Advansea AIS

ctva

ctva

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At the moment I am considering getting an AIS receiver. One of the units that I'm looking at is the AdvanSea AIS RX-100 Receiver to pair up with my SH 300 plotter. However there appears to be very little in the way of reviews or user coments on this receiver and as far as I can see PBO and YM have not reviewed it.

Has anyone got any experience of this unit or links to user reviews?



http://www.yachtmailchandlery.com/advansea-ais-rx-100-receiver/

Many thanks
 
We used the advansea 200 unit coming back from US this year .Everybody saw us and except for one ship who probably wasn't awake at 2 in the morning.
We called him up and asked his intentions,and some annoyed bod offered a course and speed that seemed unlikely,so we turned away until he got well past us.:confused:
It was very nice knowing we were visual to them some 10 miles away and we usually knew what they were doing.
It's a neat unit and easy to fit ,combo ariel a good idea too.
Cindy
 
I have an Advansea RX unit connected up to my CP180 and very pleased with it, used in earnest twice this year although did give a couple of close calls, but more AIS rather than the unit. Used it with an emergency antenna in the rigging and worked fine. Have just permenatly wired it in and was recieving signals for two ships in the harbour with no antenna attached. Seems good value to me and happy to recommend as a RX unit. Should say have only use the NMEA connections and have not tried the UBS connection yet.
 
Price and USB output are certainly the good points.

What I cannot tell from the technical details if the unit is dual, simultaneous channel reception - I suspect it would be clearly mentioned if it was.

Many cheap units have both VHF channels but alternate between them, which means that up to 12 minutes can elapse before the static data sentence is received if one is missed when switching between them. No big deal but the static data contains the ship's name, which is nice to have if you ever have to call up the big ship coming straight at you.

However, the higher repetitive dynamic data does contain the MMSI so that with a DSC radio connected to your AIS engine you can call direct.
 
Barnac1e said:
Price and USB output are certainly the good points.

What I cannot tell from the technical details if the unit is dual, simultaneous channel reception - I suspect it would be clearly mentioned if it was.

Many cheap units have both VHF channels but alternate between them, which means that up to 12 minutes can elapse before the static data sentence is received if one is missed when switching between them. No big deal but the static data contains the ship's name, which is nice to have if you ever have to call up the big ship coming straight at you.

However, the higher repetitive dynamic data does contain the MMSI so that with a DSC radio connected to your AIS engine you can call direct.
Click to expand...

Must say I saw 'dual' as simultaneous but clearly I had my 'this seems a bargin' goggles on. I will look in the box next time I amm down the boat.

Would this difference in operation account for monitoring a ship on AIS then deciding it was close enough (I think CPA was saying 0.3Nm) to put the radar on to find a sharp 90 degree turn required and the ship coming out of the fog close down our port side? Or am I just learning about the system? We where sailingand I do not run the radar permantly when sailing my analysis of the situation was that I need to use the AIS to pick ships up further away and switch on the radar if things are less than 1/2 to 1/3 mile?
 
ctva said:
At the moment I am considering getting an AIS receiver. One of the units that I'm looking at is the AdvanSea AIS RX-100 Receiver to pair up with my SH 300 plotter. However there appears to be very little in the way of reviews or user coments on this receiver and as far as I can see PBO and YM have not reviewed it.

Has anyone got any experience of this unit or links to user reviews?



http://www.yachtmailchandlery.com/advansea-ais-rx-100-receiver/

Many thanks
Click to expand...

I bought one of these a few months ago and whilst it's not been used "in anger" yet it does exactly what it says on the tin. It's hooked up via NMEA to my plotter and provides all the basic contact info and CPA, TCPA etc. though none of the detailed stuff (destination, cargo etc). I'm not sure whether that omission is my cheap plotter or the AdvanSea. Either way I don't care, it does what I want and at a silly price too!

Edit: It does take several minutes before the ship's name comes up, that's true but the key info of CPA, TCPA and MMSI number come up straight away. If I needed to call a ship I'd use MMSI if the name wasn't up yet.
Tony C.
 
