A handheld DSC radio (HX890, M93D, etc.) with a simple AIS-RECEIVE screen would be the ultimate safety tool; here’s some thought - serious subject that needs discussing, so a bit “Bucky Fuller” long, maybe good read for the long off season:

1) fine print of AIS kits state: “do not rely on this device for safety”, proclaiming a right-to-fail (often while pimping “safety” in marketing/sales/awards). Indeed, mission critical safety law/engineering evolved out of the tragic consequences of relying on only one device. ‘FAIL-SAFE’ was born to address the reality that electronic devices all begin to fail the moment they are turned on (mtbf), and to resolve lethal-kinetic-energy threats (container ships, etc.) with minimum two standalone safety devices (AIS-RECEIVERS) operating redundantly.

2) handheld VHF-DSC-AIS-GPS enable practical/cost-effective multiple unit (two per sailor) fail-safe, are IPX8 mobile on deck to eyeball/comm a target, go with the dinghy or liferaft, and are the stateoftheart for MOB self & CG rescue.

3) the AIS/GPS functions are manual ON-OFF for power management - ON for 12v ‘in the cradle’ AIS-WATCH stationed arms reach overhead (masttop antenna gains very little for the receive mode, DSC callback already @ 5W+), ON for mobile alert response, OFF as a standard VHF/NAV tool. So no bigger battery needed.

4) for mission critical open ocean electronics like AIS, and as a result of the nMEa TOO movement (those who have been abused by lightning), professional safety engineers testify for the ‘clip-on-the-sailor’ standalone fail-safe operation.

5) AIS transponder signals are not fail-safe, provide a false/idle sense of safety, and can be legally diminished/gamed. For the small boat (undangerous KE), DSC is their best bet.

6) PRICE-POINT: it is easy to drink too much koolaid at the firmware meet&greet and get seduced by feature layers & comm connected boxes/functions (i.e. wifi) that all reduce mtbf exponentially, EASY to make expensive toys for the few. But real hi-tech (difficult stateoftheart challenge) is to make critical function marine electronics at a price-point for the many, the rest of us. It is here in the handheld challenge that Standard Horizon, Icom, Garmin lead the world.

7) ‘DSC-GROUP’ function exponentially increases safety strategy for small boat caravans (what we do), and with the IN-REACH MINI, the most advanced way to care for each other.

8) The iPHONE is the most man-design hours/dollars and it shows (not even a close second) and the kids will use nothing else, they love Navionics and a lot of other apps, and they love the 890/93D equally. The next-gen sailor favors IPX8 mobility and mechanical-genius over elaborate/expensive marine-electronic abstractions for operating these new winged sailboats. They are sharp - operating like navy seals to get after saving our oceans.

9) Parents demand things make sense, that if you demand multiple GPS/CHARTING backups to avoid ‘stationary land’, why not demand the same for way more dangerous ‘moving land’ (ships). Safety engineers must see the electrostatic-sea dangers thru the lightning (forest thru the trees), account for loss/claims, and create functionally independent standalone electrostatic (faraday) skins for marine life-threat avoidance electronics. So standalone IPX8 mobile AIS-MMSI-RECEIVE/DSC-CALLBACK fail-safe operated VHF HANDHELD RADIOS are the new fine print, wherein power supply, ais receiver, logic processor, alarm generator, and display are all physically & functionally inside the same electrostatic skin (same standalone handheld device). AIS REIMAGINED.