Raymarine’s first Class B AIS unit, the AIS500, is nearly ready to ship. Ben Ellison discusses some of its features over at Panbo; as usual, his report is well worth a look.
But I’ve got something to say about it, too.
Specifically, I want to address my own “pet peeve”: How to get all the data [...]

[This article appeared at MadMariner two weeks ago. Tomorrow morning a new Navagear item will appear on the front page of MadMariner. —Tim]
I haven’t yet had a chance to take the boat out with the newly released Rose Point Coastal Explorer 2009. But I did get down to the boat to determine if my [...]

My friend Merv added a comment to a recent post on Class B AIS. He raises an important point:
So our newly acquired Class B AIS unit gives us the MMSI numbers and other information about vessels near us that we may well need to hail to agree on intentions, etc.
Now have you ever tried [...]

Apparently, I misinterpreted the new AIS rules recommendations recently issued by the US Coast Guard in my post yesterday. The US Coast Guard’s AIS Regulatory Project Officer, Jorge Arroyo, who I met at the eNav conference last month, wishes to set me straight.
For my part, I don’t mind one bit! In fact, I appreciate the [...]

I’ve had the boat “on the hard” for several weeks, doing some repairs and engine maintenance. So I haven’t had a chance to do any further “underway” testing of my new Shine Micro RadarPlus AIS-BX Class B AIS transceiver.

Until this past weekend, that is, when C-Brats (the C-Dory online owners community) held its annual [...]

That’s a somewhat inflammatory headline, ain’t it? So let me point out, right off the bat, that I’m engaging in a bit of hyperbole.
As regular readers already know, I love the Coast Guard, and I love the Vessel Traffic Service. Heck, in Puget Sound, VHF channel 14 is usually a lot more informative than [...]

The United States Coast Guard has just issued a Marine Safety Alert regarding Class B AIS, and it’s important reading for anyone considering purchasing this equipment.
But don’t panic: It isn’t news to anybody who has followed the development and deployment of this technology, particularly if you paid any attention to the naysayers.
What it [...]

I took Two Lucky Fish out last night, just as the light was fading. What a lovely night. The pictures don’t really do it justice.

Anyway, I got a chance to test my new Shine Micro AIS-BX Class B transceiver underway. I contacted Seattle Traffic on VHF Channel 14, and they could NOT see my AIS [...]

If you’re thinking of adding Class B AIS to your boat, you may want to pay attention here. Don’t worry, there’s nothing especially complicated about it, but you might save yourself some time by learning from my experience.
I’ve just installed a Shine Micro AIS-BX Class B transceiver. Here’s the finished installation aboard Two Lucky [...]

I’m pretty excited, because I’ve a couple of new toys coming my way.
One is the Maritech Virtual Lifeline. It’s a man-overboard alarm that shuts down the engine. I’ve written about this sort of thing before, both at MadMariner and here at Navagear.
Over the summer, I used a competing product—the Autotether—extensively, and determined that it [...]