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I also have fitted the RX100 and have it wired into My C120 plotter and its also great to connect to my laptop when messing about below I have wired my GPS through the rx100 so I automatically get the GPS signal on the plotter as well. Incidentally I have the Belfield plotter which comes with full tidal data and USB GPS for under £100. Which DSC radio do you use to be able to connect the AIS to and be able to transmit to a MMSI number without having to input the MMSI manually, this sounds wonderful I have tried an several occasions to input a MMSI number when crossing from Guernsey to Salcombe and by the time I have messed around turning knobs and pressing buttons the need to call is over. I would love to have a VHF that would connect to the AIS and transmit to that MMSI with only one button press.
Mike.
 
stav said:
Must say I saw 'dual' as simultaneous but clearly I had my 'this seems a bargin' goggles on. I will look in the box next time I amm down the boat.

Would this difference in operation account for monitoring a ship on AIS then deciding it was close enough (I think CPA was saying 0.3Nm) to put the radar on to find a sharp 90 degree turn required and the ship coming out of the fog close down our port side? Or am I just learning about the system? We where sailingand I do not run the radar permantly when sailing my analysis of the situation was that I need to use the AIS to pick ships up further away and switch on the radar if things are less than 1/2 to 1/3 mile?
Click to expand...
I have had an AIS receiver installed for many years - since before simultaneous channel units were available at any reasonable cost. If I was replacing then I would pay the extra but I have had such good results from my cheapo Taiwan unit that the very minor improvement isn't worth updating for, in my opinion.

I posted an example here where I found the data invaluable. You can see that in the first target the ship's name is missing but all important data is there, CPA, TCPA etc. The following ship has been monitored long enough for all static data to be gathered.

I had enough information to know not to try to cross the bows of the first but could do so with the second, Star Lady.
 
At the risk of thread drift, I would interject to suggest that if you intend using your AIS on the West Coast of Scotland you may be in for a bit of disappointment. I have recently taken to amusing myself in idle moments monitoring the traffic movements in this area on the 'Live Ships' website. The ferries are clear and up to date but they travel on scheduled routes anyway but there is not much else. I can usually follow the Red Duchess as she goes back and forward from here to Youghal or Cork with timber but the Baroness has just left in the last hour and she has not bothered to switch her AIS on, this is not unusual we can only find her about half the time, when we do the data can be an hour old. Very few of the fishing boats transmit either except those big French ones out of Loch Inver. Around Shetland there are boat tacks everywhere similar to the south coast but I suspect with the very limited traffic around here a lot of ships other than those being monitored by Stornaway CG. in the Minch ever switch it on.
If you are going to the Northern Isles or Norway it may be a help but round this side you could find your screen blank a lot of the time.
The fishermen must find it very handy that the fishery protection vessel keeps hers on all the time, not much chance of them surprising anyone, she is just off Carradale this afternoon.
Correction, The Red Baroness is now displaying position course and speed, I had forgotten there were MCA bods. on here, mind you the data is 23 mins. old. so not a lot of help if you were trying to avoid her.
 
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Many thanks to everyone for taking the time for the info. Sounds like it is a great wee unit for the price. I'll need to check out the situation regarding the duel / simultanious operation.

Quandry, I agree with everything you say, as there is very little traffic of interest around our area. However after working down my list of 'items to get for the boat', AIS has come up to the top (barring other things not breaking) and it is like most other electronic gadgets, an additional safety item mainly for use when we go north in bad / foggy weather, otherwise it is just a toy for interest to see where the big ships are going and what they are called.
 
Another vote for the Advansea.

There was another thread on it recently, which might be worth browsing.

It's a definite plus that it offers both NMEA and USB output: mine's wired directly to the chartplotter and a back-up laptop. It happily drives both.

My chartplotter (Lowrance HDS-7) couldn't make sense of the AIS input until a 5 microfarad capacitor was wired in series in the AIS output feed. This is a known issue with some recent plotters and not confined to Lowrance, although I've no idea if it afflicts any SH kit.
 
ctva said:
At the moment I am considering getting an AIS receiver. One of the units that I'm looking at is the AdvanSea AIS RX-100 Receiver Many thanks
Click to expand...


Excuse me for asking such maybe a daft question to an interesting post with a good vote for the RX-100 Reciever.
I have a old (2007) Navstar 550 plotter that also has a NMEA0183 connection, I also see the AdvanSea AIS RX-100 Receiver also has an output NMEA0183 connection.

