McMurdo Fastfind Personal AIS - £130

Talulah said:
Couldn't help but notice Marine Superstore have some of these at £130 instead of the usual £200.
For those who have been waiting on price this could be it.
I have no connection to Marine Superstore or McMurdo. I suspect they over estimated demand.

http://www.marinesuperstore.com/item/99314828/mcmurdo-s10-smartfind-personal-ais-beacon
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Didn't they try to sell those at the London boat show for £100 or thereabouts?

I also expected lack of demand, so I didn't buy one either... prefer EPIRB instead.
 
I bought one last year for £125. I suspect the expiry date on the battery may dictate the price. Seems an excellent piece of kit though.
Hmmm do you mean EPIRB or AIS? Mine is an EPIRB/PLB type thingy.
 
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Gosh, I thought, that's cheap for the McMurdo PLB. We paid about £200 each for our two. Then I looked at the link. It's for this AIS beacon;

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The standard PLB is still £200:

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I expect the AIS device is useful for some people but it would be little use to us as it doesn't transmit 406MHz and 121.5MHz signals.
 
Coaster said:
Gosh, I thought, that's cheap for the McMurdo PLB. We paid about £200 each for our two. Then I looked at the link. It's for this AIS beacon;

0000020429.gif


The standard PLB is still £200:

I expect the AIS device is useful for some people but it would be little use to us as it doesn't transmit 406MHz and 121.5MHz signals.
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This image you included above is NOT designed for sailing or cruising it is the diving version of the AIS Fastfind and will withstand submerging to 70 metres and can be operated with diving gloves. It is for a diver who loses sight of his buddy and gets carried away from the Dive Boat. He can then twist the base and he can accurately alert the dive boat of his location.

The Sailing version is somewhat different and is installed inside an inflatable Life Jacket. The LJ version is water submersible to 3 metres (see image below).

Kannad_SafeLink_R10_cPanbo-thumb-465x460-3507.jpg

This is the unit for sailing as it fits to the life jacket

They do not transmit on 406MHz and therefore you will not wait for a satellite, then MRCC Falmouth, then the SAR assets.

It transmits on 162MHz and all chart plotters, within range, with AIS will receive the 970/972 MMSI code as a MOB with bearing and range with an alarm sounding.

That is what I receive when a goon, living north of Portchester on a housing estate, sets his off to test it every now and then!!



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Cardo said:
From the bottom of the MarineSuperstore page:

"This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not and may not be offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained."

?!?!?
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That quote, above, needs updating. The American FCC took their time in allowing these devices to be imported and used on US vessels but a licence was granted about a year ago and the text you have read needs updating.

They are fully approved in EU waters (and now US waters).



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nigelmercier said:
I wonder if these could be hacked into being an AIS transmitter?
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If you are thinking of using one for other than its designed use, it will not transmit the correct details as it is not a 23*xxxxxxx MMSI code but a 970 or 972 MMSI code which is probably burnt into an eEPROM.

It sends an MOB alarm code and not an AIS ship code and on my screen come up as a white cross on a red circular background, similar size to the AIS icon, with an alarm sounding and a 3 centimetre grey bar across the bottom of the CP with full details including Lat-Long, bearing, range and time.



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nigelmercier said:
Could equally be used by someone who goes overboard, assuming the boat has an AIS receiver.
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It is far more clunky and quite a bit larger than the yachty one which is similar in size and shape to a double tampon carrier.

The Dive (McMurdo S10) one is circular 8" x 2" and slightly tapered, the LJ version (McMurdo R10) is 5" x 1½" x ½".

I have both onboard as I have full SCUBA diving gear if ever you are down this way you can take a look at both units side by side?



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lenseman said:
It is far more clunky and quite a bit larger than the yachty one which is similar in size and shape to a double tampon carrier.
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What an eccentric choice of example object :). This must be the 21st century New Man version of "size of a fag packet" :D

Puzzles me that so many people seem to find these devices hard to understand though.

