Movable AIS setup

[Rob Howlett]

I am wanting some advice on what is the best setup for a temporary Chart plotter and AIS system. I have sold my Hunter Channel 323 which had a built in AIS, Chart plotter etc and am intending on putting my old Achilles 24 back on the water, which was my first ever sail yacht and has been kept in a barn for many years. She has simple electrics, solar charger, nav lights, 12 volt cigarette socket, cabin lights, working depth sounder, VHF and tiller pilot. What i would like to do is to fit a cost effective chart plotter system with a AIS transponder and receiver. Can I have a removable system that could be used on other boats also? I am aware of some apps such as Navionics and boat beacon which may be okay as a backup but I really wanted a purpose made setup. Any thoughts would be great, thanks

 

[ash2020]

I use iSailor charts on a very old iPad and a really cheap Quark AIS receiver. AIS Receivers Archives - Quark-elec - NMEA 2000 & Marine electronics
It works fine and shows all the vessels up to around 5 miles with a rail mounted antenna. The AIS communicates with the iPad via WiFi so no wires.

 

[Daydream believer]

Lorenze make a chart plotter that fits on a base station. It just drops on & each base station is wired up to whatever you want. That does solve the moveable chart plotter issue- I had 2 base stations . One came with the plotter & one cost me an additional £90. If you go down the Lorenze route & the base stations will fit then we can do a deal on the 2. That means you can have 2 places in 1 boat or one each on 2 boats
This doea not solve the AIS problem though.
I have an old Lorenze plotter which has been playing up & if you know someone who can fix them it has a card for UK & europe in it as well
For the record I bought from Maintsprite at maldon
So if you want to discuss then PM me

 

[Refueler]

Fearing the usual coming back accusing me of bias ....

Onwa Plotter with built in AIS ... free K Charts ....

I have the KP-39A and its excellent. But there are various other size screens ... smaller and larger ...

Price for Plotter incl AIS and Charts is extremely attractive .... I have set mine up so I can move it baot to boat ... I have 4 boats. Power lead has a simple plug - you could use a Ciggy Car plug. The NMEA is by plugs as well when I use on main boat with integrated NMEA2WiFi .....

Aves Marine in UK is great to deal with - goes that extra mile .....

Worth a look even if you don't go for one ...

 

[zoidberg]

You might do a lot worse than speak with Steve Davis at London Chartplotters.



London Chart Plotters

 

[PhillM]

Fearing the usual coming back accusing me of bias ....

Onwa Plotter with built in AIS ... free K Charts ....

I have the KP-39A and its excellent. But there are various other size screens ... smaller and larger ...

Price for Plotter incl AIS and Charts is extremely attractive .... I have set mine up so I can move it baot to boat ... I have 4 boats. Power lead has a simple plug - you could use a Ciggy Car plug. The NMEA is by plugs as well when I use on main boat with integrated NMEA2WiFi .....

Aves Marine in UK is great to deal with - goes that extra mile .....

Worth a look even if you don't go for one ...

+1 for Onwa. I have just bought a KM8A with AIS. I have set it up so the bracket (and plotter) are easily removable. As I want it in the cockpit, I have had a cover made of the same material used for spray hoods. Not used it it anger yet, but so far very happy.

 

[Refueler]

For anyone with a small to moderate size boat - I find it strange that 'well known' manufacturers seem to ignore the 'one integrated unit' solution.
Matsutech .... Onwa and various other are offering integrated units that WORK.

They already implemented the change from Class B to Class B+ ... it may not seem that great - but given the greater Tx power and better format .... it is worth it.
Before people jump on the knife wielding anti mess ... have a look at prices. Compare price of a single all in one unit that can be easily transferred between boats - to that of separate plotter, then add AIS Trcvr box.
Not only the one unit design - K Charts are good and free .... sad that many that have not used or seen K Charts like to make daming comments. I have Navionics, CM93 ver3 full, and other charting packages ... my work puts me into the Commercial aspects of charting. I have so far not found K Charts lacking for my yachting.

K Charts - you can download region you are sailing + any other and all regions still free of charge.

I still have my old Lowrance Plotter with its Nautech Charts ..... over 10yrs old - but still those charts serve well.

I take a lot of stick from some on here about my suggesting Onwa .... but why should I not ? My KP 39A will take me all round the Swedish Archipelago and its rocks / islands with accuracy. I do have Navionics on Android as well as hand held ... but they both agree with each other.

 

[Stemar]

K Charts are good and free

Do you have a link for them? Google insists that I want Korean pop music

 

[RAI]

What MMSI number do you use for a transferable AIS class B transceiver? Can you change it easily when moving the equipment from one boat (ship station) to another?