My question is does the plotter have to be AIS compatible in the first place or would this connection alone let the AIS from the Advansea reciever show on the plotter.

Or do I need a new AIS compatible plotter which would be a shame as the Navstar 550 has worked faultless from the day I installed it.

Mike
 
Barnac1e said:
...What I cannot tell from the technical details if the unit is dual, simultaneous channel reception - I suspect it would be clearly mentioned if it was...
Click to expand...

Reply from Navimo Tech Support today stating that

"The unit operates on 2 channels simultaneously there is no intervention required."
 
ctva said:
Reply from Navimo Tech Support today stating that
"The unit operates on 2 channels simultaneously there is no intervention required."
Click to expand...

Not sure what "there is no intervention required" implies but they should include the attribute of simultaneous operation in the publicised specification - it is too important to hide under a bushel. I would expect it will blow the previously highly popular and inexpensive Nasa unit out of the water based on that and USB output. Competition is indeed wonderful.
 
In answer to the query from Pagetslady regarding direct DSC calling from the AIS; I spoke to both Garmin and Icom at SIBS and both said you can only use this function if the AIS and the DSC Radio are from them. Thus you need a Garmin radio if you have a Garmin AIS unit and an Icom radio if you have an Icom AIS. I did not check any other manufacturers, but suspect the answer would be the same.
 
Barnac1e said:
Not sure what "there is no intervention required" implies but they should include the attribute of simultaneous operation in the publicised specification - it is too important to hide under a bushel. I would expect it will blow the previously highly popular and inexpensive Nasa unit out of the water based on that and USB output. Competition is indeed wonderful.
Click to expand...

In the user manual it simply says: Dual channel reciever: Fixed frequency reception at 161.975MHz and 162.025MHz.

Does make you wonder if they have been allowed the processors on the basis of selling a cost effective unit without excessive advertising? Or am I just synical?
 
stav said:
In the user manual it simply says: Dual channel reciever: Fixed frequency reception at 161.975MHz and 162.025MHz.
Does make you wonder if they have been allowed the processors on the basis of selling a cost effective unit without excessive advertising? Or am I just synical?
Click to expand...
Normally manufacturers emphasise the simultaneous reception (if they genuinely have it) because other dual channel systems are only single channel at any one time, alternating between the two frequencies. It makes the unit cheaper because only one receiver circuit is used. Even the latest Nasa Engine 3 uses that simpler technology - from their web site:
"The unit can receive ships on either the A or B AIS channels. In default setting it alternates between the two channels."​
 And:
"If your PC does not have a spare 9 pin serial port a low cost serial to USB converter is available as an optional extra."​

But now there are many new products, such as this Advansea unit, for a similar price with genuine parallel, dual-channel reception and a USB and NMEA output.

Another is the Euronav AIS-2-USB, (although twice the price), which makes a clear statement about dual channel reception so that it is not confused with single channel systems:
"The AIS-2-USB Receiver is a true Dual Channel (Parallel) AIS Receiver. It has two AIS receivers monitoring both AIS channels at the same time and decoding both channels simultaneously . Unlike some other AIS receivers that claim to be dual channel, the AIS-2-USB is a true parallel AIS receiver, ensuring that you receive the most up to date positions and information of all vessels around you."​
 
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Hello, I have a question regarding the TR-200 AIS. I have lost the cd with the ProAIS software. Is it possible to get a copy on cd from you? I will gladly pay any costs for cd and packing and postal costs!!

Thanks!
Max
 
Just to confirm that the Advansea RX-100 definately does contain a true dual channel receiver - I have had one apart.....

For those who are interested in such things, dual channel operation is achieved witha single (crystal multiplier) first LO and then two custom first IF filters, seperated in frequency by 50KHz. Custom second conversion crystals then bring both channels to a standard second IF frequency where they are demodulated by seperate FM demodulators and decoded using Microchip dsPIC. A well though out design geared up for low cost high volume manufacture, with every chance of performing well. As an RF engineer by trade, I was quite impressed.

The PCB inside the Advansea unit is supplied by SRT (www.srt-marine.com) and is I beleive common to AIS receive solutions badged by a number of suppliers.

Regards,

Rob
 
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