Cheap AIS transponder?

It appears to be exactly what it claims to be

But it is astonishingly cheap and I can't help thinking that if a deal looks too good to be true it probably is too good to be true
 
What, you can't believe that someone could sell a cheap two channel transmitter and reciever with a 1980s RS422 interface for less than a modern laptop?

Probably Chinese made, but aren't most of them. No doubt will work fine as they've probably sold tens or hundreds of thousands in SE Asia already. And at least with Amazon you'll have some come back if it turns up damaged or not at all.
 
lpdsn said:
What, you can't believe that someone could sell a cheap two channel transmitter and reciever with a 1980s RS422 interface for less than a modern laptop?.
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Fair point!

One does get rather used to the swingeing prices we pay for mainstream marine electronics :ambivalence:
 
If you want Matsutec then why not go direct to the manufacturer - Susan is very helpful
[h=2]sales003@huayang-tech.com[/h]I would particularly recommend the combined chart plotter / AIS transponders HP-6/8/12 28A. I started with the 628A and after 2 season have now bought the 1228A - brilliant.
 
Unfortunately the device is mislabelled. It is a transceiver not a transponder.
"A transponder is a wireless communications, monitoring, or control device that picks up and automatically responds to an incoming signal."
"A transceiver is a combination transmitter/receiver in a single package. The term applies to wireless communications devices such as cellular telephones, cordless telephone sets, handheld two-way radios, and mobile two-way radios."
 
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theoldsalt said:
Unfortunately the device is mislabelled. It is a transceiver not a transponder.
"A transponder is a wireless communications, monitoring, or control device that picks up and automatically responds to an incoming signal."
"A transceiver is a combination transmitter/receiver in a single package. The term applies to wireless communications devices such as cellular telephones, cordless telephone sets, handheld two-way radios, and mobile two-way radios."
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I don’t think there’s anything unfortunate about that - the AIS device is what the OP thinks it is. All AIS ‘transponders’ are in fact transceivers for the reason you point out. The industry just misuses the term ‘transponder’.
 
I think there's a bit more to it. A class B AIS like its class A brothers has to monitor traffic to find a suitable slot to transmit its data. It's responding to the signal environment and is therefore a transponder not a transceiver.

Back to the OP its virtually certain the device has no approvals and is technically illegal.
 
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whiteoaks7 said:
I can't believe that for £160 I can buy a class B transponder - am I missing some subtle marketing language?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07796FCR7/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza
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Note that it has no NMEA 2000 compatibility so can not integrate to your chart plotter if that’s the networking you use, it uses the older NMEA 0183.
Secondly, AIS transponders with external gps antennas are just annoying, the models with internal gos antenna chips are easier to install with less wireing to worry about.

What does the team think?
 
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Hoolie said:
I think there's a bit more to it. A class B AIS like its class A brothers has to monitor traffic to find a suitable slot to transmit its data. It's responding to the signal environment and is therefore a transponder not a transceiver.

Back to the OP its virtually certain the device has no approvals and is technically illegal.
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Yeah. It's a techie point and off the OP's topic, but what makes a device a transponder is not its communication protocol (eg finding or negotiating a time slot to talk in); it's that it responds to being interrogated. Transponder = Transmitter-Responder. When asked 'who are you' or 'who's there', it responds with its ID, or when asked 'what's your update' it blurts it out, or when it receives data it re-transmits it for onward use.

AIS doesn't do any of that. An AIS device, like many other loosely or tightly networked devices, transmits only data of its own origination, and not in response to being polled. That's not a transponder. Not that the marine electronics industry will stop using the term for it!
 
Hoolie said:
Back to the OP its virtually certain the device has no approvals and is technically illegal.
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You really think they are lying? Is that based on any evidence or just a guess?

Compliant with the following standards:
-IEC62287-1 (IEC standard, Class B shipbourne equipment)
-IEC60945 Edn 4.0 (IEC standard, environmental requirements)
-ITU-RM.1371-1 (Universal AIS Technical Characteristics)
-IEC61162-1 Edn. 2.0 (IEC standard, digital interfaces part 1)
-IEC61108-1 (IEC standard, GPS receiver equipment)
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