2022-03-23, 12:52 AM
(2022-03-21, 09:04 PM)Sailoog Wrote:(2022-03-20, 11:25 AM)PaddyB Wrote:(2022-03-20, 04:36 AM)Grrreg Wrote: Hopefully it will be acceptable to everyone concerned.
Sorry guys but a negative post on such a positive forum...... but it's not legally acceptable... for very good reasons, any legal ais transmitter will have jumped through many loops to prove that it can behave perfectly with the countless other units broadcasting. The DIY option here might be just fine, but nobody knows without extensive & expensive type approval..
Fine to receive, but personally transmitting on such an important system with something untested is not a good idea... probably very unlikely but even so, it's possible the mess you could make on the airwaves would be bad for the AIS system locally.
Type approval is there for a reason, to make sure as much as possible everything works. ?
You are probably right but...
The system has been tested so as not to cause interference in the frequencies used and the neighboring ones but you have only the developers word, not an expensive certification. The big difference is that everything is open and verifiable.
In the other hand these people had all the certifications: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal but they had a closed source impossible to verify until it was too late.
PaddyB is 100% right about this.
The guy who designed this is obviously very talented, has a great understanding of radio equipment and the unit may be the best one ever designed, but this is one to stay away from.
If there is not approval for the equipment to transmit given by the country your vessel hails from then it is illegal to transmit in a large portion of the world.
Here is some USA regulations:
§ 80.231 Technical Requirements for Class B Automatic Identification System (AIS) equipment.
© Prior to submitting a certification application for a Class B AIS device, the following information must be submitted in duplicate to [i]typeapproval@uscg.mil or the Commandant (CG-ENG-4), U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20593-7509: [/i]
(2) Copies of the test report and test data obtained from the test facility showing that the device complies with the environmental and operational requirements identified in IEC 62287-1.
Fines are not insignificant in the US at least: FCC Fines
Do yourself a favor and pay a few hundred more euro or USD and buy a certified unit.