Skipper Stu's AIS app on his smart phone (this month's PBO)

After playing around with both live ais and marine traffic on the same screen (opencpn with google earth plugin), i can't decide whether or not you're actually worse off looking at the marine traffic version. This is just from a marina, never tried it for real, but with the time delay it's not something I'd like to have much faith in. One danger is you start to believe things on a screen.
 
Conachair said:
After playing around with both live ais and marine traffic on the same screen (opencpn with google earth plugin), i can't decide whether or not you're actually worse off looking at the marine traffic version. This is just from a marina, never tried it for real, but with the time delay it's not something I'd like to have much faith in. One danger is you start to believe things on a screen.
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I think this has to be kept in perspective, you stick your head out and have a look if there is a problem, noone hides down below looking at a screen. Be ok off Dover i suppose or inshore in fog. I have MARPA on my radar and that does me, the CPA fluctuates alarmingly though, but The only time i use it, is crossing the North sea at night where this AIS app probably would be no good or in fog when it is essential in my veiw, it certainly keeps the fear factor down. To be honest during daylight hours in normal vis which is when 95% of sailors operate there is no use for any of these things.
 
davidfox said:
I think this has to be kept in perspective, you stick your head out and have a look if there is a problem, noone hides down below looking at a screen. Be ok off Dover i suppose or inshore in fog. I have MARPA on my radar and that does me, the CPA fluctuates alarmingly though, but The only time i use it, is crossing the North sea at night where this AIS app probably would be no good or in fog when it is essential in my veiw, it certainly keeps the fear factor down. To be honest during daylight hours in normal vis which is when 95% of sailors operate there is no use for any of these things.
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Holyhead, big things which I call blocks of flats, come hurtling in at 30kts. I like toys like this, some peeps buy cheaper AIS receivers. BUT they still cost over a hundred squids. This is a cheap and cheerful FAST to access aid that allows me a quick check on the large Stena things.
So all you sniffy bu ggers sniff off!
Stu
 
Just a quick question. On using any of these internet based apps, do they use a lot of data, in view that they update frequently. I have not got a sim card in my ipad and worry about how much the data will cost if it is running for many hours
 
skipper_stu said:
Holyhead, big things which I call blocks of flats, come hurtling in at 30kts. I like toys like this, some peeps buy cheaper AIS receivers. BUT they still cost over a hundred squids. This is a cheap and cheerful FAST to access aid that allows me a quick check on the large Stena things.
So all you sniffy bu ggers sniff off!
Stu
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In fairness I've never played with the app, think it's got some funky age of signal stuff built in. But watching marinetraffic having fast cat ferrys a mile or more away from where they really were made me a bit wary of it all. But then again i drank some guiness then spent couple hundred quid on a real on a real one a few years ago at the boat show. Which works out to more than a fiver. :)
 
skipper_stu said:
Holyhead, big things which I call blocks of flats, come hurtling in at 30kts. I like toys like this, some peeps buy cheaper AIS receivers. BUT they still cost over a hundred squids. This is a cheap and cheerful FAST to access aid that allows me a quick check on the large Stena things.
So all you sniffy bu ggers sniff off!
Stu
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Dont you bother with channel 14 Stu....

Its free you know..:)

But I like the idea of something to look at also

When last visited Holyhole we new that we might just get in in front of the scheduled ferrry. 20 mins out and we could just see a blob on the horizon in good visibility. It would have been more comforting to monitor his approach especially if it was a bit murky.

Ch14 reassured us we were ok to proceed but the flock of bats joked "the little bath tubs will soon jump out of my way" when the fast fery skipper was warned there was a large flotilla of small boats in the approach.
 
I don't find that any electronic assistance is really needed at somewhere like Holyhead. I have never seen more than one ship movement at a time, only a few a day, and you know exactly where they are going as they always follow the same route.

However, undertaking a passage like crossing the Maas estuary is a different case and here electronic assistance helps no end. There may be 30 ships you have to consider, in all directions, as well as dredgers and fishing boats, all of which are stand-on compared to lowly humble you. In this sort of situation real AIS is probably a better idea to get more timely updates.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
I don't find that any electronic assistance is really needed at somewhere like Holyhead. I have never seen more than one ship movement at a time, only a few a day, and you know exactly where they are going as they always follow the same route.

However, undertaking a passage like crossing the Maas estuary is a different case and here electronic assistance helps no end. There may be 30 ships you have to consider, in all directions, as well as dredgers and fishing boats, all of which are stand-on compared to lowly humble you. In this sort of situation real AIS is probably a better idea to get more timely updates.
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I like fiddling, AIS on the phone is fiddling, I was one of the first in town to have a brick phone, fiddling, toys etc.
Putting a modem in a BBC in the early 80s so that I could fax SWMBO from the desert in Egypt by SSB radio. Bit pointless really but good fiddling. Bit like YAPs!
Stu
 
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