Notebook

AIS part 3.5

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:19:26 +1000

I've been preoccupied with some other projects, so part 4 of the AIS series (about full AIS transponders) is on hold - hopefully we'll get back into it next week.

In the meantime, here is another very geeky VHF receiver with AIS built-in, the French built NaviCom RT650 MOB. Not only that, but it also features a wireless mic, integrated MOB tags and DSC automatic calling.

Amazing! [via the always interesting Panbo]

AIS Part 3 – Radio, Chart plotter or AIS receiver?

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:08:38 +1000

This week we'll continue our discussion of Class B AIS systems, by looking at the clear trend to incorporate AIS receivers into other items of Marine Electronics.

As we saw last week, one way of simplifying the installation of an AIS receiver is to use an antenna splitter (aka multiplexer) to share the boat's VHF radio antenna. Taking that concept further, VHF radio manufacturers are now starting to incorporate AIS receiver into the radio itself. An early example was the iCom IC-M505.

AIS part 2 – Class B receivers, the choice is yours

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:38:44 +1000

You’re probably aware by now that the original (Class A) Automatic Identification System was designed for commercial shipping. Class B AIS was designed to be simpler (cheaper) to implement and to be suitable for recreational vessels. It is compatible with Class A systems and available either as “Receive Only” or as a “Transceiver”.

In this post we’ll described a range of options for “Receive Only” systems, typically the initial choice of most yachties.

AIS part 1 – many ways of getting onboard

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:04:37 +1000

Installing an Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) is becoming a mainstream option for yachts. Prices are dropping and AIS equipment is evolving, resulting in a greater variety of instruments on the market. That variety will no doubt increase further, but we can see distinct categories of AIS equipment emerge.

For those looking to invest in a system, we're going examine those categories in a series of six posts. We will look at the full gamut of equipment, ranging from economical class B receive-only units through AIS integrated with Radio Receivers and Chart Plotters, right up to standalone class A systems.

There is already so much choice that we won't be able to cover every available unit, but we will highlight representative equipment and discuss which features to look for.

Cruising Magazine Roundup

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:52:58 +1000

I started a listing of magazines including their online companion sites which might be of interest to Australian Cruising Sailors.

Please have a look and comment on what you think and if you'd like to add any other magazine to the list.

At last, one Marine Rescue Organisation

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:59:48 +1000

At last there are now some tangible signs that Coastal Patrol and Coast Guard organisations along the NSW coast are integrating their operations.

From 1st January, Coastal Patrol started calling itself Marine Rescue and from yesterday, 17th January, Coast Guard stations also changed their call signs to Marine Rescue.

Below is a list of the Coast Guard stations with their new call signs:

Tweeting all the way home

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:05:51 +1000

Nick Jaffe just cleared customs in Coffs Harbour after a 2 year solo sail from Europe. Apart from being an accomplished sailor, Nick also worked out how to make the Internet work for him along the way.

And not just by getting regular weather reports via a Satellite…

Check out his Website, Blog, his Flickr photostream, his Video and his Tweets. And of course, there is a tracking page.Well done, Nick!

I guess it had to be a 27 year old to show us how it’s done…

Using Instamapper to track boats

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:16:29 +1000

I've been exploring various tracking options as part of an exercise to move Skipr tracking up " a notch". Here is the track which we created using an iPhone, taking Te Moana from Iluka to Camden Haven recently.

GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

The iPhone reported positions via the boat's wireless broadband connection. Because of restrictions by Apple on the way applications may be developed, the phone needs to be devoted to reporting GPS positions, rather than report "in the background". If a phone call is received, the iPhone stops tracking, but will resume after the call is finished.

Internet at Sea – the W25

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:14:27 +1000

A few friends have asked about the Wireless Broadband Internet and phone setup aboard Te Moana. Last year, we fitted an Ericsson W25 on our boat. Previously, we had USB modems (Maxon CDMA and later the Maxon Turbo modem) with Telstra mobile data plans. Today I still use the (orange) Maxon Modem while we're ashore (handy in the train or at a customer). But while on the boat I take the SIM card out of the modem and plug it into the Ericsson W25 which Andersen Marine installed on Te Moana last year.

AIS Class B coverage limits

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:27:53 +1000

I'm very interested in the use of AIS on yachts, and not just as an aid to navigation, but also as a way of tracking boats. There is now a proliferation of websites which "aggregate" AIS transmission from boats and plot their position on a map. Probably the most popular of these is MarineTraffic.com, which I have written about earlier. At first glance, that would make a terrific way of tracking cruising yachts along our coast. But is it?

