Refueler
Well-known member
Maybe Matsutec has same wire swap as the older ONWA ? I remember having chat with Alan and he mentioned to to swap the IN and OUT NMEA wires ... BINGO - it worked a treat then. Seemed to be an error in manual ..
Cheap AIS
- Thread starter Geoff A
- Start date
Maybe Matsutec has same wire swap as the older ONWA ? I remember having chat with Alan and he mentioned to to swap the IN and OUT NMEA wires ... BINGO - it worked a treat then. Seemed to be an error in manual ..
Geoff A
Active member
I was hoping to get something that is is a complete kit In a box with every thing I would need. Unpack it and Install.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Just to underline what a bad idea it is to rely on internet based AIS. We can stand on the hill at the Needles and see 3-4 ships at a time, and have the phone app open. You then have to guess which ship is which, as none of them will be within a mile of the app positions.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
22 post in and we finally read what the OP wants !
Geoff A
Active member
Did you read my original post? It clearly says "stand alone AIS setup" Are you deliberately being antagonistic.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
You seem to be deliberately awkward. see post #15
It's not hard to give useful information or to answer legitimate questions from those trying to be helpful.
We're not mind readers.
BobnLesley
Well-known member
We used one of the Matsutec units mentioned earlier through the Caribbean and across the Pacific, with the antenna mounted on the rear goalposts, it worked faultlessly, a superb bit of kit
fredrussell
Well-known member
Best bang for yer buck will be one of the Onwa units then, as most AIS devices are ‘black boxes’ designed to display their info on a separate chart plotter.
Tranona
Well-known member
Such a thing really does not exist. That is why helpful people were asking more questions about what you currently have and what you want to achieve.
There are really 2 choices to make use of the AIS data from the receiver. The first is to connect it to an existing display, usually a plotter or possibly a tablet/PC, The second is to use a combined plotter/AIS receiver such as the suggested ONWA. The latter is cheaper if starting from scratch, but as mentioned has limitations compared with building a system from components. The actual receiver is relatively cheap, but it is turning the signal into something usable varies from a few hundred to thousands of £s.
So the main questions before giving some suggestions - how are you going to display the data? and what is your budget? you have not answered so one can only guess as to what might be suitable. It would help even more if you said something about your boat, type of sailing and current navigation instruments.
Geoff A
Active member
I am not being deliberately awkward. With regards to post 15 I replied to your question with No. As for budget / cost I said cheapest. I am not asking you or any one else to read my mind. I appreciate every and all replies. I am quite happy to put your replies down to a misunderstanding. I am based in Suffolk maybe we could have a pint or two some time.
Geoff A
Active member
My navigation is from London chart plotters using a tablet supplied by them. I do not consider my self over tec savvy, but I do get by. My boat is a 29 ft long keel boat that I have recently taken owner ship of. Apart from costal sailing I would like to do a few cross channel trips. Most of my sailing is single handed. I am slowly getting back into sailing after not owning a boat for a good number of years. I hold RYA Day skipper and watch leader tickets dated from about 1975. I must admit I am finding getting to grips with all the new to me tec a bit of a pain.
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Tranona
Well-known member
OK. There is not an "everything in a box" solution, but you can build a system to give you wi-fi to your tablet. You will need to gain some understanding of what is involved as unlike the more sophisticated systems from Raymarine etc it is not "plug and play". This is probably the most popular supplier of components quark-elec.com/category/marine-electronics-articles/quark-elec-aisnmea-products/ and you will find enough information on the site to choose the components you need. Total cost is likely to be £350-400 and quite a bit of work.
TBH for not a lot more money (relatively!) you might want to consider (as others have suggested) getting an all in one plotter with Transceiver avesmarine.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=95_70 which you can mount in the cockpit and give you features way above what you can achieve with your current DIY system.
Hope this helps.
Sea Change
Well-known member
Oh I forgot to say, the range on my ONWA when connected to a masthead aerial was incredible- generally I'd always see big ships 25nm miles away, and sometimes much further. The record was over 300nm which must have been down to some freak atmospheric conditions. But I would regularly see 80nm or more.
I've now got it on a rather sub optimal setup with a rail level aerial lashed to the wind gen pole, so it's a less impressive 10nm range. Still enough to be useful though.
Supertramp
Well-known member
Two points.
You do not need lots of high tech integrated kit to go sailing safely and enjoy it.
If you have AIS (and I think it's worth having) then I would definitely aim to transmit and respond, plus be able to view targets and alarms on a screen.
I use a Vesper Watchmate, its not cheap but stands alone and doubles as an anchor alarm/monitor which is very useful to me. It will WiFior NMEA to other systems like a plotter if I choose.
I can integrate everything but don't and only use the functionality I need. Simplicity still has a place!
dgadee
Well-known member
I get my incoming AIS from my VHF. I am a cheapskate navigation wise and use OpenPlotter, OpenCPN, MacArthur HAT and Pypilot with a Raspberry Pi. They have a project to build your own: MAIANA AIS Transponder - OpenPlotter 4.x.x
I would never think of wanting to broadcast my position, but getting AIS is very useful.
Edit: just looked - project paused and looking for someone to take it on.
I would never think of wanting to broadcast my position, but getting AIS is very useful.
Edit: just looked - project paused and looking for someone to take it on.
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Supertramp
Well-known member
Transmitting let's others see you - I'd say it's pretty useful.
BobnLesley
Well-known member
????
The Matsutec unit that we had was a 'standalone' unit incorporating it's own display screen.
dgadee
Well-known member
Pretty useful for anyone collecting evidence against you.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
That would be bad if you’re collecting suitcases mid channel. For most of us, being seen rather than run down by a Liberian reg container ship is the name of the game.
Tranona
Well-known member
Not sure that (like the Vesper Watchmate with display and NASA AIS/Radar) is available now. Out of fashion when you can now get the plotters with AIS for not a lot more money, or if you already have plotter/MFD you only need a receiver. The OP has a tablet for a plotter so possible to get a receiver to connect to his tablet.
