Now that AIS transceivers are available for around $500 and receivers only around $250, should AIS be considered an essential device for most cruising vessels? I know that when I am crossing the Strait of Juan Du Fuca here in the Pacific Northwest and the fog rolls in, it would be nice to have when crossing the shipping lanes.
AIS?
- Thread starter HarlenW
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- Sep 16, 2003
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When you are cutting thru or navigating in shipping lanes, if you are close enough to large ships to need to be on a first name basis i m tempted to say that a too close
I m not familiar with the traffiic I the Juan de Fuca straights but i ve operated In busy areas like the Delaware, NY Harbor approaches, narrangasset/buzzard, etc sometimes in fog or at night and I found radar to be adequate. Occasionally I ve had to hail a ship to let them know of my intention and not knowing their name, size, or destination has not been an issue. If you call "inbound ship Ambrose channel by red 10 this is the MY 1 nm off your port side" believe me they will know you re calling them.
So yes, it s cheap enough to install but not high on my list.
I d rather spend more $ on a decent radar with trail feature. In my experience, having trails is the most useful tool in fog or at night as it will show you the track and approx speed of EVERY boat, not just AIS equipped boats...
I m not familiar with the traffiic I the Juan de Fuca straights but i ve operated In busy areas like the Delaware, NY Harbor approaches, narrangasset/buzzard, etc sometimes in fog or at night and I found radar to be adequate. Occasionally I ve had to hail a ship to let them know of my intention and not knowing their name, size, or destination has not been an issue. If you call "inbound ship Ambrose channel by red 10 this is the MY 1 nm off your port side" believe me they will know you re calling them.
So yes, it s cheap enough to install but not high on my list.
I d rather spend more $ on a decent radar with trail feature. In my experience, having trails is the most useful tool in fog or at night as it will show you the track and approx speed of EVERY boat, not just AIS equipped boats...
AIS, like radar and GPS is an aid to navigation. What I find useful is knowing the name of the vessel you are hailing on the VHF. You will get a much quicker response from another vessel if you hail them by name. Many foreign crews are not familiar with the charted names of a channel without having to physically go and look at the chart, that takes time and adds another step to the process that could add confusion to the matter. Also if you are approaching several vessels in the same vicinity all making the same way, it helps to identify the closest vessel so you can deal with the most immediate concern.
The really cool AIS units interface with your radar display and you see everything you need to know right in front of you. Again when entering a congested port with lots of traffic.
The really cool AIS units interface with your radar display and you see everything you need to know right in front of you. Again when entering a congested port with lots of traffic.
Capt. Bill1
Active member
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- 6,127
FWIW, from the latest Active Captain Email letter:
">>> AIS - Why You Need It >>>
We are particularly excited about this week's (deleted by me) 1st item because
it offers us the perfect opportunity to talk about a technology we think
is important for safety on your boat - AIS.
Almost every cruising boater knows about AIS - the Automatic
Identification System. Released in the last 10 years, AIS-A became
standard on large ships. Today it is a required piece of equipment
on most large commercial vessels. However, AIS-A was fairly expensive
and complex, so few recreational boats installed it.
AIS works through VHF radio. Packets of data are sent out providing
live navigation data - position, speed, course, heading - along with
other very useful information - vessel name, vessel dimensions, MMSI,
age of data, etc.
Early devices for cruising boats were only receivers. They'd allow
your chartplotter or PC navigation software to view the position of
ships broadcasting AIS packets. For offshore, busy harbors, or twisty
rivers, it gave a view of the ships that were coming in many cases when
radar didn't give enough information. It also provided automatic
collision detection and warnings.
In 2007 AIS-B was released with a lower-cost set of specifications to
work alongside AIS-A. Still, early AIS-B transponders were over $1,000.
A transponder not only receives all AIS traffic for display but also
sends out information about your boat for others with AIS including
ships. Over time transponder prices dropped and capabilities increased
to the point where today you can purchase a full AIS-B transponder for
far less. Between these new prices, the ease of integration, and the
support of AIS in almost every chartplotter and navigation software, we
think that if you don't have an AIS transponder, now is the time to get
one.
We've had AIS integrated into our electronics since February. It
didn't take long before we saw how useful it was. Here are some
examples of how we really use it:
- AIS targets show a ship's or boat's name. That is very useful when
you want to communicate with them especially at night.
- When a boat is coming from behind, the AIS target and track line
generally gets our attention. Our 7.5 kt speed means we're passed a
lot. It's very nice to see the speed and closest approach calculation
as a faster boat is approaching.
- In a specific situation involving a barge, an American Cruise Lines
ship, and narrow cuts, we were able to see them miles in advance on
the ICW. This allowed us to hail them by name and arrange for a safe
passing location. Time to closest point of approach is one of the
standard AIS displays presented allowing you to see approximately how
long it will be before you meet oncoming traffic.
