AIS

Automated Identification System (AIS) is a way of identifying a vessel's position, course and speed, vessel's position and freight through VHF digital information.

How does it work?

AIS information is transmitted by vessels and AIS navigation aids equipped with VHF transponders. Transmitting vessels are usually commercial ships legally required to transmit AIS data. All ships over 300 tonnes built after 2002 are required to transmit AIS data.

Your AIS receiver listens to those transmission and sends data to AIS capable chart plotters. This information is plotted onto your chart and works alongside your radar to establish target clarification and potential collision avoidance.

AIS is particularly useful in identifying targets that maybe obscured by poor visibility, or behind larger targets like low island and large ships that radar can't penetrate.

AIS reception is freely available to anyone with an AIS receiver! Contact us to see what you need to have AIS information now.

ARPA RADAR

Automatic Radar Plotting Aide - ARPA is an option that is offered on more sophisticated Radar.

It has the same function as MARPA radar in that it acquires another boats radar reflection and the radars computer determines if it is on a collision course. The difference is that an ARPA Radar automatically acquires the boats radar reflection where as with MARPA radar, the user manually selects which boat they want to see.

BAMBOO

Bamboo has been used for centuries as a building material, creating furniture, screens, water displays and indoor feature walls.

Bamboo Poles are supplied in 2.9m lengths and may be cut or split as required. They are selected for straightness and graded in size. They are available in creamy brown colour or black.

Bamboo Screens and poles will change colour if left outside in the much the same way green timber. For longer life, keep the bamboo off the ground.

CANE

Cane The choice material for weavers as cane, unlike bamboo, can be bent (after being soaked). Pahang Cane is available in a variety of diameters and is sold by the piece (3-5m long) or in 25kg bundles. Manu cane grows to a larger diameter than Pahang and is used in furniture.

Many wonderful creations are being weaved by creative designers – a favourite with puppeteers, firework designers, screen and lighting designers alike.

DSC & MMSI

Digital Selective Calling - DSC is, basically, a paging system that is used to automate distress alerts sent over terrestrial (ie: non-satellite) VHF, MF and HF marine radio systems.

DSC equipment such as VHF radio or EPIRB are programmed with a unique nine digit identification number, known as a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI). The MMSI is sent automatically with each and every DSC transmission made.

Australian MMSI's are allocated and administered by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. You must be an Australian resident to obtain an Australian MMSI. For further details, contact the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, 406 MHz/MMSI Registrar during business hours on:1800 406 406

This unique MMSI number identifies the owners name and address,the type of vessel and its position.

ECHO SOUNDER

An Echo Sounder is a measuring instrument that sends out an acoustic pulse using a transducer in water (usually downwards; forward looking is referred to as Sonar) and measures distances in terms of the time for the echo of the pulse to return. When a sound wave strikes an underwater object such as fish or sea bottom, part of the sound is reflected back toward the source. The depth to the object can be determined by calculating the time difference between the transmission of a sound wave and the reception of the reflected sound. The sounder will then display this return as one of up to 16 different colors (color sounder) or a different level of gray scaling (monochrome sounder) depending on the strength of the returned signal.

Echo Sounders measure depth, but can also see fish and use the colour spectrum to determine fish species, weed, type of bottom and distinguish between them. Alarms can be set for too shall, too deep, surface water temperature etc.

Absolute depth is determined by a combination of output power, beam angle and frequency. The higher the frequency, the shallower the depth. The higher the output power, the narrower the transducers beam angle. Single frequency (200KHz) Echo Sounders are used up to a maximum of 200m irrespective of output power, where as 50KHz will travel to 800m and 28KHz 1500m . The most common and cheapest Echo Sounders are single frequency with dual frequency 200/50KHz sounders being the choice of most game fishermen.

Bottom definition is determined by beam angle and screen definition. Choose a high pixel count and the narrow beam angle for better bottom definition

There are many manufacturers – including:
Japan: JRC, Furuno, Koden, Fuso
New Zealand: Navman, Marlin
USA: Garmin, Lowrance, Eagle, Hummingbird
UK: Raymarine
Norway: Simrad

Also known as Fish Finders and in some countries: SONAR.

EGNOS

European Geostationary Navigational Overlay Service provides improved accuracy. Similarly to WAAS, is visible to Europe only and has no effect in Australia.

EPIRB

Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons EPIRB's have been in use in Australia since 1990. The initial system (121/243) had no means of identifying who the owner was and rescue authorities has no means of distinguishing between a false or real alarm. The newer 406 system was introduced to improve help remove the false alarms by identifying the owner through registration. The initial 121/243 system is being turned off on 1st February 2009.

