AIS Receive only or Transponder ?

[nhschneider]

When I was replacing the electronics on Rutea, I chose all Garmin components including the Garmin AIS transponder. Whereas I know that it is ultimately my responsibility to avoid collisions, I feel it is incumbent on me to equip my boat with with the tools that will help to keep my family and me safe. Obviously, there are limits but the relative small difference in cost between a receiver and a transponder struck me as insignificant if it increases the likelihood that I will be seen by others while making passages.

One anecdote was when we were pulling out of Bahia Magdalena on the west coast of Baja California, the cruise ship Oosterdam was just pulling in. We spoke on the VHF and after a pleasant conversation, the person I was talking with said, "By the way, you're showing up on our AIS as a tanker!" Now if only I could add to that 'without insurance'!

Fair winds and calm seas.

[swisscraft]

As said by several guys before: Transponder is the way to if you can afford it. We are now underway for 4 months and we realized that big ships are seeing us early and change course - particular at night.

I like as well the fact that I know the big guy has seen me. No more excuse about bad radar target or so - both know!

Another nice feature is the buddy option: If you meet another guy with an Transponder and sail a difficult passage you know exactly where they are and you can share sea state and so on: Happens to be very useful a few days ago at the Beata Channel in the DR - we got an early warning about a whole bunch of fish traps from the vessel ahead of us as they saw we turned right in this area.

I love it and so far every guest was impressed as well an said its a big help, particular at night passages.

cheers
H a b i b i S a i l s or
https://www.facebook.com/pages/habib...20112241389517

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

was talking with said, "By the way, you're showing up on our AIS as a tanker!" Now if only I could add to that 'without insurance'!

Fair winds and calm seas.

We encountered a CG vessel off Ludington Michigan whose data said he had a 17 M draft. Turns out it was 7 feet. Programmed by the same scientist who crashed a lander into Mars?

[jeremiason]

We have been cruising Mexico and the Sea of Cortez since Oct 2010 and are now entering Central America. Prior to that our home sailing waters were San Francsico.

For the last 5.5 years we have been using AIS, first a receive only and then about 3 years ago we switched to a transponder.

We initially used the Nobletech receiver and then went to the Raymarine Class B unit.

Yes, I would spend the money on the unit again... It has been very helpful.

Besides the CPA computations and the AIS displaying the approaching Vessel information infomration, there is something that everyone is overlooking....

If you get in a bad situation or rescuers are coming, AIS Class B Transponder will asssist them in locating your vessel... That includes USCG Helicopters, Vessel Assist/BOAT US and a local emergency responders, even if they do not have a AIS receiver, their dispatchers can bring up several internet sites giving real time AIS information, worldwide.

For instance I drove for Vessel Assist for a short time... I was looking for a vessel 18 miles outside the Golden Gate Bridge... The guy had given his coordinates, but was drifting so fast and visibility was so poor, that it was hard to locate him... I finally located him with the radio direction finder after about 20 minutes of arriving at his last coordinates. In hindsight, if he had a AIS Class B, I would have been able to go right to him, since the unit broadcasts its location about every 30 seconds (Class B).

Also note, that Class A transponders transmit much more often and at shorter intervals, based primarily on the speed of the vessel.

Here are two of the Internet AIS sites:

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

http://ais3.siitech.net/VTSLite/AView.aspx

Tom

[jeremiason]

Oh also everything you every wanted to know about AIS is posted in the USCG site at:

AIS Frequently Asked Questions

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by divicolouis

Has anyone bought and used the EM TRAK MARINE ELECTRONICS
B100 AIS Class B Transceiver?

Yes, it works as advertised.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

Take a look at the Standard Horizon Matrix 2150, the nicest feature is that the vessels on AIS are automatically added to a list on the vhf, all you have to do is select the vessel, and the squirt him your pos.crs.spd.mmsi by just keying the mic.

Explain this more please. We have this radio and I do not know of this capability. I do see the list of AIS vessels and the ability to call one of them easily, but not the ability to transmit AIS-type data.

There is also position polling, but that requires another vessel to actively request your position data.

However, we have only had the radio a few weeks and there certainly can be capabilities that I have missed.

Mark

[silversailor]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

We encountered a CG vessel off Ludington Michigan whose data said he had a 17 M draft. Turns out it was 7 feet. Programmed by the same scientist who crashed a lander into Mars?

We also sail Lake Michigan (out of South Haven) and would appreciate Nicholson's comments about the usefullness of AIS on the big Lake.

Also, hope you will join un in SH on 6/27 for the Tripp Memorial race to Milwaukee and the Queen's Cup on 6/29 back to South Haven.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by silversailor

We also sail Lake Michigan (out of South Haven) and would appreciate Nicholson's comments about the usefullness of AIS on the big Lake.

Also, hope you will join un in SH on 6/27 for the Tripp Memorial race to Milwaukee and the Queen's Cup on 6/29 back to South Haven.

We have Watchmate 850. AIS WatchMate Transponder - Display with built-in GPS antenna I turn it on before anything else. It does anchor watch for 3 watts. On a return from Manistee last year we would not have known to deviate into Ludington to join with two of the tall ships we recognized from Green Bay the year before. We identified about a dozen CG vessels northboud after the festival in Grand Haven. Nice to know the cops are comming. We had better than 20 miles notice. We have detected a commercial vessels on the horizon. It was easy to tell from CPA and vessel data that they were/were not heading for a crossing situation. I have noticed that outside of about 15 miles, you are unlikely to encounter any but commercial vessels. That said, the AIS keeps us better informed than radar and at greater distance.

Not sure when we will splash this year. Lots of projects so it will depend on weather as much as anything. We are also planning a 3-5 week cruise to the North Channle. We raced for over 20 years on Lake Erie. I was interested in doing the Chicago-Mac but found that my vessel that has circumnavigated and exceeds offshore CG requirements in all ways will need about 10 kilobucks of special equipment. - Gave up. Are these races/rallys of the same ilk? We independant types hate having someone else tell us how to spend boat-bucks. We do want to do Milwaukee this year. We have learned to have a few cruise plans on a weekend and pick on based on wind rather than bang heads. If we were to join you out of South Haven and return it would more than double the distance. For us, Milwaukee is 60 miles W-SW from Muskegon.

Here is the Watchmate doing anchor watch with a couple of bugs pretending to be targets. If you open the picture you see the field of tiny spots. These are the instant points where we drifted through the night. The anchor is where we started and the arrow is where we are. The alarm circle is 30 Meter; bearing is 179 magnetic, we are 10 meters from the hook, the alarm is set. The unit has a self-contained GPS and alarm. My wife hears the alarm but I do not. (I often don't hear her either). You can easily add an external alarm. I really like the field of tiny spots. If you wake in a stupor you can focus quickly on what is happening. I also take a couple of hand bearing sightings on various objects and jot them on a note book.