Open source AIS transciever kit -£209

[fifer]

I'm mulling over whether or not to give one of these a try:
Maiana

It is a 2W SOTDMA all in one class B AIS transciever, GNSS and aerial that sits on the mast head or stern rail.



The kit can be purchased from here:
AIS kit

Pros:
Cheap and cheerful
Happily integrates with a RPi + openplotter
Perfectly goog performance for around 25-35% of the cost of alternatives plus GPS and aerial

Cons:
Lower power than latest commercial alternatives
Possibly a bit heath robinson for some tastes
£210 quid is still a lot of money to chuck at something without pedigree/reputation

Thoughts?

 

[Hoolie]

Not officially approved so illegal to use the transmitter, certainly in the UK and probably everywhere else. To be fair, the detailed product description points this out.

 

[GHA]

Don't forget it's not legal to transmit with that, not been tested to ensure it's within all the parameters to ensure it's well very behaved for such a critical system.
Type approval exists for good reason..

 

[fifer]

Maybe not then. Nice idea, but I don't want to fall foul of the airwaves police. Thats taken pretty seriously.