When activated, the EPIRB transmits a signal to one of a network of American, Russian, Canadian and French satellites known as COSPAS SARSAT (Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking). The system relies on two separate ‘arrays’. Four low earth orbit satellites orbit the earth every 100 minutes and three geostationary satellites maintain a static position over the earth. When one of these satellites picks up a signal from an EPIRB, it transmits an alert to one of the many automated ground stations worldwide which then forwards the alarm to the nearest search and rescue authority.

System accuracy of the 121/243 system is around 12.5nm radius or an area of 490sq miles and response time is 6 hours average. The 406 system improves this to 3nm or 28sq miles and 1-2 hours response time. A further improvement can be gained with a built in GPS receiver giving a 0.1nm radius or 0.03sq miles and 30 minutes to respond.

EPIRB's are usually carried on boats, whereas their PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) smaller cousin are carried anywhere (land, air or sea) by individuals. By Early 2005 over 18,000 lives had been saved in 5,500 incidents which included aircraft, shipping, boats and outdoor.

FISH FINDER

For a full description see Echo Sounder . The term Fish Finder is used synonymously with the term Echo Sounder.

GARMIN

What started out in 1989 with a handful of dedicated engineers lead by Garry Burrell and Dr Min Kao (hence the name GARMIN) and a great idea for a product, has grown into the Global Positioning System (GPS) leader – both in sales and critical acclaim.

Garmin have built and sold millions of GPS receivers and dominate almost every price point for hand held GPS receivers. The range includes personal trainers, Car GPS, Fish Finders and combination chartplotters and fish finders.

C.H.Smith Marine is proud to be associated with Garmin and has been awarded a Garmin top 10 dealer in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

GPS

Global Positioning Systems, GPS have revolutionised navigation by providing 24 hour, 7 day coverage with accuracy between 3 and 15 metres. The first GPS sold by C.H.Smith Marine was in 1990 and cost $30,000. We sold one at that price and there were only 3 satellites in the constellation giving 2 hours of coverage. We published time charts for our customers so that they could see when the satellites were overhead. Dead reckoning was used with the aide of a speed log and gyro compass, to guestimate the vessel’s position in between satellite passes.

By 1993, 24 satellites were in operation and by 2004 29. Today most receivers are able to receive up to 12 satellites (also know as 12 channel receivers) simultaneously.

Marine GPS information can be used by other marine electronic equipment such as autopilots, radar, plotters and echo sounders. This is achieved by connecting (interfacing) the data out port to the data in ports of each item.

While boaters were early adopters of GPS, land based applications such auto routing street directories for cars and bush walking tracks for hand held users, have found wide acceptance.

Japan Radio Co

Found in Tokyo 1915 producing mechanical gears. Over the years, JRC has become a leader in developing cutting edge, advanced technologies in radar, communications, navigation and other specialized manufacturing areas, securing hundreds of patents and industry 'firsts'. In 1939 JRC developed the world's first Cavity Magnetron, a key component of modern day radar systems and microwave ovens. Today they are noted for the high quality marine Radar, Inmarsat, HF Radio Sonar, GPS Plotters and Echo sounders.

LOWRANCE

Lowrance Electronics, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of Sonar (Fishfinders/Echosounders,) GPS and Aviation instruments, got its start in Joplin, Missouri in 1957. Carl Lowrance, an avid fisherman with an inquisitive nature, shared his love of the sport with his two sons, Darrell and Arlen. Darrell and Arlen were among the first inland skin divers, and through this activity learned that most fish in any given body of water were generally found in schools and in specific areas.

They designed the world's first high frequency transistorized sonar for sport fishing and boating with several things in mind. It had to be portable, compact, lightweight, contain its own batteries and be relatively inexpensive. The advent of transistors into consumer electronics products was very important to the unit's concept.

In 1957 commercial sonar units were selling for more than $2000. The first Lowrance unit sold for less than $150. Since then they have continued to manufacture a wide range of fish finders and GPS.

MAGELLAN

Magellan Corporation was founded in 1986, as an independent consumer GPS company boasting a number of innovations and pioneering status in the GPS field.

Today, Magellan is the consumer products brand of Thales Navigation, one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of global satellite positioning, navigation, and guidance equipment with operations throughout the U.S. and Europe. Magellan is well known for its range of hand held GPS and the outstanding detail of their Discover Australia Topographical and Street by Street software is appreciated by 4WD owners and bushwalkers alike.

