AIS on iPhone 4 - or Laptop - possible?

[peter2407]

Does anyone know if either of the above is possible? If yes, how?

 

[JSYmartini]

"Ship finder" & "Marine Traffic" both good apps you can download from the iStore

 

[l'escargot]

Not for navigation purposes. Just Google AIS or put it into App store.

You can always connect your laptop to an AIS receiver and there is an app which will connect your iPhone as as a repeater to an existing system.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Definitely possible on a laptop - I have being doing it for years, with a suitable chart plotter software (Ive been using Maptech which is now obsolete), and data coming from a NASA AIS engine.

However, I am assuming you want something on a portable device with nothing else connected. If so, you are dependant on getting a signal via 3G or Wifi, which obviously only works in coastal waters.

One neat I-phone app is Ship Ahoy which enables you to point the phone at a moving vessel and see its AIS data on the screen but I wouldnt want to decide my heading based on this information alone !

 

[BAtoo]

"" However, I am assuming you want something on a portable device with nothing else connected. If so, you are dependant on getting a signal via 3G or Wifi, which obviously only works in coastal waters. ""

iPhone has a built in GPS as do many smartphones

 

[ukmctc]

No, but you can see AIS on google and other AIS web sites which you have access to on your Iphone, its like having the real thing.
Yes to the laptop.(most AIS come with a serial connection.)

 

[BlueSkyNick]

"" However, I am assuming you want something on a portable device with nothing else connected. If so, you are dependant on getting a signal via 3G or Wifi, which obviously only works in coastal waters. ""

iPhone has a built in GPS as do many smartphones

Fair point, but you still cant see any AIS info away from a signal.

 

[xyachtdave]

I've just had a digital yacht iais receiver fitted. It sends your boats data along with ais targets to most apple devices, so no issues with phone coverage or the quality of the gps in the device.

You can overlay it with iNavX on an iPad and I must say first impressions are good.

 

[Conachair]

No, but you can see AIS on google and other AIS web sites which you have access to on your Iphone, its like having the real thing.

But not quite. It's like the real thing was at some point in the past. Just had a quick look at marinetraffic, and most seem to say less than 5 minutes old, but still too much to be of that much use.

 

[wooslehunter]

To do what? Ship Plotter is fine for a look see but should not be used for anything serious like collision avoidance. The only real way to do that is by taking data from a local receiver on your own boat either on a dedicated device or through a plotter. There may be an app for that ased on a bluetooth link to the boat's syetems.

Ship Plotter is web based & is predictive. It takes a while for updates to go live. It also predicts position by using the last position, speed & course. I've seen this quite a few times watching vessels in Portsmouth harbour quite happily progressing inland past Portsdown Hill. Since vessels send out data every few minutes & also data can be missed by the receive station, this can lead to very erroneous positions.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I've seen this quite a few times watching vessels in Portsmouth harbour quite happily progressing inland past Portsdown Hill.

That'll be how that Type 45 destroyer ended up on the crest then.