- Finding friends nearby by seeing their boat name is a great social
tool. It's also nice to see the names of boats you're traveling with
on your display.
- Transmission of a ship's MMSI allows for VHF DSC radio calls to
boats that are unknown to you. This is quite valuable for offshore
communication with ships especially at night.
When looking for an AIS-B transponder, make sure it has an integrated
GPS, has low power requirements (2-5 watts), and has connectivity
to the displays you need. Typical devices will have NMEA 183, NMEA 2000,
or USB. A device that has all will provide the greatest use no matter
what other navigation products you use now or might switch to later.
If you're using PC navigation software, a USB capability is very nice
since no adapters will be needed - just plug the USB cable into the PC.
There are some AIS devices with WiFi. We think these devices are too
limited and create difficult situations. They limit connectivity to
a single display and often make it difficult to use other WiFi systems
in your boat at the same time. There are better ways to integrate
NMEA 2000 with WiFi that we'll write about in another newsletter.
Suffice it to say, NMEA 2000 on any AIS device you purchase should
be a requirement because it'll give you many future options.
If you don't currently have an AIS transponder, you've probably been
thinking about getting one. It's time. Get it now and use it over this
next cruising season. You'll love it and wonder how you got along
without it.
>>> AIS - Complexities and Issues >>>
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when planning an AIS
installation:
- The transponder needs a VHF antenna. There are two ways to install
this. 1) Get a small, inexpensive VHF antenna and install it, or
2) use a VHF splitter which will allow you to share an existing VHF
antenna with the AIS radio. A good splitter will cost a couple of
hundred dollars and requires power but often makes the installation
simpler. The decision for a splitter isn't simple - you probably have
multiple VHF antennas already. If you don't, consider an inexpensive
VHF whip antenna. We used a splitter with our secondary flybridge VHF
antenna.
- The transponder is supposed to have its own GPS. For maximum quality
of signal, make sure the AIS unit is placed in a location that will
have a good, reliable signal. If you must bury an AIS with an
integrated GPS, make sure to get an external antenna for the GPS part
and put that antenna someplace higher. The GPS for our AIS is in our
pilothouse ceiling with fiberglass above it. We do not have a GPS
antenna outside but the inside location works perfectly. We made sure
to test the GPS signal strength before finishing the installation and
were prepared to modify the location if needed.
There are also a few complaints and issues we've heard about AIS. Below
are our opinions on these:
Issue 1. If everyone has AIS, it's going to get too crowded, and the AIS
alarms will go off continuously.
We believe that people who experience alarms going off all the time
aren't using their AIS capabilities properly. When inshore and in high
traffic areas, there is little need to have alarms enabled for AIS. In
most cases, you're watching the navigation system carefully and will
have visual AIS warnings of approaching vessels. Most systems allow AIS
targets to be removed from targeting as well. Only when you're offshore
or in a non-crowded area should AIS alarms be turned on. Electronic
navigation means using your electronics - you can't expect to set it
once for all types of travel and forget about it.
Issue 2. I don't want others to see who I am.
We believe this is compromising your own safety. It is much safer to
receive a VHF call with your boat's name rather than a lat/lon estimate.
If you do feel a need for secrecy, most AIS devices have a switch that
will turn off the transmission of your data. We didn't even install the
switch on our AIS because we believe it's a bad idea to turn off data
transmission.
Issue 3. Ships just turn off AIS-B traffic so having a transponder is
worthless.
First, we don't believe it is true that ships can turn off AIS-B traffic.
We'd love to know from ship pilots out there and we'll get the info out.
In our experience, every ship we've called said they could see our boat
on AIS and our name on their displays. That's good enough for us. But
we'll keep asking.
There are many other capabilities possible and coming with AIS. There
are already inexpensive wearable AIS transmitters for crew. Fall
overboard and the person in distress becomes an AIS target on all
chartplotters in the area. Virtual buoys are being experimented with
by the Coast Guard. If there's shoaling or a missing buoy in the future,
it's likely to be a radio signal with a lat/lon that will show up at
the proper position on your AIS display."
">>> AIS - Why You Need It >>>
We are particularly excited about this week's (deleted by me) 1st item because
it offers us the perfect opportunity to talk about a technology we think
is important for safety on your boat - AIS.
Almost every cruising boater knows about AIS - the Automatic
Identification System. Released in the last 10 years, AIS-A became
standard on large ships. Today it is a required piece of equipment
on most large commercial vessels. However, AIS-A was fairly expensive
and complex, so few recreational boats installed it.
AIS works through VHF radio. Packets of data are sent out providing
live navigation data - position, speed, course, heading - along with
other very useful information - vessel name, vessel dimensions, MMSI,
age of data, etc.
