AIS Transponder and Wi-fi

J

joybennett

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 Jul 2007
Messages
116
Location
Somewhere away from the sea
Visit site
We’re looking to install AIS Class B on our boat and navigate using Navionics on an iPad at the helm and also down below on a second iPad. We also have a Furuno Wi-fi radar to install when we can get up the mast to do it!
We don't have a Wi-fi network on board at present.
We have seen some Digital Yacht AIS products (AIT3000 and Nomad) which mention a Wi-fi.
What would anyone recommend for us?
 
vesper xb 8000 is a transponder and built in wifi /nmea gateway.

Unlike most of the other manufactures that just buy the AIS system off the shelf (some of which their are problems with), Vesper actually produce their own.
 
joybennett said:
We’re looking to install AIS Class B on our boat and navigate using Navionics on an iPad at the helm and also down below on a second iPad. We also have a Furuno Wi-fi radar to install when we can get up the mast to do it!
We don't have a Wi-fi network on board at present.
We have seen some Digital Yacht AIS products (AIT3000 and Nomad) which mention a Wi-fi.
What would anyone recommend for us?
Click to expand...
Just be aware that, unless you start getting complex, you'll only be able to recieve either AIS (NMEA) or Radar on each device using WiFi. That's because furuno's WiFi radar is standalone as are the other solutions.
 
I am struggling to understand how helpful such a device is. But I'm sure it's me. It's a radar that you can't interface with a chart plotter (I note you want to navigate by iPad anyway). Navionics won't let you superimpose on an iPad anything you receive by wifi - so you can't overlay either your radar or your AIS picture on your electronic chart. I guess you could switch from Navionics to the far clunkier iNavX, to overlay AIS targets on a chart you can navigate by. But still no radar. So aside from the usual troubles of using iPads to navigate (power turning off, switching between apps, screen not bright enough to use in sunlight) you'll be continually flicking between the iPad's Navionics, AIS and radar screens to get your picture of the situation around you.

Is it just me, or is this a brilliant case of letting technology make navigation harder?

BTW, for the wifi convertor, unless your preferred toy comes with it at a reasonable price I would wire up something like this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BIDIRECTIONAL-NMEA-0183-TO-WIFI-MULTIPLEXER-MULTIPLEXEUR/273055846081 to combine both your AIS (which will be at a 38,400 baud data rate) and your instrument data (at 4,800 baud) to the same wifi network for just £45. But you're still left with your radar on a separate network. Even if you do some clever stuff with two routers to combine them into a single network, you're left unable to view all your nav info in the same app, and so on the same screen.
 
You don't say what you actually want the WiFi for.
Its true you cant display AIS over charts using the Navionics App, but if you use something like WilhelmSK, *and* you have the Navionics App, then you can. Wilhelm SK allows you to embed your Navionics charts in their App and display AIS (and other stuff) on top.
 
ISailor certainly lets you view AIS, and I believe radar ( I don’t have radar) on your IPad from an onboard WiFi source overlaid on a chart. I can view AIS data from my Vesper xb8000 on an iSailor chart on an old iPad.
 
Joy

You are very welcome to have a look at our set up next time you are close by.

I have just not found it necessary to have wifi transmission of AIS data from our AIS/GPS transponder (Matsutec HP33A) as it has a screen that is easily viewed in the cockpit. It is also hardwired to a mini 10" tablet/boat computer running Open CPN with both CM93 and full admiralty charts that can also connected to a TV! to give a 21" chart plotter down below. The collision avoidance display on OPEn cpn is probably the best I have seen. I could use the wifi on the computer to provide an output to a phone or tablet but just have not had the need. I might be tempted if I wanted or had a radar option.

The boat computer also happens to have full internet connectivity and stores our entire music collection which could played wirelessly to a Bose BT speaker for breaking the silence at one of our shared anchorages.
 
Thanks Steve - I guess you realise that it was us behind you on Saturday in Llandwyn? Our "new" boat has very little on it electronically so its a good place to start from - we've got a laptop with Multi-map and Antares on down below but are having issues getting it to talk to the GPS at the mo - Navionics has always worked for us in the past as a second source having has a SH GX2200 Radio and a Digital Yachts AIS transponder wired into the NMEA but this boat doesn't have any NMEA at present - WiFi radar was a relatively cheap option whereby it will link to up to 5 devices simultaneously but won't overlay on land - if we are in fog, it will warn us regarding collisions etc.
SH were meant to be bringing out an all singing all dancing radio/AIS transponder but they can't get it through licensing t the moment
 
I have an Easytrx AIS with built in wifi that works well on isailor on my ipad. Transmits AIS and the NMEA data over Wifi. Also works off a built in GPS aerial so I didnt need to fit another external GPS.
 
Joy . I have a spare serial to USB adaptor that should get any NMEA feed from GPS or AIS into your lappy from whatever source. I found the lappy route was a bit power hungry. You are welcome to have it and I think I have a bare wire 9 pin d sub connector for a trial set up. Will put them on board this weekend just in case we meet. I was wondering who it was that came over the very shallow bits to Llanddwyn direct from Belan. Why Not?
 
We looked at them all and decided on a Weatherdock Easy AIS.

