Ais connection

[Donheist]

Hallo, i'm off to SIBS next week where i might pick up an ais receiver. I'm trying to figure out what i need and whether there are ways to simplify installation.

I have a raymarine e120 screen at the helm, which repeats to a flat screen tv at the chart table. I also have the remote keyboard at the chart table. The vhf is at the chart table. There are seatalk devices easily accesible in both cabins, e.g. Auto pilot, the rf base for the remote control, other instruments.

I think i need to connect the ais to the vhf aerial, via a splitter if the ais doesn't include one?

From this info does anyone know if there is a way to get the ais signal to the plotter without taking the binnacle apart and running more cable? E.g. Can it connect to the keyboard? Or second prize, to another seatalk device?

Saving a cable run is probably worth 150 quid to me - not lazy, just don't have many boat days til my first passage when i want ais and i have enough jobs already....and i just know that accessing the back of the plotter will be a bit of a PITA.

Advice gratefully received.

Don

 

[Keith-i]

If your system is Seatalk ng (which is basically NMEA2000) then it shouldn't matter where you plug the AIS into the network. You can either buy a Raymarine adaptor or make a link cable yourself to connect an N2K AIS into the Seatalk backbone. I'm sure Raymarine will say this can't be done, but from info some months ago on panbo.com here it is quite feasible.

 

[pvb]

I think your AIS receiver would have to be connected to the NMEA input of your E120. For a definitive answer, phone Raymarine, they're very helpful.

 

[laika]

If it's seatalk ng it's easy. However that keyboard is seatalk 2. I've seen stuff about connecting seatalk 2 devices to seatalk ng, but not the other way round. I don't even know the data rate of seatalk 2. If you've got a seatalk 1 bus in the mix for analogue instruments I know your out of luck with that (data rate not high enough even if there were seatalk 1 AIS commands, which there aren't) but seatalk 2...mystery. Probably a call to raymarine with pessimistic expectations.

But if you *do* have seatalk ng / n2k bus...