Is my AIS working properly?

[cpedw]

Last winter I fitted a Digital Yachts AIT1500 AIS. All seemed to be well with the system this season but I just realised that while ships were shown clearly, I never noticed a Navaid AIS all summer. There are several nearby that I would expect to see, such as Lady Rock light and Inninmore Bay buoy, that both appear on Marine Traffic.

I have been observing AIS returns on the C70 plotter. Is there a setting in the plotter or the AIS that is suppressing navaids? Or have I just not been looking carefully enough?

Derek

 

[mickbond]

Even with the most up to date software the Raymarine C70 will not display Navaids

 

[karl.e]

Hello Derek, Does your AIS receiver have a USB interface? Most of them do for use with PC and Mac software. You can download opencpn and use it to view the AIS data stream over a map. If it shows the navaid, it most likely means that the C70 plotter software is broken.
opencpn comes with a low res map. You will be able to see nearby AIS targets on this basemap.

 

[Daverw]

If you plug in a laptop using the USB connector you can see what it’s picking up

 

[cpedw]

Even with the most up to date software the Raymarine C70 will not display Navaids

I appreciate that the C70 is long in the tooth but it still works ...

Is AIS for Navaids a recent addition then that the C70 doesn't know about?

Derek

 

[RIBW]

Is AIS for Navaids a recent addition

No, The Raymarine AIS250 from more than 10 years ago processes the AIS AtoNs (aka Message 21) but...

then that the C70 doesn't know about? Derek

Yes, it doesn't display them - see #2

Even current chartplotters/MFDs are not fully capable of displaying all the AIS messages - see my recent post #13 in
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?527992
Cheers
Bob

 

[FulmarJeddo]

I have the same AIT1500 connected to a Garmin Echomap70s. I can't recall ever seeing Navaids on it. Only the other day I was looking at a screen shot off of Marine Traffic I saved on my iPad of a trip across the Southern North Sea to Holland I did in May. There was several round dots close to our track that I can't recall seeing on the plotter.

 

[RIBW]

Hi Jeddo,

Be careful, I think you are conflating two entirely separate issues:-

I have the same AIT1500 connected to a Garmin Echomap70s. I can't recall ever seeing Navaids on it.

This comment is relevant to this thread. You would need to check the specification of the AIT1500 to see if it passes the full AIS message set and then check the specification of the Garmin to see if it will display the full message set (particularly Message 21). [You will see in the link I gave earlier that, according to their spec, some of the latest Garmin N2k MFDs do not display AtoNs , but there is ambiguity in the manual?!? - I haven't looked into your specific Garmin]. Otherwise, the recommendation in #3 (Using OpenCPN) is a relatively easy way to find out what is going on.

Only the other day I was looking at a screen shot off of Marine Traffic I saved on my iPad of a trip across the Southern North Sea to Holland I did in May. There was several round dots close to our track that I can't recall seeing on the plotter.

If you search back on this forum you will find comments about Marine Traffic and their supposed AtoNs (your "round dots"). In my posting the 'round dots' in question were showing at the entrance to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight but had, in fact, been generated by a company up the Wye Valley in Wales. My personal view is that MT is great sitting in an armchair at home but I'd never use it at sea.

Cheers
Bob