AIS CLASS B מאמר מעניין
A week ago, I was navigating at slow speed through dense fog when the antenna attached to my Class B AIS unit failed, just as I was about to enter the Vessel Traffic lanes in Puget Sound. Let’s be honest: Aboard my little 22-foot powerboat, Class B AIS is not really necessary. Very few boats as small as mine are so equipped, and they seem to get where they’re going just fine. But the AIS network interests me, and I like having Vesper’s AIS WatchMate 850 class B transponder installed aboard Two Lucky Fish. As I’ve written before… The fact is that nobody really cares where my boat is; the vast majority of the boats in a position to do anything about the position of my boat (or care) are not equipped to receive the AIS data I’m broadcasting. The big ships are equipped to see me, but they’re not going to navigate around me anyway. It’s up to me to stay out of their way. My point is that about 99 percent of the real-world AIS utility I have experienced so far comes from reception: I know the names, positions, headings, and velocities of the big traffic I need to avoid. I have made active use of this data on several occasions, hailing them by name over VHF channel 13 (the bridge-to-bridge channel most big ships monitor), in order to clarify intentions in passing and crossing situations. About half a dozen times a year, I genuinely use AIS, and it becomes a navigational tool that I rely on. And in fog, in Vessel Traffic lanes on Puget Sound, it becomes “essential gear I am actively using to ensure the safety of my vessel and crew”. In that context, not only is the AIS receive critical to me; I’m also relying on the class B AIS transmit functionality to let other vessels know where I am. And THAT was the moment the antenna failed: No transmission, no reception. All of a sudden I was AIS-blind (and mute), and it sucked!
A week ago, I was navigating at slow speed through dense fog when the antenna attached to my Class B AIS unit failed, just as I was about to enter the Vessel Traffic lanes in Puget Sound. Let’s be honest: Aboard my little 22-foot powerboat, Class B AIS is not really necessary. Very few boats as small as mine are so equipped, and they seem to get where they’re going just fine. But the AIS network interests me, and I like having Vesper’s AIS WatchMate 850 class B transponder installed aboard Two Lucky Fish. As I’ve written before… The fact is that nobody really cares where my boat is; the vast majority of the boats in a position to do anything about the position of my boat (or care) are not equipped to receive the AIS data I’m broadcasting. The big ships are equipped to see me, but they’re not going to navigate around me anyway. It’s up to me to stay out of their way. My point is that about 99 percent of the real-world AIS utility I have experienced so far comes from reception: I know the names, positions, headings, and velocities of the big traffic I need to avoid. I have made active use of this data on several occasions, hailing them by name over VHF channel 13 (the bridge-to-bridge channel most big ships monitor), in order to clarify intentions in passing and crossing situations. About half a dozen times a year, I genuinely use AIS, and it becomes a navigational tool that I rely on. And in fog, in Vessel Traffic lanes on Puget Sound, it becomes “essential gear I am actively using to ensure the safety of my vessel and crew”. In that context, not only is the AIS receive critical to me; I’m also relying on the class B AIS transmit functionality to let other vessels know where I am. And THAT was the moment the antenna failed: No transmission, no reception. All of a sudden I was AIS-blind (and mute), and it sucked!
