[CA] [CA11] Axiom/Lighthouse 100-target AIS limit

[dagelm]

Hi—If possible, I’d like to add some additional context and urgency to this earlier request to significantly increase the AIS 100-target limit in future revisions to the software.
1. In popular boating areas like Seattle there are now literally hundreds of recreational and commercial vessels with active AIS transmitters operating. Last weekend, for example, my AIS receiver was tracking 280 vessels out to a range of 35 nm.

2. The current software only allows the closest 100 targets to be tracked and plotted. (Even if the option to not show stationary targets is activated, the unit still tracks the stationary targets and they “count” toward the 100-target limit.)

3. Over the last several weeks of real-world use, I found that there were >100 targets within 2.1 to 2.2 nm of my boat. This means that nothing beyond about a 2-mile range was shown on my Axiom MFD.

4. A primary use of AIS around here for those of us in slow sailboats is to avoid fast-moving commercial ships and ferry traffic and to help decide when and where it is safe to cross or operate near the Vessel Traffic System and ferry routes, especially in poor visibility. So, it’s necessary to be able to see, track, and identify these ships on AIS at least 10+ miles out. AIS allows you to track them even when they are not visible by eye or radar, such as when blocked by an island or other land mass, coming out of a harbor, etc.

5. I cannot stress enough what a problem this limitation is for those customers who purchased their MFD expecting to use its AIS plotting ability as a navigational tool along with its ability to show charts and radar. It’s analogous to a plotter only being able to display radar targets out to a 2-mile range even though the scanner is receiving targets out to 15-20+ miles.

6. Because of this limitation, I now find myself using my new Axiom MFD as a radar display only and having to prop my iPad up next to it to plot AIS targets.

7. There is no warning to the user that the 100-target limit is full and that vessels beyond X miles cannot be shown. Had I not discovered this subtle limitation, I could easily have gone to cross the shipping lanes in fog, consulted my Axiom AIS and concluded that the coast was clear only to have a 20-knot ship pop up on my display only 2 miles away and bearing down on me.

8. I’m sure when the software was first written, a 100-target limit was ample, and it might have been hard to foresee the coming explosion in the popularity of AIS with recreational boaters. So I’m really hoping that this issue can be addressed just as soon as possible.

Thanks!