Poor man's AIS app.

solent clown

solent clown

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Karen uses this app when we are out and about as she is interested in the shipping and what is going on.
It also serves as a fairly useful app for location of the vessels - not up to the second accurate, but useful nonetheless so far, and clicking on individual vessels yeilds a useful menu of info including mmsi and call sign.
It is a free app Karen downloaded for a bit of fun which has proved to be quite useful too, and has got us thinking more about the benefits of proper ais when we start striking out on longer voyages. With the tablets so cheap now we are getting a second one to install alongside the one running navionics so both screens can be seen at once. More room for music storage then too!
It does have the occasional ad pop up but apart from that its fine.

IMG_20180806_124606 by mark punksteel, on Flickr

IMG_20180806_124538 by mark punksteel, on Flickr

IMG_20180806_124648 by mark punksteel, on Flickr
 
I use a free AIS app occasionally but haven’t yet seriously considered buying an AIS or proper chart plotter - but buy one if you fancy it as we all have different wants ( I wouldn’t set off without running hot water for a shower underway or an ice maker for my malt whiskey.
 
RupertW said:
I use a free AIS app occasionally but haven’t yet seriously considered buying an AIS or proper chart plotter - but buy one if you fancy it as we all have different wants ( I wouldn’t set off without running hot water for a shower underway or an ice maker for my malt whiskey.
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Aaaaaargh ice for your malt whiskey? Sounds as if you want to ‘trolled’ by the whole of Scotland.
 
UK-WOOZY said:
looks like a copy of marine traffic, not free. :encouragement:
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Definitely not a copy, although it clearly does a similar thing to Marine Traffic. However, unlike Marine Traffic, it does appear you can use it for free to display the historic track going back more than 24 hours without having to cough up a penny (but with far fewer data points by the looks of it).
 
RupertW said:
I use a free AIS app occasionally but haven’t yet seriously considered buying an AIS or proper chart plotter - but buy one if you fancy it as we all have different wants ( I wouldn’t set off without running hot water for a shower underway or an ice maker for my malt whiskey.
Click to expand...
You prefer the stuff the Irish and Americans make?

May I respectfully suggest that any decent malt whisky/whiskey or any other spirit (we tested this on rum a few weeks back) only needs a drop of water at room temperature.
 
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Good idea to be a bit careful.... There can be a tendency to forget the data isn't real time. I've played with real ais and web ais on the same screen before, often a mile difference in the ship positions though that was fast ferries.

With a laptop down below you can get real data for a few quid using a cheap usb TV dongle and an opencpn plugin. Not the greatest but it works, just add an antenna.

https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/d...ncpn_user_manual:plugins:ais_radar:rtlsdr_usb
 
solent clown said:
Karen uses this app when we are out and about as she is interested in the shipping and what is going on.
It also serves as a fairly useful app for location of the vessels - not up to the second accurate, but useful nonetheless so far, and clicking on individual vessels yeilds a useful menu of info including mmsi and call sign.
It is a free app Karen downloaded for a bit of fun which has proved to be quite useful too, and has got us thinking more about the benefits of proper ais when we start striking out on longer voyages. With the tablets so cheap now we are getting a second one to install alongside the one running navionics so both screens can be seen at once. More room for music storage then too!
It does have the occasional ad pop up but apart from that its fine.

IMG_20180806_124606 by mark punksteel, on Flickr

IMG_20180806_124538 by mark punksteel, on Flickr

IMG_20180806_124648 by mark punksteel, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Findship is one of many apps like the MarineTraffic tool that shows AIS targets that have been picked up by AIS base stations.

This should definitely not be used as any form of navigation aid.

A good AIS receiver configured with a reliable VHF antenna is the best option with an overlay to your MFD.

I've spent a bit of time installing these and run an AIS base station. You can read those posts on Instagram, @svaustralis
 
svaustralis said:
Findship is one of many apps like the MarineTraffic tool that shows AIS targets that have been picked up by AIS base stations.

This should definitely not be used as any form of navigation aid.

A good AIS receiver configured with a reliable VHF antenna is the best option with an overlay to your MFD.

I've spent a bit of time installing these and run an AIS base station. You can read those posts on Instagram, @svaustralis
Click to expand...

Yes, agreed, it is a useful fun tool, and as I said, not to be relied on as a primary aid - and as I said, it made us think more about a proper ais system. As an aid to the MK1 eyeball, and as a learning tool it is great, now we know much more about the shipping here, and are better able to understand what is going on in the VHF conversations between vessels out there.
Most useful thing for us is it eases karens anxiety about the red jets as she can see where they are long before they appear. She has a level of paranoia about them that is wholly unjustified
 
We have AIS on the boat, but I also use Marine Traffic to keep track of friends cruising out of range of the boat receiver.
 
The Marine Traffic Android app that I bought for a fiver to go with VMH charts will also display AIS targets if you have a receiver that puts them on wifi.
You need to upgrade, though. IIRC it cost me the Princely Sum of £2.70 or thereabouts.
 
solent clown said:
Yes, agreed, it is a useful fun tool, and as I said, not to be relied on as a primary aid - and as I said, it made us think more about a proper ais system. As an aid to the MK1 eyeball, and as a learning tool it is great, now we know much more about the shipping here, and are better able to understand what is going on in the VHF conversations between vessels out there.
Most useful thing for us is it eases karens anxiety about the red jets as she can see where they are long before they appear. She has a level of paranoia about them that is wholly unjustified
Click to expand...

No, she's right; the only Solent ferries not eager to paint another ' kill ' below the wheelhouse are the hovercraft; the most difficult to steer, but the most professional and courteous by a million miles.

The others ARE out to get you. :)
 
RupertW said:
Good grief - if you haven’t tried a 40 year Old Pulteney with Diet Coke you haven’t lived
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I was served whisky with coke in France some 25 five years ago. Once I had vomited the vile concoction out of the temple that is my body I then instructed our French hosts on how malt should be drunk, with a single drop of water.
 
GHA said:
Good idea to be a bit careful.... There can be a tendency to forget the data isn't real time. I've played with real ais and web ais on the same screen before, often a mile difference in the ship positions though that was fast ferries.

With a laptop down below you can get real data for a few quid using a cheap usb TV dongle and an opencpn plugin. Not the greatest but it works, just add an antenna.

https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/d...ncpn_user_manual:plugins:ais_radar:rtlsdr_usb
Click to expand...

RasPi if you don't have a laptop (Can probably put together a Pi, TV dongle, power for £50) - OpenVPN to it from the (existing) tablet.

Or < £80 buys a Quark AIS Wireless which can display on your existing tablet...

I think the issues with the web solutions are two fold:

- You need a web connection... probably not a major issue in the Solent. May be if you decided to stray a little further and I assume having bought a bigger boat thats on the agenda.

- You are reliant on the shore station receiving the data, and sending it back to the AIS Servers. Some are amateur setups and get switched off etc. Others are commercial but still the web part is low down on the priority list if something breaks as it isn't how they view the data.

OK it may be secondary data - but is WRONG data worse than no data?
"Is that boat moving? It looked like it was moving"
"AIS says its at Anchor"
"Must just have swung"
..
"You sure that boat isn't moving..."
"Erm... it just vanished on AIS - so I have no idea"
"Oh &*%$ its moving"

I agree they are nice apps to be nosy with. But for navigational use, you need to accept that normal AIS Class B can be 3 to 6 minutes out of date so a web sourced data is at least that PLUS upload frequency, PLUS your refresh frequency. 10minute lags are quite common.
 
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