Yep, Toph noted no number nor flag, so it looks like it's not commissioned yet. Amazingly fast with little wake and really quiet. Very impressive, though I wouldn't like to see it bearing down on me in the dark.
Select to expand quoteLooseChange said..Ramona said..
I should also mention that navy vessels don't use AIS either for obvious reasons but do monitor.
HMAS Wollongong
MMSI:503210000
Call Sign: [b]VKPM
[/b] Flag: [b]Australia [AU]
[/b]
AIS Type: Military Ops
Currently broadcasting her position
Yep. They talk in plain language on channel 69 too but I would not count on it all the time! Sometimes it pays to advertise and show the punters where their tax dollars go. Do you have the Collins class boats positions?
Select to expand quotenswsailor said..
Fair go Jode, I was the SMALLEST yacht around last year, but as there are so many AIS signals I only looked at those who appeared to be a threat, so don't remember you on a passage. Did we [SEAKA and I] meet you at an anchorage?
I have been informed by large ships that they have me on radar, even saying what course speed and the fact that I had just changed course away from them!
So BIG ships, as against small yachts, have big radar and can see better than small yachts.
As for the fishing boats I have seen them with AIS on and then disappear, a visual check had them still there.
Personally I think fishing boats that are restricted by trawl gear should be transmitting an AIS signal.
I have found that big ships will not answer a call unless called by name, are they required to record all radio calls?
Regardless of my rant above I recommend to all who ask and I will also be fitting a Class B AIS for my next voyage 
Hi nsw,
Sorry I was not having a go at you, I was just stating a well known fact the sailing boats do not come up well under radar and people new to sailing should made aware ot it..
I passed you several time over the time but the one I remember was as we were coming south out of the Gloster passage.
I don't know if you came across that sea fog that came over the southern end of the Whitsundays while you were up there, but that was the only time we had to rely heavily on Ais, plotter and radar.
Select to expand quoteRamona said..
Do you have the Collins class boats positions?
Yup, tied up in the same place where they've been the last umpteen years. Those things will never be a hazard to navigation. 
From a Collins Boat perspective, when they go to sea they are the "only" boat out there, Anything else on the water is just a target.
You are assuming they could get a crew to man them.
When the Navy had the Oberon class subs they were all fully crewed, with the Collins class they are struggling to crew one boat, let alone six.
Several years ago the Navy was offering a 100% loading on their pay to try and get people to volunteer for submarine duty, still wasn't enough to convince people to become submariners.
Select to expand quoteLooseChange said..
You are assuming they could get a crew to man them.
When the Navy had the Oberon class subs they were all fully crewed, with the Collins class they are struggling to crew one boat, let alone six.
Several years ago the Navy was offering a 100% loading on their pay to try and get people to volunteer for submarine duty, still wasn't enough to convince people to become submariners.
I only ever had one day at sea on an O boat and that was enough!
Select to expand quoteRamona said..
I only ever had one day at sea on an O boat and that was enough!
Yeah, not sure I could handle being buried under tons of water for that long either, submariners are definitely a strange species.
Select to expand quote
Hi nsw,
Sorry I was not having a go at you, I was just stating a well known fact the sailing boats do not come up well under radar and people new to sailing should made aware ot it..
I passed you several time over the time but the one I remember was as we were coming south out of the Gloster passage.
I don't know if you came across that sea fog that came over the southern end of the Whitsundays while you were up there, but that was the only time we had to rely heavily on Ais, plotter and radar.
Said with tongue in cheek Jode 
no need to say sorry.
Yes I do remember you now, doing near 10 knts and passed me just before Saddleback Island. I did admire your vessel as you steamed past.
And yes that fog was a bit different and I also tracked whom I could with the AIS. It was worse at the Gloucester Resort the week before the meet when the fog came down to about 300m. Later as it rose I was surprised to see the prawn boat [no AIS] anchored ahead of me. Was very glad I just didn't head off to Bowen [I stayed there for the week before the meet]. But even worse was south of Scarborough Point in Morton bay where the vis came down to 25m, had to do that old seafaring tradition of "Blowing my Horn!" was getting a bit anxious as I could hear high speed motor boats moving around near the main Brisbane channel before it suddenly lifted.
Vice-Commodore Dunbogan.
I do a fair amount of night sailing and I consider and AIS transponder to an indispensable safety aid, especially if you're routinely crossing freight or ferry shipping channels.
Also, apart from the obvious safety benefit, AIS can help you identify fishing boats and FISH! If you're in South Australian boats and you see a tug traveling at ~1 knot to/from Port Lincoln, it is almost certainly towing a tuna pen .
PS Did you know they let the big tunas go because the quota is by total weight, not the number of fish caught? Stupid, but that's the way it is.
Just a note for those who want to connect their DSC VHF, AIS and plotter together.
You must run a common earth, usually noted as trax- or Rec- on wiring diagrams, as its through this wire that the devices see the gaps in the data packages.
That earth should also connect to the common earth at one end.
I had all sorts of problems until a techie in Sydney dropped that on me in a general conservation.
Select to expand quotenswsailor said..
Just a note for those who want to connect their DSC VHF, AIS and plotter together.
You must run a common earth, usually noted as trax- or Rec- on wiring diagrams, as its through this wire that the devices see the gaps in the data packages.
That earth should also connect to the common earth at one end.
I had all sorts of problems until a techie in Sydney dropped that on me in a general conservation.
BTW, if you hook up everything using a SeaTalk or SeaTalkNG/NMEA2000 bus, you get a common ground for free - assuming of course that the bus itself is properly grounded.
Select to expand quotescruzin said..nswsailor said..
Just a note for those who want to connect their DSC VHF, AIS and plotter together.
You must run a common earth, usually noted as trax- or Rec- on wiring diagrams, as its through this wire that the devices see the gaps in the data packages.
That earth should also connect to the common earth at one end.
I had all sorts of problems until a techie in Sydney dropped that on me in a general conservation.
BTW, if you hook up everything using a SeaTalk or SeaTalkNG/NMEA2000 bus, you get a common ground for free - assuming of course that the bus itself is properly grounded.
I didn't have the bus scruzin, so had to set an earth wire direct between each unit, the common earth was not suitable. Each unit was also earthed as normal.
