ShipSpotting.com Forum

Shipspotters all over the world => Help and Advice => Topic started by: snocky on May 18, 2016, 11:39:48 AM

Title: AIS FREE
Post by: snocky on May 18, 2016, 11:39:48 AM
Have AIS FREE VERSION & for years now i,ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Was able to pick up all near coastal vessels with names etc., but now they have made the site horrible by inserting ships worldwide with sat.insignia on each vessel & no name or data. A lot of the areas that i used to pick up some vessels names are now not free anymore & being an old seaman on very low income i can,t afford to pay huge sum to access the full site. Why do you guys force us older seamen with this new change as it is a mess. Is there any way i can delete any ships that don,t show their name or data as it is a mess with out it. "SNOCKY" P. S. I t seems as if the free is not free anymore
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: Phil English on May 18, 2016, 12:06:41 PM
Are you referring to the AIS tab on this site, Snocky? That was something the owner experimented with several years ago and it only ever got to a beta stage. It's never really worked correctly and, as far as I am aware, little or no resources have been put into it since. I'm surprised that anyone uses it, and that it hasn't been completely switched off.

The best (free) AIS site is www.marinetraffic.com

Brgds
Phil

Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: snocky on May 18, 2016, 02:19:22 PM
Phil that is the site i use. Just go to it & see what i,m talking about. Site now shows ships 99% with no data. Before this happened only ships on free site had all data attached which was good.Now it,s a mess. Isn,t it possible to go way it was before. Why put thousands of ships on site with no names & data. Complete mess. "SNOCKY"
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: Phil English on May 18, 2016, 02:41:17 PM
So you are are using www.marinetraffic.com?

I use it (free version) more or less every day and see no problem with it. Sorry.

Brgds
Phil

Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: Bob Scott on May 18, 2016, 03:04:22 PM
Of late, ships in mid-ocean that are being tracked by satellite have been appearing on the free version of Marinetraffic - but without ship details. Vessels within range of coastal receivers are showing up as they have always done.
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: snocky on May 18, 2016, 03:06:26 PM
Phil, i don,t have a problem with it as such. Do you understand what i,m talking about. I don,t know how to explain but please read what i said before. Thanks "SNOCKY"
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: Phil English on May 18, 2016, 03:22:20 PM
Have you read Bob's reply? That might shed some light.

Otherwise, I suggest that you contact the people at www.marinetraffic.com if you require further assistance.

Brgds
Phil
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: Robert J Smith on May 18, 2016, 03:32:24 PM
Hi Snocky

I have just checked various ships around the world and all have the same data as usual.
Have you tried clearing cookies etc on your PC or check with a different browser. I had problems on marinetraffic myself a while ago and it was due to an update on Google Chrome which fixed itself after a couple of days, other browsers worked fine.

Regards

Bob
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: ChasB46 on May 18, 2016, 03:43:13 PM
Snocky, have you ticked the box in the filters ..Show vessel names?
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: Tom Walker on May 18, 2016, 03:45:07 PM
Have you made sure that the "Show Vessels Names" box is ticked?

This can be found by clicking on the Layers icon on the left-hand side of the screen.  That icon is the fourth one down.  The box you need to make sure is ticked is right under the longer "Map type" box.

Hope this helps, but you may have already tried that.  Sometimes after a PC hang, this box is unchecked when you start up Marine Traffic the next time.

Best regards

Tom

Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: snocky on May 18, 2016, 04:27:21 PM
All the suggestions above are great & i have everything done as was suggested. Bob was the only one who answered the very simple thing i was asking. For the final & last time will someone out there explain to me why our free version was changed & glutted with world wide shipping from satelllite with no data ships shown all over except free ones we origionally had. Is it advertising for us to pay for huge cost to upgrade? "SNOCKY".
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: DeepSeaDiver1000 on May 18, 2016, 04:42:36 PM
I think this link might help you.

How can I get more updated vessels' positions?

Note: Satellite-AIS tracking may be less effective if the subject vessel is equipped with a Class B AIS transponder. Such units are smaller, simpler and lower cost compared to Class A transponders but their signal is weaker making it harder for satellites to pick-up AIS messages coming from them.

Tip: If you are interested in certain vessels, you can always check whether newer positions of them are available via Satellite-AIS. Simply, go to the respective vessel's Details page. There, you will be able to check if you could get newer positions via Satellite AIS.

Below is the link, it explains it in more detail.

https://help.marinetraffic.com/hc/en-us/articles/204809398-How-can-I-get-more-updated-vessels-positions- (https://help.marinetraffic.com/hc/en-us/articles/204809398-How-can-I-get-more-updated-vessels-positions-)
Title: Re: AIS FREE
Post by: DeepSeaDiver1000 on May 18, 2016, 04:46:58 PM
You can also get a free account on https://www.fleetmon.com/ (https://www.fleetmon.com/)

although with a free subscription you only get 15 minutes per day. There is a timer. So you need to go in find out what you are looking for then log out of live AIS. You can also build your fleet up to 10 vessels for free.

Is there a particular vessel you are looking for?