"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...

Too bad boats don't all have a beacon transponder like airplanes with
any sense do. The beacon system does great tracking with its powerful
old transmitters. Navaids should all have beacon transponders, too,
instead of idiotic blinking light bulbs as if this were 1925. Nothing
in Navaids makes any sense. The damned Charleston Jetties should be
topped with towers full of airport strobe beacons and an ILS, too.
Maritime navigation lives in the stone age.... Even Morning Dew's
crew of boys would be alive if the damned jetties weren't black and
invisible, nostalgia or no nostalgia.

snip

Of course, boating, ships and the USCG would resist a change to a
beacon nav system like it would bubonic plague. Any change for the
better is to be resisted at all costs....like GMDSS was.

snip

All the more reason to press for a beacon system like aircraft use.
It's been working great since the Korean War! Isn't it time we
upgraded??

snip

The sooner a mandatory beacon transponder program starts, the better.

Larry, your prayers have been heard. By the end of 2004, all SOLAS vessel
are required to have an AIS system, which does exactly what you want. It
transmits position, course, ROT and other info on a VHF packet radio-like
network.

Meindert

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:02:03 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:


Larry, your prayers have been heard. By the end of 2004, all SOLAS vessel
are required to have an AIS system, which does exactly what you want. It
transmits position, course, ROT and other info on a VHF packet radio-like
network.

Meindert


Excellent. Have you seen ours on ham radio? http://www.findu.com/

APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) has been online in ham radio
for many years. It was invented to find lost Midshipmen at the Naval
Academy by Bob Bruninga WB4APR, a ham that works there.

http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs.html
http://www.aprs.net/
http://aprs.rutgers.edu/
http://www.cave.org/aprs/
http://www.tawg.org/
http://www.findu.com/

Do a Google search on APRS for more.

APRS is a GPS-powered positioning/course/speed system, interstation
communications system (keyboarding), add a weather station and it
reports the weather (even mobile), and the software does all kinds of
alerting.....

Every pleasure boat should have one (about $100. You already have GPS
and VHF for it.).




Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 15:02:03 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:


Larry, your prayers have been heard. By the end of 2004, all SOLAS vessel
are required to have an AIS system, which does exactly what you want. It
transmits position, course, ROT and other info on a VHF packet radio-like
network.

Meindert


Excellent. Have you seen ours on ham radio? http://www.findu.com/

APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) has been online in ham radio
for many years. It was invented to find lost Midshipmen at the Naval
Academy by Bob Bruninga WB4APR, a ham that works there.

Yep. Great system. I too have thought about how to use APRS for boaters. The
problem is regulations. It is illegal to hook up anything to your VHF
yourself, epsecially when it produces something else that voice :-) And to
be of any use, everybody should use it.

Funny thing is, when I thought about how to make AIS available fot jotties,
my idea was to have a simple VHF receiver connected to a computer through a
modem, to enable the average jottie to receive the AIS signals from big
ships to avoid. Sort of radar replacement. Simple, cheap and no hassle with
licenses of regulations. Then someone else pointed out to me that the other
way around, only having a low-cost transponder aboard small yachts would be
very useful for commercial vessels because most yachts are hardly visible on
radar. Well, we'll see when it is available for a decent price....

Meindert

On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:38:22 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

Funny thing is, when I thought about how to make AIS available fot jotties,
my idea was to have a simple VHF receiver connected to a computer through a
modem, to enable the average jottie to receive the AIS signals from big
ships to avoid.

I'm building my own, it's not so complicated and the protocol is
publicly available.

There are ICs for GMSK modulation, just add a simple VHF receiver, a
microcontroller and some software.


/Marcus

--
Marcus AAkesson
Gothenburg Callsigns: SM6XFN & SB4779
Sweden
Keep the world clean - no HTML in news or mail !

"Marcus AAkesson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:38:22 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

Funny thing is, when I thought about how to make AIS available fot
jotties,
my idea was to have a simple VHF receiver connected to a computer through
a
modem, to enable the average jottie to receive the AIS signals from big
ships to avoid.

I'm building my own, it's not so complicated and the protocol is
publicly available.

There are ICs for GMSK modulation, just add a simple VHF receiver, a
microcontroller and some software.

Now you're talking :-). I haven't had the time yet to do a thourough search.
So I would like to ask you: where did you find a good clear source of the
protocol and what GMSK IC are you using?

Meindert

On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 23:33:49 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

Now you're talking :-). I haven't had the time yet to do a thourough search.
So I would like to ask you: where did you find a good clear source of the
protocol and what GMSK IC are you using?

Meindert

Send me an email for more info. Despam the mail address.


/Marcus

--
Marcus AAkesson
Gothenburg Callsigns: SM6XFN & SB4779
Sweden
Keep the world clean - no HTML in news or mail !

I'll bet you could sell a few kits right here. For short money, I'd
certainly buy one.




--
Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com


..
"Marcus AAkesson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:38:22 +0100, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

Funny thing is, when I thought about how to make AIS available fot
jotties,
my idea was to have a simple VHF receiver connected to a computer through
a
modem, to enable the average jottie to receive the AIS signals from big
ships to avoid.

I'm building my own, it's not so complicated and the protocol is
publicly available.

There are ICs for GMSK modulation, just add a simple VHF receiver, a
microcontroller and some software.


/Marcus

--
Marcus AAkesson
Gothenburg Callsigns: SM6XFN & SB4779
Sweden
Keep the world clean - no HTML in news or mail !