Garmin Plotters and Atons

[richardbrennan]

I went to the London Boat Show yesterday and, after being assured by the people from Digital Yacht that my AIT200 AIS transponder would show ATONs, such as those now on the Bramble Pile and West Bramble Buoy, I spoke to the people on the Garmin stand.

What they told me was that my plotter, a 5012, and Garmin Plotters in general, do not display ATONs. This could be rectified by a software update, but as they had had very few enquiries on the issue, they had judged that there was no demand from their customers and had no plans to upgrade the software. I found this somewhat disappointing particularly as apparently Raymarine plotters do show these beacons.

However, the power is in our hands: if you own a Garmin plotter and think it should show ATONs, please respond to this thread and we will see if Garmin take notice!

 

[pvb]

This is an interesting topic. In theory, AIS AtoNs could be very useful for rapidly identifying emergency marks, such as sunken vessels. I can't see much benefit though in having AIS AtoNs on existing physical navigation marks, which are already adequately shown on most plotters.

Until AIS AtoNs are implemented in greater volume, there'll be no incentive for plotter manufacturers to modify their software to display them. And if they're primarily used for emergency marks, one hopes they won't be in great volume!

There's an interesting report on AIS AtoNs here - http://www.dma.dk/sitecollectiondocuments/publikationer/experienceais_aton.pdf

 

[Plevier]

apparently Raymarine plotters do show these beacons.

Only very recent ones, not all.

 

[david_bagshaw]

They show on a device running open cpn , which incidentally has just been updated to version 4.0

 

[tillergirl]

This is an interesting topic. In theory, AIS AtoNs could be very useful for rapidly identifying emergency marks, such as sunken vessels. I can't see much benefit though in having AIS AtoNs on existing physical navigation marks, which are already adequately shown on most plotters.

Until AIS AtoNs are implemented in greater volume, there'll be no incentive for plotter manufacturers to modify their software to display them. And if they're primarily used for emergency marks, one hopes they won't be in great volume!

There's an interesting report on AIS AtoNs here - http://www.dma.dk/sitecollectiondocuments/publikationer/experienceais_aton.pdf

The Dutch are experimenting with virtual AIS AtoN already on the Westerschelde.

 

[GHA]

The Dutch are experimenting with virtual AIS AtoN already on the Westerschelde.

There are some in the baltic as well, around wind farms.

 

[prv]

I can't see much benefit though in having AIS AtoNs on existing physical navigation marks, which are already adequately shown on most plotters.

I've never understood it either, but there are a number of them out there.

Also several where the physical buoy has been removed. CH1 outside Cherbourg, for instance.

Pete

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I've never understood it either, but there are a number of them out there.

Also several where the physical buoy has been removed. CH1 outside Cherbourg, for instance.

Pete

I guess that there will be some potential benefits in terms of CPA and proximity alarms on existing AIS systems, especially when vis is poor, but agree, it seems a bit overkill.

 

[pvb]

I guess that there will be some potential benefits in terms of CPA and proximity alarms on existing AIS systems, especially when vis is poor, but agree, it seems a bit overkill.

Unless they're just looking for reasons to have AIS AtoNs!

 

[prv]

Unless they're just looking for reasons to have AIS AtoNs!

The first ones to change over (at least, the first I noticed as a chart correction, and had to google to find out what symbol I should be drawing) were a pair of buoys way out in the Atlantic off Ushant. I guess they're probably expensive to service, and to regularly replace given the infamous seas in that part of the world. Substituting them with a database entry in CROSS Corsen must save a few euros.

Still don't see the point of broadcasting them when they could just be printed (or electronic equivalent) on the chart though.

Pete

 

[richardbrennan]

Thanks for all the replies but we seem to be getting a bit of thread drift about the pros and cons of these things; my point is whether it's reasonable for Garmin to ignore their existence. Incidentally, apparently Garmin AIS sets do pick these up but the plotters ignore them!

 

[prv]

my point is whether it's reasonable for Garmin to ignore their existence.

Clearly not, but not really surprising. Most plotter makers aren't particularly interested in AIS; if it displays ships and has a CPA alarm, however crude and subject to false positives, they can tick the "AIS" box on the packaging and move on.

I have a Watchmate display from Vesper, who are a dedicated AIS company and get things right.

Pete