See and be seen on your boat in Coastal and Inland waters using just your iPhone or iPad - Boat Beacon is the only AIS ship plotting app to share your boat’s position, provide Collision Detection and use real-time data.

“An outstanding app, with great potential. Both interesting to use and very user friendly. This could be a life saver and especially of interest to small boat users. Everyone who goes on the water should have this on and use it!” ***** Sun Dream, App Store Review

Boat Beacon is specifically designed for use on the water and uniquely provides Bearing, Range and Closest Point of Approach (CPA) calculations in addition to standard AIS information. Boat Beacon uses up-to-the second AIS feeds and transmits your location as well as receiving that of other ships via AIS. Boat Beacon is the only app that continuously monitors CPA, notifying if potential collisions are detected even when the app is running in the background as you use your iPhone or iPad for other tasks. Boat Beacon does not require any external AIS transponder or receiver equipment.

Key Features
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Over-the-horizon collision avoidance (30 miles radius) using continuous Closest Point of Approach (CPA) calculations - highlights boats that are on a potential collision course and alerts you with an alarm.

Continually transmits and receives position information and calculates and alarms CPA even when the app is running in the background.

Shares your position with Global AIS Systems and other Boat Beacon users in real time.

Live Map view with fully gimballed compass overlay rotates with you so you can look in the direction of the ships on the map to locate them.

Boat-to-Boat Instant Messaging. Chat directly with other Boat Beacon users and your Boat Beacon group in real time for free.

Man Overboard tracking, SART Alarm, Anchor watch and Theft email alarm.

Arm all the crews in a race with Boat Beacon and have real time updates on the race positions - inland or at sea - and have the folks back in the Club house watch too on a large screen with Boat Beacon's TV/Video Out support

Keep a watch and in touch with other boats in your flotilla when sailing in a group.

Let Friends and Family see where you are and where you're headed to on Boat Beacon and web-based AIS systems like Marine Traffic and AIS-Hub which have free web viewers available.

Ideal for busy and popular inland waters, harbours, ports and coastal areas up to 15 miles out to sea.

Boat Beacon requires internet access to work. Most popular coastal areas in the US have cellular data access extending 12 or more miles out to sea. The UK has nearly complete coastal coverage out to 12 miles. AIS Ship data is provided by a network of voluntary AIS shore based stations. Some areas may not have AIS coverage.

N.B. Boat Beacon is not an AIS transponder. You will not be visible to other ships on their AIS systems unless they also use data from the same land based AIS networks.

Requirements:
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iPhone or iPad with Compass and GPS.
Internet connection.

You do not need an MMSI number to use Boat Beacon and you can be seen on Boat Beacon by other Boat Beacon users without having one. However if you want to be seen on Global AIS systems like Marine Traffic and Ship Finder etc. then you will need to have and use an MMSI number. If you don't have an MMSI for your boat you can normally get one for free. In the US you can obtain a free one in a few minutes by visiting http://www.boatus.com/mmsi (the USCG approved agent) and using their online form. In the UK visit http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/spectrum/mmsi

Please note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

NOT FOR NAVIGATION

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful. Boat Beacon should only be used for basic navigation reference and should not be solely relied upon to determine precise locations, proximity, distance, or direction.