MoodySabre
Well-known member
Thinking about one of these RadrGadgets to plug into net book with Imray Digital charts. Wondered if they were any good.
AIS dongle - anybody tried one?
- Thread starter MoodySabre
- Start date
iainbluk
Member
They look pretty good, I look forward to hearing how well they work.
maxi77
Active member
Seems a good idea but their euro postage is extortionate. £20 extra to post to the EU must be at least 10 times the real cost, pretty poor when they say free P&P.
Do these people really think we are that stupid?
bluedragon
Active member
Think you misread the ad. It's 120EU not £.
maxi77
Active member
Thanks for pointing that out, but it is still quite a premium for Euro delivery at current exchange rates. It would still be cheaper for me to pay in sterling have it sent to the house and then posted on to me.
Philthy
New member
I'm interested in one of these.
Just wondering what might be the bet way of feeding it?
Split the masthead antenna feed, or get another aerial on the pushpit.
A second aerial would be a bonus if the masthead got broken for some reason?
Just wondering what might be the bet way of feeding it?
Split the masthead antenna feed, or get another aerial on the pushpit.
A second aerial would be a bonus if the masthead got broken for some reason?
Madhatter
New member
99.00 British Pounds = 111.04 Euros
bluedragon
Active member
C'mon guys get real! Businesses set exchange rates on an expected average basis for the the year or other period, and not that long ago the rate was much closer to 120EU/£. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. You can't expect a pricing policy to be updated every day / week. You really are nit-picking here. And BTW go and try to get the money market rates for any such transaction. End of rant.
Madhatter
New member
Wandering Star
Well-known member
This looks really interesting. Would anyone with a better understanding than me, be able to tell me whether this thing would work with the Tsunamis 99 software which I have on my Dell netbook? I'm sailing Florida to UK week after next and this would be be very helpful if it was compatible.
I have emailed the supplier to ask them, but thought I might get a quicker response from forumites!
Cheers, Brian.
I have emailed the supplier to ask them, but thought I might get a quicker response from forumites!
Cheers, Brian.
Colvic Watson
Well-known member
I recommend the pushpit. We used that on our last AIS setup and it had no trouble 'seeing' 8 or 9 miles away. In the event of a mast failure or much more likely a cable failure to the masthead ariel it gives you a spare VHF ariel. I don't understand the economics of a VHF splitter, more expensive than an extra VHF whip but I guess it saves routing a new one.
Philthy
New member
Can you set the AIS port in the settings tab of Tsunamis 99 software ie com 1 com 2 com 3etc?
If so, I'd say yes.
It appears to spit out AIS data at the usual rates, so can't see it having a baud rate problem ?
Edit to add:
@Black kipper
I do like the idea of having a spare aerial. Eight or nine miles range for AIS "should" be enough ?
Last edited:
maxi77
Active member
As at the moment I am converting a hard earned sterling pension into euros I keep a close eye on the rate and over the last 12 months it has only flashed up to 1.20 for a few days twice. Equally I have to work hard to make my cash stretch as far as possible. So yes I look at just how much things are costing me and do not take that kindly to companies taking the easy way on setting exchange rates so they never lose, but the punter usually does.
They make their choice, I make mine just as we are all entitled to do.
I am amazed just how many companies grossly overcharge for sending goods to Europe when others manage to do it at what I consider are very reasonable costs
Madhatter
New member
I must admit £9.00 is a bit heavy, and I know what you mean by surviving on a pension 
Pye_End
Well-known member
Unless they can use their Euros then they will probably need to change them back to £'s, which may well be 1.2.
A quick look at NatWest today gives 1.07 sell rate, but 1.23 sell rate.
The gadget looks interesting, and good value if it works well.
maxi77
Active member
But that is not my problem. Hence if I was interested, and yes it does look a good device, I would buy using my UK address and get it posted to me and save quite a lot. As it is there is no real need for them to take euros, those of us in Euroland can pay with plastic or paypal in almost any currency, if I buy in Euroland I pay in euros if I buy in the UK I pay in pounds.
Wandering Star
Well-known member
Thanks for this, yes, I do believe it'll work and I think I'll order one.
Cheers, Brian.
Robin
Well-known member
Tsunamis only gives a choice of ports from 1-10 I believe. I had trouble linking a GPS to it because the GPS was on 21. Easy solution is a free program called Xport which tells you which COM ports are in use and allows input data to be sent to any that are free, so you can steer it to another that Tsunamis will accept. I have my Globalsat BU-353 running simultaneuosly on 4 ports to run OpenCPN, Seaclear, Neptune C-Map Planner and Tsunamis using Xport!
Actually IMO Tsunamis is very clunky and user unfriendly, OpenCPN is free and is superb by comparison and also does AIS.
Actually IMO Tsunamis is very clunky and user unfriendly, OpenCPN is free and is superb by comparison and also does AIS.
Piddy
Active member
Tsunamis 99 does not have an AIS capability. NaviGator does but at a premium price of 200 Euros for that capability, although I understand they will do deals if purchased with chart updates.
Cheers
Cheers
tomcheney
New member
In general it is fine to split an antenna for an AIS receiver but it won't work with a transponder as you have two transmitting devices on the same antenna and they will screw each other up.
There are products available to do this though, for example: http://www.digitalyacht.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=11587