AIS Target List

[thomm225]

Finally got my SH GX2200 hooked up to my Windows 10 Lenovo Thinkpad Laptop and was playing around with the AIS after I got it connected and working.

Switched it over from the Raspberry Pi. (I want both to work with this setup)

It's showing 145 targets within 40 miles!

That's wild.....

I can't wait to sail off 30 miles or so and check it again.

[GreenWave]

If you are in the Norfolk area that target count sounds right.

[thomm225]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's correct as I spot checked several targets.

I had just never taken the time to play around with the AIS much until today with this laptop (running Windows 10 Pro) after I got the SH GX2200 connected properly to OpenCPN

[smac999]

I get around 300 targets in my area. 10 years ago under 50. More and more boats getting it. And many leave on while docked...

[Tin Tin]

And if you have cell phone hot spot you can log into Marine Traffic and see the targets there too, albeit a bit delayed. We use that to see if our own AIS is transmitting.

[IslandInfedel]

If only it gave MOA windage and elevation

Think my AIS is just rigged to alert for 1nm or intercept

[barnakiel]

100-150 here.


When I built my own App I added a filr to sort X fastest, closest, soonest, etc. objects. It is nice to de-clutter now and then - esp in approaches to big spots. I do not care about how many they are but rather which particular ones can be my hazard.



In fact I needed to convert from iterative to closed-form formula too for exactly the same reason.


b.

[thomm225]

Yeah the ones (targets) that are closest are what I usually watch for also, I was just playing around with the different functions and try to get better acquainted with the OpenCPN AIS selections

It was sort of a surprise though seeing that many targets but after thinking about it ...it made sense with all the marinas here, the commercial ships, navy patrol boats and ships, work boats, tugs, and the pilot boats....

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's correct as I spot checked several targets.

I had just never taken the time to play around with the AIS much until today with this laptop (running Windows 10 Pro) after I got the SH GX2200 connected properly to OpenCPN

The problems I have with the SH GX2200 are in the alarm software. There are four problems which affect the usability on my unit.

1. When alarms go off it is difficult to halt the alarm. If your own boat is yawing in waves the target will come into the alarm zone then move out of it, repeatedly. When the Alarm sounds and you want to permanently acknowledge the alarm there are several menu key strokes to do so, otherwise the boat yaws away, then yaws back, and the alarm resounds and interrupts your effort to shut of the alarm. Meanwhile, you should be on deck looking at the situation. Some times I have to turn off the VHF to quiet the alarm, and that is not safe!
2. The CPA and TCPA alarms do not work together. If you set CPA at, say, 2 miles, it sounds if any vessel is within two miles, regardless if how long it is going to take to get to you, Could be 10 hours, if it is within 2 miles, alarm!
3. The TCPA is similar. If you set it to go off when the target will be at it's closest point in, say, 30 minutes, it goes off for any vessel which will be at it's closest in 30 minutes, even if that closest point is 100 miles. The CPA and TCPA should work together, as they do the AIS systems from Jepson and OpenCPN, for example (" sound the alarm for any vessel which will be within 2 miles in the next 30 minutes".)
4. Finally, the GPS requirement is a nuisance and reduces safety. It requires a GPS signal and sounds every 4 hours if GPS is not present. To satisfy this we must leave our GPS on. At night, at anchor, this is a nuisance. Without the GPS it will wake us up at midnight and 4AM unless we leave the GPS on. So we turn off the radio at night, meaning we might miss emergency calls at night. It's DUMB.

Yes, I can use the OpenCPB alarm function which is better (not perfect) but I bought the SG GX2000 so I could shut off the computer to save power and still have AIS alarm functions.

I've been working with Standard Horizon about these problems and they acknowledge some of it, and say that they are issuing new software, but I have not been notified that it is available yet. If you cross oceans and use the SH GX2000 or GX 2200 as an AIS alarm, you will discover these issues.

[thomm225]

I haven't used the alarm function yet on the AIS (SH GX2200) but I do have two GPS signals coming into OpenCPN.

The GPS Puck is on Priority 0 and the GX2200 priority 1 so I always have GPS input so far anyway. Each coming in different com ports. The debug functions shows the different inputs coming in from both devices.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by wingssail

(...)



The problems I have with the SH GX2200 are in the alarm software. There are four problems which affect the usability on my unit.

1. When alarms go off it is difficult to halt the alarm. (...)
2. The CPA and TCPA alarms do not work together.(...)
3. (...)
4. Finally, the GPS requirement is a nuisance and reduces safety. (...)

(...)

We have the 2100 model. Sailed Canary to West Indies and back four times by now, so I think this meets your offshore test mark.


1) true, a bit annoying too,
2) did not notice this on 2100 model,
3) (...)
4) AIS does not work without gps, and dsc is only half-functional, think this over.


Why should you have your gps OFF anyway?



PLS beam in on the non-gps ais use as you see it. I do not see it.


The way we use ours is that only CPA alarm is active. Works perfect on any offshore leg.


When I switch off SH2100 alarms, I can still have alarms on in my App.

b.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

...
4) AIS does not work without gps, and dsc is only half-functional, think this over.

Why should you have your gps OFF anyway?

When anchored I like to turn off the instruments but leave the VHF on. If I am at anchor for a couple of weeks or even overnight, I would like to turn off the instruments to extend the life of these devices. (My Lowrance is already showing LCD burn!) But with the requirement for a GPS signal into the radio, I am then annoyed at night by the "NO-GPS" alarm. In consequence many people turn off the VHF at night. This is a safety issue.

PLS beam in on the non-gps ais use as you see it. I do not see it.

Sorry, I was speaking of problems with the SH radio series. Of course AIS requires GPS and VHF

When I switch off SH2100 alarms, I can still have alarms on in my App.

b.

How do you get ais alarms on your App? Certainly not from the internet?

[thomm225]

Today's numbers are 161 targets at 50 mile range setting and 18 targets at 1 mile range setting.

So it's nice to know the range setting is working on OpenCPN.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by wingssail

How do you get ais alarms on your App? Certainly not from the internet?

All nmea data on our ship is wifi.




As for saving the better instruments, you can feed the radio with a plain rs232 gps data from a puck. While a fine Garmin puck is $$, a GlobalSat turtle puck has a RS serial model.


https://www.gpscity.com/us-globalsat...l-gps-receiver


Just check voltage levels before connecting. It is 232 and the radio accepts 232 input.


Cheers,
b.