b393capt wrote:
In refering to the AIS 2006 Presentations, someone at Pambo wrote
"There's a lot of interesting material there, which I've only
skipped through, but of particular note is the first day presentation
by Dr. Andy Norris. One of his conclusions is that "Class B users
must not assume that their AIS signal will be visible on any ship."

After reading thru the presentation from Dr. Andy Norris, I very much
lowered my priority in obtaining AIS for my 39 foot sail boat. Seems it
might be a good tool for me to see other boats, but it sure doesn't
give me any confidence my boat will be visable. For example, Dr. Norris
points out that many boats display their AIS information in a target
list form, e.g. not on a chartplotter or radar screen, that makes the
information much less usable.

Surely its better to exist in a list than not at all. An active radar
reflector might be a good thing to add.

AIS is great indeed but it adds to the things that make us feel safe -
instead of being on the look-out with our eyes.

I know ppl who feel safe just because they have a radar, even though
then dont understand how to use it.

I must say that I really like AIS, and class b, regardless of the above
mentioned problems.

cheers
david