing pace. Another reason why not to have a class B AIS transponder.

[cabo_sailor]

I visited the Delorme booth at the boat show">Annapolis boat show last week. I was very impressed with its capabilities and cost. When I get a bit closer to cruising, probably next year, I'll definitely have them on my list. Meanwhile I'll see what improvements they come up with.

Thanks to all who steered me towards them.

Rich


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