Boat Name on AIS Tranciever

[Plymsea]

When using AIS to spot other vessels it is not always apparent what type of vessel it is (using the chart plotter here), and I noticed that many fishing boats prefix their boat name with FV - which is helpful from my point of view.

So the question is, when setting up a yacht transceiver should the bat type be prefixed?

For example SV Pufffin for a sailing yacht, or RIB Alexa for a powerboat.

More importantly is there an official policy on this? Google search did little for me on the topic.

 

[Roberto]

When singlehanding I do like my racing neighbours and add a suffix "Solo sailor".
These days for added peace of mind one might add "Covid sailor"

 

[Porthandbuoy]

With AIS being an international standard I doubt prefixing your boat name with SV, RIB, MB or anything else matters as it would be meaningless in foreign waters.

 

[Ningaloo]

I simply don't understand why the MFD manufacturers don't colour code AIS targets in the same way as the web alternatives do.
I've spoken to B&G/Simrad about this on a couple of occasions and they say that this is not permitted as they need to conform to standards for a class B device but this makes no sense to me. The MFD just interprets information received and surely this can be done however they choose?
Recently I was crewing on a boat with an older (E series?) Raymarine and this showed differed size symbols based on the vessel size and had a different shape for sailing vessels.

 

[[70521]]

When you open at "target" it gives you all the details that have been transmitted,

I admit to having the AIS Transponder by the nav table and only ever looking at it out of interest what that big ship or in yesterday's case that submarine is.

The AIS is also useful when writing up the log as the position, course and SOG is displayed in big characters.

 

[matt1]

I simply don't understand why the MFD manufacturers don't colour code AIS targets in the same way as the web alternatives do.
I've spoken to B&G/Simrad about this on a couple of occasions and they say that this is not permitted as they need to conform to standards for a class B device but this makes no sense to me. The MFD just interprets information received and surely this can be done however they choose?
Recently I was crewing on a boat with an older (E series?) Raymarine and this showed differed size symbols based on the vessel size and had a different shape for sailing vessels.

I agree - it’s a constant bug bear of my B&G display and I’m not even talking about vessel type. To denote a dangerous target as bold black rather than black isn’t sufficient for my eyes. Garmin has green ais targets for safe and red for dangerous - they must be looking at the same rules as B&G !

 

[Ningaloo]

I admit to having the AIS Transponder by the nav table and only ever looking at it out of interest what that big ship or in yesterday's case that submarine is.

I guess you are not sailing in areas with commercial shipping. AIS is pretty much expected to be used by traffic contacting VTS to cross the entrance of Europort , and a major asset for any Channel crossing. It is also mandatory for all boats to have a transponder in many parts of the world where there is significant commercial traffic (e.g. Singapore).
You can also use the AIS to call up another vessel, either by voice using the vessel name or callsign from the AIS details or automatically using the MFD DSC call functions.

 

[Leighb]

I have noticed that many leisure vessels have very little data shown, often just a name (presumably compulsory?) Also, the data such as length shown maybe wildly wrong, 125 metres instead of, presumably, 12.5. This means on my Simrad display they are shown as large ships, but still purple for a leisure craft.

 

[Ningaloo]

... on my Simrad display they are shown as large ships, but still purple for a leisure craft.

Can you advise what Simrad display you have? Interesting that this is colour coded when B&G say this can't be done.

 

[Hoolie]

I have noticed that many leisure vessels have very little data shown, often just a name (presumably compulsory?) Also, the data such as length shown maybe wildly wrong, 125 metres instead of, presumably, 12.5. This means on my Simrad display they are shown as large ships, but still purple for a leisure craft.

I agree we should ensure the data we are transmitting is complete and correct. I find with Class B vessels the data often does take some time to complete presumably due to low transmission speeds.

For the OP's comment there is a field in the data set to define what kind of vessel you have, including sailing boat and leisure motor boat. Of course this should be set correctly

 

[Graham_Wright]

For the OP's comment there is a field in the data set to define what kind of vessel you have, including sailing boat and leisure motor boat. Of course this should be set correctly

Please expand. I note on my Nasa "radar" display, there is a single digit after the MMSI number. Often wondered what that is.

 

[Lucky Duck]

I agree we should ensure the data we are transmitting is complete and correct. I find with Class B vessels the data often does take some time to complete presumably due to low transmission speeds.

For the OP's comment there is a field in the data set to define what kind of vessel you have, including sailing boat and leisure motor boat. Of course this should be set correctly

Class B units broadcast relatively infrequently so it takes a while for all the data to be received.

