UNH Research Vessel AIS Message Testing — MotionInfo / StationKeeper

Summary

MotionInfo, in coordination with the UNH Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping (CCOM) and UNH marine operations, conducted a live test of the StationKeeper AIS messaging system by transmitting test safety messages from the company's AIS transmit equipment at the Portsmouth Lighthouse to UNH research vessels and documenting how the messages appeared on the vessels' navigation displays.

The purpose was to confirm real-world reception and to document, with photos and video, how an AIS application-specific / safety message renders on the chart plotters and AIS units actually installed on working research vessels. The work supports MotionInfo's NOAA project to message mariners in real time to reduce North Atlantic right whale vessel strikes.

Vessels with media captured (Gulf Challenger, Tego)

4×

Test messages transmitted (one per minute)

✓

Reception confirmed on-vessel by UNH

Jul 10, 2026

Live documented test date

Test Result

On the morning of July 10, 2026, MotionInfo transmitted test messages from the Portsmouth Lighthouse. Juliet Kinney (UNH CCOM) was dockside and Franny Lux (UNH marine operations) was aboard with the vessel navigation displays powered on. The transmit pattern was one message per minute, repeated four times. UNH confirmed reception and captured photo/video of the messages as they appeared on the vessels' displays.

"It went through, we got video and pictures."

— Franny Lux (UNH), by text message, July 10, 2026, 08:10 EDT

"The two Garmin pictures/videos there are from the Tego." … "have video from Gulf Challenger RosePoint Navigation Coastal Explorer system."

— Franny Lux (UNH), identifying the captured media, July 10, 2026

The captured photo of the Tego's Garmin plotter confirms the transmitted content rendered on-vessel as a native AIS Safety Message reading "RIGHT WHALE … SLOW ZONE <10KTS RECOMMENDED" (From MMSI …93660511), with the vessel at N 43°04.324′ W070°42.712′ in Portsmouth Harbor and the UNH fleet visible as AIS targets on the chart. See the Media section below.

Per-vessel results

Vessel	Nav / AIS equipment	Message received	Media captured
R/V Gulf Challenger	RosePoint Coastal Explorer navigation software	Confirmed	Video
Tego	Garmin plotter · Si-Tex MDA-1 Metadata Class B AIS transceiver · RosePoint Coastal Explorer	Confirmed	Photo + video
R/V Gulf Surveyor	(To be coordinated via vessel captain)	Not documented this round	—

Media — Displays Showing the Received Message

Captured on-vessel by UNH (Franny Lux), July 10, 2026, on the vessels' own navigation equipment.

🔊 Turn your audio up — the Tego video below has sound; you can hear the vessel's audible AIS alarm as the safety message arrives.

Tego — Garmin chart plotter (video)🔊 Turn your volume up — the video includes the vessel's audible AIS alarm sounding as the message arrives. Video of the message on the Tego's Garmin unit — GPS N 43°04.323′ W070°42.710′, heading 359°M, Portsmouth Harbor, with the UNH fleet shown as AIS targets. Video, ~14 s.

R/V Gulf Challenger — RosePoint Coastal ExplorerThe received AIS Safety Message banner across the RosePoint Coastal Explorer display (on a Dell monitor, Furuno WX station alongside): "AIS Safety Message: RIGHT WHALE SLOW ZONE <10KTS RECOMMENDED." Video, ~13 s.

Tego Garmin chart plotter showing received AIS Safety Message: RIGHT WHALE SLOW ZONE <10KTS RECOMMENDED

Tego — Garmin chart plotterThe received AIS Safety Message as rendered on the Tego's Garmin display: "RIGHT WHALE … SLOW ZONE <10KTS RECOMMENDED", From MMSI …93660511. GPS position N 43°04.324′ W070°42.712′ (Portsmouth Harbor, off New Castle Island); UNH fleet AIS targets (R/V Gulf Challenger, Gulf Surveyor) visible on chart. Full resolution →

A.W.A.R.E. Dashboard cover — SMAs, Stations & Sightings map

A.W.A.R.E. Dashboard (context)Program-wide summary of vessel messages sent, acknowledgements received, and station/permit status shared with UNH. Open PDF →

All three captures render the transmitted message natively — as an AIS Safety Message on the Tego's Garmin plotter and as an AIS Safety Message banner on the Gulf Challenger's RosePoint Coastal Explorer — confirming end-to-end delivery of the right-whale slow-zone alert from the Portsmouth Lighthouse station to the UNH vessels.

How It Happened — Timeline

May 8, 2026
MotionInfo → Franny Lux & Nate Rennels (UNH)
Initial request: MotionInfo maintains AIS transmit equipment at the Portsmouth Lighthouse and asks to send test messages to the R/V Gulf Challenger, R/V Gulf Surveyor, and Tego, requesting chart-plotter screenshots. Shared the NOAA feature story and StationKeeper program links.
May 8, 2026
Franny Lux (UNH) → MotionInfo
UNH agrees to provide photos of the Challenger and Tego; loops in the Surveyor's captain for that vessel.
May 12, 2026
MotionInfo → UNH
Proposes a formal documented test — messages photographed/filmed on the plotters both at the dock and at maximum offshore range — and requests AIS/chart-plotter make and model.
Jul 6–9, 2026
Juliet Kinney (CCOM) ↔ Franny Lux ↔ MotionInfo
Juliet re-engages to observe a live push to the Tego; scheduling converges on an early-morning dock test. Franny confirms the Tego will be available; MotionInfo confirms it can transmit from the lighthouse.
Jul 10, 2026 — ~08:00
On-vessel test
Juliet dockside; Franny aboard with displays on. MotionInfo transmits from the lighthouse — one message per minute, four times. Franny confirms: "It went through, we got video and pictures." Media captured for the Gulf Challenger (RosePoint) and Tego (Garmin).
Jul 13–14, 2026
Follow-up
Juliet requests vessel specs / suggests an AIS-and-nav-software inventory of the UNH fleet. Captain Dan reports the Tego runs a Si-Tex MDA-1 Metadata Class B AIS transceiver with RosePoint Coastal Explorer.

Vessels & Equipment

Vessel	Operator	AIS transceiver	Nav software / plotter
Tego	UNH	Si-Tex MDA-1 Metadata Class B AIS	Garmin plotter; RosePoint Coastal Explorer
R/V Gulf Challenger	UNH	—	RosePoint Coastal Explorer
R/V Gulf Surveyor	UNH	— (via captain)	—

Transmit site: MotionInfo AIS equipment at the Portsmouth / Fort Point Lighthouse, Portsmouth Harbor, NH.

Participants

Juliet Kinney, Ph.D.	Multibeam Mapping & Data Research Analyst, UNH CCOM/JHC — coordinated the observation, dockside on test day
Franny Lux	UNH marine operations — aboard the vessel, captured the photo/video
Nate Rennels	UNH — initial coordination
Capt. Dan	UNH — provided Tego AIS/nav equipment details
Moses Calouro	Maritime Information Systems, Inc. / MotionInfo — transmitted the test messages

References

NOAA Fisheries — Messaging Mariners in Real Time to Reduce North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strikes →
MotionInfo — StationKeeper program →
A.W.A.R.E. Dashboard (program-wide message & acknowledgement data, PDF) →