AIS Etiquette

[haydude]

It was more than annoying on my system - acknowledge the alarm and you shut it up only for the interval between signal updates - it made passage planning in a commercial harbour impossible until I finally got off my butt and fitted a separate switch to the AIS power feed.

Probably it depends on the plotter, but my Raymarine can be configured no to send AIS alarms. I normally do this in busy areas where I can rely upon my sight, and turn the alarm mode on when cruising in open waters, however I leave the transponder ALWAYS on when sailing (not when berthed), otherwise it would be useless.

 

[Bilgediver]

This video shows the output of the Gosport ferry yesterday. Spot the obvious mistake....

If a double ended ferry then they need provision to show it isn t really going backwards

 

[RIB_imposter]

Probably it depends on the plotter, but my Raymarine can be configured no to send AIS alarms. I normally do this in busy areas where I can rely upon my sight, and turn the alarm mode on when cruising in open waters, however I leave the transponder ALWAYS on when sailing (not when berthed), otherwise it would be useless.

Seems logical to me - would be surprised if others can't be configured similarly. I can see why that could get annoying. So in fact the complaint should be about the poor design of the chartplotter/software/user interface that apparently hasn't taken into account that either (a) you don't want to know OR (b) you won't bother to look up the manual to find out how to change the setting.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Seems logical to me - would be surprised if others can't be configured similarly. I can see why that could get annoying. So in fact the complaint should be about the poor design of the chartplotter/software/user interface that apparently hasn't taken into account that either (a) you don't want to know OR (b) you won't bother to look up the manual to find out how to change the setting.

Mine is also a Raymarine, but the options to change the AIS warnings are deep in the menu structure; my chart-plotter is at the chart table, and I'm not running up and down the companion-way when manoeuvring in close quarters.

What I REALLY want is an AIS warning option that says "Only tell me about the ones I don't know about"! As most of the AIS warnings I get are courtesy of Caledonia-MacBrayne, it can be a bit irritating to get a warning about a vessel I'd be surprised NOT to see. Now the Waverley is another matter - she sneaks up on you!