Last weekend's Sydney to Gold Coast race provided an opportunity to see the difference between class A (commercial shipping) and class B (leisure vessels, work boats) versions of AIS as a couple of the boats in the race carried AIS transponders. Here is what I found....

Google Latitude disappoints

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:30:29 +1000

We went out on Te Moana yesterday to check out the Sydney to Gold Coast fleet as they passed Broken Bay. It was a gorgeous day apart from the fact that there was no wind. So we parked ourselves near the race rhumb line, killed the Volvos and just waited for the fleet to crawl towards us.

I kept myself entertained playing with various yacht tracking technologies. I'm eagerly awaiting the day when we can use 'off the shelf' economical systems to track yachts, rather than clunky, expensive satellite transponders or cheap but error prone manual systems.

Every since the 2nd generation iPhone was launched last year, users can determine their location through the built-in GPS (the blue dot marks our position off the coast on the Google Maps iPhone display),

Recently, Google has been promoting its "Latitude" service, where you can share your location with your friends. This works by allowing your phone to transmit its location to the Google service, but...

Tracking your boat just got even easier

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:01:26 +1000

We've been tracking yachts on this site for almost 4 years. Over the coming year, we're expecting to introduce more ways to conveniently track your boat. Most of those features assume internet access while at sea. But we're not forgetting internet deprived boats. From today, we're starting a trial allowing users to submit position reports by mobile phone. You'll still have to register your boat as per usual (here's how), but to submit a position report, you can send us a SMS text message in the following format:

date time latitude longitude comment

Introduction to AIS

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:50:27 +1000

AIS stands for Automatic Identification System, a marine system which identifies a ship to others in its immediate vicinity. It does that by continually transmitting a ship's position, course and call sign on dedicated VHF radio channels.

The information of adjacent ships is picked up by the receiver section of an AIS transponder (or dedicated AIS receiver) and can conveniently be displayed on a chart plotter or other display device. The system has been mandatory on commercial shipping (over 300 ton) since 2004. In recent years,a version (AIS class B) has become available for leisure craft and other non-SOLAS vessels.

When venturing into major shipping lanes or passing busy ports, it ranks as essential safety equipment for cruising boats. With lower cost class B equipment, it is now practical to equip cruising yachts and fishing boats with AIS transponders. That will be invaluable when visibility is poor and at night. And, as adoption increases, there is a real opportunity for wider applications such as keeping track of a cruising boat by family and friends through the use of repeater stations and tracking websites like Marine Traffic.

Rather than explain AIS in all its intricacies here are some links which describe most aspects of AIS.

This PDF by Digital Yacht has an excellent overview of AIS
The Wikipedia entry for AIS describes much of the detail, although it is a bit "light on" regarding Class B systems for recreational vessels.
The US Coast Guard has an excellent set of AIS pages explaining most aspects of the system.
Bosun's Mate provides a concise technical description.

Sailing with an iPhone

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:38:04 +1000

Regulars will know that I'm a fan of the iPhone at sea. Even without specific iPhone apps, the ability to adequately browse standard websites make so much sailing related information available at sea and with the built-in GPS (and now a compass), the iPhone is a great backup to other systems on a boat. And it makes phone calls as well...

Panbo, "the Marine Electronics Weblog" (an excellent source of marine geek news) just published a survey of current iPhone apps which extends the functionality of an iPhone on board even more. But wait....can you get Australian mapping for all these nifty chart plotting apps? Not likely.

You see, there is no copyright on US charts, as the US statutes prevent their Government claiming copyright on works which were created by Government employees. That's why software makers can include (raster) charts at no charge.

I think you could make a good case for abolishing copyright on Australian Hydrographic charts. Having free raster charts available would encourage more boaters to have up to date charts and encourage the use of low end systems such as those in the survey above as standby systems and on small craft. How about it, Kevin?

And Caroline, next time you talk to Mike Prince at the Australian Hydrographic Office, ask them why they don't freely license Australian charts which we, in effect, have already paid for through our taxes.

Planet Skipr mailing list

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:03:49 +1000

Just in case you were wondering where it was... The Planet Skipr mailing list had gone AWOL and it took a while to get it up and running again. It looks like it was associated with the recent addition of the mysailing.com site. I've taken mysailing.com off and subscribers saw a long email this morning with the news from the past week.

You don't know what I'm talking about? Planet Skipr is a once a day email with short news items of interest to the cruising community, gathered from a variety of sources. You can subscribe to the Planet Skipr mailing list or read more about it.

[Update - There is a continued issue with the Planet Software - sorry - we're working on it]