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There is a zone from just east of Round Island Passage in the Straits westward almost to Boulder Reef in northern Lake Michigan were boatnerd.ais does not cover.
Living in Mackinac City I would be interested in helping out if its a matter of providing a spot to receive and pass on the signals.

Wow as that’s all neat and interesting stuff there both Roger along with Mr. Link. I think I’ll save my money and invest it wisely then on a few other more important things than Marine Traffic and their website stuff. Like money for grocery items, gas and everyday living stuff not to say or mention too if you will if there’s enough leftover at least some copies of Roger’s Know Your Ships book. Geez with those prices I’m amazed how any of us enthusiasts can afford them? Thank goodness we all have and can count on boatnerd and it’s countless group of many volunteers and contributors. I can get more AIS stuff and boat information here thanks to boatnerd than anything Marine Traffic offers plus here, it’s free too!

At one point, about 10 years ago, Google was developing their own service to track ships via AIS signals received via satellite. They actually started sharing some data with certain nations to track rogue fishing vessels (provided they were transmitting AIS of course). Rumors were that Google would eventually offer their satellite-obtained data for free to everyone. Alas that hasn't happened yet. So, like RogerKYS said, you can spend $54.00 per month( plus VAT) to track one single ship via satellite on Marine Traffic, or upgrade to their Professional Pro service and track 10 ships via satellite for only $109.00 per month. And you can't switch ships once you select them. Such a paid service makes financial sense for ship owners and those in the shipping business, but not for most hobbyists.

[quote="bumblebee"]The Queen Mary 2 departed Southampton, UK recently for New York as her destination. A day or so out of Southampton the AIS for the QM2 indicated “out of range”. With all the satellite technology how can a huge ship like the QM2 be “out of range” on the AIS? Thanks.[/quote]

Yep. As Roger said, QM2 is not really out of range for anyone who has access to an AIS satellite data network. Said data is not typically made available to free or low-fee users of various public AIS display platforms.

It should also be made clear that out there on the ocean, other ships can undoubtedly see QM2 on their bridge displays, either because they're close enough to pick up her radio-based transponder signal, or because their professional-grade bridge equipment is able to access satellite data. So she's not 'out of range' where it really matters with respect to any nearby/traffic-relevant vessels either.

Are you using Marine Traffic? If you you need to spend a crazy amount of money to get the satellite data. SO when they say she is out of range I think they mean out of range of shore receivers.

The Queen Mary 2 departed Southampton, UK recently for New York as her destination. A day or so out of Southampton the AIS for the QM2 indicated “out of range”. With all the satellite technology how can a huge ship like the QM2 be “out of range” on the AIS? Thanks.