DSC VHF with AIS

[Iliade]

We too have the SH and have paired it with a Garmin 451s (IIRC.) My previous plotter could not display the AIS so initially I used the SH as a standalone device. It was a revelation!

We now use the 451s' screen for collision avoidance and the SH's for calling the ship up. Both are visible from the cockpit. On the radio I have the zoom set high and the CPA alarm set quite close (100m or so) then use the Garmin's alarm system for primary tracking and alarms.

This does mean that I have to keep the plotter on all the time, but the service battery alone is enough to sail for more than 24 hours on Autohelm before running flat.

All in all I am very pleased with the system. It has made crossing the Channel a far less worrying exercise, virtually removing the need for the handheld compass, and sailing in fog is now not quite so terrifying...

I do though wonder how it will work if we can ever justify fitting an AIS transponder?

 

[prv]

I do though wonder how it will work if we can ever justify fitting an AIS transponder?

I think someone asked SH about this, and the radio is clever enough not to alarm if it sees its own MMSI in close proximity.

Pete

 

[SpaceCygnet]

I have a the SH 2100 vhf connected to SH CP300 which allows the AIS transmissions picked up to be overrated on the chart plotter and have found it to very useful. As mentioned earlier, the vhf own display is ok for a birds eye view but its good to have the added detail on the chart. I would have no problem recommending that setup.

 

[Boo2]

I am very happy with the Radio Ocean set and the wireless remote handset is also a real bonus. I feed the AIS data to both a Garmin plotter and a laptop which is also easy to set up and use.

What is the battery life like in the remote handset with this radio, may I ask ? And can you see AIS info in the remote handset, or is it just on the main display ?

Thanks,

Boo2

 

[Caer Urfa]

QUOTE=Seajet;4524730]How do users of the SH with AIS get on with the screen size, I'd have thought it's a bit small to make things out ?

I fancy having AIS - maybe on a tablet.[/QUOTE]


I have a SH GX2100E coupled to a SH 300i plotter and very happy with it.
Looked at others many with interface problems mixing different makes also confirmed on forums on this PBO site.

Your are right the radio screen is a bit small but I use it only as a back up for AIS otherwise it is well built and has a few nice features, it is also user friendly and easy to instal using your existing VHF aerial so reception is excellent even better if the aerial is on top of a yacht mast.

The 300i is the first plotter I have had with it's own built in aerial and I find no difference in quality or reception to a stand alone aerial, the plotter has many features and again is user friendly.

Mike

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[prv]

Looked at others many with interface problems mixing different makes also confirmed on forums on this PBO site.

Lots of people do indeed have interface problems in wiring up VHF NMEA connections, but it's almost invariably pretty basic user error. The two major ones being a) not reading the docs at all and just connecting wires together at random, or b) confusing input channels vs output channels with positive conductors vs negative conductors. NMEA 0183 is a stable and well-understood standard and anyone who takes five minutes to read and understand what they're doing should have no trouble connecting two reasonably modern pieces of kit regardless of manufacturer.

Pete

 

[rogerthebodger]

All very interesting. It looks like I may need to update my VHF to DSC as the Icon I had could be updated when I purchased it but the mod in now not available.

Looking around I found the GX2150 which not seem to have costs US$320 but the GX2000 is only UD$199 from here http://www.milltechmarine.com/Standard-Horizon-Matrix-GX2000-VHF-Radio-AIS-Display_p_201.html

Now as I already have an AIS engine and GPS connected to my OpenCPN ITX system. It would seem I could connect that to the GX2000 as well and have the ability to select from the AIS list to make direct DSC calls.

I do have a DSC hand held VHF but it is a mission to enter the MMSI to make the call

Any one any comments

 

[donm]

I fitted the Furuno Ocean and after some black magic with the cabling and baud rates, it sends messages to my SH 175 showing a moving and identified icon which is nice and clear. I needed to change some of the alarm settings otherwise it was always sounding a warning.

The radio seems very good and delivers AIS in radar format on the small radio screen (similar to the NASA radar), or in list order, or to the plotter. Reception is good as I regularly hear Brixham CG................and I am in Barry, Bristol Channel!

 

[Heckler]

There are several VHF sets now available with AIS built in. Icom are also bringing one out next month.

I do not normally like multiple use items but it does seem a simple way to upgrade my VHF to DSC and get AIS thrown in without the need for splitters, additional aerial etc.

Can anyone speak from experience of owning and using on?

I bought an RO4800 last year, am well impressed except for the the alarm! If I switch the alarm on and a target gets close to us the feckin thing keeps alarming as long as the boat is within the range! So, Bardsey to Holyhead, thick fog, off it goes, an aluminium wind farm boat is coming up behind us almost on the same course but a lot faster. I couldnt see it on radar so called it up, i knew its name from the Ais. oh Ill switch my radar on says he, a few min s later, gotcha, will pass astern of you!
The feckin thing is beeping like a demented seagull so i switched the alarm off and finally got him on radar. My radar is pretty good but i reckon the angular work cat was acting like a stealth bomber. So, it works great, it has a few downsides but in the main i like it
Stu

 

[yoda]

What is the battery life like in the remote handset with this radio, may I ask ? And can you see AIS info in the remote handset, or is it just on the main display ?

Thanks,

Boo2

The handset battery life seems to be about 8 hours but I guess it depends how much you use it. I tend to leave mine in the charging cradle unless I am close to harbour or single handed racing as I have a cockpit speaker fed from the main unit. You could use standard batteries instead of the rechargeable ones and I suspect they would last a lot longer, I may investigate better capacity rechargeable batteries if I ever find the time a limiting factor. For any boat with twin wheels the ability to use the vhf from either position could be very helpful too.

Yoda

 

[funk-an-bord.de]

Tecnical speaking:
if you have antenna splitter you will have a power loss.
The antenna power is splittet up into 2 cables to the radio and the AIS receiver.
Inside the radio it is a a question of a single chip to amplify the antenna signal an provide it to the transceiver, the DSC watch receiver and now, to the AIS receiver.
Its a price reduction, better performance, a consequent step in miniaturasation.
And its another chip to decode AIS signals to a NMEA connector.
So, its a perfect way.
Buy it, Wilhelm

 

[rgarside]

Another happy GX2100 user here. The data is interfaced to an Advansea T50 plotter in the cockpit which displays targets, the remote handset for the GX2100 is accessible from the cockpit for making DSC calls to AIS targets. Coupling the units up was no problem at all.

 

[ditchcrawler]

I also have the GX2100.Although the screen is small it is surprisingly easy to identify the vessels that are on closest point of approach.I have now linked it to a Vesper display and that is brilliant.
I can have the vesper inside or at the side of the companionway on a RAM bracket.

 

[bedouin]

Why can't they give it the ability to transmit AIS as well?

They must have all the circuitry on board so should be simply a matter of programming to allow it to transmit as well - okay there could be minor issues if the radio were also in use, but I am sure that would not be difficult to overcome