La FCC se lo piensa
Panbo says that the FCC (Federal Communications Commision) is asking for comments on the possibility of letting AIS class B transponders for boaters in the US. Actually only the ones already approved by the USCG (United States Coast Guard). Among the approved ones is our True Heading’s AIS class B transponder.
We hope boaters in the US can soon benefit as well from this extremely useful tool on board.
Alcance del clase B
We’d like to keep some track of the ranges at which our customer send and receive AIS data with their class B ais transponder.
For now, some customers have been able to receive data from ships as far as 110NM; not bad, is it?
Another one has been seen from a large boat at a distance of 16NM. It could be better, but few people don’t carry an AIS transponder on board, so we are sure this data will get better eventually.
Algunas dudas de clientes
We are frequently asked that why some receivers are not able to see all the data transmitted through class B transponders. The explanation is very simple: Some base stations and class A AIS are yet not ready to receive class B signals, and therefore they will only be able to see data such as the MMSI, and some other ones in some cases.
With the new approved standard for base stations and class A, all of them will be able to see all data from class B very soon.
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On the other hand, some customers have asked us how can they navigate with AIS data as if it was a radar, so that you don’t need to download any charts.
The best option in our opinion is to download shipplotter software at http://www.coaa.co.uk/shipplotter.htm
It has a radar option for navigation with AIS data. You can try it out for free during 21 days. After that, you need to register for only 25 euros.
GPS splitter
Our friend Carmelo is very handy, and has kindly shared how he has done his GPS splitter. It lets him share the GPS antenna’s signal between his plotter’s GPS and his AIS-CTRX transponder. Please note that only high power antennas let you share the signal like here.
You can check his explanation (sorry, only in spanish, we’ll translate it into english shortly) here and in this conversation at the LTP.
And a picture of the final device down here:
Nuevo blog a seguir
From our beloved Pontevedra writes this fantastic marine blog Javier. We strongly recommend it to sea fanatics spanish-speaking readers.
We specially like the mermaid’s squad section 
Keep up the good work Javier!!