Personally I reckon they (preferably the smaller yachtie version, not the chunky diving one) are the best choice of electronics for man-overboard use for anybody except single-handers. The nearest people able to help you are the rest of the crew on your boat. It's them you need to alert and broadcast your position to, and that's exactly what an AIS SART like this does. You will pop up on the plotter screen immediately, position updated every few seconds. Calling out lifeboats etc can be done by the yacht crew using DSC (or the boat's own PLB / EPIRB if required) - but more importantly they can get back to you without any outside assistance. That's a lot better than you calling direct to the MRCC with a beacon that takes a couple of minutes to send its first shout and then only updates relatively infrequently - and leaves your crew out of the loop entirely.

Pete
 
Absolutely Pete, the 406 EPIRB signal can take 45 minutes to an hour and a half before any SAR units are called out as there has to be a satellite "in view" and the signal has then to be down-linked to an earth station and then on to the MRCC before any rescue can be even started. This is time you do not have with a MOB.

As you quite rightly point out, using a McMurdo R10, you can initially keep the rescue "in house" and start immediately and not have to wait around, by all means call out the Big Yellow Paraffin Budgie (Grey and Red now) if needed. - It's a complete no brainer!! ;)



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Buck Turgidson said:
Anyone know how many people per year go overboard and out of sight of the remaining crew?
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Probably not very many, given that it tends to be news when it happens.

That's why despite hearty endorsement above, that if you're going to use a gadget against it, this is the gadget to use, I don't actually have one or any plans to do so.

Pete
 
I have a FF220 but I carry it when skiing trekking and mountain biking when I'm alone. Better than cutting your arm off with a blunt pen knife!! Will also take it sailing later in the year when cruising offshore short handed. As the other crew will be asleep when I'm on watch not sure who would find me first, him or the coast guard.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
As the other crew will be asleep when I'm on watch not sure who would find me first, him or the coast guard.
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Depends how loud the alarm on the AIS receiver is, I guess.

I haven't installed mine yet, but as well as the built-in beeper it has a relay output for auxiliary alarms. I've made up a little panel which will go in the cabin, with a flashing light and a buzzer. There's a mode switch for off (built-in beeper in the cockpit only), light, or light and buzzer, and a volume knob for the buzzer. The two main uses are to alert me to AIS warnings if I'm alone on watch but have popped below for a few minutes offshore (in which case probably light only to avoid waking off-watch crew) and with the anchor alarm that's built into the AIS receiver (in which case buzzer on to wake someone up). However, if I was alone on watch with sleeping crew, and I had an AIS-MOB unit, I would probably put the cabin alarm in buzzer mode on max volume, to wake my mate up if I fell off. (I guess I'd have to be careful not to let any other AIS alarms trigger during normal navigation, though :) )

Pete
 
My master plan is to not fall off!
As you say, if the alarm is loud enough to wake the sleeping crew they may never sleep if there is other traffic around :-(
 
Buck Turgidson said:
My master plan is to not fall off!
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Me too.

Buck Turgidson said:
As you say, if the alarm is loud enough to wake the sleeping crew they may never sleep if there is other traffic around :-(
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Fortunately my AIS display is very configurable, so you can choose what alarms you want and whether you want them to set off buzzers or just light up the screen. My main use for it will be in the Channel, I wouldn't want one that beeps and buzzes whenever it saw a ship - it would never stop!

Pete
 
lenseman said:
If you are thinking of using one for other than its designed use, it will not transmit the correct details as it is not a 23*xxxxxxx MMSI code but a 970 or 972 MMSI code which is probably burnt into an eEPROM.

It sends an MOB alarm code and not an AIS ship code and on my screen come up as a white cross on a red circular background, similar size to the AIS icon, with an alarm sounding and a 3 centimetre grey bar across the bottom of the CP with full details including Lat-Long, bearing, range and time.



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A little warning is in place..
Not all plotters display these targets as MOB and sound the alarm.
So before buying one - check that your plotter supports this equipment.

My Furuno NN3D does not - and we still don't know if the new SW version we where promised to be out by Desember 2012 will support this.
 
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