Francis Vaughan
Super Anarchist
Wow. Not many bonafide antenna guys around these days.
Gain on the EPIRB is of course close to zip.
2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: The Race Committee has lodged a protest against Wild Oats XI
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- Start date
Gain on the EPIRB is of course close to zip.
Cal20sailor
Super Anarchist
I'm not an antenna guy, I was a system engineer for many synthetic aperture radar (SAR, yes unfortunate) builds. I was the guy that got blamed but luckily worked with great people who for the most part made me look good. For the old timers out there, I literally had my CIA customer on the phone asking if another million would ensure our test would go well. It was the 80s. I said not needed and we delivered in spades.
Apologies to all, a bad day and no reason to take it out here.
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Varan
Super Anarchist
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paps49
Super Anarchist
I have no idea if this story is plausible, anyone? Can a fried splitter receive but not transmit at all?
Happy new year to you Cal , no probs, we’ve all been there. I hope your day gets better.
Im going sailing to celebrate the new year in, nice easy reach off the foreshore and watch the fireworks. Temp is in the mid 20’s and 10-15 kn onshore, little cloud and a quarter moon.
I’ll be thinking of you lot as I raise a glass and welcome the new year in sailing down the moonpath.
Francis Vaughan
Super Anarchist
There were a number of things that could have happened that could have killed the AIS transmission, and yes, I can see ways this could be one of them. One point about splitters is that they give priority to the VHF transmitter, and if this mechanism goes awry, it can stop the AIS transmissions. The fact that they got a system wide reset at the time does lend credence to what he says. These sorts of failures can involve cascading weirdnesses that you only realise are possible once you rat through the entire chain and have an Ah-ha moment when the pieces fall into place. It isn't impossible that a proper reset of the splitter could have got it working. These sort of failure modes are a nightmare, and keep safety critical guys awake at night. Having your hardware glitch into an illegal state and lock up is hard to test for, and hard to know you have got right.
Overall I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on this.
He has clearly thought long and hard about the entire thing, and the explanation given has been the subject of careful thought.
The lingering questions and poor behaviour by just about everyone concerned don't go away. But I'm happy that there was no intent to cheat like this.
I hope there are a few useful lessons learnt.
One quote:
"That was when I made the comments about AIS not being mandatory under the Col Regs for ships at sea - which it isn't generally also for boats our size [or under 300 tonnes]. My comments were taken out of context, I was referring to the Col Regs, where it is clear that AIS is a voluntary navigational aid."
Yeh right. That quote is probably one of the most egregious but there are plenty of others. As one comment on the Sail-World site stated: "Will Mark Richards ever learn when to shut up."
Francis Vaughan
Super Anarchist
Exactly. He is his own worst enemy sometimes. I know people who would have reacted exactly as he did - basically with a stream of unthinking BS that says there was no fault, all delivered before the brain has found first gear.
I find it interesting how he has included a public acceptance of last year's result in his statement. Still a little barbed, but at least accepting. Maybe he is mellowing. Maybe.
Woodsies Troppo
Member
From the article..
Richards did not attend the Hearing in person. "I hate protests”
no wonder if the crap and contradictions he voiced in that interview was how he would conduct himself in a protest, the jury would have him bent over and pants around his ankles
And the hide to claim he is part of creating the great Oatley Legacy in that article is a insult to them. Get rid of him
olaf hart
Super Anarchist
olaf hart
Super Anarchist
savoir
Super Anarchist
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You are being too kind. I call BS on the whole thing.
Think about the end of the race. From when they docked ( I think it was about 8.40 am ) to when the AIS came on was roughly 40 minutes. During that time there was hugging and kissing and back slapping and champagne spraying and media interviews and free beer and stuff. Meanwhile some dedicated little gnome ignored all that and went below to fix the " fried " splitter. Suuuuure. Wouldn't any self respecting gnome get stuck in to the free grog and fix the splitter later ? The AIS came on at around 9.20 am and worked perfectly after that. It transmitted and left a track and all that stuff.
On the other hand perhaps mister Vila just flicked a switch.
Francis Vaughan
Super Anarchist
I'm not kidding about a system that has latched into an illegal internal state that is cleared by a reset. The splitter probably has a tiny PLC as a controller, and this is just the kind of thing that can happen. It shouldn't. Doesn't mean it doesn't.
We will never know, but the technical plausibility is there.
There are a whole raft of subsidiary questions, mostly of a wider nature than just this incident. Intrinsic reliability, or lack of it, in AIS is one of them. Poor behaviour of all concerned another.
paps49
Super Anarchist
I did have a giggle over this comment.
"I'm an amateur sailor. I do it because I enjoy it. The effort this year I put into this program, out of my own time is huge."
"I'm an amateur sailor. I do it because I enjoy it. The effort this year I put into this program, out of my own time is huge."
olaf hart
Super Anarchist
The best part of the start coverage was MR bitching about being wake bombed by one of his own Palm Beach monsters off the heads, saying he had to put something about boating etiquette in the Palm Beach owners manual.
A bit late, but serves him right..
A bit late, but serves him right..
Forourselves
Super Anarchist
https://www.sail-world.com/news/213456/?fbclid=IwAR1meUFPdc9fecLpwg9NWFRuzPhCPX5ZqyZJfFTzAAWUl7l3feOjQ6_xnlw
Great interview. Candid and honest. A lot of it is crap from people who are jealous of MR and all he has achieved. Does he have an ego? Hell yes he does. Is he arrogant? Maybe, but being at the top for as long as he has will do that to you. Has he earned the right to have an ego? Damn right. The guy has done something no one else has done, as has the whole Wild Oats team. That team deserves everything they have achieved. But still, the court of public opinion will continue with the fake outrage.
Great interview. Candid and honest. A lot of it is crap from people who are jealous of MR and all he has achieved. Does he have an ego? Hell yes he does. Is he arrogant? Maybe, but being at the top for as long as he has will do that to you. Has he earned the right to have an ego? Damn right. The guy has done something no one else has done, as has the whole Wild Oats team. That team deserves everything they have achieved. But still, the court of public opinion will continue with the fake outrage.
olaf hart
Super Anarchist
They are just the core requirements of any successful CEO today...frant said:
Ever worked in marketing?
I thought all powerboat manuals obliged their owners to bomb all other sailors, kayakers, rowers, kids in optis etc etc.
It’s a sign of prestige and power apparently.
Forourselves
Super Anarchist
Those who matter will respect their achievements, those that don't matter will continue screaming their crack pot tin foil hat conspiracies from the rafters attempting to diminish what is a well deserved legacy.frant said:
Moonduster
Super Anarchist
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You check the quality of AIS transmission by using ProAISII, which will give you the SWR of the AIS VHF output. It will reveal any problems on the output side of the system, whether they're splitter, cable or antenna.
ProAISII works with all SRT-based AIS systems, which I believe means every commercially available AIS transceiver built.
ProAISII works with all SRT-based AIS systems, which I believe means every commercially available AIS transceiver built.
