So as I watched the weather last few days a thought crossed my mind a few times, “ I hope I don’t hear from the bay constable that Aloki broke loose .” Speedy action ,if you break loose , is probably important to limit damage if she goes up on the beach.
As as I ordered two new air tags to replaced old /damaged ones I thought , why not leave one aboard? In addition , the location of that stolen Bermuda 40 ( later found in Newport RI) by an observant Harbor Master might have been found sooner with an air tag aboard .
My ( limited) understanding of how air tags work is that they use Bluetooth Low Energy to broadcast location to any device able to relay it. ( millions of devices )
If/when it reaches a device with connectivity the device sends it into the net. Boats on a mooring would need a operating cell phone aboard or within 10-30 meters.
With low orbit satellites about to enter the fray, we may not be far from affordable connectivity for things like this. Fingers crossed.
Rob
You must’ve watched the launching of 23 low orbit satellites from Space X to add to the band width. Bandwidth equals cheaper communications. I was enthralled by the whole video. An amazing accomplishment.
Brian
Was thinking a bit more about air tags… I doubt they store enough energy to run GPS hardware… I’ll bet they rely on the relay device (celll phone) to provide location.
I hope someone in the group knows more about air tags and will correct my guesses if I’m wrong.
Sail on,
Rob
Rendezvous
(Lloyd Herman; Rendezvous, 30U/424; Port Washington, NY)
6
We bought five Galaxy Smart Tags for our luggage for a trip we took this summer and now have repurposed them to our cars, my bike, and our Nonsuch and its dink. When we travel, I will pull them out of the cars/boats and put them back in the luggage. The one for the bike is hopefully going inside the frame this week - not easily pulled back out. The one for the Nonsuch is going in today and then I will call my wife to see if she can locate the boat. The dink is getting hauled soon and I will wait on that until next spring.
As with Airtags, they are worthless unless a compatible phone is nearby and in the proper configuration to receive the signal that the tag broadcasts. How close is nearby - Wikipedia says 30 m for Airtag, 120 m for the Smart Tag. Not sure why such a big difference.
Also - if there is no cell service (which was the case for most of our trip to Alaska), the tag is worthless. If somone steals the boat and heads offshore, beyond cell range . . .
