With the sailing season fully underway, whether you navigate in deep water or along the coastline, there will be more and more boats in the water which means that you need to be more vigilant. During certain situations such as during the night or when visibility is limited or when crossing shipping channels, trying to navigate by sight won’t be enough.
TIMEZERO puts your safety first and displaying AIS & ARPA targets is one of the most important features it provides. Alarms that are both visual and audible will alert you and help prevent collisions.
In this article, we take a look at a feature that really is of the utmost importance, especially during this summer period. The different types of targets as well as the tools available in TIMEZERO will leave you feeling that little bit more at ease.
TZ Navigator can connect to an AIS instrument whether it’s a transmitter or receiver and show the entire range of boats in the area in which you are navigating (note that only those with AIS can be seen by AIS). Provided in real-time, the safety cone will set off an audible and visual alarm so that you have time to react and prevent a collision. Alarm settings are configurable directly within the software.
The different kind of targets
AIS Class A -This type of AIS is suited for commercial boats : passenger boats, cargo ships, workboats, fishing vessels, etc. The boats are required to have a powerful VHF system for long distance contact under the SOLAS convention.
AIS Class B – The AIS B class is suited for recreational boats. These can be powerboats or sailboats that can fit up to 12.
AIS SAR – AIS SAR stands for “Search And Rescue” to be used uniquely when a boat is in distress.
AIS SART – Corresponds to the transmitter instruments used in cases when a boat is in distress and requires assistance.
ARPA – ARPA is an “Automatic Radar Plotting Aid” used by professional and recreational sailors alike. ARPA can help avoid collisions.
Display target layers in TZ Navigator
AIS Class A: Displays all the Class A targets in your vicinity.
AIS other: This layer allows you to see all the different targets such as AIS Class B, SAR and SART.
Marine Traffic: Using Marine Traffic, you can display all the AIS targets by using the internet within TIMEZERO. You don’t even need an AIS transmitter or receiver to use this however it isn’t in real-time. Check out this article to understand more about Marine Traffic.
ARPA targets: If your computer is connected to a radar and a compass instrument, this layer can display the ARPA targets around you.
Display AIS/ ARPA data from Navdata
Target information:
This table regroups all the values transmitted by the various targets : AIS, ARPA or DSC. To display the data of a specific target type, click on the navigation chart. An orange circle will appear around the target you selected and the info within NavData will be updated.
Please note that you can still select other objects such as marks or zones without your target selection being affected. To display the target properties, click on the blue icon “i”.
AIS & ARPA list :
The table directly displays the name in a list, the heading, the speed of the targets that are closest to your vessel. By right clicking on the list, you can also filter by MMSI number.
Target ID, Range, CPA, TCPA and SOG can be displayed. Furthermore, you can choose the number of targets to display in this list ( between 5 to 20 targets).
Manage AIS / ARPA from the table within TZ Navigator
The list can be sorted by double clicking on any column title. It is possible to “Freeze” the refresh of the list (to prevent the selected line to be moved by the sorting process) and filter the list using various parameters. The “Actions” button offers various options such as searching by MMSI, Name, or configuring the list:
TIMEZERO technology offers numerous other features to help keep you safe at sea. If you are looking for the ultimate marine navigation software to provide safe navigation then visit our website page: TZ Navigator v3
