GPS tracking/AIS upload

[Karanga]

A few days ago, I sent this to PredictWind, from whom I got my Iridium Go monthly subscription
"
Iridium Go cancellation: Just to let you know that I have cancelled my unlimited subscription. I did this out of frustration and anger at the level of performance received for the price paid. I understand and accept that the technology is now a bit dated. I could accept the amazingly slow data connection speed, the incredibly badly written Iridium apps (especially Android) and the frequent connection drop-outs. However I was no longer willing to pay the exorbitant price charged for such poor performance, plus the apparent indifference by Iridium to maintain a reasonable service."

I have now got Starlink up and running. While I had been frustrated with Iridium for a long time, the situation was precipitated by comparing my Iridium plan with my Starlink plan (40% less) and the capabilities of each.

So now, I no longer get my position tracking service via PredictWind - which was of no benefit to me, but some relatives used it very occasionally.

Is there some smart way of logging and updating my position (as long as Starlink is turned on)? Is there perhaps an app that could also be used as an anchor alarm (when off the boat)?

And then, since I am already receiving AIS data from other boats nearby, is it possible to upload and relay this data to Marine Traffic, especially in areas where there are no VHF ground stations to relay?

The Marine Traffic website appears to welcome this to improve their coverage, but what is the best way of achieving it?

[wholybee]

Trash their offering and prices, and then ask how to accomplish what their offering does without actually still paying for it? I think the overall tone is pretty off-putting and rude, and if I were Predictwind would not even respond to it.

First, it has been repeated MANY times that the Iridium Go and Starlink are *different* products. They serve different markets, and although there is some overlap, they are targeting different users. You have compared Starlink as being better and cheaper than Iridium Go. But they don't offer the same services. As has been repeated, if you cancel Iridium Go for Starlink, you really *need* to supplement Starlink with an inreach (which is also an iridium device, btw) Starlink is NOT any sort of emergency com device, and the Iridium Go and inreach are.

The inreach offers tracking that your friends and family can see and use for much cheaper than the Go, and also provides emergency communications the Starlink does not.

Assuming you still have the Predictwind subscription and only canceled the Iridium Go, Predictwind also offers tracking via email updates. There is an email address you send a specially formatted message to, and it will update tracking on the map. It would be up to you to write whatever scripts are needed to regularly send that message. It isn't very user friendly, but I've used it and it works.

Predictwind also offers the data hub, which would work with starlink to provide all the services they usually use the Go for. IMHO, it's a bit pricy, but it is what it is.

Marine traffic would be the better place to ask about providing a feed. I'm not sure if they support that. Marine Traffic is a commercial service, and if they accepted feeds from random people, that could corrupt the data with spoofed ships, etc. I generally recommend no one use Marine Traffic for tracking a sailboat with a Class B AIS. It really targets ships with Class A, and receives them via satellite. But maybe I am wrong and they would accept a feed?

Look at aishub.net, an AIS site like marinetraffic, but that is all crowdsourced. You could contribute to that, except they want a static IP address, so it might be difficult to get it to work with Starlink.

[wholybee]

There are also some other older tracking sites that were/are popular with SSB. Winlink and Airmail would both automatically generate and send the required emails for tracking. Those sites (which I have completely forgotten what they are) still work and are free.

[sv_pelagia]

This thread may be related/relevant:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums....php?p=3807833

[pcmm]

If you have an AIS transceiver that can transmit msg 27 then you are already able to send (potentially) your AIS data to a satellite and it may already appear on Marinetraffic.com and other sites without you needing a subscription to see past tracks.

[Sailbaum]

I have to agree with Wholybee about that attitude.
That said, if you have a Standard (or higher) subscription, Predictwind tracker can be set up to track your MMSI (so long as someone or a satellite) is picking up your AIS transmission. Just email PW and give them your MMSI.

If you have a CerboGX or other SignalK server, you can be a station for MarineTraffic - here's a link to a page that describes the setup https://svrenaissance.com/victron-cerbo-gx-on-steroids/ The Saillogger app described there also works very well.

So far, it all works well except that my Vesper Cortex seems to not be sending AIVDO messages (ownboat) so effectively I am telling MarineTraffic were everyone else is but not me and I need to rely on another station for MT to know where I am. If anyone has a solution for that, let me know.

[Karanga]

Originally Posted by Sailbaum

I have to agree with Wholybee about that attitude.
That said, if you have a Standard (or higher) subscription, Predictwind tracker can be set up to track your MMSI (so long as someone or a satellite) is picking up your AIS transmission. Just email PW and give them your MMSI.

If you have a CerboGX or other SignalK server, you can be a station for MarineTraffic - here's a link to a page that describes the setup https://svrenaissance.com/victron-cerbo-gx-on-steroids/ The Saillogger app described there also works very well.

