Ship Finder App

[Fish Assassin]

I got the free app but finally broke down and bought the paid version. Worth every $. The free app shows you vessels in the area on AIS and paid version shows you pictures of the vessel, its course, its speed, its draft and length, were it heading and so much more.

 

[Secretpursuit]

X2 have enjoyed this app for over a year.

 

[reelfast]

I have a free one on the laptop and a scaled down version on the smart phone, also free. l

 

[Fish Assassin]

I found the ship my parents are on in Greece last night....

 

[Ripcurl]

I just downloaded this. Very handy!!

 

[the fog ducker]

sorry , not tryin tajack here FA , i like your app , gonna get one here pretty quik ,
i also use this app at home http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
, seems ta have more vessels movin around , ?? ...thoughts ??

edit : after playing with both sites ,
TODAY they seem ta be identical as far as traffic goes , posted both sites here for all ta peek at.

http://shipfinder.co/ vrs http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
fd

 

[CCB]

Both seem good . I got a question though most of the time when I fish I have no cell service do these apps work with no cell service or must you have service . I am not a big app guy so I have no clue.

Cheers

 

[Dave S]

Looks like there is a pack of 10 fishing vessels about 40 miles off tofino doing something. Maybe they are on the tuna! I could see this being a good way of tracking the commercial tuna boats to assist in locating the fish.

 

[Fish Assassin]

Looks like there is a pack of 10 fishing vessels about 40 miles off tofino doing something. Maybe they are on the tuna! I could see this being a good way of tracking the commercial tuna boats to assist in locating the fish.

And they are all doing 8-9 miles an hour

 

[reelfast]

Both seem good . I got a question though most of the time when I fish I have no cell service do these apps work with no cell service or must you have service . I am not a big app guy so I have no clue.

Cheers

you are correct without cell service on the boat the apps are useless. along the strait no problem. I also installed a cell phone amplifier onboard which has its own 8' antenna, really helps pick up the bars.

 

[Saxe Point]

It is a neat app that I find interesting and entertaining. But it's important to keep in mind that it is not an actual (or necessarily reliable) substitute for an AIS receiver. The reason is that these apps are far too dependent on intermediaries. They are an extremely roundabout way to get AIS signals. AIS is a very valuable navigational aid that enhances safety on the water and in my opinion, an AIS receiver is the only way to go, particularly as they are relatively inexpensive.

These apps depend on someone with a shore based AIS receiver to collect the ships' signals, which are then fed via computer Internet connection to the server that feeds the app. There are tons of these shore based stations around the world that feed the app. The server is likely on another continent.

So the quality of the AIS information you get through these apps depends on:

1) the quality of your cell signal, if you can get one;
2) the location and quality of the equipment (antenna, receiver, computer etc.) of the shore based station and whether it is powered on at any given time;
3) the quality of the app and the server, wherever it may be in the world.

This is roundabout and unreliable because ships send their AIS data via VHF radio signals. Because commercial ships are so big, their antennae are very high and therefore their signals are easily picked up from 10 to even 20 miles away - plenty of time to allow you to get out the way if necessary. My AIS receiver was about $125 and my 18 inch gunwale mounted antenna was on sale for $5. Best of all, the receiver easily connected to my chartplotter and not only does it show the AIS transmitting traffic, and all the associated information (name, speed, heading, destination, MMSI etc.), I can set proximity alarms so that I am alerted if any ship moves into a collision course with me.

An AIS receiver ensures that the information you get is current and reliable. It's not radar, but it's about 10% of the cost.

The AIS apps are interesting and fun, but I don't think they are a substitute for a receiver when on the water.

 

[Hookin'up]

Awesome write up Saxe Point very informative
I've had an AIS reciever for a few years and I would 100% agree with you

 

[Stosh]

Where are AIS receivers available in Victoria?
Stosh

 

[reelfast]

good summary of the differences but also keep in mind that like any VHF signal, it is still line of sight. so a ship around the bend is not going to show up on your AIS receiver until that signal can project to your receiver. because the class A transponders used on ships are a step above the consumer models, they transmit at very short intervals giving an excellent picture of just where they are located. the cell phone based apps work well on the strait, however. once you loose that cell signal, you are toast. my smart phone app is: 'Marine Traffic' and is a free download. as I mentioned I also have a cell phone amplifier on the boat to help out with signal strength. I had seriously considered a standalone receive only AIS but space is limited and the smart phone app does what I need it too, advance warning.

 

[Saxe Point]

Where are AIS receivers available in Victoria?
Stosh

I'm not sure as I got mine online. Trotac is the best place. They can get just about anything marine related.

 

[Andrew P]

Wow, if I had a boat capable of heading out tuna fishing....I'd sure be studying what the pros do! This is marine traffic app.

 

[GDW]

Do any of these apps show your current position?

I used mine today (ship finder). I could see the ships around me (visually) and they showed on the app but I couldn't see where my boat was relative to the ships. Hoped this would give some extra assistance in the fog sounds like an AIS receiver is a good investment.

I assume it would hook up to my HDS 7 and display ships on the chart? I probably need to buy some networking cables too.

 

[Saxe Point]

Do any of these apps show your current position?

I used mine today (ship finder). I could see the ships around me (visually) and they showed on the app but I couldn't see where my boat was relative to the ships. Hoped this would give some extra assistance in the fog sounds like an AIS receiver is a good investment.

I assume it would hook up to my HDS 7 and display ships on the chart? I probably need to buy some networking cables too.

Both apps show where you are relative to the ships around you. ShipFinder shows you as a "blue dot" while MarineTraffic shows you as a red "push pin". You may have to monkey around with the settings for the apps or your general settings on the device you're using.