There are some real howlers in terms of boat size, some claim to be comfortably larger than the world's largest ship

 

[RichardS]

I prefix my boat name with SY on AIS ..... maybe it should be SC?

Richard

 

[johnalison]

Without having the unit to hand, I can't be sure, but I think that sailing boats are shown as something like 'pleasure vessel'. I am often curious as to why so many yachts are described as being 33ft, which is actually rather an uncommon size, and I presume that it is one of the default settings. It often takes a minute or two after switching on for ship or yachts' details to appear in full, which is inevitable.

Perhaps it is a feature of where I sail, but I don't usually find the lack of symbols being differentiated a problem since usually it is pretty evident what sort of vessel it will be, but a colour coding would be nice, something for the future.

 

[duncan99210]

All AIS units need to be populated with data by the user. Often in Greek waters we find that the only data being transmitted is the MMSI: no name, no size, etc.
There‘s a data field that allows you to specify the type of vessel which is a 2 digit code. 30 is a fishing vessel, 36 is sailing and 37 is a pleasure boat and so on. I have mine set at 36. That data shows up when you look at the data label on the AIS, my AIS display decodes the data so when you look at how big the target is etc, it’ll tell you what the classification of the vessel is. Therefore no need to include SY or whatever but equally no reason not to if that’s what you want to do.

 

[ithet]

Without having the unit to hand, I can't be sure, but I think that sailing boats are shown as something like 'pleasure vessel'. I am often curious as to why so many yachts are described as being 33ft, which is actually rather an uncommon size, and I presume that it is one of the default settings. It often takes a minute or two after switching on for ship or yachts' details to appear in full, which is inevitable.

Perhaps it is a feature of where I sail, but I don't usually find the lack of symbols being differentiated a problem since usually it is pretty evident what sort of vessel it will be, but a colour coding would be nice, something for the future.

Sailing yachts should be set in transponder as 'Sailing Vessels'. According to my Vesper manual 'Pleasure Craft' should have a primary propulsion by engine. I have a Raymarine plotter with Lighthouse 3, and with enhanced AIS symbols set it differentiates 'Sailing Vessels' with a round stern rather than a triangle. However, many sailing yachts show as a plain triangle because they are transmitting as 'Pleasure Craft' (of which 'yacht' is a subtype but I think it refers to a motor yacht).

The dimensions are to nearest metre, so 33ft would be equivalent 10m. However, it is the offsets of the GPS antenna that are entered, not the vessel overall dimensions. I entered mine (on my Vesper) in metres, there is an option to use feet but only certain values can be represented. I expect some users enter their dimensions as feet with the metres setting selected.

Lighthouse 3 AIS symbols:



Information on vessel types, I note there is a type 'Fishing':

What is the significance of the AIS Shiptype number?

Edit: corrected to refer to GPS antenna for position reference.

 

[Jamie Dundee]

Without having the unit to hand, I can't be sure, but I think that sailing boats are shown as something like 'pleasure vessel'. I am often curious as to why so many yachts are described as being 33ft, which is actually rather an uncommon size, and I presume that it is one of the default settings. It often takes a minute or two after switching on for ship or yachts' details to appear in full, which is inevitable.

For boat size you enter the measurements from the antenna, more relevant on a big ship than a small pleasure boat. I’d guess this can be entered in error in some cases, after saving the vhf has to go back to a dealer to have the info wiped again if the info is wrong.

Don’t ask me how I know this ?

 

[matt1]

Lighthouse 3 AIS symbols:
View attachment 99501


Information on vessel types, I note there is a type 'Fishing':

What is the significance of the AIS Shiptype number?

Come on nice people of B&G, that’s Garmin and Raymarine who manage to colour code their targets rather them being black or slightly blacker

 

[johnalison]

For boat size you enter the measurements from the antenna, more relevant on a big ship than a small pleasure boat. I’d guess this can be entered in error in some cases, after saving the vhf has to go back to a dealer to have the info wiped again if the info is wrong.

Don’t ask me how I know this ?

View attachment 99503

I am clearly in error, since my AIS antenna is shared with the VHF at the masthead. I ought then to be recorded as something like 10 feet.

 

[Hoolie]

It's the GPS antenna position that's needed. This Vespermarine data entry sheet shows the antenna position data, the type of craft and other items. The MMSI can only be entered once but the rest can be edited anytime.