ACR Electronics will be hosting demonstrations of its Nauticast Class B AIS system at its booth (#441/442) during the upcoming Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, October 25-29, 2007.
[Image copyright 2007, Ben Ellison at Panbo.]
Navagear, alas, will not be there. But if any of our readers are, please take pictures and report back; we’ll be happy to publish your pictures and your observations on Navagear. We’ll even give you a guest byline!
This is exciting news for those of us who have been following the Class B AIS saga for the past few years. To bring yourself up to speed, head over to Panbo and search for “Class B AIS”.
The only reason this is newsworthy at all, in fact, is because you still can’t BUY this or any other Class B AIS product in the United States! You can buy them in lots of other countries; at least 11 countries for the ACR unit. But not here.
Why not? Ask the FCC. Every manufacturer remains obligated to include text like this in their press releases and marketing materials:
This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the FCC. This device is not and may not be offered for sale or lease in the U.S., or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.
Nobody is really sure what the hold-up is; I’m not even sure anyone at the FCC knows what the obstacle is! It may just be one of those inexplicable bottlenecks or logjams you sometimes get with large bureaucracies. Whatever the problem, it’s been pretty frustrating for consumers and manufacturers alike.
