Chartplotter & AIS at helm - all in one solution

[NFCN]

I've been doing some research on chartplotters and helm pods. Would appreciate views from others who are thinking about or have achieved the same.

I decided what I needed was:

- a chartplotter at the helm, no bigger than 5" (any bigger would get in the way on my Moody 33) with integrated AIS

- cartography which covers UK south coast and north and western France, with integrated tidal stream data

- chartplotter held in a reasonably secure and waterproof helm pod

I aim to fit radar in due course, but accept that with only a 5" screen will have to go for a separate system, with a bigger screen down below.

I would have thought that the combination above was a fairly common aspiration, but the options are fairly limited. By the time you price the chartplotter, add an AIS engine and antenna if you need to, the cost works out just shy of £900. Cartography-wise, the C-Map Mega wide coverage seems to trump the Bluechart and Navionics alternatives - bigger coverage, more data including tidal streams.

My conclusions are that a Digital Yacht SC500a (with integrated AIS), encased in a MSP6 marine pod, with C-Map Megawide chart and AIS antenna mounted on the pushpit would seem to meet the remit. The alternatives (eg Horizon CP180 with NASA AIS engine) appear to work but with more complication (separate AIS).

Links to the proposed solution are here:

Chartplotter:

http://www.marinedna.com/digital-yacht-sc500a-with-built-ais-receiver-p-28134.html

Helmpod:

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/marine-msp6-custom-sc500-p-12604.html

Marine Chart (I've found it discounted to £129 when bought with the chart)

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/cmap-mega-wide-promo-chart-p-7225.html

AIS antenna:

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/digital-yacht-aa10-tuned-antenna-fits-inch-base-p-13053.html

AIS Antenna railmount:

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/vtronix-armp-nylon-fixed-rail-mount-p-865.html

Best price I can find (inc VAT) is:

Chartplotter £500
Pod £200
Chart £129
Antenna: £40
Antenna railmount £9

Total £878

Grateful for views, or any upcoming sales which are known about! Also hope this research may prove useful to others.

Thanks

Nick

 

[pvb]

[size=-2]I've been doing some research on chartplotters and helm pods. Would appreciate views from others who are thinking about or have achieved the same.

I decided what I needed was:

- a chartplotter at the helm, no bigger than 5" (any bigger would get in the way on my Moody 33) with integrated AIS

- cartography which covers UK south coast and north and western France, with integrated tidal stream data

- chartplotter held in a reasonably secure and waterproof helm pod

I aim to fit radar in due course, but accept that with only a 5" screen will have to go for a separate system, with a bigger screen down below.[/size]

I'd look at this from a rather different angle. Firstly, I think you could fit a bigger plotter without it being overbearing on your boat. The SC500A plotter has a portrait-format screen, which makes the unit quite high at 155mm. If you choose a landscape-format plotter, you could get a bigger screen without increasing the height of the unit. As an example, the Standard Horizon CP300i has a 7" screen, but is only 145mm high (less than the SC500A). Most importantly, the CP300i has 800x480 pixels - 5 times better than the SC500A's 320x240 pixels. For chart use and AIS use, high definition screens are a major benefit.

Secondly, you're planning to buy radar, but are considering a standalone system fitted below. The best place for radar is where the helmsman can see it, so I'd choose a radar compatible plotter in the first place, and add a radome later. Again, the CP300i is a good choice, as it's ready for radar - just add a Sitex radome. And with an integrated plotter/radar, you have some superb extra features such as radar/chart overlay (which will require an NMEA input from a fluxgate compass).

The CP300i is about £550, and you could add an AdvanSea AIS100 dual receiver for another £100. Many retailers will throw in a Mega Wide C-Map chart for around £120 extra when you buy a Standard Horizon plotter.

My proposed set-up will be £250 or so more than yours, but remember that you're hoping this stuff will last a few years, so it's not much a year extra. And the benefits of a bigger, high definition screen are huge, together with the major plus of having radar at the helm. And the future cost of adding that radar will simply be a radome.

 

[NFCN]

Great advice - thanks pvb. Would certainly make the future fitting of the radar more easy. My concern would be finding a suitable helm pod for the CP300i - can anyone point me in the right direction?

Nick

 

[pvb]

The Marine Pods range you were looking at on the MES website would have a suitable pod.

 

[lenseman]

I have a Garmin 556s at the helm and a Garmin 6012 in the Ops Room.

They are coupled via an NMEA2000 back-bone and any course correction entered via the Nav Officer is repeated at the helm.

AIS 'B' is linked in and repeats at both stations, Broadband Radar and wind-speed, direction and the depth of water below the keel can also be accommodated.

 

[lenseman]

. . . . Cartography-wise, the C-Map Mega wide coverage seems to trump the Bluechart and Navionics alternatives - bigger coverage, more data including tidal streams. . . . .

The Garmin Bluechart certainly do the common tide stations (letter inside diamond) but it is user selectable so that you can aslo change to a dynamic tidal stream which alters in real-time whilst you sail, as I discovered on passage back past The Owers about 3 weeks ago.

Instead of the 'letters in diamonds' they change to arrows pointing to the direction of the flow and the colour changes as the tidal stream gets stronger or weaker. Hovering over the tidal flow arrow and you can revert to the letter in diamond or remain as arrows with the speed in knots displayed (very useful indeed).

