AIS, thoughts?

[butty]

i am thinking about buying an AIS unit to fit to my chartplotter.

i am looking at the Amec Camino 108.

what are the general thoughts about AIS, it has to be worth it, right?

it must be like having basic radar, but only seeing other AIS boats.

[whisper]

Originally Posted by butty

i am thinking about buying an AIS unit to fit to my chartplotter.

i am looking at the Amec Camino 108.

what are the general thoughts about AIS, it has to be worth it, right?

it must be like having basic radar, but only seeing other AIS boats.

Yeah it will be worth it around southampton, especially if your going to cross the channel. Speak to Daniel on here before you buy as he'll give you the model number of a nice one to go for

[ShinyShoe]

"Has to be worth it" said the salesman as I handed him a big wad of cash..

I think it very much depends on your boating and conditions u operate in, and the other boats near you. Crossing channel in fog... Yes. Beach hopping on a Sunny Day...

[ShinyShoe]

Oh and are u thinking receiver or transponder? I think receivers are selfish... I want to know all other boats in the area but I expect everyone else to be using mark 1 eyeball to see me..

[butty]

Thinking transceiver.

I travel across Solent a lot ans was caught in fog last week.

Along the coast loads and bad vis can be an issue....

[mick]

I've fitted one of these

[matata]

A lot of the big boats dial out the Class B because there is so much of it. They are only intrested in class A Nik

[ShinyShoe]

Well AIS would certainly help that scenario but does it give a false feeling of safety... ? ...you can see some ships around so think you can see everything but you don't see the rib that doesn't have AIS, or yacht or trawler or maybe surfaced submarine or for that matter a big lump of container.

There were some cheap Chinese imports (that should set a fee folks here off...) Available for not much more than a receiver...

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by matata

A lot some of the big boats have the ability to dial out the Class B because there is so much of it. They are only intrested in class A Nik

FTFY

There is very little evidence that big boats are switching off Class B. I think it's a very brave master who filters the Class B out. If he hits someone would you expect the MAIB to go gently on him? I'd be pretty sure in fog they wouldn't filter...

[Poly]

Originally Posted by butty

it must be like having basic radar, but only seeing other AIS boats.

I've always though it must be like having radar that you aren't sure is working properly! It might be showing everything, or it might only be showing big stuff, and it definitely isn't showing land, or most buoys etc. Of course radar is hard work to get the best out of it, especially if navigating short handed at speed, so isn't the perfect answer either.

But if I was regularly travelling in fog I would want Radar.

[ShinyShoe]

To be fair if you are overlaying AIS on a chart, the chart shows where the buoys and land are supposed to be

[boristhebold]

I think Ais is another useful tool in some circumstances, i have a raymarine ais fitted, useful in fog to transmit your position as lets face it most radar reflectors for ribs arnt great, useful for idenifying other boats around, identify local known boats, large ferries coming in, pilot boats, cargo ships etc.

Also in an emergency if its on then its another way for rescue services to find you.

I tend to switch off the transmit function when in the harbour if ships moving around to reduce the noise, which probably helps reduce blips on screens, i also adjust the ais warning alarms when not in fog, otherwise the alarms go off very often when around other craft with it fitted.

So mynview is its another tool.