T&T: AIS, Gotcha

[Mike Maurice]

I have just had my nose rubbed in the AIS and VTS system. In case any of 
you think the transition is going to be easy, take note of the 
following. A 50 foot single screw boat, Seattle to Portland, using a 
class A Furuno transmitter, one Icom 602 VHF and one Simrad VHF handheld.
Leave out of Ballard at 10 PM, start down the Sound in the dark. About 
half way to Port Townsend, a Brusco tug tries to call us on 13. We don't 
answer, even though the handheld is on 13, the volume and squelch are 
ok. The tug is about 1 mile behind us.

VTS Seattle calls us on 16 on the Icom. We conduct some tests, as we 
can't hear them on the handheld on either 13 or 16. So much for the 
handheld, which we were depending upon to hear a second channel. FCC 
regulations require an outside antenna for channel 13 use, if a handheld 
is the radio.

The Icom will listen on a single channel, dual or tri watch. The use of 
dual, tri watch or scan is not strictly legal to monitor channel 13, but 
since we are not obligated to monitor the Bridge-to-Bridge channel 13, 
one could argue that it's ok. However the legalities, the practical 
effect is not good. My conclusion is that if you think you are going to 
monitor 13 you had better be able to hear the channel CONSTANTLY. 
Scanning it and another channel or two is not adequate.

If you are below 20 meters in length you are not required to participate 
or even monitor the VTS. However, the VTS and other commercial operators 
are used to AIS equipped vessels participating. And, participation means 
monitoring, communicating and having the appearance of knowing what you 
are doing and being able to do so. Our setup did not make the grade.

How small vessels are going to participate in the VTS environment with 
the radio gear they typically have is beyond my imagination. Even if you 
have multiple radios, the speakers are likely so close together that you 
won't be able to know which channel just had some traffic on it.

Even if you test your radios and find them to appear to be functional, 
you may find like we did that not everything is adequate.

Class B AIS is going to aggravate all these issues by an order of 
magnitude. I can see where the Coast Guard is not going to approve the 
Class B systems here in the US without a lot more thought.

By the way, the AIS alarms are hard to control and were a constant 
source of aggravation while coming up the Columbia River as every time 
we passed even a moored tug the alarm would go off.

Kindly don't send me email how to solve this. When the boat is not mine, 
there is a limit to what I can do, short of turn of the AIS when near 
the VTS system or in a river.

By the way, there is even more to this, but I have run out of keyboard.


Regards,
Mike

_____________________________________
Capt. Mike Maurice
Beaverton Oregon(Near Portland)