AIS receive-only for CE laptop?

[MYTraveler]

An AIS receive-only capability would surely be nice to have to keep track of the on-coming tows.

Does CE have the functionality to easily distinguish tows from other vessels? So far as I have been able to figure out, Nobeltec TZT Professional (and the Furuno counterpart) does not. The best that can be done is to open a list of AIS contacts, sort that by vessel status, then "activate" those that are engaged in towing. And repeat periodically so that no one sneaks in on you.

 

[rgano]

Does CE have the functionality to easily distinguish tows from other vessels? So far as I have been able to figure out, Nobeltec TZT Professional (and the Furuno counterpart) does not. The best that can be done is to open a list of AIS contacts, sort that by vessel status, then "activate" those that are engaged in towing. And repeat periodically so that no one sneaks in on you.

I see nothing in the CE menu system offering any such functionality. However, on the Tennessee and Tombigbee (the trip I bought the dAISy for) there is little trouble determining what the oncoming AIS contact is up to. At my speed, no tow will ever overtake me which means I am focused ahead looking for contacts moving at the speed of a tow, 4-6 knots. Names of tugs tend to mostly be a bit of a giveaway too. Things are pretty "binary" on the rivers.

 

[Olebird]

requires full time internet!!

 

[rgano]

requires full time internet!!

Which?

 

[Olebird]

The marinetraffic.com giveaway!

 

[rgano]

The marinetraffic.com giveaway!

Oh, that. Yeah, not worth consideration.

 

[Satch]

Depends on your definition of cheap. I consider this cheap:

Get this marine VHF radio, with built in GPS, Emergency MMIS broadcast, and NMEA2000 output ($408):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089YV4XYQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Then get this NMEA2000 bus starter kit ($80):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074KHXXMF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this NMEA2000 to wireless adapter ($190):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BHKLWX8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wire it all up for 12V power, hook up your existing VHF antenna, then get CE on both your laptops to suck in the GPS and AIS data from the NMEA2000 bus and plot it. You can also consume the data with smartphones with the right app. I use OpenCPN, so I haven't tried it with CE, but I see from the CE website that it supports NMEA2000, so it should be the same.

It's almost $700, but you get the GPS and Emergency MMIS broadcast with the radio, which could save your life someday. If you stay inland, you can get a free MMSI that only works in the US from BoatUS and others.

 

[jfcarbonneau]

Web based AIS tracking

Rich, if you have internet on your cell phone or laptop, you can just use this site:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/

It is real time,

JF

 

[Portage_Bay]

Rich, if you have internet on your cell phone or laptop, you can just use this site:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/
It is real time,

JF

I urge caution using marinetraffic.com for primary AIS data, it is not real time, often not even close. Please see Hippocampus's post #17 and my post #22. I do use it is as explained in post #22 and have observed far too many long lags and dropped AIS targets to give marinetraffic.com any credibility as my primary AIS data source.

 

[rgano]

Rich, if you have internet on your cell phone or laptop, you can just use this site:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/

It is real time,

JF

I thank you for the thought, but Marine Traffic will not work for me. On the 450 miles of the Tombigbee Waterway we will only have sporadic decent cell coverage, and I need full time AIS on that route which looks like a snake with a broken back in many places and plenty of tows pushing north to avoid the swift Mississippi. I have no smart phone and have to beg my wife to allow me some tether time for getting and sending emails.

My $87 dAISy dual channel receiver will do just fine for my needs which extend to only about 11 underway days on this bare bones boat delivery. My own boat's Furuno system has AIS, but I will use this temporary rig in any future delivery where the boat has no installed AIS.

 

[pattormey]

All App solution for navigation

We will probably be heading north to the Tennessee River soon to bring a boat south to the Gulf. It will be a 560-mile run through 12 locks. The boat has ZERO electronic outside of the depth sounder and a basic VHF. Charting and plotting will be accomplished with my two Coastal Explorer equipped laptops. An AIS receive-only capability would surely be nice to have to keep track of the on-coming tows. Has anybody got a cheap and easy idea to implement this capability?

Highly recommend Boat Beacon for display of AIS. This App also puts your vessel into the Internet based AIS systems like Marine Traffic so some others can see you too.

Also use AquaMaps Master for a low cost navigation tool.

Both run on iOS

 

[rgano]

Highly recommend Boat Beacon for display of AIS. This App also puts your vessel into the Internet based AIS systems like Marine Traffic so some others can see you too.

Also use AquaMaps Master for a low cost navigation tool.

Both run on iOS

Low cost nav tool is the CE I already have loaded on two laptops we will carry.

Internet will be sparse.

We don't do i-anything.

Will take a look at boat beacon to see if it presents any utility.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Good discussion. I view AIS as part of my redundant safety items. I have Raymore equipment, so I bought a Raymore AIS transceiver. It has saved my beacon more than once. They see me, I see them.

As I see this as safety equipment, I bite the boat bullet and spend the $$$. The extra cost is not that much and my crew's safety is well beyond the extra cost.

 

[Cigatoo]

Good discussion. I view AIS as part of my redundant safety items. I have Raymore equipment, so I bought a Raymore AIS transceiver. It has saved my beacon more than once. They see me, I see them.

As I see this as safety equipment, I bite the boat bullet and spend the $$$. The extra cost is not that much and my crew's safety is well beyond the extra cost.

Strongly agree. If you are anywhere near large commercial traffic you want them to see you and be able to call you by name. Don’t be afraid to check in with them. They will tell you what to do so as not to risk collision. It maybe as simple as “hold your course”.