Digital Yacht ANT200 Receiver opinions please?

[mitchc]

I'm going to fit an AIS receiver to display on my chartplotter's.
Been looking at the nasa AIS engine mk3, but have read it only receives on one channel at a time?
How much of an issue is this in the real world?

The other option I've come up with is this:
http://www.digitalyacht.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=11646

I don't need the mutiplexing option as my plotters have 2/3 nmea inputs, but it seems like a nice compact solution and will save me fitting another aerial! I don't want to start fitting splitters as this soon hikes the price and complexity up.
Are there any opinions out there....

Thanks in advance,

 

[PaulGooch]

I'd steer clear of the NASA one and go for one that "listens" to both channels simultaneously. If you don't want to fit a second antenna, i'd suggest looking at the Comar Multi AIS :

http://www.comarsystems.com/ais_multi.html

It might be worth considering fitting another antenna though. I decided to fit the standard Comar unit and i'm very happy with how well it works. I fitted the AIS engine close to the VHF set and fitted a second antenna. If the main VHF antenna fails or get broken, the AIS antenna serves as a backup.

Whilst AIS is not the be all and end all, we sat at anchor a few weeks ago, watching a radar target closing on our position, according to MARPA she was on a direct collision course. Got the AIS info on her and found she was a rather large cat, travelling at speed. It was nice to have the vessels name and thus the ability to call her up on the radio, as i was about to give her a call on the VHF, i was relieved when she suddenly changed course to avoid us.

 

[mitchc]

Digital Yacht ANT200 Receiver

Thanks Paul,
I've already got two independant VHF's with separate aerials, plus two hand helds, so that side is more than covered...

I've just had an email back from Digital Yatch, apparently the ANT 200 monitors both channels simultaneously so seems pretty good...

I'll do a bit more digging, but the digital yacht AIS looks favourte for now!

 

[PaulGooch]

Thanks Paul,
I've already got two independant VHF's with separate aerials, plus two hand helds, so that side is more than covered...

I've just had an email back from Digital Yatch, apparently the ANT 200 monitors both channels simultaneously so seems pretty good...

I'll do a bit more digging, but the digital yacht AIS looks favourte for now!

The Comar unit i mentioned will work with one of your existing VHF antennas, no need to fit another as it has an inbuilt splitter. No need to fit any external device and will benefit from full range AIS. The ANT200 is designed for RIBS and small boats and has a 10 mile max range. Your choice of course.