Inverter and AIS worth the money?

[gbgreen59]

We have a transponder. On rivers from Lake Michigan to Mobile, tug captains hailed us by name to coordinate passes. We could see them and they could see us on AIS before we made visual contact. We have been hailed by name a couple of times when offshore. I really advocate having this capability.

Was talking with another crew after the Pacific crossing who didn't have AIS. They said they didn't see any other ships or cruising boats. We saw 4 ships and was passed by the Oyster Rally. We picked them all up on AIS first. Then used AIS to make visual contact.

Interesting event....we were about 1000 nmi into the Pacific crossing journey, when we picked up a ship ahead of us on AIS. It was on our same westerly course but going very slow according to AIS. It then made a course south according to AIS information, but its position changes showed its course going north. I am guessing it was not traveling in reverse. Not sure why this would happen.

[barnakiel]

Yes. A patent, not copyright. I am not a native speaker and sometimes mix up words and meanings from my other languages.

Vesper does have the pre-calc or pre-vis mode. Why others do not is a riddle. OpenCPN has an even better pre-vis mode, but Open is not a $$$ hardware sold by "big companies" it is just a free piece of software written by keen individuals. Makes one think what takes the "big companies" so long.

As for 'ack' msg - it is a transmit and forget approach but the protocol is of broadcast type and so it does not preclude requests and confirms (as exemplified by sentence types 6 and 15).

I am just one silly head. I think anybody who is a pro can look at the specs and find half a dozen of features that could be easily implemented to make our sailing lives (even) safer.

Not that the system is bad. It is good. Just it could be twice as good.

A Fiat is a good car. Just that a Ferrari always seems faster.

Cheers,
b.

[Captain Mark]

AIS for sure and depending on your "electronic" needs you just scale the size of inverter you need. Here is a decent one from West Marine, XANTREX PROWatt SW 600 True Sine Wave Inverter ($199.99) or you can go mammoth for about $2300, but not as much as you stated previously. Have a quick look at West Marine's website just to get an idea, so even if you are discussing with someone else you will know what is reality and what is not. Good luck and happy venturing!

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by gbgreen59

.......

Interesting event....we were about 1000 nmi into the Pacific crossing journey, when we picked up a ship ahead of us on AIS. It was on our same westerly course but going very slow according to AIS. It then made a course south according to AIS information, but its position changes showed its course going north. I am guessing it was not traveling in reverse. Not sure why this would happen.

Out vacuuming up the last of the tuna.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Captain Mark

Here is a decent one from West Marine, XANTREX PROWatt SW 600 True Sine Wave Inverter ($199.99)

Friends don't let friends buy Xantrex.

[sck5]

re xantrex. My boat came with one but when it came time to buy a new 220 charger I got a mastervolt.

And the First Law of electicity needs is: However many amp hours you THINK you will need, you will need more than that. I have yet to meet a cruiser for whom that wasnt true except for a few people on catamarans with acres of space for solar panels.

[sck5]

I should have added: "acres of space for solar panels together with enough previous experience to go ahead and fill all of it with said panels"

Most people end up doing everything they can to limit electricity demand by, e.g. buying all LED lights or reinsulating their refrigerator or whatever else they can think of