Monitoring people

[clayzone]

I want some portable way to monitor/locate people/items. I know about the personal AIS items like SafeLink and Smartfind. That is what I have in mind EXCEPT they show up on a chartplotter as someone in distress. I would like the symbol to just be the regular boat icon. The idea is when someone takes the inflatable I can monitor their location at all times. If they radio with a problem I know where they are. Same thing with a diver, etc. The point is the signal does not get other boats all fired up over a MOB situation. I have extensively searched the internet without success. Anyone know of such an item? Or is it possible to make the icon from a Smartfind Smartfind S10 Personal AIS Beacon not show up as a distress icon?

[LoveMyWoodie]

Speedict Technology Ltd.

[Ram]

try -Spot gps tracker -cheap and works well! i have a ued one will sell you for $50

[clayzone]

I looked at the SPOT technology but there are a couple of problems with it. First, I don't want a monthly fee to use the device. Second, and more problematic, the tracking requires internet access which is not available everywhere I travel. That is why I could like to be able to use the AIS receiver already on the boat.

[goboatingnow]

The simplest system is just to fit a conventional AIS transponder. Then it shows on your chartplotter as another ordinary vessel.

Dave

[Selene]

App. : Find iPhone

[clayzone]

Yes a conventional transponder would work but they are generally not portable. I saw some that were put they are still to big to be practical, Nauticast Portable Automatic Identification System SOLAS / Cobham - Beacon Solutions. It should be something that you can easily carry in an inflatable. Really the SafeLink or Smartfind would be perfect if they didn't show up on a transponder as a distress icon.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Mobile phone? I recall reading about software that allows a parent to track (tag ) a child via the mobile phone....whether that works for your intended purpose another matter.

[3dubs]

Don't know what kind of range you are looking for. But look at this https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8576
They are used to track dogs. You would need to place an antenna as high on your boat as possible to extend the range. But the older DC 30 collars can be found cheaper than the new DC 40. For what you need it would not matter which you use. It is all self contained. You could also look at a transmitter and a directional antenna. You would not have a range only a direction.

[Celestialsailor]

So I take it the search for this device is so you could track your dinghy or other items that might get "borrowed" in an anchorage?

[zeehag]

spot doesnt neeed a puter to work-only for one to see where ye are.. does a damfine job of tracking-- i use it for my mom to know where i am. people with puters let her know where her oldest child is and she is a happy camper. pay a low yearly rate and have it done with .

tracking a lost dink would be more money ... try a radio shack motion sensor for the lights-- good luck.

[msponer]

The best match I can think of is to get a ham license and then use APRS trackers.

Byonics makes a variety of transmitters with a GPS built in. You can then use a mobile base station or handheld with a GPS built in to track it. Or you can put together a system yourself with any 2m ham radio, a TNC, and a laptop to plot the position on (if there isn't already, it'd be very easy to make something convert APRS positions into NMEA sentences for your chartplotter).

I think some countries use a different frequency for APRS than America, so you may need to read up on that, depending on where you'll be. Some of the tiny transmitters are multi-frequency.

But I think this would work pretty well, though it would not work if the dinghy is in another bay (unless you are in a country with APRS repeaters).

[clayzone]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestons. I have read the stories about people taking their dinghy to snorkle or whatever and it stops working. Where are you? Don't really know, we have drifted some. So I just wanted something that would tell me where the dinghy was. It would be nice if it was possible using equipment I already had, AIS. Doesn't look like that is possible yet. The Garmin dog tracking looks to be a fine alternative. Looks like the APRS stuff would work too but ham license, base station, etc. is to much.

[mesailor]

would a gps family radio work
see link
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-12-Chan...5363476&sr=1-1