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

Do you have a link for them? Google insists that I want Korean pop music

Home | K-Chart Map

 

[Crazy-Diamond]

Have a look for the Digital Yacht Nomad. Portable, and sends wireless AIS to Navionics on a table or phone. Not cheap though.

 

[jac]

Your issue i think is the transponder. Are there any that can be reprogrammed by the user with the boats MMSI? IIRC, making this a dealer only activity was intended to cut down on people impersonating other boats ( and of course means people selling boats will be less likely to take the gear with them leading to more sales. )

Without that, i think the best you can hope for would be an AIS receiver linked to a tablet running chartplotter software. If you were worried about being seen and wanted AIS for that reason you could always go for some thing like a radar target enhancer which of of course doesn't need an MMSI

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

What MMSI number do you use for a transferable AIS class B transceiver? Can you change it easily when moving the equipment from one boat (ship station) to another?

Can it not be programmed with its own number as per a hand held VHF?

 

[Refueler]

Do you have a link for them? Google insists that I want Korean pop music

Do you have a Plotter that uses K Charts ? Mainstream plotters cannot use K-Charts ... there's no PC plotter either that can use them.

About | K-Chart Map

 

[Refueler]

Your issue i think is the transponder. Are there any that can be reprogrammed by the user with the boats MMSI? IIRC, making this a dealer only activity was intended to cut down on people impersonating other boats ( and of course means people selling boats will be less likely to take the gear with them leading to more sales. )

Without that, i think the best you can hope for would be an AIS receiver linked to a tablet running chartplotter software. If you were worried about being seen and wanted AIS for that reason you could always go for some thing like a radar target enhancer which of of course doesn't need an MMSI

My Onwa - gives me access to MMSI data screen and I may be wrong - but I am fairly sure I can change the MMSI.......

https://onwamarine.com/wp-content/u...-vessel-information-for-Onwa-AIS-plotters.pdf

It is not like a VHF which you cannot change ... because the Plotter / AIS unit - does not send out Distress Signal ......

 

[KompetentKrew]

I don't believe you're supposed to be able to change the MMSI in an AIS transponder, but I think it may be possible with the Matsutec (you just re-flash the firmware?). Is Onwa / Matsutec the same company?

 

[jac]

I don't believe you're supposed to be able to change the MMSI in an AIS transponder, but I think it may be possible with the Matsutec (you just re-flash the firmware?). Is Onwa / Matsutec the same company?

The manual from Refueler doesn't make it clear if that menu is only accessible on installation ( like a VHF) or is a general run of the mill menu. I was of the same opinion as you - set the data once.

 

[Rob Howlett]

Your issue i think is the transponder. Are there any that can be reprogrammed by the user with the boats MMSI? IIRC, making this a dealer only activity was intended to cut down on people impersonating other boats ( and of course means people selling boats will be less likely to take the gear with them leading to more sales. )

Without that, i think the best you can hope for would be an AIS receiver linked to a tablet running chartplotter software. If you were worried about being seen and wanted AIS for that reason you could always go for some thing like a radar target enhancer which of of course doesn't need an MMSI

Yeah being seen is the biggest want, using a powered radar might be a good solution.

 

[Refueler]

Have a look for the Digital Yacht Nomad. Portable, and sends wireless AIS to Navionics on a table or phone. Not cheap though.

"sends wireless AIS to Navionics" ..... but is that only a Receive AIS system ? I think OP wants a Transceiver setup.

Just as a comment ... my Onwa with AIS Transceiver feeds my Wifi2NMEA unit (about 50 euros) and then all position / AIS data is distributed by WiFi / USB and NMEA ...
Without the WiFI2NMEA unit - I can feed AIS data out from the ONWA to Navionics / other plotter / PC / VHF or whatever ...

 

[Refueler]

I don't believe you're supposed to be able to change the MMSI in an AIS transponder, but I think it may be possible with the Matsutec (you just re-flash the firmware?). Is Onwa / Matsutec the same company?

No they are not same company - but they do look alike and use K Charts etc.

Updates cannot be used cross platform.

Given that its only the likes of such all that AIS is built in - I would assume that Matsutec and there is another brand .... Xinhuo with similar specs .... that they also can have MMSI changed .......

As I said before - they are not like a VHF with 'Distress button' that sends out all the data.

I am travelling at present - but once I get home - I have my ONWA bench mounted for the winter while testing uitlity programs with authors to convert various Data formats. I will check the MMSI data and confirm I can change it.