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Sailfree

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I have ray marine chart plotter and radar but thinking of adding AIS.

Know little about it.

Can others advise on options and approx cost.

I ask as I assume I can get an independent unit or one integrated with the ray marine chart plotter ( at both helm and chart table)
 
I guess it depends a bit on your current set up, and just how integrated you'd like it all to be.

We have a Raymarine plotter anda Raymarine AIS650 transponder. The AIS is connected to the network via SeatalkNG and is available to the various devices (plotter and i70).

However, you can also get just about any AIS box (which will likely be cheaper) and connect this up to your plotter using nmea-0183. The question is whether the information would then be available to other devices, such as a networked plotter. That I don't know.
However, if you can find an AIS with an NMEA-2000 output, that would be picked up anywhere on the network as they also accept this.

The main thing would be how old your current gear is and what network system it uses?
 
Sailfree said:
I have ray marine chart plotter and radar but thinking of adding AIS.

Know little about it.

Can others advise on options and approx cost.

I ask as I assume I can get an independent unit or one integrated with the ray marine chart plotter ( at both helm and chart table)
Click to expand...

Which Raymarine plotter do you have - it needs to be post RL and Pathfinder - basically must be multifunction onwards.
 
Sailfree... As others have said - the price difference between Receive Only or Transmit and Receive is huge.

What chart plotter do you have? Is it capable of displaying AIS information? It would most likely need an NMEA 38400 input setting to allow it to receive AIS information directly via NMEA.

At the basic (receive only and display on the chart plotter) end of the scale, all you would need would be something like the NASA AIS Engine at £109 and a VHF aerial perhaps mounted on the pushpit.

You can buy simple AIS display units (and even VHF radios) with built in displays but these can be rather too small to be usable.

If you wish to Transmit position as well then you are looking at a few hundred pounds more..

As to its use... If displayed on a chart plotter you gain a great view of the course, speed and name of ships..
 
Boat was commissioned in 2005 with IIRC a RL80CRC at chart table and a RL70C repeater at helm.

If I went for AIS I think I would prefer to transmit & receive.

Obviously use Radar for X channel
 
ah.. trouble.. I don't believe the RL80CRC (or the repeater) has the necessary AIS input.. Correct me if I am wrong.

Do you have plans to upgrade the plotter...
 
If the plotter doesn't display AIS but is otherwise satisfactory, might I recommend one of the Vesper Watchmate displays?

(I can only speak for the "traditional" black and white Watchmate, not the new colour "Vision" version.)

I think these dedicated devices do a better job of handling AIS data than most plotters anyway.

I have the display-only version, because my AIS receiver is built into the VHF, but they also do receiver-display and transmitter-receiver-display versions.

If you want to transmit, then the Watchmate 850 is possibly the simplest way to get it - just connect power and a VHF aerial and job done - it includes its own GPS receiver built-in so there is no extra wiring to do.

Pete
 
Sailfree said:
Boat was commissioned in 2005 with IIRC a RL80CRC at chart table and a RL70C repeater at helm.

If I went for AIS I think I would prefer to transmit & receive.

Obviously use Radar for X channel
Click to expand...

I'm afraid neither of those can display AIS. You need the C series or later, I have one for sale as it 'appens :)
 
I do worry about small leisure boats who wish to transmit AIS data.

Can you imagine what a busy Sunday in the Solent would look like on a screen if even 50% of leisure craft were transmitting?

I need to know what big stuff is coming my way, and at what speed.

My simple stand alone AIS does that for me.

If I can identify anything that concerns me, I can call and ask their intentions as my AIS identifies them.
 
Slow_boat said:
Not wishing to hi-jack the thread, but I don't think my old NASA AIS is working.

I'm not that fussed with having a display on the plotter (Furuno) but how to replace and what with?

I've been thinking about a radio with AIS for the sake of simplicity and price.
Click to expand...

I have a radio (SH GX2100) with built-in AIS. As a way of receiving the data to then display on another device, it's excellent. As a standalone AIS display it's very poor for anything other than alerting a solitary ocean cruiser that a single cargo ship has heaved into view - I would not want to use it to try to judge a gap in the English Channel shipping lanes.

If you want a standalone display receiver then the only choices I'm aware of are the Vesper I already mentioned (excellent, but not especially cheap) and the NASA which you already know - I believe they're still selling it.

Pete
 
I have an Amiel transponder fitted to a Lorenz plotter
One thing I had to pay an extra £ 90-00 for was the unit to turn off transmit
I think that that is a "must have" add on for any AIS transponder
I do not believe I need to constantly transmit sailing from Bradwell to say Harwich & I do get a bit concerned when I see boats tansmitting from the marina, even when no one is on board
My "on" button will only be used on more " offshore" trips, in fog or at night etc, if at all
I am really not convinced it will stop me getting run down
Hopefully though, my wife can track me on one of the marine tracking systems on the net- That is how I managed to justify the cost in the first place!!!
 
Last edited:
Daydream believer said:
One thing I had to pay an extra £ 90-00 for was the unit to turn off transmit
I think that that is a "must have" add on for any AIS transponder
Click to expand...

What a crappy design! Most of the transmitters I've seen either have a switch mounted directly on the unit, or (better) provide a couple of terminals across which you can wire any 50p switch. To need a separate £90 unit is bizarre.

Agree that on/off control of the transmit portion is highly desirable, though.

Pete
 
Slow_boat said:
Silly question, probably, but is the AIS engine (whatever that is) a separate thing to the display unit? Do I need to buy both?
Click to expand...

There are two tasks to be done - receiving the data and displaying the result. You need kit to do both, but there are various combinations of boxes to achieve it.

The most common arrangement is to have a "black box" AIS receiver - anything sold as an "AIS engine" would be one of these - receiving the data and an existing plotter displaying it.

Or you might have a single box that incorporates receiver and display.

Or you might have a VHF radio that includes an AIS receiver, and use your plotter as the display.

I have a VHF that includes an AIS receiver, and last year I displayed the data on a standalone display. This year, I'm going to add a wire to also show it on the plotter (more for use in radar mode than to display ships on the chart).

You need to understand what you're buying.

Pete
 
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