So far, it all works well except that my Vesper Cortex seems to not be sending AIVDO messages (ownboat) so effectively I am telling MarineTraffic were everyone else is but not me and I need to rely on another station for MT to know where I am. If anyone has a solution for that, let me know.

Huh?
My attitude?
S'cuse me!
I have a PredictWind Standard subscription. I am very happy with that and I believe it is good value for the service it provides.
What I was unhappy with, was the price of the **additional** Iridium Go unlimited subscription, which provided an extremely outdated and unpleasant level of performance for communications, just so that I could get position tracking as part of the combined package. The cost of the Iridium subscription was US$155 per month. While it was unlimited data, the reality is that the connection speed was so slow and frequently interrupted that I would only ever download the very bare minimum.
I am fascinated to note that PredictWind is now advertising a price of only US$169 per month for unlimited data on the new (40x faster) Go Exec.
This makes the US$155 for the old technology even more insulting.

And that doesn't even go anywhere near the performance and usability of Starlink for the much lower monthly price (and with the ability to pause it whenever).

Now that I have got that off my chest...

Thank you for your pointers about PredictWind tracking my MMSI. I have looked at their website several times, to find the instructions for this. So far, I have not found any details. Perhaps you have a link you could share?

I will investigate the links to blogs you provided for Marine Traffic ground station uploads. Thank you. It should be a simple thing - all the hardware already exists and it should just require some software to link it all together...

[bergius]

Originally Posted by Sailbaum

If you have a CerboGX or other SignalK server, you can be a station for MarineTraffic - here's a link to a page that describes the setup https://svrenaissance.com/victron-cerbo-gx-on-steroids/ The Saillogger app described there also works very well.

For public tracking, No Foreign Land (https://www.noforeignland.com/) is another good option. There is a Signal K plugin for this as well.

We do a hybrid setup on our website (https://lille-oe.de/) - position on the map gets updated from both AIS ground stations and our hourly electronic logbook backups (when the boat is online), whichever is newer. On the individual blog posts we also show a route Timelapse as offered by saillogger.

Well worth setting up a Raspberry Pi with Signal K (or running it on a GX device)k even if you’re not using the tons of other goodies SK can offer.

Originally Posted by Sailbaum

So far, it all works well except that my Vesper Cortex seems to not be sending AIVDO messages (ownboat) so effectively I am telling MarineTraffic were everyone else is but not me and I need to rely on another station for MT to know where I am. If anyone has a solution for that, let me know.

There is a second Signal K plugin, “AIS reporter” that produces AIS sentences from GPS position and can send those to Marine Traffic. You can use that at the same time as the AIS forwarder.

[ChrisJHC]

[QUOTE=Karanga;3809250]Huh?
My attitude?
S'cuse me!
I have a PredictWind Standard subscription. I am very happy with that and I believe it is good value for the service it provides.
What I was unhappy with, was the price of the **additional** Iridium Go unlimited subscription, which provided an extremely outdated and unpleasant level of performance for communications, just so that I could get position tracking as part of the combined package. The cost of the Iridium subscription was US$155 per month. While it was unlimited data, the reality is that the connection speed was so slow and frequently interrupted that I would only ever download the very bare minimum.
I am fascinated to note that PredictWind is now advertising a price of only US$169 per month for unlimited data on the new (40x faster) Go Exec.
This makes the US$155 for the old technology even more insulting.

And that doesn't even go anywhere near the performance and usability of Starlink for the much lower monthly price (and with the ability to pause it whenever).

Now that I have got that off my chest...
[endquote]




It wasn’t clear (unless you looked really closely) that your message to Iridium stopped halfway through your initial post and that the second half was your question to the forum.

That might explain the comments around “attitude”.

[Sailbaum]

Originally Posted by Karanga

Thank you for your pointers about PredictWind tracking my MMSI. I have looked at their website several times, to find the instructions for this. So far, I have not found any details. Perhaps you have a link you could share?

I didn't mean to offend, and I share your disappointment with Iridium. That's not PW's fault, Iridium sets those rules (and ultimately, I suspect, will lead to their downfall).

I also found nothing on the PW website. I had an email exchange with PW about the DataHub - which works for tracking but is otherwise unnecessarily redundant for me (I already have wifi, NMEA broadcast, etc.). That's when they mentioned the MMSI tracking - I emailed my MMSI and they set it up.

The MT station setup works well and in exchange they provide credits toward other normally paid services.

[SV_Vardo]

I would like to get get some advice on setting up our new boat.

we have vesper cortex which has its own GPS, N2K and WIFi. We are getting starlink for data & I was planning on getting Predict Wind data hub.

My question is the data hub needs a GPS input. Will the Vesper's GPS be provided to the Datahub via the N2k ?

TIA

[SV_Omorfi Thea]

Hey SV_Vardo. We just bought that data hub and vesper Cortex. Will install next month.
Any feedback or insight as to how they are working and if they work well together?
Thanks!