AIS

R

Rockfish

Well-Known Member
I was doing a little research on AIS Marine Radio Systems and came across this site http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/. Many of you likely already know about this site but it was interesting to me. It tracks AIS equiped ships/boats world wide. I watched the pilot boat go out and meet a ship. If you are interested take a look at Victoria and the Strait. You can see all the ships/boats that are AIS equiped and watch them move, if they are anchored or underway, how many knots the are doing etc . Click once on the ship and you get the info on it including a picture. I was surprised that when I clicked on the back trail of a US warship that it showed its rectangular patrol route in the strait that it was repeating over and over. Now if we could just get the guides to get these radios, we would all know where the good halibut spots are. I understand Standard Horizon now has then for around $450.00.
 
I thought about buying an AIS unit used on a auction site once. Since I don't have radar I thought it would be nice to know the where abouts of some of the ships in the fog. Sure would be nice to have it over laid on a radar or plotter. I would like to see a sport model that would show us as sport fisherman for some of them ships and vise versa.
 
Here is a link to a review on the Standard Horizon AIS unit:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2010/02/mibs_ais_edition.html#more

Here is a link to all their recent AIS articles:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/cat_ais.html

Also, here is a link to the main page of Panbo, a great marine electronics review website:

http://www.panbo.com/
pando.png




Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
 
For not a lot more money you can get an AIS transceiver so not only can you project the location, speed and heading of every AIS equipped boat (that's a requirement for all commercial carriers) directly onto your GPS Chart Plotter. And with a transceiver unit all vessels equipped with the AIS can see you. Another benefit is Coast Guard knows precisely your location, which makes the DSC radio a dino. If you check out West Marine in the US they start at around $500....so why waste $ on a radio that only receives AIS signals?

Searun

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Why not just get a radar and see what is actually out there? I think we will be seeing guys out there without radars in the near future thinking they are safe with just AIS. I think it would have been more responsible of the manafacturers to package AIS with Radar as opposed to GPS.

great tool but it will never replace radar.
 
Radar is great for sure, and I have it. But often when you are trolling around changing your orientation to the target it can become a little confusing calculating the targets position, course and speed relative to your position. AIS gives you all that, and takes the guess work out of where you are for the big boys. Remember, radar for the large ships isn't 100% accurate when detecting small vessels bobbing around above and below the swells. Our target profile will disappear in the swells until the ship gets too close to take evasive action. They have the right of way and cannot easily change course...which is why AIS can help you to avoid getting run over.

Searun

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I'm with Beemer here. Not sure I'd spend money for AIS receive only. Don't think that solves any sort of problem that radar can't and probably gives you a false sense of security. You'd see the big guys in the area with AIS, but not the other sport boats. With radar, seeing the big guys is never an issue, and the radar will plot their course and speed like the AIS does. It also allows you to see the other sport boats (usually from closer range, but that's generally OK). Only thing that radar can't do is put you in direct contact with the other vessel, but that can generally be handled via radio or coast guard.

As for changing course -- you realize they don't do that right? If you're fishing in the shipping lanes, you're in the way -- period -- AIS or not.

TenMile
<'((((><
 
sea run you have it rite. the ais and using your radar is the best i've seen many guys with radar almost get rundown by ships rite while they were watching there radar screen.
 
I was unfamiliar with AIS before. Pretty neat, and I want it! As far as radar goes, not always good enough. Running home to Vic with a load of tuna a few years back I plowed right into a fleet of sporties fishing way out from Bamfield. It was thick fog, and there was never a blip on the radar. I had no idea they were there until I was right on top of them. That incident made me very conscientious, both on the commercial boat and as a sportie. Little boats are often invisible on radar. one day, when I finally get to rig out a proper boat of my own, hopefully I will have AIS and radar.
 
I am not sure if AIS would have helped you in that situation steelhead. Sounds like your radar wasn't working properly or someone toyed with the settings.
 
