My appeal for AIS assistance from a member in the PNW!

[Frosty]

Wow, good sleuthing!

Sloppy of Garmin, but at least they got it straightened out now (thanks to your persistence).

Whew.

(Guess you don't need to buy those West Coast charts right away.)

 

[rslifkin]

I had a suspicion that Garmin had sent that unit back out without wiping the MMSI... Seemed like the most likely possibility.

 

[boomerang]

I had a suspicion that Garmin had sent that unit back out without wiping the MMSI... Seemed like the most likely possibility.

I was leaning more towards an owner keying in my mmsi by mistake but the more I thought about it, it didn't seem plausible since most all manufactures make you enter the number in twice to make sure you get it correct. I cant imagine American Tug installing factory refurbed equipment instead of new. I would also hope Garmin wouldn't sell refurbished stuff as new either. Maybe the owner bought & supplied the recycled equipment himself at a discounted price.

 

[CaptTom]

This didn't happen until Garmin issued me another Cortex ais unit and they had some trouble with the file they sent me so I could program the replacement unit but I think we got that resolved correctly

This was the clue which got me thinking along the lines of the final resolution. I was in a bit of a rush and didn't take the time to post my guess. So I suppose I can't say "I told you so." Darn.

So, now I wonder if Garmin sold your reconditioned unit as new?

 

[SeaDogAK]

You should change your boat name to Wandering AIS.

 

[DDW]

I was under the impression that: 1) In the US, not all MMSI numbers are assigned by the FCC, US boat for example can give you one (not legal for travel internationally). 2) In the US, it is not legal for the owner or user to program the MMSI, it must be done by a manufacturer or authorized representitive.

Now we can argue about the wisdom of both of those, but, is your MMSI issued by the FCC or some private entity? And, who programmed it? Obviously the new AT owner didn't. And, why would Garmin not be blamed for selling retread equipment? They must not have tested the returned unit very throughly, didn't even reset it to factory original specs.

Kurt runs the AT factory and is a great guy by the way.

A few years ago we were running back from Alaska through Canada and there was a custom Ocean Alexander 88', running at about 35 knots cruising speed all the way down Van Isle and on to Astoria, that turned out to have the same MMSI as a tug local to Victoria. It was driving the Marine Traffic guys nuts. They finally made the OA turn theirs off, as it seemed to not be the legal owner.

 

[StarBright]

Now we know why you go by "boomerang."

 

[boomerang]

Now we know why you go by "boomerang."

Boomerang was many boats ago. We've mellowed a little with our age and Wandering Star seems to fit our cruising demeanor a little better.

 

[boomerang]

I was under the impression that: 1) In the US, not all MMSI numbers are assigned by the FCC, US boat for example can give you one (not legal for travel internationally). 2) In the US, it is not legal for the owner or user to program the MMSI, it must be done by a manufacturer or authorized representitive.

Now we can argue about the wisdom of both of those, but, is your MMSI issued by the FCC or some private entity? And, who programmed it? Obviously the new AT owner didn't. And, why would Garmin not be blamed for selling retread equipment? They must not have tested the returned unit very throughly, didn't even reset it to factory original specs.

Kurt runs the AT factory and is a great guy by the way.

A few years ago we were running back from Alaska through Canada and there was a custom Ocean Alexander 88', running at about 35 knots cruising speed all the way down Van Isle and on to Astoria, that turned out to have the same MMSI as a tug local to Victoria. It was driving the Marine Traffic guys nuts. They finally made the OA turn theirs off, as it seemed to not be the legal owner.

I'm not sure if it is illegal to program your own mmsi # or not but the I believe the FCC requires a qualified technician to program, which kind of leaves the interpretation of anyone who can spell is qualified. When I was in the business ,I used to program the units I installed. Now , with my personal units, I fill out the form, send it to garmin and they send back a VSM file with my ships programming. All I do is transfer the file to my AIS transceivers.
I've always had an FCC issued MMSI. I try to keep things professional.

 

[DDW]

The rules differ for VHF radios (which can be programmed by the owner) and AIS transceivers, which can't. For example from the Garmin site:

The MMSI number must be programmed by an authorized marine-electronics dealer or installer.

"Authorized" presumably does not mean "self-authorized". Of course it did no good in this case since Garmin was the one making the error . And oddly, the rules do not seem to prohibit crossing the border into Canada, programming the number, then returning (Canada allows the owner to do it).

 

[GMS]

Interesting, issue and discussion on AIS programming - I have operated under the impression that even AIS transceivers could be programmed the first time (new installation) by an owner, but for any subsequent change would require an authorized person to perform the programming (or at least reset the device).

That said, I have found it very easy to obtain the necessary equipment and/or access to reprogram various AIS transceivers over the years (not to say I have actually reprogrammed any AIS transceivers of course ;-) ).

I assume the rational for making it difficult or prohibited to reprogram is to prevent fraud, but given how easy it is to find the necessary access codes - the prohibition does not seem like an affective enforcement mechanism...