Out of curiosity, has there ever been talk of implementing things like relative vector indicators for selected targets or showing ROT or maybe even displaying projected tow placement (ghost tow) of other vessels?
1 Like
Recently I had a ship mate talked about how having an audible alert for AIS dangerous targets on the ECS +inland would be a good idea, for what it’s worth.
Unfortunately there is a very common AIS transponder out there that lies about the ROT. It’s either 0 when the vessel is not turning or a very large number during a turn, but not the actual ROT. It’s possible that we could filter that out and display a curved predictor for other targets, but this is not something that any one has requested so we haven’t spent much time on it.
Since vessels with tows are now supposed to include the size of the tow in the vessel size transmitted by AIS, the scaled vessel symbols do include the tow. This is really the best we can do since the actual tow configurations are not sent over the AIS.
We could certainly add relative motion vectors, but this is also not something that we’ve had any request for. But should I take your question as a request?
Bubba, we do have audible alerts for dangerous AIS targets…what am I missing?
1 Like
Thanks for the response Brad. I know I’d find a lot of value in a RMV line in a lot of situations, and I’d assume other folks would too if it was an option. Although I would assume it would have to be filtered by range or only active targets or CPA time or something so every boat sitting on the bank isn’t showing one.
Another thing I thought of that would be a game changer for traffic management is the ability to get an ETA or TTG of another vessel to a certain point. For river confluences and intersections is always hard to decide who’s getting to the point first. Since the CPAs won’t show if we’re on a different river than they are
In version 4.0 it only would flash dangerous targets without an audible alarm that I knew of and had another captain ask me about it. I might have missed something but could not find how to turn on an audible alert. Now I see in the update that it lives in the AIS menu under dangerous target alarms but does not say if it is audible. It just might be operator error on my part.
I see you (like many/most) have Voice Alerts disabled… If that was enabled, it would announce “Possible collision with in minutes” when a target becomes dangerous. However, in v4, when voice alerts are disabled the system should emit a notification sound instead. In v4.5 we’ve added a more “persistent” alarm that will sound until it’s acknowledged.
One problem we’ve run into with audio alerts is that users have complete control over the volume and tend to turn it all the way down when something is annoying. This is why v4 offers the option to use the “internal beeper” which cannot be adjusted. Unfortunately most PCs made these days don’t have one and there’s no way for software to know (which is why it has the Test Beeper option).
With “Use internal beeper” enabled on a system that doesn’t have a beeper, most alarms will not sound. However, the sound that is played when a voice alert would be made if it were enabled will always use the default playback device to play the standard system notification sound.
1 Like
I’ll add your request for relative motion vectors to our list… If we do add it, they would only show up for active targets (dangerous targets are always active).
In v4.5, the passing point predictors now work across confluences (making the assumption that both vessels will take the shortest path to the other). While this isn’t the same as finding another vessel’s ETA at a certain spot, it will help decide who will get there first. But we might be able to make clicking along the PPP show when the vessel will get to that point…would that be adequate? (It would only let you find ETA’s between the vessel’s current location and the point of passing, but it seems like that’s all you would need.)
Oh yes, that sounds like it would work great. Was there any progress on the wonky PPPs jumping rivers and being way off when overtaking?
No progress yet, but we’ll be sure to get it fixed before the beta ends!
Hi Brad, I’ve been meaning for some time to make a request that is somewhat relevant to this discussion thread so I’ll make it here. I’d love to have an electronic range and bearing line in CE, like on a radar screen. This is like the From Boat Range/Bearing line except that it is attached to and moves with the boat AND the point maintains the same distance and bearing relative to my boat. Draw both the line and the range circle as on a Radar instrument screen. I would drop this on a potential dangerous target. When I check back, if the target is moving closer along the bearing line then we are on a collision course. The loupe, or the AIS vessel information or the browser give me the range and bearing of the target and I now write this in the log so I can determine whether I’m on a collision course. It would be better if this was recorded on the screen.
If this is already available in CE, please let me know as I haven’t found it. I’d really love this addition. We’ve recently entered and exited the Kiel canal and crossed from the Netherlands to the the east coast of England, all very busy big ship traffic lanes, where this feature would have been invaluable.
Thanks,
Peter
1 Like