What is the best free ship tracker?

How do I track a private yacht?

Most yachts have transponders onboard that send out Automatic Identification System data, which gives the local authorities and other boats their location and navigation headings. Sites like VesselFinder.com and MarineTraffic.com ingest the data and let users type in a yacht’s name and see its most recent coordinates.

Can you track ships at sea?

The MarineTraffic service makes use of AIS tracking technology to provide information about the identification, course, speed and current location of vessels.

Is there a boat tracker like flight radar?

AIS ship tracking – Ship Radar

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automated tracking system that is widely used at sea. The system collects static and dynamic information from ships.

What’s the best ship tracking app?

What is YB3i?

The YB3i is the ultimate GPS tracking device, and now affordable for every boat. Powered by Iridium technology you will always have full GPS tracking coverage anywhere on the planet.

How does the AIS system work?

AIS works via a combination of GPS, VHF radio, and an AIS transponder. The transponder broadcasts a ship’s information, such as speed and heading (information gathered by GPS, of course), the ship’s name, port of origin, size and draft, and more, over VHF frequencies 161.975 megahertz and 162.025 MHz.

Is AIS same as GPS?

AIS stands for Automatic Identification System. AIS devices consist of a GPS receiver and a data radio unit. The AIS system enables ships all over the world to identify each other and transfer important information to other ships, but also to land stations and traffic centres on the coast.

Is AIS connected with GPS?

An AIS transceiver uses VHF radio and GPS technology to communicate with other nearby ships. information is combined with other important navigation information and automatically communicated between AIS equipped vessels without any user interaction.

Do you need a subscription for AIS?

AIS information is free and no subscription is required. All you need to take full advantage of AIS is a VHF or AIS antenna and AIS receiver (and/or transceiver), plus a compatible chartplotter or smartphone/tablet.

What is the maximum range of AIS?

The AIS signals have a horizontal range of about 40 nautical miles (74 km), meaning that AIS traffic information is only available around coastal zones or in a ship-to-ship zone. AIS communication takes place using two VHF frequencies, 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz, using a bandwidth of 25 kHz.

What is the difference between Class A and Class B AIS?

Class A AIS transponders are required to have a DSC (156.525 MHz) receiver, external GPS, heading, and rate of turn indicator, and can also transmit and receive safety-related text messages. Class B AIS transponders operate using Carrier-Sense TDMA (CSTDMA) broadcast mode and transmit at a power level of 2 watts.

Do I need a separate antenna for AIS?

To transmit AIS you will need a dedicated AIS antenna. If not possible to have a dedicated AIS antenna, and you only have one antenna on the boat, make sure it’s a VHF antenna because that’s the primary form of communication.

Where do I put the AIS antenna?

Your VHF antenna attached to the AIS device needs to be as high as possible and as far away as possible from other vertical metal objects. Vertical metal objects include other vertical antennas, sailboat masts, radar masts, stays, bimini frames and any other lengths of metal parallel to the antenna.