NASA A.I.S. Receiver

[Philiz]

I'm considering installing a NASA AIS receiver but I'm undecided wether to opt for connecting an AIS engine to my plotter or to go for the stand alone version with its own display. Plotter is a Garmin 4008.
Does anyone have this setup, if so, comments and views appreciated.

 

[nonitoo]

I use the NASA Engine with my Northstar Plotter and it does what it says on the tin.

The targets are colour coded (according to ship type) and the target vector length, CPA and Time alarms are all variable. The basic data (target name, brg/dist, co/speed) appear on the main screen, entering by the cursor brings up all sorts of other data on a separate screen.

Great piece of kit !

Tom

 

[nimbusgb]

I use the NASA Engine with my Northstar Plotter and it does what it says on the tin.

The targets are colour coded (according to ship type) and the target vector length, CPA and Time alarms are all variable. The basic data (target name, brg/dist, co/speed) appear on the main screen, entering by the cursor brings up all sorts of other data on a separate screen.

Great piece of kit !

Tom

the colour coding and all that are functions of the display not the Nasa receiver.

 

[nonitoo]

the colour coding and all that are functions of the display not the Nasa receiver.

I accept that the colours are a function of the plotter but surely the AIS engine facilitates this.

Tom

 

[timbartlett]

I accept that the colours are a function of the plotter but surely the AIS engine facilitates this.

Tom

Depends what you mean by "facilitates". The colour coding is based on the "vessel type", which is part of the message transmitted by the target vessel's AIS, which is received by the AIS receiver and passed on to the display. So yes, the AIS receiver facilitates it by passing on the message it has received, but it does nothing more.

 

[fireball]

Go for the engine. But I would go for a better engine that does both channels simultaneously.

 

[nonitoo]

As this was my first foray into AIS I opted for the 'cheapo' NASA engine (AFAIR about £110) and it does the job.

I accept that it does take slightly longer to get all the information (initially all targets have MMSI and nav data, then more details are added) but, after the initial startup, in actual use, this does not seem to matter.

I find that, cross channel, I always have full data available to help with potential collision information, like most of us, I am subject to Colreg 10(J).

Tom