4 ms·

So will be finally be able to find out a bridge's name without a cruising guide?

by Jemm 4y ago

emilecantin 4y ago
Sharing beyond a boat's internal network isn't much used yet except for a few use-cases. You need to have a way for the individual boats to share that data. The most obvious way would be to have access to the internet, and host a server somewhere where all the boats would send their data (sensor data, mostly position/heading/speed information). For example, a regatta could host a server where participants send all their data, enabling a live map with all participant's position and course plotted on it, along with depth & wind instrument readings. This could let spectators understand the participant's performance (how high their point into the wind, etc.) Navigation information (routes, waypoints, etc) can also be shared over SignalK, altough that's not much used yet as OpenCPN doesn't support it. Again, in the regatta example, you could see a "dynamic" regatta, where the course isn't known in advance. IMO the main challenge here is having a peer-to-peer "local broadcast" mode, like AIS or DSC. There are regulatory challenges with this, though.
- pabs3 4y ago
  The more obvious way to share data at sea is radio, since it has less latency than out to the internet and then back and works when you aren't near land and don't have Starlink/etc. Is there really no protocol for this yet??
  - emilecantin 4y ago
    The "standard" radio on boats is the marine VHF, which is voice-only except for Digital Selective Calling (DSC). DSC is present on "newer" / more expensive radios so it's not a guarantee that a given boat has it. It has a few message types: - Distress calls - "Routine call" (basically rings the other boat and asks them to switch to a chosen channel so you can then talk over voice) - Position request There's very poor integration between these DSC messages and the rest of marine electronics. The other radio-based protocol is Automatic Identification System (AIS), which requires dedicated hardware (or a very expensive radio). It transmits your position, heading and speed regularly, and some biographic info (name & dimensions of the boat) from time to time. It's basically ADS-B for boats. This is very well integrated with all marine electronics and apps. It's also what powers sites like MarineTraffic. Main issue with both of these is that they aren't really extensible, so you can't send whatever you want over them. Other radio tech used on boats would be Single-Sideband (SSB), but that's more in the amateur radio realm. Some boats do have a full HAM setup, but it's not that common.
    - pabs3 4y ago
      I remember SSB being fairly useful for Weatherfax some years ago, where you plug the radio audio jack into your computer, which had some software to decode the faxes from audio and you get a map of all the bad weather. I feel like what you describes leaves some large holes in what could be done with radio. Automatic exchange of intended route info for eg could be useful in areas of high traffic. Maybe something LoRa shaped could some of fit them, given its fairly large range.

So will be finally be able to find out a bridge's name without a cruising guide?

by Jemm 4y ago

So will be finally be able to find out a bridge's name without a cruising guide?

Sharing beyond a boat's internal network isn't much used yet except for a few use-cases. You need to have a way for the individual boats to share that data. The most obvious way would be to have access to the internet, and host a server somewhere where all the boats would send their data (sensor data, mostly position/heading/speed information). For example, a regatta could host a server where participants send all their data, enabling a live map with all participant's position and course plotted on it, along with depth & wind instrument readings. This could let spectators understand the participant's performance (how high their point into the wind, etc.) Navigation information (routes, waypoints, etc) can also be shared over SignalK, altough that's not much used yet as OpenCPN doesn't support it. Again, in the regatta example, you could see a "dynamic" regatta, where the course isn't known in advance. IMO the main challenge here is having a peer-to-peer "local broadcast" mode, like AIS or DSC. There are regulatory challenges with this, though.

pabs3 4y ago
The more obvious way to share data at sea is radio, since it has less latency than out to the internet and then back and works when you aren't near land and don't have Starlink/etc. Is there really no protocol for this yet??
- emilecantin 4y ago
  The "standard" radio on boats is the marine VHF, which is voice-only except for Digital Selective Calling (DSC). DSC is present on "newer" / more expensive radios so it's not a guarantee that a given boat has it. It has a few message types: - Distress calls - "Routine call" (basically rings the other boat and asks them to switch to a chosen channel so you can then talk over voice) - Position request There's very poor integration between these DSC messages and the rest of marine electronics. The other radio-based protocol is Automatic Identification System (AIS), which requires dedicated hardware (or a very expensive radio). It transmits your position, heading and speed regularly, and some biographic info (name & dimensions of the boat) from time to time. It's basically ADS-B for boats. This is very well integrated with all marine electronics and apps. It's also what powers sites like MarineTraffic. Main issue with both of these is that they aren't really extensible, so you can't send whatever you want over them. Other radio tech used on boats would be Single-Sideband (SSB), but that's more in the amateur radio realm. Some boats do have a full HAM setup, but it's not that common.
  - pabs3 4y ago
    I remember SSB being fairly useful for Weatherfax some years ago, where you plug the radio audio jack into your computer, which had some software to decode the faxes from audio and you get a map of all the bad weather. I feel like what you describes leaves some large holes in what could be done with radio. Automatic exchange of intended route info for eg could be useful in areas of high traffic. Maybe something LoRa shaped could some of fit them, given its fairly large range.