Early devices for cruising boats were only receivers. They'd allow
your chartplotter or PC navigation software to view the position of
ships broadcasting AIS packets. For offshore, busy harbors, or twisty
rivers, it gave a view of the ships that were coming in many cases when
radar didn't give enough information. It also provided automatic
collision detection and warnings.
In 2007 AIS-B was released with a lower-cost set of specifications to
work alongside AIS-A. Still, early AIS-B transponders were over $1,000.
A transponder not only receives all AIS traffic for display but also
sends out information about your boat for others with AIS including
ships. Over time transponder prices dropped and capabilities increased
to the point where today you can purchase a full AIS-B transponder for
far less. Between these new prices, the ease of integration, and the
support of AIS in almost every chartplotter and navigation software, we
think that if you don't have an AIS transponder, now is the time to get
one.
We've had AIS integrated into our electronics since February. It
didn't take long before we saw how useful it was. Here are some
examples of how we really use it:
- AIS targets show a ship's or boat's name. That is very useful when
you want to communicate with them especially at night.
- When a boat is coming from behind, the AIS target and track line
generally gets our attention. Our 7.5 kt speed means we're passed a
lot. It's very nice to see the speed and closest approach calculation
as a faster boat is approaching.
- In a specific situation involving a barge, an American Cruise Lines
ship, and narrow cuts, we were able to see them miles in advance on
the ICW. This allowed us to hail them by name and arrange for a safe
passing location. Time to closest point of approach is one of the
standard AIS displays presented allowing you to see approximately how
long it will be before you meet oncoming traffic.
- Finding friends nearby by seeing their boat name is a great social
tool. It's also nice to see the names of boats you're traveling with
on your display.
- Transmission of a ship's MMSI allows for VHF DSC radio calls to
boats that are unknown to you. This is quite valuable for offshore
communication with ships especially at night.
When looking for an AIS-B transponder, make sure it has an integrated
GPS, has low power requirements (2-5 watts), and has connectivity
to the displays you need. Typical devices will have NMEA 183, NMEA 2000,
or USB. A device that has all will provide the greatest use no matter
what other navigation products you use now or might switch to later.
If you're using PC navigation software, a USB capability is very nice
since no adapters will be needed - just plug the USB cable into the PC.
There are some AIS devices with WiFi. We think these devices are too
limited and create difficult situations. They limit connectivity to
a single display and often make it difficult to use other WiFi systems
in your boat at the same time. There are better ways to integrate
NMEA 2000 with WiFi that we'll write about in another newsletter.
Suffice it to say, NMEA 2000 on any AIS device you purchase should
be a requirement because it'll give you many future options.
If you don't currently have an AIS transponder, you've probably been
thinking about getting one. It's time. Get it now and use it over this
next cruising season. You'll love it and wonder how you got along
without it.
>>> AIS - Complexities and Issues >>>
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when planning an AIS
installation:
- The transponder needs a VHF antenna. There are two ways to install
this. 1) Get a small, inexpensive VHF antenna and install it, or
2) use a VHF splitter which will allow you to share an existing VHF
antenna with the AIS radio. A good splitter will cost a couple of
hundred dollars and requires power but often makes the installation
simpler. The decision for a splitter isn't simple - you probably have
multiple VHF antennas already. If you don't, consider an inexpensive
VHF whip antenna. We used a splitter with our secondary flybridge VHF
antenna.
- The transponder is supposed to have its own GPS. For maximum quality
of signal, make sure the AIS unit is placed in a location that will
have a good, reliable signal. If you must bury an AIS with an
integrated GPS, make sure to get an external antenna for the GPS part
and put that antenna someplace higher. The GPS for our AIS is in our
pilothouse ceiling with fiberglass above it. We do not have a GPS
antenna outside but the inside location works perfectly. We made sure
to test the GPS signal strength before finishing the installation and
were prepared to modify the location if needed.
There are also a few complaints and issues we've heard about AIS. Below
are our opinions on these:
Issue 1. If everyone has AIS, it's going to get too crowded, and the AIS
alarms will go off continuously.
We believe that people who experience alarms going off all the time
aren't using their AIS capabilities properly. When inshore and in high
traffic areas, there is little need to have alarms enabled for AIS. In
most cases, you're watching the navigation system carefully and will
have visual AIS warnings of approaching vessels. Most systems allow AIS
targets to be removed from targeting as well. Only when you're offshore
or in a non-crowded area should AIS alarms be turned on. Electronic
navigation means using your electronics - you can't expect to set it
once for all types of travel and forget about it.
Issue 2. I don't want others to see who I am.
We believe this is compromising your own safety. It is much safer to
receive a VHF call with your boat's name rather than a lat/lon estimate.
If you do feel a need for secrecy, most AIS devices have a switch that
will turn off the transmission of your data. We didn't even install the
switch on our AIS because we believe it's a bad idea to turn off data
transmission.
