A Conversation With Ocean Signal About AIS Crew Overboard Beacons
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Hi John,
Thanks for again a very important matter for sailors in general. As such I tried to share your Facebook notification about the MOB1 with the Dutch sailing forum “Zeilen”, which has more than 11,000 members, but they complain they cannot read it as being behind a paywall. Could you move this to the public part of your site?
Hi Roeland,
It would be great to get the word out to a greater sailing community, but before John considers his answer, why not suggest to the members that they join AAC for a great series on AIS MOB beacons that includes observations of common installation errors that might make their unit non-functional (and fixes). Not to mention all the other benefits which make the membership fee so worthwhile.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Roeland,
First off, I published the original warning about these problems outside of the Paywall: https://www.morganscloud.com/2018/11/08/possible-auto-activation-failure-of-the-mob1-ais-person-overboard-beacon/
Second, how about doing as Dick suggests and encouraging members of that forum to join AAC so we can continue to do this kind of work. After all, at $2 a month, it’s hardly expensive?
The bottom line is that the above article, and all the other writing we have done on AIS beacons, represents over a month of work for Phyllis and I, so it is simply not practical to publish that work for free, particularly since our out of pocket expenses in running this site are climbing ever day and are about to take a big jump as we delegate much of the technical stuff we do now so we can spend yet more time on articles like the one above.
Bottom line, AAC is still only barely sustainable, and only stays publishing at all because Phyllis and I work at it for less than the minimum wage in most developed countries, so being asked to do yet more for less does not make us feel very happy.
All that said, with the new membership system we are working on we may be experimenting with different paywall options, including a certain number of free ones each month, but that will only stay in place if it generates more members. Or to put it rather harshly, we are not running a charity here since I would hardly call boat owners a deserving demographic for said endeavour.
Sorry to be so assertive in my answer, but it’s a subject I feel pretty strongly about.
I also advise that you consider supporting a path that makes this post public so that it may be shared. It would likely attract eye balls that have never visited AAC, which is an opportunity to increase your subscriber base. Cheers
Hi Sparky,
That sounds great in theory, but we have experimented for years and there is one thing that gets new members and one thing only: the Paywall. Appeals to support us simply don’t work.
And without a consistent stream of new members there will be no content as all, free or otherwise.
Added to the above, let me point out that we tried exactly what you are suggesting with the original post: https://www.morganscloud.com/2018/11/08/possible-auto-activation-failure-of-the-mob1-ais-person-overboard-beacon/
Result? Total bust on new members.
John, just adding a voice of support for the paywall. For anyone who has ever purchased or rented anything boat related, membership to the site is a bargain.
Hi Scott,
Thank you for the support, much appreciated.
Hi John,
Thanks for all your work on this.
Dick
Good morning John
I, like Dick, would like to thank you for following up on this issue. We just bought our (adult) kids the AIS/MOB units as they are both sailing offshore a lot. It gives me peace of mind knowing they would have a second chance in a MOB situation.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Thanks very much for the kind words. It’s always great to hear that people are acting on our work.
Ditto, John and Phyllis. I constantly beat the drum for your site as being not only the only one I pay for, but which constantly provides me with more and better information than it costs me. This sort of drill-down is necessary to fully understand, appreciate and choose new technologies for the rather select group of people who go out of sight of land, and your comments, preferences and reviews have played an increasing role in not only what I choose to buy, but how I organize and run our boat.
Hi John,
thank you very much for your work on this. When I read your article in November, I recognized my MOB1 (bought 2016) were lacking the cap. I informed my chandlery (AWN, Germany). They weren’t aware of the problem but promised to clarify it with their supplier. And so they did: last week I received the two missing caps!
Hi Ralf,
Really good to hear. Makes it all worth while.
Thank you John. Your thoroughness is second to none. AAC is the only worthwhile dialog available to sailing man.
We purchased and fitted two MOB1s to Spinlock deckvests and have suffered many false alarms – i.e. activations due to displacement of the clip inside a closed jackets. I had put them down to packing, but now realise that our units dont have, and indeed didn’t come with, the protective “armed” cap.
Shame on OceanSignal for failing to widely publicise this critical fix for earlier units! The only reference to the protective cap on their own website is buried in their revised user manual. Sadly they have no news item to highlight it and no top-line product shots showing the cap. Again: shame on OceanSignal.
I’ll be contacting them today.
Neil
L’escale, Portsmouth
Hi Neil,
You are right, not a good response from OS to the point that I fear that if they don’t get their act together on this it could do permeant and irreversible damage to the reputation of good products. The history of corporate silence on this kind of thing is not good.
I just bought a Ocean Signal EPRIB1 class 2.
I am returning it because the instructions printed on its surface are illegible. Even the battery expiration date is impossible to read. A combination of extremely small letters and very poor quality of printing is at fault. If Ocean Signal can overlook this basic need then what else have they overlooked?
If you provided a way for me to attach picture I would.
Hi Scott,
That is indeed a disturbing report. Please see our comment guidelines (#6) on how to share a picture in the comments: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/11/10/aac-comment-guide-lines/
I’m in the market for an EPRIB since I plan on venturing beyond the sight of land this summer. After a search of the site, I couldn’t find any discussions regarding these devices. Is there a post I’m missing, or is that something that hasn’t been discussed yet?
As always, it’s a joy to be part of this community.
Hi Ben,
No, we have never done a piece on EPIRBS, other than to say repeatedly that any boat that goes offshore should have one. As far as I know they are all pretty good these days and anyway we are not really in the product comparison business. The best place for that kind of information is Practical Sailor Magazine. If you subscribe you get access to their searchable archives, well worth the price.
Thanks for the verification that I wasn’t missing some thing. I’m journeying about as far as I possibly can “offshore” in my area: crossing Lake Erie. But it’s a passage out of the sight of land and it only takes 25-30 knots of wind to cause some nasty waves on that puddle! After reading about them, I think I’ll be getting a PLB. It’s much cheaper, more portable and uses the same technology as an EPIRB. The floating version of the ACR ResQLink is the model I think would work for my application.
For what it’s worth, that was my conclusion, and I went with an older version of a ResQLink on Lake Ontario. Just remember that it’s important to file a sail plan (called a “float plan” in the States) with the Canadian Coast Guard (and to “close” it on arrival via cellphone or VHF) and to register the PLB with the correct federal registry, ideally with a third-party contact who can confirm your plans. Make sure it’s a PLB that is comfortable to wear, can attach securely to your PFD (which of course you must always wear for this scheme to work) and which broadcasts a GPS string as well as the 406 Mhz beacon. It’s a good choice for solo sailing the same way the AIS beacon is a good choice with more crew/beyond the reach of SAR resources.