“The nation’s 18 million recreational boaters may need to register their crafts in a national database and place radio frequency identification tags {RFID} on their vessels under plans put forth by a stakeholders group convened by the Homeland Security Department {DHS}.” So says an article in WashingtonTechnology. The idea, um, doesn’t sit well with the editor of Sailing Anarchy, who described it today as, “an example of what the some of the jackals at ‘Homeland Security’ think fighting the ‘war on terror’ is about…This is a pathetic joke, a national embarrassment and an outrage that this is what the Bush government is up to.”
Arghhhhhh! The FCC’s final approval of the Class B AIS ruling, already troubled, just got a lot more complicated. In the last few days a lawyer for MariTEL, Inc. has spoken directly to the legal aides for three of the five FCC Commissioners, trying to make the case that the Ruling is unfair to MariTEL. You can read the details in his “Notice of Ex Parte Communications” by going to this search form and pasting 04–344 into the top field (Proceeding). This issue goes back years, and was well explained by Fred Pot in Nov., 2003. Panbo commenter “norse” added more valuable background in that last “troubled” Class B entry. But I’m not the only one who thought the MariTEL problem was solved a while back. In fact, a MariTEL executive confirmed that to me a year or so ago.
Above is the odd little Smart Radio SR261 “AIS Modem”, which claims “most of the functions of a class A ais transponder with a fraction of costs.” Let me say right up front that I absolutely do not recommend using this device, and think it may even endanger the AI system. Let me also note that the Chinese manufacturer, Smart Radio (SR), has nothing to do with similar-sounding Software Radio Technology (SRT), the British firm that builds all the circuit boards in the legitimate Class B transponders currently waiting an FCC waiver (take action!). And while Smart Radio is the manufacturer of the SR161 and 162 AIS receivers, I have heard nothing but praise for those units and particularly for the main U.S. distributor Milltech Marine.
I’m sorry to report that the state of FCC approval for Class B AIS may be even worse than reported last month. Today an industry source told me that even though all the Commissioners have been briefed on the Amendment and none expressed reservations, or even asked questions, it has somehow gone onto what’s known internally as the “wait and see list.” Apparently the only force that might move it along is encouragement from concerned citizens like us. So here’s my draft email to the Commissioners:
Given some controversy about how big ships actually use AIS and what that may mean in terms of Class B, I asked Captain John Konrad to help out. Boy, did he, first querying his gCaptain readers, then bringing in Captain Richard Rodriguez for a professional small boat point of view, and finally e-mailing me with all the interesting comments below. This is the longest Panbo entry ever (and some of the best stuff is at the end). So how about a big round of applause for John, who somehow pulls all this off while still shipping out (he’s Chief Mate aboard a 835’ ship in the Gulf of Mxico right now, editing gCaptain by satellite!)
My recent mention of Class B negativity elicited a lot of interesting comments, including a long post by Mr. Fred Pot himself. Fred, who I once profiled as “AIS man”, has now established himself as the Class B curmudgeon, not just the inspiration of Navagear’s “AIS Class B Naysayers, Unite!” but also a rather negative Class B sidebar to an otherwise enthusiastic AIS article by Steve Dashew in the current issue of PassageMaker. I count Fred as an industry friend, but I think he’s gone way overboard on this subject, as shown by a couple of points made in yesterday’s comment:
Honestly, what the hell is wrong with the FCC? Today some one who knows how these things work pointed out to me that the Commission only listed Docket
04-344–the
“
Amendment of the Commission's Rules Regarding Maritime Automatic Identification Systems”—on its Items on Circulation list as of November 19. I’m further told that, though the U.S.C.G. has asked the FCC to expedite this ruling, there’s really no telling when the Commissioners will sign off on it. And you’ll notice that many items on the list date from early 2007 and there are few from 2006! As for Ghassan Khalek’s mid-October “a matter of weeks, not months” and Jose Arroyo’s December prediction, I know not. Depressing.
Comar Systems introduced no less than five new AIS products at METS, most of them seen in the photo above, bigger here. Together with Comar’s existing receiver and Class B transponder, they represent about every AIS possibility there is…except for one-channel-at-a-time receivers which Comar doesn’t believe in. Neither does SeaCas. I agree, and think they’ll go away fairly fast once navigators see how slow one-channel-at-a-time Class B plotting is, and also as Class B hardware becomes less expensive. At any rate, here’s a page of new Comar gear, including a lower cost ($440 retail) true dual channel receiver, an Etherneted IP-talking receiver (the more shore stations the better!), and a $3,000 Class A transponder that might possibly be fit on non mandatory vessels without the need for the separate $1,150 display. Meanwhile, Panbo reader Kurt Schwer, blogging from the eNavigation 2007 conference in Seattle, reported that the USCG’s Jorge Arroyo predicted that U.S. Class B sales will start in December. A thank you to Kurt, and let’s hope.
That’s Charlie Hsu, sales & marketing guy for Alltek Marine Electronics Corp. (AMEC), along with the company’s chief engineer. They were at METS looking for companies interested in distributing their Class B AIS, mentioned here last April. When showing me the unit, Hsu pointed out some yellow colored targets and explained that they were “buddy” boats. “Oh, you mean like the Simrad AI50’s buddy feature?” said I. “Exactly like that!,” replied Hsu, laughing. Then he showed me a new MOB product Alltek is working on, seen below (with the AIS display used to plot MOBs). Of course I said “Oh, you mean like Raymarine’s LifeTag system?” “Exactly like!” answered a proud Mr. Hsu.
I took to the Simrad AI50 at first sight, but the more I learn the more I like. Above is the back of a unit I played with in demo mode at the NMEA Conference, and I’ve also been checking out the manual (available here). Here’s what I’ve learned so far. First of all, as indicated by those dual (daisy chained) SimNet cables above, the AI50 is a NMEA 2000 AIS transponder, the only one I know of. In fact it also puts out AIS plot data on 0183, but I think the included GPS is N2K, and so are some of the network features. Like easily initiating a DSC VHF call to an AIS target, without having to type in its MMSI number. (At the back of the manual, Simrad has nicely listed all the standard and proprietary PGNs the AI50 uses, but I still can’t tell if this feature will work with other manufacturers N2K radios, though right now Simrad has the only ones.)