Issue 3. Ships just turn off AIS-B traffic so having a transponder is
worthless.
First, we don't believe it is true that ships can turn off AIS-B traffic.
We'd love to know from ship pilots out there and we'll get the info out.
In our experience, every ship we've called said they could see our boat
on AIS and our name on their displays. That's good enough for us. But
we'll keep asking.
There are many other capabilities possible and coming with AIS. There
are already inexpensive wearable AIS transmitters for crew. Fall
overboard and the person in distress becomes an AIS target on all
chartplotters in the area. Virtual buoys are being experimented with
by the Coast Guard. If there's shoaling or a missing buoy in the future,
it's likely to be a radio signal with a lat/lon that will show up at
the proper position on your AIS display."
For purposes of finding a ship's name you might want to consider one of the AIS apps for your smartphone. Obviously this will only work for ships that are in range of the AIS ground receivers and will only work where you have good network connectivity. But it is free, relatively timely and provides the same information as a dedicated AIS receiver.
Mike
Mike
Yes, Yes and YES I have been using a AIS class B transponder since the 1st NMEA2000 unit was commercially available. It will eventually be almost as important as having a VHF radio. If more vessels were equipped it see's around corners something radar can not do.
The 1st year I installed it I thought it was broke it took almost a day before I saw any other vessels now almost 4 seasons later it's rare that I don't see 6 to 12 vessels from my marina (way off the beaten path) some evenings we have seen in excess of 60 vessels. Once out in the Ocean we generally get 40 to 50 mile radius from Class A high powered commercial vessels and at least 15 mile radius for other Class B users. Class B is the 2 watt version. Don't fret you can filter your MFD down to less then a 1/2 mile when in congested waters. I usually display the AIS on one of my MFDs when cruising. It's also a great overlay with Radar they compliment each other and verify that the Radar is working correctly when I encounter a similar equpped vessel which is happening more often lately.
Bill
The 1st year I installed it I thought it was broke it took almost a day before I saw any other vessels now almost 4 seasons later it's rare that I don't see 6 to 12 vessels from my marina (way off the beaten path) some evenings we have seen in excess of 60 vessels. Once out in the Ocean we generally get 40 to 50 mile radius from Class A high powered commercial vessels and at least 15 mile radius for other Class B users. Class B is the 2 watt version. Don't fret you can filter your MFD down to less then a 1/2 mile when in congested waters. I usually display the AIS on one of my MFDs when cruising. It's also a great overlay with Radar they compliment each other and verify that the Radar is working correctly when I encounter a similar equpped vessel which is happening more often lately.
Bill
Don't make this mistake DHS requires that the web based AIS ground recievers report up to 15 minutes on the delay. By then it's of no practical use. Now if you want to use a Smartphone on your NMEA2000 network with an AIS transponder then you will have another tool. I find Smartphones to be a PIA I already have 2 large sized MFD displays and 3 smaller displays at the helm all are sunlight viewable. Why putz around with a Smartphone?
Bill
If you want a nice smaller great system use a Garmin 740s MFD, Garmin VHF200 VHF radio, Garmin GMR18HD radar, get a through hull Airmar transducer and pick any NMEA2000 AIS Class B transponder and you will have everything that the big boys have and it's very intuative to operate. I have everything but the radar unit in my Son's 22 center console.
Bill
Bill
Bill, what can you tell us about the new Rmax technology? Also the Si-Tex components that were mentioned in the article.
http://www.si-tex.com/index.php/pre...ne-of-advanced-metadata-ais-products-for-2012
http://www.si-tex.com/index.php/pre...ne-of-advanced-metadata-ais-products-for-2012
I added it last year and use it frequently. Last Sunday night after dinner we headed from one side of the Hudson to the other around 10p. This is where the river gets wide near Haverstraw Bay. Land masses blocked our view to the north, so radar only saw what was ahead and to the south. AIS showed two barges coming down the river in the shipping lane. I had plenty of time to plan a route that kept us away from them. It was nice to know they were there right as we got underway.
RMax is sales fluff for a high speed processor. Just an FYI you are limited to the fast setting of 38,400 baud rate (speed) if installing it on a NMEA0183 network. On a NMEA2000 network the default baud rate is usually 115,200 and can range anywhere from 4800 to 230,400 baud rate.
Bill
Bill,
In my experience the ground stations are NOT adding the 15 minute delay. I routinely see ship tracks the match what I'm seeing with my eyes. Even with ships moving at good speeds their position reports from the AIS app on my smartphone seem to match reality.
Mike
In my experience the ground stations are NOT adding the 15 minute delay. I routinely see ship tracks the match what I'm seeing with my eyes. Even with ships moving at good speeds their position reports from the AIS app on my smartphone seem to match reality.
Mike