Budhet ais

[PabloPicasso]

Looking to add an AIS receiver to an nmea 2000 network to display on a B&G plotter

What would be the cheapest way to do this?

New vhf with integral AIS
Ais with a splitter or dedicated pusbpit antenna

Other options?
Not looming to link with Bluetooth nor to any other screen.

 

[fredrussell]

I bought a Matsutec (I think) AIS transceiver from AliExpress for less than £200. It’s performed very well for three or four years so far BUT it only has NMEA 0183 in/out. My Garmin plotter has N2k and 0183 connects.

 

[Stemar]

Something like this?

QK-A028 AIS Receiver + NMEA 2000 converter + GPS

 

[TSB240]

Looking to add an AIS receiver to an nmea 2000 network to display on a B&G plotter

What would be the cheapest way to do this?

New vhf with integral AIS
Ais with a splitter or dedicated pusbpit antenna

Other options?
Not looming to link with Bluetooth nor to any other screen.

Looking to add an AIS receiver to an nmea 2000 network to display on a B&G plotter

What would be the cheapest way to do this?

New vhf with integral AIS
Ais with a splitter or dedicated pusbpit antenna

Other options?
Not looming to link with Bluetooth nor to any other screen.

Ais receive only NMEA 2000 probably Quark electronics the cheapest available. Probably comes with wifi as standard.

For a little more you can have the benefit of being seen as well as seeing other ais equipped boats with a transceiver from Onwa ( KS 200A.)
Splitter will be required for best range visibility. Cheapest to use a rail mounted antenna mostly adequate for larger target but you might miss similarly equipped small boats in bigger seas.
Price of ais receive radio nmea 2000 radio is much more than budget ais transeivers.
Having wifi on transceiver gives you redundancy with a mobile phone back up display should your nmea 2000 backbone or display fail.

 

[KompetentKrew]

I bet the cheapest would be something secondhand, but IDK where the bargains can be found right now. I think you can now buy a handheld VHF with AIS receive for £250 (??), so you'll probably be able to get a secondhand receiver for less than that - maybe £150 or less? There must be people upgrading from receive only to transponding.

 

[vyv_cox]

I bet the cheapest would be something secondhand, but IDK where the bargains can be found right now. I think you can now buy a handheld VHF with AIS receive for £250 (??), so you'll probably be able to get a secondhand receiver for less than that - maybe £150 or less? There must be people upgrading from receive only to transponding.

Yes, receive-only AIS sets come up secondhand occasionally. I bought one some years ago and found it useful but soon realised that a transceiver would be far more useful. Which it turned to be

 

[dansaskip]

I would think a dedicated VHF antenna would work out cheaper than a splitter and would be the option I prefer

 

[Plum]

I would think a dedicated VHF antenna would work out cheaper than a splitter and would be the option I prefer

Agree, and depending on what range you want, you can mount it 2m high. I reliably receive shios at 8 miles and boats at 5 miles, which I find perfectly adequate.

 

[DownWest]

Saw this elsewhere
dAISy AIS Receiver - The Original

 

[Refueler]

I would think a dedicated VHF antenna would work out cheaper than a splitter and would be the option I prefer

Yes but all depends on range wanted and type of boat fitted to.

If you have a sailboat - why not take advantage of the mast height and get greater range OUT and IN .... but then you need a splitter as two VHF antenna required separation cannot be done at masthead.

If you have a MoBo - then having separate antenna - one either side of boat - could be answer.

 

[Sea Change]

USB AIS dongle, laptop with Open CPN.

Amazon.com

 

[Refueler]

USB AIS dongle, laptop with Open CPN.

Amazon.com

I still have the AIS Rx USB unit from Radargadgets UK .... sadly the guy passed away .... I was one of the early buyers and I agreed to test it for him.

It works well - I used it with Seaclear Plotter on the PC. My main use of it was to monitor ships involved in Ship to Ship operations .... I would be on the storage vessel - calling in barges / ships to supply to / load from storage vessel.
All I needed was a suitable antenna - even a 'rubber duck' antenna was good enough on the bridge of a ship ...

It sits in the drawer now ..... shame.