I agree with you on both points. The radar was always a little iffy on that boat. And it is unlikely that the other little boats would have the AIS thingy. I guess I was just thinking that ours probably isn't the only out-of-tune radar on the coast, so the more safety gear the better. Unless you don't want anyone to find your spots....
 
Agree with Bananas and Steelhead...an AIS transceiver is the way to go in concert with your radar simply because small boats often do not show up on radar until you are right on top of them. By then it is too late for a large ship to avoid you...and they have the right of way. If you have ever done a lot of off shore fishing you will know just how difficult it is even to judge where that big ship is going as you are constantly shifting your orientation (heading) while fishing - especially when you are catching fish steady. I want to find the best deal I can on an AIS and get it on my boat. One of my pals installed one last summer and he swears by it...and I'l do my best to be fishing close by so I get a heads up when a big one is churning down on us.

Searun

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a couple of thoughts since i have spent some time looking into this as well. first of all, if you are in a glass boat you are virtually invisable to radar. your profile is so small and you have so little metalic to reflect the radar beam beware. best solution is a radar reflector. i have watched vessels on my radar during absolutely clear conditions and i can tell you that without a reflector you are not going to be 'seen' in any reliable way.

since i am in a relatively large aluminum boat i thought it was no problem for me, false. a larger aluminum boat was running past me headed for the islands last year. clear conditions, no problem with me visually tracking this boat. the radar was working great up to a point then that boat also became a pencil dot on the screen. i now have a reflector and deploy it any time visablility i an issue.

class B recieve only are pretty cheap but as already pointed out your radar probably has no problem picking out a large ship, the reverse is the danger issue. class B transcievers have come way down in price but still can be tricky to integrate. if you have the space for another small screen, its the easiest solution for installation. remember, you either have to have a seperate VHF antenna or you have to install a splitter, some argue for, some against this install. in either case you will have to add a seperate GPS antenna.

i still have not made a move on this and will now just wait until next winter to see how the market shakes out and what happens to the pricing and the integration options.
 
Reelfast, you got it. The hard thing for all of us out there is being seen by the big boys. The AIS radios are well and good, but do not transmit your position to other vessels 24/7; only when you talk on the radio. So, for off shore fishing I think the way to go is a full AIS transceiver. Price is coming down for these units...anyone found a great deal on one of these units??

Searun

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I think all a Full AIS tracker is a great thing to have as well as Radar. That is why I have looked into this a couple of times over the past couple of years. While working on larger vessels over the years and working with these systems I don't understand why sport fisherman don't have access to the same systems so that we can all see each other. This could save lives in the long run.
 
I couple of years ago I had an experience similar to the one Steelhead 25 had. We were out in my fishing partner’s 17 foot glass boat off of Sooke in the infamous super thick August fog. As this is a very popular sport fishing spot that time of year there were other small boats close by. We were all at a slow troll, keeping a constant watch around us and catching the occasional glimpse of each other in the fog. The next thing we know there is the unmistakable sound of large outboard motor/s at high rpm, coming towards us from the east. Between the sound of our own two stroke kicker and the muffling effect of the fog,I suspect he was close to us before we heard him and at speed closed the distance in what seemed like seconds. We never did see him, he passed close by in the thick fog just out of eyesight although the wake hit us almost immediately. Once we were safe we listened for a collision sound with one of the other small boats as his motor sound receded to the west, but none came. Don’t know why he was travelling at speed in the fog, especially through a known high density sport fishing area at the height of the season. I don’t think he had any idea we were there and it was a real learning experience to find out how fast this can happen. I suspect that if we all had AIS transponders/transceivers displaying to Chart Plotters,he would have know we were there.
 
just for safety sake, let me say this one more time, loud and clear:

GET A RADAR REFLECTOR FOR YOUR BOAT!!!!!!


class B receivers only receive.
class B transponders transmit and receive continually but at a less frequent interval than the class A devices required over a certain tonnage. that is why using a VHF splitter may interfer with your radio transmissions. this needs to be checked our very carefully with your specific equipment.
 
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