" wrote in
:

On May 24, 10:27 pm, "Steve Lusardi" wrote:
My position is that if
you think you need AIS, Class B makes no sense at all. Class A gear
is not that much more and is much better plus Class A is approved
everywhere and although discouraged for yacht use, it is not
prohibited.

Steve,

If you're right about the FCC approval the question is moot. Still,
class B gear looks ideal to me. What does A do that B doesn't? I've
looked at some web pages but don't really have a great understanding
of the differences. Assuming the chart on this page (http://
www.shinemicro.com/AISoverview.asp) is right B looks ideal for small
boats. The cost is rumored to be 1/3 that of A which seems
significant, too.

-- Tom.


http://uscg.mil/nais/description.asp
I just stumbled onto this government monstrosity....as usual.
CG says it should be implemented by 2014 after AIS has been replaced by
the next generation of navagational electronics from some other
simpletons.

The contractors must be very proud. It'll buy them houses and cars and
vacations in exotic places for another decade or two......while mariners
die who could be saved by a SIMPLE AIS shore station setup like:
http://www.shipais.com/index.php
which now covers ALL OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES and about half of
IRELAND. The software ALREADY exists, but let's not let that bother our
bureaucrats spending millions to reinvent what's ALREADY UP AND RUNNING!

http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?map=folkstone
Wow! Look at the CHANNEL TRAFFIC!