ACR Electronics LINK2AIS User Manual Rev D

CAUTION: Before proceeding to install, test or use your new ACR Electronics product, please read this

Product Support Manual in its entirety.
If you have questions regarding the contents of the manual, please contact our Technical Service Department at

ACR Electronics, Inc., Telephone [phone]. Please be ready to provide the technician with the page
number you wish to discuss. If you have a question that is not covered in the manual, please visit our website and
access the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section for further information or call our Technical Service
Department. The website address is www.acrelectronics.com. If in the future you lose this manual, you may access
and print a replacement on the ACR website.

In the United States

input an MMSI that has not been properly assigned to the end user, or to otherwise input any inaccurate data in this
device.

WARNING:

It is a violation of the rules of the Federal Communications Commission to

WARNING: This product is a supplemental navigation tool only! The user assumes all responsibility associated with

the use of this device and safe navigation.
It is important to understand that all vessels may not be equipped with AIS transponders and therefore are not visible to

this transponder. Likewise, certain conditions, such as equipment failures, the environment, improper use and crowded
port scenarios, may exist whereby the vessel equipped with this AIS transponder is not visible to other AIS transponders.

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PLEASE READ ALL WARNINGS,

CAUTIONS AND NOTES CAREFULLY

Table of Contents

SECTION 1 - INSTALLATION _________________________________________________ 4
SECTION 2 - STARTING THE LINK2AIS™ SOFTWARE ___________________________ 4
SECTION 3 - MAIN WINDOW _________________________________________________ 5
SECTION 4 - MENU STRUCTURE _____________________________________________ 5
SECTION 5 - STATUS BAR _________________________________________________ 23

APPENDIX A - TROUBLESHOOTING __________________________________________ 25
APPENDIX B - SUPPORT, WARRANTY, USEFUL LIFE and NOTICES _______________ 26

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SECTION 1 - INSTALLATION

For detailed instructions on how to install the Link2AIS™ software, please refer to the product support manual provided

with this product.

SECTION 2 - STARTING THE LINK2AIS™ SOFTWARE

When starting the program, it welcomes you and asks for a connection (see also “Connect / Disconnect”).
Select one of the already defined connections in the drop-down list or define a new connection by clicking the “New…”

button as described in “Creating a New Connection”, page 21. When the selection has been made, press “Connect” to
start the program.

When you click “Abort Program” or have chosen a connection not available, the program will not be able to communicate
with the device. The following message appears to warn you about this state:

NOTE: The device requires static data to be entered. When connecting to a new AIS device, the static data is most likely
not defined. The program automatically enters the page to define the static ship data. However, the page can be selected
at any time.

In the United States

input an MMSI that has not been properly assigned to the end user, or to otherwise input any inaccurate data in this
device.

Once connected, you can choose any of the pages selectable from the menus.
Many settings will be stored on your PC. When you start the program again, most appearances will be the same as when

you last used the program.

WARNING:

It is a violation of the rules of the Federal Communications Commission to

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By pressing the button "Clear all settings", all settings regarding this program will be removed from your PC and the
program stops execution. This function is useful when you want to completely remove the program from your computer. It
is not necessary to remove the settings when you merely want to update the program. The software is capable of
interpreting the settings as stored by the previous version.

After pressing the button to remove the settings, the program will inform you that this has been done:

Many controls have “Tool Tips” attached to them. For information about a button or setting, let the cursor hover on an item
and wait until a short description for this item pops up. You can easily test this in the status bar.

SECTION 3 - MAIN WINDOW

The main window will hold all views and dialogs of the program. There are some additional controls and indicators to
simplify operating this program.

In the title bar there is the control menu on the far left, the title of the program and the state buttons on the far right where
the program area can be maximized, minimized or the program terminated.

Just below the title bar there is the menu bar that will be described in the section “Menu Structure”.
On the bottom there is the status bar with miscellaneous information of the program and your transponder. The status bar

will be described in the section “Status Bar”.

SECTION 4 - MENU STRUCTURE

The menu is organized hierarchically. Almost all of the functions open a window. The position, size and state (e.g.
maximized) of the windows will be stored on your PC. When you re-open one of the windows it will appear in the same
position, size and state as when you last used this window.

Note that the menu has two states: the normal user state and the expert state. The expert state should only be used when
special functionality contained in the menu “Maintenance” is required. The standard menu looks like this:

When the expert mode has been selected, it looks like this:

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The items in the menu bar appear shaded when the functions are not available, for instance when no connection to the
AIS device is presently active.

The functions are as follows:

1. AIS Operation

This menu contains all common user functions. Included are functions to define or view your own ship‟s status and data,
to view other ships, and to control the VHF transceiver.

Radar View

This menu item shows other transmitting targets (AIS devices on other ships, base stations etc.) graphically.
You can zoom in (shortcut: Ctrl+I) and zoom out (shortcut: Ctrl+O) as required.
The title bar shows the zoom factor (distance between two adjacent rings) in square brackets and the orientation mode.
The zoom factor and the orientation are stored on your PC.

Each target is identified with the ship‟s name if it is known. When the name is empty or is „?‟ in the

ship list, the MMSI is shown instead.
You can select a target by clicking on it. A text field with the ship‟s relevant data will pop up. When

there are multiple targets overlaying each other, click again until the required data are shown. Note
that a selected ship will also be marked as selected in the “Ship List” (shown later in this section).
To make this text field disappear, click anywhere but on a ship. The example shows a moving ship
with its text field.

The different targets have different symbols assigned:

a ship standing still

a moving ship

a ship shown as lost target (see below)

an aircraft (SAR)

a (stationary ) base station

a (stationary ) navigational aid (AtoN)

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The symbols are shown in magenta color when selected. Ships are drawn with a bold line when defined as buddy (see
later in this manual).

NOTE: When the transponder has not received a message for 360 seconds (6 minutes) from one of the targets it is
marked as “lost target” (strike out in the radar view). After 10 minutes it will disappear from both the radar view and the
ship list.

The information for each individual target may take some time to appear (up to several minutes).
The radar view shows the targets as “viewed from top”. You can show the radar view as either “North Up” (shortcut:

Ctrl+N) or “Course Up” (shortcut: Ctrl+C). The default display mode is “North Up” as shown in the picture, where north,
(0°), is always on top.

The selected target will be colored magenta on a semi-transparent gray box. Buddies are shown in black, but with thick
lines. How to define buddies will be described in the section “Buddy”.

Link2AIS™ radar view shows a low resolution world map with coastal outlines when the vessel is within 50 miles of the
coast. This information is for reference only and does not include enough detail to navigate by.

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Ship List

When “Course Up” is selected, your vessel
always points up and the north direction is
rotated as required. Your current Course­over-Ground is shown by the arrow centered
at the top of the screen.

This window shows information received from other AIS-equipped targets in the area (ships, base stations etc.).

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