Monthly Archive: August 2009

I’ve been testing a SevenStar SeaTraceR Class B AIS transponder for couple of weeks now, mostly on Gizmo but also in the lab.  I could not detect any significant performance differences between it and other Class Bs, even when quickly swapping antenna connections and counting targets.  But it does have a nice over/under tilt mount that lends itself to numerous install positions, and it also has wires for a remote silent switch, like the ACR Nauticast B (though, also like the ACR, it has no built-in switch).  I’m pretty much convinced that the first generation Class B transponders all perform similarly (and pretty well), but what will we see when the next generation comes along?…

This was nice.  It was Friday late morning — after the fog burned off but before the torrential rains arrived (summer of ’09 is making history!) — and we were idling along in company with the school schooner Tabor Boy.  All of which was being colorfully portrayed on the Garmin 5212’s Mariner 3D screen; zoom in and you’ll see the Tabor Boy’s Class A AIS signal represented as a 3D icon with heading and track lines. You’ll also see Gizmo’s own Class B AIS represented as an unnamed dangerous target directly under our own boat icon, a little glitch we’ve already discussed…