Matsutec HP528A - Class B AIS Transponder - ??

PetiteFleur said:
Following on from the recent AIS debate, just spotted this on ebay, seems very reasonable for £305 and delivered from Manchester.
Click to expand...

Do you believe that? The seller is in China and the delivery time quoted is a couple of weeks. The unit is cheap and cheerful; if it works, fine. If it doesn't work, it's a throwaway as sending it back to China isn't really economic.
 
I would be careful here....I was also wooed by the cheap price for a class B. When it arrived (same model you are looking at and probably the same seller) I found it had no VHF antenna connector. I pointed out to the seller the unit may struggle to receive or send without an aerial of any sort. The seller offered me £3 off. I declined, they offered me £5 off. I stated I wanted a refund. They offered me £7 off.....repeat ad infinitum.....eventually after a few weeks of angry messages and threats to complain to ebay they relented and sent me a pre-paid returns label....back to Manchester???? Was it heck.

Lesson learned on my part.
 
Sea-Fever said:
I would be careful here....I was also wooed by the cheap price for a class B. When it arrived (same model you are looking at and probably the same seller) I found it had no VHF antenna connector. I pointed out to the seller the unit may struggle to receive or send without an aerial of any sort. The seller offered me £3 off. I declined, they offered me £5 off. I stated I wanted a refund. They offered me £7 off.....repeat ad infinitum.....eventually after a few weeks of angry messages and threats to complain to ebay they relented and sent me a pre-paid returns label....back to Manchester???? Was it heck.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking with Matsutec the "A" at th eend tells you it has AIS. I almost bought an HP-33 through Amazon before I realised that it wasn't an HP-33A.

By the way, from the screenshots in the listing the HP528A looks to be a re-cased HP-33A, in which case I'd recommend it.
 
I would certainly recommend them and ignore crass comments from those with no experience of the product.

The Onwa and Matsutec are the same devices but I think use different firmware. Onwa appears better supported in the UK, hence the higher prices, but they also offer a wide range of charts to download free of charge. These would not load onto my Matsutec.

I am more than happy with my Matsutec but the screen is a bit small on my first an HP-628A, so I replaced it with the HP-1228A. Make sure you get the one with the A suffix.

When I bought mine the manual omitted how to set up own ship data, but I was sent this separately after asking. I have written this into the manual pdf, so if you do buy one then PM and I'll send you the details.
 
JumbleDuck said:
By the way, from the screenshots in the listing the HP528A looks to be a re-cased HP-33A, in which case I'd recommend it.
Click to expand...

As I recall, you're the guy who famously posted "I have an HP-33A. Well, I have two, because #1 is up the creek and Matsutec do technical support like the Syria Army does shiatsu massage.":D
 
pvb said:
As I recall, you're the guy who famously posted "I have an HP-33A. Well, I have two, because #1 is up the creek and Matsutec do technical support like the Syria Army does shiatsu massage.":D
Click to expand...

Yes, and I am the guy who later posted that the problems appeared to have been caused by a faulty power supply which meant that the HP-33A was having a brief supply cut every 3 - 10s, For two years. No wonder it got confused. The other issue turned out to be a faulty pulpit mounted GPS antenna, but I replaced it with one which works fine in the cabin and should therefore last better.

I'm still using my original one. It powers itself on, usually, but apart from that is now working impeccably.
 
superheat6k said:
I would certainly recommend them and ignore crass comments from those with no experience of the product.

The Onwa and Matsutec are the same devices but I think use different firmware. Onwa appears better supported in the UK, hence the higher prices, but they also offer a wide range of charts to download free of charge. These would not load onto my Matsutec.

I am more than happy with my Matsutec but the screen is a bit small on my first an HP-628A, so I replaced it with the HP-1228A. Make sure you get the one with the A suffix.

When I bought mine the manual omitted how to set up own ship data, but I was sent this separately after asking. I have written this into the manual pdf, so if you do buy one then PM and I'll send you the details.
Click to expand...

To be fair...I had physical possession of the unit described online as a "transponder" which did not feature any VHF connections. I think my advice of being careful was good.
 
I’ve got a Matsutec 33A which was easy to fit and works well with a pushpit antenna. I recently fitted a Yakker NMEA Wi-fi bridge which transmit the AIS data as a Wi-fi signal. Works fine with Navionics with the bonus that it gives my iPad position data as well (got a cheapo no gps iPad). I now have AIS data at the wheel when needed (fixed plotter too long in the tooth to display AIS).
As a minor bonus, Matsutec has a workaround for changing the MMSI, so the set I’ve got is secondhand with my MMSI entered on it using the dodge.
 
duncan99210 said:
As a minor bonus, Matsutec has a workaround for changing the MMSI, so the set I’ve got is secondhand with my MMSI entered on it using the dodge.
Click to expand...

Can you let me know what the workround is? I got as far as putting my MMSI in my new HP-33A before finding out that with the power supply sorted and the aerial fixed the old one works just fine ...
 
Another happy HP-33A user. I ordered it on Amazon with next day delivery—so UK dispatch is available. I was relatively confident that I could have returned it to Amazon had it been DOA; I do not expect that I could return it economically to the makers now, but it's been >2 years so I doubt I would have much warranty claim.

If it's what you want, and you end up having to buy a second, you're still in the black compared to quite a lot of competitors...
 
I have an Onwa 39A and it is very good, charts are clear and the AS works a treat, once you manage to set it up! I had the Mastutec on my previous boat this was also very good, but no chart plotter.

Both were purchased from the manufacturer, very fast delivery, they were about £300 each plus import duty of about £35 etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top