Phyllis and I have long been fans, and early adopters of, AIS/DSC crew overboard (COB) beacons and we both wear one at all times when sailing, even inshore and in benign conditions.
We also completely changed our person overboard recovery strategy to rely on the AIS beacons—definitely all-in on this technology.
And, further, the several crew overboard drills we have done over the last two summers have totally, utterly, and completely1 confirmed our thinking that carrying an AIS beacon hugely increases the chances of recovery, either by our own boat, or another in the vicinity.
As to which beacon, after looking at several competitors, we long ago settled on the MOB1 from Ocean Signal as our preferred unit.
I also wrote about why we prefer the MOB1 over the PLB3 (with qualifications), a combined AIS and satellite beacon but without DSC.
All that said, the MOB1 was not perfect, particularly the kinda clunky programming, which required an optical link by holding the unit up to a computer or device screen.
Well now we have the MOB2 from Ocean Signal that fixes that problem using Near Field Communication to a smart phone.
Cool, although we never had any problems programming the MOB1, many people hated it and, anyway, we all know that anything that talks to our phones has gotta be good2.
Size?
The language in the press release could cause confusion about whether or not the MOB2 is smaller than the MOB1.
Coming in 50% smaller and 20% lighter than other devices on the market
Given that Ocean Signal put up the MOB1 size diagram on the MOB2 page, I think not.
Anyway, no need to get worked up about that, the MOB1 size works fine when packed in our favourite Spinlock lifejackets, and that’s what matters.
Activation Issues
I’m also hoping that Ocean Signal have improved the lifejacket activation setup, as well as removing some of the ambiguity about how the ribbon should be attached. More on that, once I know more.
Price and Availability
So far no price has been published, but I would guess about the same, or maybe a little more, than the MOB1, so still great value.
The press release says available this month in Europe, and as usual US availability will have to wait for FCC approval.
Class M Compliant
The good news is that the MOB2 is Class M compliant and so will be automatically approved by countries that have signed on to that new standard, and it won’t have the potential compliance problems that older AIS beacons may be subjected to under the new standard.
The bad news is that Class M means that in many countries the older MOB1 will no longer be compliant.
Of course, being a law-abiding guy, I would never suggest ignoring that and relying on the language below to get some officious git out of your face after an MOB1 had saved a life:
No provision in this chapter shall prevent the use by any ship, survival craft or person in distress, of any means at their disposal to attract attention, make known their position and obtain help.
Chapter IV (Radiocommunications), Regulation 1, Clause 3 of the International
Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 as amended.
Seriously, I suspect the above language will mean that those of you with non-compliant AIS COB beacons in Europe will be able to keep them, but just not buy new ones unless compliant.
Talking of officious gits, now all we have to do is get the authorities here in Canada to stop being so bloody stupid about allowing the DSC signal from these beacons. Come on you lot, you’re messing with people lives here.
Time to pull the pickle, like almost all other countries, and allow automatic all ships broadcast of DSC distress messages after someone goes in the drink.
Hopefully the new Class M functionality that stops the DSC transmission from the beacon once it’s acknowledged, will finally give the Canadian authorities the kick in the…shins they need to allow DSC as well as AIS transmission.
Summary
Good on Ocean Signal for fixing the primary bitch about the MOB1 (programming), while assuring future compliance, without yielding to the temptation to add a whole bunch of unnecessary features just to pander to a market that has a distressing propensity to buy sizzle over sausage.
Thanks to member Francisco for the heads up.
Further Reading
- More On Rescue Beacons
- More on Crew Overboard Prevention and Recovery:
I think it’s time for us Canadians to send an Open Letter to the hon. François-Philippe Champagne requesting that ISED adopt ECC/DEC/(22)02 effectively verbatim, and allow the full functionality of AIS + DSC Class M devices.There is no technical justification for not doing so, and there is certainly no Canadian-specific situation that would preclude their use.
Hi Matt,
Good plan, I’m all in.
In Canada as well and would co-sign in a heartbeat!
I am one more Canadian to support an effort to change the silly Canadian constraint.
Regulation 1, Clause 3 that John mentions keeps Canadians who programmed an MOB1 while offshore out of trouble.
In case any reader does not know, if you program an MOB1 while offshore, or while in a country without constraints, you have a unit which will sed an allships DSC emergency call as soon as it is activated.
When I first bought mine, and discovered that programming it in Canada blocked me for authorizing immediate DSC emergency calls, I suggested to MOB that I write to the authorities. MOB asked me not to do so, presumably because they wanted to be diplomatic.
Hi John,
The MOB2 started selling in the EU a few weeks ago, but it is not widely available yet. I spotted it at around 355 euros, some 60 euros over the current MOB1 price, which is the unit most vendors still carry. Careful when you order!
JL
Hi Jean-Louis,
Thanks for the fill on that. Seems like a reasonable price uplift given the added features. Also, I would bet that the street price will come down a bit as the channel fills with the new product.
Hi John,
It appears that the MOB2 features the key improvements that you were hoping to see in an upgraded version of the MOB1. App-based NFC programming is not just an improvement over on-screen flash programming. I understand from the manual that the App also allows better control and assessment of tests and battery status for instance, which I consider to be a significant advantage over the LED-based (only) feedback of MOB1.
I would like to highlight a potential downside of the implementation of the open loop DSC Distress Alert (to all ships) as it stands though. Now any station can stop the MOB2’s broadcast of DSC Distress Alert by “acknowledging” the received message. I understand the aim of keeping DSC traffic under control in case of false alarms, but I would have much preferred that only the “mothership” would have that capability, because it is all too easy to acknowledge a DSC message by mistake, especially in the dark, under foul weather and late into a shift. In the worst case, the Alert would be acknowledged before a GPS fix was secured by the MOB2; you then would have lost a safety net and would rely exclusively on AIS to detect and home-in to the MOB.
