Radar and AIS

Edgar Vitte (rigging) and Peter Turner (electronics) arrived at 0830. The first task was to reposition the radar support bracket because it was too close to the inner forestay. After analysis and discussion we agreed to remove the "baby" stay so that we could lower the bracket enough so that the radar dome would have good clearance from the inner forestay. Edgar said that the baby stay's angle to the mast was so low that it would not do much good. I said that I thought that the function of the baby stay was to prevent the mast from "pumping". But I did agree that the mast is a solid "lamp post" and the inner forestay would give plenty of support. So out went the baby stay and down came the radar by about 500 mm.

Edgar left the I helped Peter set up the AIS. We used the existing whip antenna for the 16 MHz radio (antenna was replaced my a mast head antenna) and a Garmin GPS antenna that came with the boat, unused by anything. I now have 25-mile radar, AIS, and a chart plotter. On Thursday or Friday I will pick up a Navionics card of detail charts covering all of Australia.

The C120 system is pretty impressive. I can layer chart, radar, and AIS over each other, I can split the screen with various combinations. I have much to learn about exploiting the system.

Attached are photos of the system. One of the shots is of the AIS report on one of the ships that I targeted. I got the ship's name, LOA (length overall)l, draught, beam, MMSI number, call sign, IMO number, heading, COG (course over ground), SOG (speed over ground), destination, and status ("under way sailing"). I was able to see every ship in the area, including a moored tug. We got the data on one ship on the Western side of Garden Island 10 miles away, which tells me that in the open ocean I should get a good range of view.

Likewise ships within VHF range will get data on me, modest as it is. This AIS black box is pretty smart. If I am not moving it puts out a message very 6 minutes or so. If I am moving under 2 knots it puts out a message every 3 minutes or so. If I am moving faster than 2 knots it puts out a message every 30 seconds or so. I can't recall the exact numbers but you should get the idea.

Also, I visited Nikke at RFD and gave her a pair of 3.0 reading glasses and a ventolin Inhaler to put into the life raft, which should be ready in about a week.