AIS alerts to my own boat

[SeaDogAK]

I have a Garmin 7610 xsv chart plotter and a Garmin AIS 600. Every 5 minutes my chartplotter gives me a collision alarm saying I’m about to collide with my own boat. I’ve had to turn off collision alarms, which loses me some functionality.

Does anyone know how to tell my Garmin not to alert to my own boat?

 

[DDW]

The system should have disambiguation to eliminate that. However I have seen my shadow trailing me in deep fjord like canyons, or with tall and vertical mountains close by (with Vesper/Raymarine equipment). I think there is an echo return from the mountains outside of their time filter window. Does it occur all the time, or only sometimes?

 

[Iggy]

I have a Garmin 7610 xsv chart plotter and a Garmin AIS 600. Every 5 minutes my chartplotter gives me a collision alarm saying I’m about to collide with my own boat. I’ve had to turn off collision alarms, which loses me some functionality.

Does anyone know how to tell my Garmin not to alert to my own boat?

Do you have more than one AIS device?

 

[SeaDogAK]

Do you have more than one AIS device?

I have AIS on my VHF radio, but it does this with the VHF off. It’s definitely picking up the Garmin signal, because I just had it reprogrammed with my new MMSI and boat name, and it’s showing the new boat name on the chartplotter screen. I haven’t had any other device reprogrammed.

 

[SeaDogAK]

The system should have disambiguation to eliminate that. However I have seen my shadow trailing me in deep fjord like canyons, or with tall and vertical mountains close by (with Vesper/Raymarine equipment). I think there is an echo return from the mountains outside of their time filter window. Does it occur all the time, or only sometimes?

It’s not an echo or a shadow. It’s an AIS signal that’s always there, and the chartplotter shows that I’m sitting right on top of it.

 

[rslifkin]

Does your chartplotter have an option in the menus to input your MMSI? If so, make sure it's entered correctly there. If it is, it should hide AIS targets with your MMSI.

 

[SeaDogAK]

Does your chartplotter have an option in the menus to input your MMSI? If so, make sure it's entered correctly there. If it is, it should hide AIS targets with your MMSI.

Not that I’ve been able to find, either on the device or in the manual. I’m trying to reach Garmin tech support today.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. SD. As long as you're not beside yourself with worry...

 

[SeaDogAK]

Greetings,
Mr. SD. As long as you're not beside yourself with worry...

I just can’t get out of my own way.

Garmin tech support says there has to be another device on the network that is picking up the AIS signal and reporting it to the plotter. I’ll check that out tomorrow.

 

[Jeff F]

Garmin tech support says there has to be another device on the network that is picking up the AIS signal and reporting it to the plotter. I’ll check that out tomorrow.

My money is on the VHF. Is it operating under a different mmsi? Turning the VHF off doesn't immediately remove the target from the MFD. It would time out, but maybe after a few minutes or more.

 

[SeaDogAK]

My money is on the VHF. Is it operating under a different mmsi? Turning the VHF off doesn't immediately remove the target from the MFD. It would time out, but maybe after a few minutes or more.

The VHF still has the old MMSI and boat name, so it can’t be the source of the signal.

 

[Jeff F]

The VHF still has the old MMSI and boat name, so it can’t be the source of the signal.

It's the source of the signal because of that. It's picking up the broadcast from the AIS unit and sending it to the MFD.

I'd turn the VHF source off. There's no good reason to have both feeding the MFD. There should be a way to do this in the VhF menu.

 

[Comodave]

Simple way to find out, unplug the VHF from the network and power it off.

 

[Iggy]

My money is on the VHF. Is it operating under a different mmsi? Turning the VHF off doesn't immediately remove the target from the MFD. It would time out, but maybe after a few minutes or more.

That why I asked in the beginning. But Seadog said "I have AIS on my VHF radio, but it does this with the VHF off."

But Jeff brings up a good point in timing. Off the top of my head, class B Tx every 30 seconds when moving and every 2 minutes when stationary. It may take a 3 to 5 minutes and then come back as target lost.

Just turn off AIS on the VHF and leave the VHF on. If it is a different MMSI# other than sending the unit in to clear it. If you ask the past owner, you can transfer that # to you as the new owner.

 

[SeaDogAK]

OK, it’s definitely the VHF. I didn’t even know the VHF was connected to the NMEA 2000, but it is, and it’s the source of the problem. It took about 10 minutes after shutting off the VHF for the AIS signal for my boat to disappear off the plotter, and I hadn’t waited long enough before.

Supposedly my radio (ICOM M506) has an “ID Blocking” feature where you can enter MMSI’s that it should ignore, but I’m not able to find the menu for that. I’ll try ICOM tech support tomorrow.

The VHF still has the old MMSI in it but that isn’t the problem, it did the same thing before I had the Garmin AIS reprogrammed with the new MMSI. We have a local ICOM service tech who will be reprogramming it when he has time.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I had the problem of being notified that I was in imminent danger of running over myself. It took some time with the Garmin manual to find how to turn off the self-recognition.

Mark

 

[Jeff F]

I'm pretty sure you can turn off sharing of AIS and GPS data to the network on your radio. That's what I'd do. It's just duplicating data on the network that's being supplied by the AIS transponder.

ETA: maybe just disconnect it from the n2k network? That's what I did with mine, but maybe there's some feature that would go away?

 

[Porgy]

Page 86-88 of the manual?

AIS settings can be customized from “AIS SET” on the menu
screen.
q Push [MENU].
w Rotate dial or push [Ω]/[≈] to select the “AIS SET” icon and
then push the softkey below the icon. • AIS settings menu is displayed.

D ID BLOCKING
The transceiver blocks AIS transponders that are entered into the ID blocking list. Enter your vessel’s transponder ID or other vessel’s transponder IDs if necessary to prevent the transceiver from detecting them as dangerous targets.
You can enter maximum of 10 transponder IDs.
• Entering an ID
q Enter the “ID BLOCKING” in the AIS SETTINGS menu.
• The blocked AIS transponder’s
ID is displayed.
• “No ID” is displayed if there are
no blocked AIS transponder.
w Push [ADD] to start the ID entry.
• Select a desired number using [∫]/[√]/[Ω]/[≈].
• Push [ENT] or Dial to set it.
• To move the cursor, rotate Dial or select either arrow, “←” or “→,” and then push [ENT] or Dial.
• Push [EXIT] to return to the normal operating mode.
• Push [BACK] or [CLEAR] to return to the previous screen.
e Select [FINISH], and then push [ENT] or Dial to enter it.
• Returns to the “ID BLOCKING” menu.

 

[SeaDogAK]

For some reason I am not getting the ID Blocking menu. Might be I need a firmware update, which requires an Icom repair tech. I could just disconnect it from the network, but I think I would lose DSC calling (although I’ve never made or received a DSC call).