It is one of these “low probability of occurrence, but potentially catastrophic consequences” risks. Best be aware of it. Because AIS emissions should work, raise the alarm and provide the MOB position, I wouldn’t revert to “closed loop” programming (still available on MOB2). But I would be aware of the potential issue, especially if I suddenly stopped receiving DSC updates from a MOB device that is not one of mine: stay alert, check AIS transmissions, and possibly confirm the status by querying Coast Guards or “All Ships” on VHF.
Stay safe!
JL
Hi Jean-Louis,
Good point on the added benefits of NFC with a phone.
As to the DSC stop, I thought about that, but I’m not that concerned. My thinking is that since DSC does not give us any homing capability it’s primary use is to alert all vessels in the vicinity that there is an emergency, which it will do by activating the wake-the-dead alarm on every DSC VHF within about 5 miles. But after that I’m not sure that continuing to transmit would have any real benefit, beyond a position that is better seen with AIS that as numbers on a VHF screen.
Those crews who know what they are doing will immediately check their plotters many of which will also be showing an alarm, and those who don’t know what they are doing will not, I think, be enlightened by further DSC transmissions.
To summarize, to me the primary benefit of DSC is the wake-the-dead alarm on all vessels in area since AIS alarms tend to be not nearly as effective on most boats.
Where I do agree is that we need to educate everyone on the water to check the AIS immediately after receiving a DSC alarm.
This is the case for all DSC devices. Hence, IMO MSC.1-Circ.1657 Procedure for Responding to DSC Distress Alerts by Ships and the various national rules that are generally harmonized with it.
It is unfortunate that some radio sets make it so easy to accidentally transmit a DSC Distress Alert Acknowledgement. Nevertheless, certified radio operators SHOULD all know that the Acknowledge signal should always be transmitted by the Coast Guard shore station. You only transmit it yourself if you are the vessel performing the rescue, the rescue is complete, and you are not in range of the shore station.
If they were to eliminate the “Any ship can acknowledge” functionality, then every incident outside of GMDSS Sea Area A1 would leave a continually-transmitting VHF-DSC Distress signal going until the source runs out of power, is manually shut down from on board, or sinks. Hence, the mechanism by which the responding ship can terminate the call after rescue.
Just returned from the 2024 ARC. En route, we were all shocked to learn of the loss of a crew member from one of the racers, presumably well equipped and skippered and with experienced crew. Per ARC rules, the MOB was (we understand) wearing an MFD with MOB1 installed (these are physically inspected by the ARC organizers prior to the start). Unknown whether he was using his tether.
The MOB occurred at night, and a search was initiated immediately. Nonetheless, the MOB was never located, and the search abandoned after 19 hours.
I don’t know why the AIS/DSC functions of the MOB1 failed to locate the MOB in this instance. It did, however, recall to me your review of the PLB3. In those warmer, southern waters, perhaps the added 406 mhz functionality would have saved him? We may never know. But after the incident our SOP was a PLB1 in a zipped pocket whenever on deck at night (we had a couple aboard which we shared). Neither this nor the PLB3 is a perfect solution, but I will certainly add one or the other to my kit going forward.
(Submitted by Cecil North)
Hi Nan,
I agree, that tragedy should inspire a rethink for all of us.
The problem is that we really don’t know what happened and maybe never will, and to make that worse there are so many possible points of failure here: defective beacon, lifejacket did not inflate, poor antenna of the searching boat, and on it goes.
The biggest question I have is did the AIS alarm on the boat go off within 15 seconds of the crew hitting the water. With the answer to that question we can surmise a lot more.
As to carrying a PLB1, as you do, I assume that is in admission to a MOB1? If so, it seems like a good belt and suspenders solution. I prefer this to a PLB3 because with the two unit solution we keep DSC alarms.
I’m also doubtful about whether a boat being vectored in to a GPS position by the RCC, say over starlink or satphone, would actually get close enough to see the COB in those conditions given time delays in the process and coms? I don’t know.
So to me the biggest take away from this tragedy is that if we go overboard offshore in those kinds of conditions (30 knots, big seas) recovery is a pretty unlikely regardless of the kit we are carrying, and that goes triple if we are short handed.
All that said, I will think on any changes I should make to my review. Maybe just say that carrying a PLB1, as you do, in a pocket can’t hurt, and might help. I already say that, but I limited it to single handers: https://www.morganscloud.com/2024/01/03/review-of-ocean-signal-plb3-against-mob1/
Yes, we pair PLB1 with MOB1 (which we plan to update to MOB2 when available in the US). Will reconsider PLB3 in the future if they ever (I assume they will) add DSC and NFC capabilities, but two separate units eliminates some failure modes. So, we will see. Conditions and considerations for our home waters (Lake Superior) are, of course, quite different from the ARC.
(Submitted by Cecil North)
Hi Nan,
Good to hear. I think that’s the best bet, in many, maybe most cases.
Curious based on the collective experience here, how long does the FCC approval take for devices like MOB2? We start a passage from the EU in June headed to the US. PLB etc are on my list.
Hi Stewart,
I had a chat about just this with my contact at Spinlock USA and I’m afraid the news is not great for US use. His guess is that Ocean Signal won’t bother to go through the agro of FCC approval, or at least not soon, since the MOB1 complies in the USA. In other words the MOB2 was really developed for the European market where there are new regs that make the MOB1 non-compliant.
That said, would probably be worth sending Ocean Signal an email and see what they say.
Thanks John. Ocean Signals response was “their working on it but no timing” and if I buy in the EU it will work in the US once approved (although I know it will work just not allowed beforehand)
Hi Stewart,
Thanks for the report. Hopefully, sooner rather than later although I won’t be holding my breath!