AIS

AIS Displayed on SIMRAD GO9 & Radar Overlay

After reading quite a bit of information, especially on the AGLCA forum, I became pretty convinced of the importance of AIS.  The Automatic Identification System (AIS) uses transceivers mounted on the boat to supply and/or read information about ships/boats in your vicinity (VHF range) such as ship name, size, identification, position, course and speed.  The information can be viewed by boats having the system installed and provides a way for the operator to communicate with other ships without having to "guess" who they are attempting to communicate with.  The system is very handy when operating in or near areas of large ship and barge activity.  Especially on rivers where you can't see around the bend. Imagine coming around the bend in a river only to be met by a tug pushing a bunch of loaded barges. With the AIS the captain of either boat can hail the other and provide information about what they may need to pass safely.

SIMRAD NAIS-500

    I researched AIS systems and found a SIMRAD unit that would hook directly to my Chartplotter, The problem was is was about $600 and I would also have to purchase another VHF antenna or install a splitter to my existing antenna.  Either way I was looking at about $700 worth of new equipment. Was it really worth it?

   Now, more back story. Part of having an AIS means getting a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number issued.  It is kind of like a phone number for your ships radio (but alot more). There are a few ways to do that, the free way from BoatUS, SeaTow, etc. or the Federal Government.  Here is a link to the US Department of Homeland Security that explains in more detail the MMSI, who needs it and how to obtain it. https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtmmsi 

    I opted to go the "free" way, as the Feds charge $220 for a ship's station license (which is not mandatory in the US for recreational boats) which also provides you with the MMSI.  First mistake, it was free from BoatUS and I entered it into my radio.  I later found out that if you plan to boat outside of the US, say Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, etc. you have to have 2 things in reference to your VHF, a Ship's Station License and an MMSI from the Federal Government.  We do have plans to go to the Bahamas and possibly Canada so, we need to go the Federal route.  Remember I said first mistake.  Once an MMSI is entered into most (probably 98%, just a guess) VHF radios, it cannot be changed or removed without sending the radio back to the manufacturer to be reset.  Also, even with the MMSI in my radio it could not "talk" to my GPS since some rocket scientist cut the wires on the radio off so there was no way to connect it. By the time I sent the radio back, paid the manufacturer & shipping, bought a new cable (if I could find it for a 21 year old radio) I would be in for about  $125 and no radio for a couple weeks.  Total bill (in case you're not keeping track) not including my time would be about $825.

GX1500

GX2400

    The solution. I was able to buy a brand new Standard Horizon VHF with AIS capabilities and the second station microphone with the ability to plug right into the NMEA backbone to "talk to" all my electronics for about $600. The best part? Same radio, just the newer version, everything would fit right back into the same cut outs, and the only wiring routing would be from the lower helm to the upper....and I can sell the other two radios (perfect condition, except for the cut GPS wire which really doesn't effect the basic operation of the radio) for about $150. I'm only in for about $450! Seemed like the best solution. 

    I went to the FCC website and obtained a Ship's Station License and the MMSI. Be prepared, maybe it's just me, but maneuvering around the website is VERY confusing. Once I paid the fee I had no idea if I actually did it right and had the license.  After more searching around I found it and downloaded it.  The license is good for 10 years, there is no test.  You are issued a call sign and the MMSI, and all of your boat information is stored.

    Once I get everything installed and use it, I may post more information about the AIS and whether all this was worth it.

UPDATE: Having the boat in Tampa Bay summer 2021 gave me a chance to see how AIS works. There are quite a few ships here with it as well as the general boating population. We haven't really needed it yet but it does work. The radio does indeed place the AIS info on the GPS and of course shows it on the radio screen as well. Frankly it is too difficult to read the info on the radio screen.

The TowBoatUS boats have it and that seems really helpful especially if you needed their services and wanted to know how far they were.

One issue we had to solve was turning off the warning beeps every time an AIS boat was in range, and as I said there are a lot of them here so it was going off constantly. It took awhile to really dig into the manual but we were able to turn the alarm off.

UPDATE 2:  It never fails, just when you think you've found a "loophole" the loop wraps around your neck and strangles you. Since posting this entry, I have found that the GX2400 VHF radio (and probably most others that have built in AIS) only "receives" AIS, it doesn't transmit it. Receive only is a good less expensive alternative but even though you can contact those ships you cannot see, they cannot see you if your vessel is behind a river bend or out of radar sight. I did some thinking and decided I wanted to be seen when coming down those inland rivers and around those tight bends of the Tennessee & Tombigbee, especially by those behemoth river tows. See my "AIS 2 The Devil is in the Details" entry for the rest of the story.