It has a VHF splitter inside so it's mounted in the cabin next to the DSC VHF. Also has its own GPS so doesn't need a GPS antenna mounting. Then transmits Ais data via wifi so we see it in our phones and iPads. It also has NMEA and N2k outputs to wire to a plotter if you wish. Also an AIS SART button which does work as I accidentally pressed it once and the coastguard called us up by name within 1 minute.

Oh and a seperate wire for an audible CPA alarm which attaches to a little 12v buzzer I got from eBay. Very useful.
 
joybennett said:
We’re looking to install AIS Class B on our boat and navigate using Navionics on an iPad at the helm and also down below on a second iPad. We also have a Furuno Wi-fi radar to install when we can get up the mast to do it!
We don't have a Wi-fi network on board at present.
We have seen some Digital Yacht AIS products (AIT3000 and Nomad) which mention a Wi-fi.
What would anyone recommend for us?
Click to expand...

We have a Vespermarine 8000 AIS that shares its data over wifi and works very well.
 
Thread revival. Hope that’s ok...
Am I right in thinking that I can use either a Weatherdock Easy AIS or a Vesper AIS, and that these can use my existing masthead VHF antenna and also have internal GPS antenna? I have very little space, don’t want to cut any holes in the boat and use a tablet for nav, currently Navionics but happy to look at other packages.
Graham
 
gdallas said:
Thread revival. Hope that’s ok...
Am I right in thinking that I can use either a Weatherdock Easy AIS or a Vesper AIS, and that these can use my existing masthead VHF antenna and also have internal GPS antenna? I have very little space, don’t want to cut any holes in the boat and use a tablet for nav, currently Navionics but happy to look at other packages.
Graham
Click to expand...

As to sharing the antenna with your VHF transceiver, no. You'll need an antenna splitter. Some Weatherdock products now incorporate one; others don't (but they sell an antenna splitter; I have both in our boat.) If you want an AIS transceiver (some people wrongly call this a transponder) so that you're transmitting your position as well as seeing other vessels, you'll need a different kind of antenna splitter, as it'll need to protect your VHF against the AIS's transmission as well as protecting your AIS unit when you're transmitting on the radio. Just look at the product description; they're all online and not complicated.

As to the AIS unit have an internal GPS, the basic EasyAIS (which I have) don't so you feed them with NMEA GPS data. But later units do. Again, just read the product description.

You don't say how you plan to feed your AIS info to your tablet nav device. It's not the best way to work, but it will function subject to the usual problems of tablets in the cockpit (power consumption, pages changing, sunlight glare on screen, overheating, getting wet, getting bashed). You may want to get an inexpensive NMEA-WiFi unit. I made one from a Chinese RS232 device (don't ask), but now I'd buy one of these [ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NMEA-to-WiFi-BRIDGE-2-Port-Multiplexer/182433397144] or one of its brethren.
 
gdallas said:
Thread revival. Hope that’s ok...
Am I right in thinking that I can use either a Weatherdock Easy AIS or a Vesper AIS, and that these can use my existing masthead VHF antenna and also have internal GPS antenna? I have very little space, don’t want to cut any holes in the boat and use a tablet for nav, currently Navionics but happy to look at other packages.
Graham
Click to expand...

I answered the antenna question in your other thread http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?510408-Combined-VHF-and-AIS&p=6600373#post6600373

If you want to use a tablet you want to get an AIS with built in wifi, but yiu will need to change from Navionics. iSailor overlays AIS.
 
gdallas said:
Thread revival. Hope that’s ok...
Am I right in thinking that I can use either a Weatherdock Easy AIS or a Vesper AIS, and that these can use my existing masthead VHF antenna and also have internal GPS antenna? I have very little space, don’t want to cut any holes in the boat and use a tablet for nav, currently Navionics but happy to look at other packages.
Graham
Click to expand...

Just email Weatherdock. They have every Model with every variation. I went for wifi, internal GPS, VHF splitter and emergency AIS button. Installed in about 30 minutes.
 
I think there is a lot to be said for having separate/standalone units. The Vesper kit (I use a watchmate 850) is good kit with its own display and I have found that you don't really need the AIS display overplayed on anything for it to be truly useful. A bonus too is that it will act as an anchor alarm so that no other kit needs to be switched on and using power, and of course it will give you GPS position so acts as a back to what ever other GPS or Plotter kit you use. I would always recommend dedicated aerials for the AIS and GPS. Another vhf aerial will be cheaper than a splitter and more reliable and in the event of something happening with one aerial you have a backup. For me having worked with computers and wifi for a long time I would always prefer wired connections over wifi in terms of reliability and connection speed.
I too use a tablet with Navionics and a BadElf GPS . My boat is fairly small (28") but didnt find a problem finding the space to mount the kit.
 
gdallas said:
Thanks everyone
Northcave what tablet and nav app do you use? Is it iSailor?
Click to expand...

Depends, isailor is good for the tablet but you have buy the chart for it to be very useful. I use the free version and it gives a rough outline of the landmass. Weatherdock also has an app which you can turn functions on and off like the proximity COA alarm.

The unit has two wires specifically for an alarm so I attached a £1 buzzer from
eBay to it. This is loud enough to notify you in the saloon or cockpit. Very useful on night passages in busy areas.

I also have it hardwired to my plotter which runs navionics.

In time I am sure navionics on tablet / mobile will add wifi ais data but for now they are holding out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

F
Emtrak AIS transponder configured and working, not showing my position in Navionics unless
Replies
5
Views
292
FairweatherDave
F

Share this page

Top