Category: Safety & SAR

I think that personal AIS beacons are a deservedly hot new safety technology but, as discussed in June, the display manufacturers are just learning how to handle them well. In fact, right around that same time I had to add bug alert comments to an earlier Kannad R10 AIS MoB beacon entry about how a certain Garmin software update could cause its MFDs to shut down after receiving the beacon’s test signal!  It was an embarrassing moment in product improvement, as documented in these email warnings to the Newport-Bermuda race fleet, but Garmin eventually solved the issue and may indeed have set a new bar for the proper integration of AIS beacons. The screen above, for instance, shows how very clearly the Garmin 7212 on Gizmo alarms shortly after I activated the test mode on a Kannad R10…

One of the great things about the new AIS MoB beacons, like the recently FCC approved Kannad SafeLink R10, is that they can send a short test signal over the air so that you can see how well your AIS plotter has been programmed to deal with one. But the fact that I’ve been encouraging folks to do just that makes it even more imperative that I report on a bug in very recent Garmin MFD software versions 7.30, 4.30, and 3.80. (See comment on the R10 entry above for more detail, but you probably don’t have the bug unless you updated your Garmin in last three weeks). While Garmin purportedly did a great job of programming its displays to respond usefully to an AIS MoB, apparently the test signal from an R10 can cause its MFDs to shut down, which was just discovered in Newport where the Bermuda Race fleet is gathering…

Kannad Marine’s SafeLink R10 SRS (for Survivor Rescue System) just received FCC approval, and it’s about time given that this personal AIS SART was introduced in Miami more than a year ago!  But let’s give Kannad a break as getting innovative safety hardware like this through the approval process is not trivial. Just looking through all the documents filed with the FCC was an eye opener, and the company had already spent many months (and dollars) getting EU approval.  Before discussing those details, though, let’s look at how easy-to-use yet powerful the finished product is. The collage above illustrates the activation process (click on it for a bigger image) and I personally love how a bit of cord is rigged both to keep the R10 attached to your life jacket or clothing and to pull off the orange Arming Tag and the red Activation Cap in one motion. It’s also key to the automatic activation possible when the four ounce R10 is “professionally fitted” to certain inflatable life jackets (as detailed on Kannad’s R10 web page…

Here’s some good news, even if I had to Google out a non-governmental Australian site to find out what the RTCM here in the States is up to. But I’ve admired the clearly written expertise at gmdss.com.au before, and I’m confidant that they have their facts right about the new standards for man overboard devices using AIS or DSC VHF (or both!). Besides, the details are pretty much what we expected, with a few interesting nuances…