 

[johnphilip]

Best money I ever spent

Save spending on separate antennae, Nav Pod, chart etc, spend it on the plotter. Touchscreen Garmin 7" includes charts and AIS. Woodwork took hours but few pounds, with plastic electrical box on the back.

 

[Martin_J]

If you're around Portsmouth you are welcome to see a CP180i fitted by the wheel. Just ping me and I'll let you know where I am based.. You might agree with the others then that it does look rather small in practice!

One thing about the external AIS is that it is capable of providing AIS data to both the laptop and the plotter at the same time....

 

[johnphilip]

oops, memory failure

Sorry, I tend to blank out past over expenditure on the boat, The Garmin 750 does display AIS but did need an external AIS engine. I bough the NASA one which is fine. Although pricey the 750 remains the best bit of kit on the boat.

 

[NFCN]

Thanks all - appreciate your help and advice.

 

[divonic]

This was a great thread - we're following the same thinking for our recently acquired Nic35.

Our conclusion is Standard Horizon GX-2100E VHF with internal AIS engine at the nav station (uses existing masthead aerial), Standard Horizon CP300i at the helm. That way we get AIS info at both places, and I'm running NMEA cable from nav station to helm rather than co-ax after splitting it.

One question: what's the advantage of 'helm pod' rather than standard mount for the plotter?

thnx/Nic & Lesley

 

[KAL]

Great advice - thanks pvb. Would certainly make the future fitting of the radar more easy. My concern would be finding a suitable helm pod for the CP300i - can anyone point me in the right direction?

Nick

I mounted our SH 180 on a hardwood plinth which I attached the steering pedestal. Works like a dream. It takes a feed from a Digital Yacht AIS transceiver. I bought a UK/Europe C-map Max chart at half price with the plotter. Never looked back.

 

[Colvic Watson]

I've had both, the SH on the last boat and the Digital yacht I got for this one. The big problem with the SH is the screen orientation. I never got the point of landscape, I'm not really interested in chart detail a long way off to the side, I want as much of the screen showing what's coming up ahead. Crossing a TSS the SH's landscape mode was useful, otherwise it was largely wasted data being displayed. Otherwise the SH was a very nice plotter.

The Digital Yacht plotter with integrated AIS was a lot less fiddly to set up, one less bit to go wrong and it outputs data to a laptop if you want.

 

[ditchcrawler]

You may wish to consider a Ram Bracket mount.I can remove mine easily to store below or take home for passage planning in the winter.www.ram-mount.co.uk

 

[ithet]

The big problem with the SH is the screen orientation. I never got the point of landscape

This depends on how you set the plotter. If you use it set to "Course Up" like a car sat nav your heading will always be going up the screen. The chart image will then revolve around as you turn. If set to "North Up" (default) the screen looks more like a chart with you moving over it. The layout then becomes less important but on the south coast I am more often going across east or west. It is a matter of personal choice, but I find the North Up better for navigation as it looks more like a chart and I find it easier to orientate from. I would also have thought North Up the better orientation for observing where AIS tracks are going.

I have the CP180 which I choose because it fitted in the instrument garage, but I agree that the CP300 is a much clearer display if you have the room to mount it. Have not added AIS yet but I am intending to go the combined VHF/AIS route.

You can have a "play" before you buy with the CP180/CP300 by downloading the "PC emulator" from the SH USA website:
For CP180:
http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=84&encProdID=8C4F9C5570985FD3B3179295AC4D3ECD&DivisionID=3&isArchived=1

CP300:
http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=84&encProdID=80A54E5DF603528DBFB4198E3A2773B4&DivisionID=3&isArchived=1

 

[Colvic Watson]

That makes sense; I guess on the East Coast I have a vertical rather than horizontal coastline.

 

[marchhare]

I have just had the same issue and my solution was a Garmin 551 with the Comar AIS/Splitter. Should all be fitted and working next Monday so not able to comment on performance yet.

 

[johnphilip]

A Lot for a plastic box.

I confess to having shown this solution before but it does circumvent Navpod or Scanstrut overcharging. The face comprises 44 x 22 strips of teak biscuit jointed together. (I had access to a joinery shop at the time ) but something simpler could still look good. The back is an IP 67 (I think) junction box in ABS bought on-line. It had to be as deep as that because the connector on the back of the Plotter projects somewhat from the machine. I have also raved about the Garmin before, but that was not one of your choices.

 

[alisdair4]

Chartplotter at helm

This thread is really excellent! After a fortnight short-handed in the Baltic, I am considering a plotter mounted above the Main hatch on the Rival - 5" screen plotters are attractively priced, but perhaps a bit difficult to see from the tiller of my boat. I don't need a pod, because the plotter will fit under the sprayhood. I already have a NASA AIS engine; and Raymarine ST60 instruments. I know that I can get the AIS to talk to the plotter - will there be a problem interfacing with the ST60 instruments. (currently, the GPS 152 talks to the ST60 setup without issue, so I suspect the answer is "yes".)

 

[prv]

I confess to having shown this solution before but it does circumvent Navpod or Scanstrut overcharging.

I hope you've re-swung the compass since fitting all that gubbins directly above it

Pete