MARPA RADAR

Manual Acquisition Radar Plotting Aide - MARPA enables navigators to manually acquire another boats radar reflection and for the radars computer to determine if it is on a collision course. MARPA RADAR are usually limited in the number of targets that can be simultaneously tracked.

NAVMAN

Navman is a leading manufacturer of world-class marine electronics and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Established in 1988, the New Zealand based company provides a diverse range of navigation technologies across wide ranging industries. Navman is now world renowned for their manufacture of Marine GPS, portable Car navigation GPS, PDA based GPS, fleet tracking GPS, Echo Sounders, Fuel Sensors, Yacht and Wind instruments, Autopilots.

In April 2008 Navman Marine products were rebranded as Northstar.

NMEA0183

A format (language) designed to permit communication between various types of marine electronic equipment. In essence this is a two-wire shielded, serial data link, permitting one device to talk while other devices listen.
Numerous different sentences are available, permitting communication between various different devices.

NMEA2000

A modern serial-data communications network to interconnect marine electronic equipment onboard vessels. Equipment designed to this standard will have the ability to share data, including commands and status, with other compatible equipment over a single signalling channel.

RADAR

Radar measures distance between your vessel and objects above water and provides safe harbour navigation particularly at night. When compared to a GPS chart plotter, A Radar shows the difference between theoretically what is there (GPS Plotter) and actually what is there (RADAR).

Range is determined by output power, target height and antenna length and beam width. The higher the better, except for beam width (narrower is better). All radars work well in good clear weather but are severely affected by rain and waves.

Radar should be interfaced into a GPS as this will help in navigating to a waypoint. The range and bearing will be displayed on the radar image, thus enabling any decision about collision avoidance. The radar image can be presented in a headup, north up or course up presentation. Variable Range Markers (VRM's) can be used to give waypoint latitude and longitude information to the navigator to set into the GPS.

RANGOON CANE POLES

Rangoon Cane is grown predominantly in Burma (Myanma). These flexible poles have been used as fishing rods and gaffs before man made fibers replaced them. Beautiful colours, tapering form and flexibility have seen Rangoon Cane become a choice product for those with creative talents.

SONAR

Similar to Echo Sounders, but have a forward looking or scanning transducer. Typically used by purse seine fishermen or submarines. When looking forward much more output power is required to get the same range as an echo sounder.

SimNet

SimNet is a data network that makes interconnection and integration of Simrad products simple. SimNet permits the exchange of data between the interfaced products and enables the flow of commands and proprietary instructions between the various SimNet compatible products.
The data transfer capability of SimNet is 50 times higher than the NMEA0183 standard.
SimNet is based on NMEA2000, the marine industry’s new standard for interfacing equipment. The majority of SimNet products are NMEA2000 certified.

TRANSDUCER

Used on an Echo Sounder and are mounted depending on the hull composition on the Transom (T/M), Thru Hull (T/H) or inside the hull. It sends and receives an acoustic signal. They are either single or dual frequency. The higher the frequency, the shallower the depth. The higher the output power the narrower the transducers beam angle. A Single frequency (200KHz) is used up to a maximum of 200m irrespective of output power, where as 50KHz will travel to 800m and 28KHz 1500m . The most common and cheapest transducers are single frequency with dual frequency 200/50KHz transducers being the choice of most game fishermen.

A transducer may incorporate a temperature sensor (thermistor) and/or a paddle wheel for measuring speed.

Transom mount transducers are mount on the back of the boat (transom) and typically used by most fiberglass and aluminium boats under 7m. It is important to minimize the turbulence and aeration around the transducer. Avoid locating the transducer along strakes, behind thru-hull fittings or other hull irregularities that may disturb the water flowing across the transducer face.

Thru Hull transducers are used on timber or steel boats.

Transducers mounted in side the hull of fiberglass boats loose some efficiency and cannot measure speed and water temperature. Not all boats are well suited to shoot-thru style transducers. There is often a layer of foam flotation material between the deck and the hull.

WAAS

Wide Area Augmentation offers increased position accuracy in North America. Unfortunately for Australian users, these satellites are not visible and have no effect.

WARRANTY

Most items have a one year limited manufacturers warranty unless otherwise shown on our website. For example Lowrance’s marine warranty is 2 years for all products with the exception of Speed, Wind and fuel transducers as they often operate in extreme environments. These items have a one year warranty and Navman's Flat Rate Warranty Service Plan does not apply to these items.

No dealer repairs the product under warranty. Irrespective of where you live, all warranty repairs are carried out by the manufacturer. You are responsible to contact the manuacturer to obtain a return authority. They will ask some questions to make sure the problem is not user error and then issue with a number for you to trace your repair.