Vespermarine XB-6000 AIS transponder

[yotter]

I wonder if anyone can help. I now have a Vespermarine XB-6000 AIS transponder on my new boat. The unit performance is suspect, partly due to a poor VHF aerial which will be looked at seperately. I have taken the unit home and it is working well on my patio with a temporary aerial and using its inbuilt GPS receiver, it appears on Marine Traffic so all good. On the boat when it was not working well, it had an external GPS feed from an aerial on the pushpit. I am considering for faultfinding buying a cheap GPS receiver with the required SMA connector, I see these available on Ebay, Amazon etc for less the £10, so perhaps worth a punt? Any advice appreciated.

 

[Supertramp]

I have a different Vesper (Watchmate with its own screen). It runs inside the pilothouse continuosly when cruising and uses its own GPS. Very occassionaly it takes a while to find itself and once or twice it has lost GPS and alarms - 2x in 4 years. If it was set in a panel that might cause a problem - mine is freestanding. Will yours work inside rather than outdoors? I was ready to install a GPS aerial for it but it hasn't been needed.

I use a Vesper splitter shared with the masthead VHF aerial without any problems - I think I get better range that way.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Use it with the internal GPS chip on the vessel.

 

[ithet]

I wonder if anyone can help. I now have a Vespermarine XB-6000 AIS transponder on my new boat. The unit performance is suspect, partly due to a poor VHF aerial which will be looked at seperately. I have taken the unit home and it is working well on my patio with a temporary aerial and using its inbuilt GPS receiver, it appears on Marine Traffic so all good. On the boat when it was not working well, it had an external GPS feed from an aerial on the pushpit. I am considering for faultfinding buying a cheap GPS receiver with the required SMA connector, I see these available on Ebay, Amazon etc for less the £10, so perhaps worth a punt? Any advice appreciated.

I find the XB-6000 internal GPS antenna works fine even with the unit mounted below the chart table on my yacht. How are you judging it not working well on the boat? If looking at Marine Traffic you really have to sail around in areas where their coverage is good.

 

[yotter]

I am not absolutely sure its the GPS input that is bad since I know the the VHF aerial is poor. So would be keen to fit an alternative external SMA GPS to help fault find, especially if less than a tenner on Ebay or Amazon. The boat is currently 500 miles from home, so time is precious during visit at the moment. But many thanks for the suggestions so far, they all make good sense to me.

 

[ithet]

Give that a go then.
I have previously used a cheap eBay mushroom with co-ax output ok on a prior GPS. But still not sure what symptoms you have that lead you to suspect a fault.

 

[yotter]

Yes understood, we could see other targets when installed on the boat but our transmissions were not being reported on MarineTraffic, but at home without the external GPS input it works fine. So suspect the external GPS, I will do more testing when next at the boat but not till the end of Jan at the earliest

 

[PaulRainbow]

Yes understood, we could see other targets when installed on the boat but our transmissions were not being reported on MarineTraffic, but at home without the external GPS input it works fine. So suspect the external GPS, I will do more testing when next at the boat but not till the end of Jan at the earliest

Then don't connect the external GPS, the internal one almost always works fine, unless below decks on a metal hulled boat. GPS reception has no bearing on transmission range, that's only affected by VHF quality.

Marine traffic relies on AIS being relayed to them, if you are not in range of someone who is relaying, you won't appear on it. It is pretty useless using internet based AIS for determining how well yours is transmitting.

 

[SteveAus]

I thought that you could not connect a GPS receiver to an AIS transponder, and that the AIS must use its internal GPS receiver with an external antenna. I would be happy to be corrected.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I thought that you could not connect a GPS receiver to an AIS responder, and that the AIS must use its internal GPS receiver with an external antenna. I would be happy to be corrected.

You are almost correct.

The receiver must be internal, the antenna can be internal or external, but must be dedicated to the AIS.

 

[ithet]

I thought that you could not connect a GPS receiver to an AIS transponder, and that the AIS must use its internal GPS receiver with an external antenna. I would be happy to be corrected.

Correct, but the XB+6000 has an option to connect an external GPS antenna to its receiver in place of its internal antenna, they even supply one with the unit. This is what the op is proposing. It is feeding external GPS information (i.e via nmea 0183 or 2000) that is not allowed.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Correct, but the XB+6000 has an option to connect an external GPS antenna to its receiver in place of its internal antenna, they even supply one with the unit. This is what the op is proposing. It is feeding external GPS information (i.e via nmea 0183 or 2000) that is not allowed.

That isn't what the OP has said, he actually said "buying a cheap GPS receiver"

 

[yotter]

Paul,
You are correct, I am proposing to buy a cheap and cheerful GPS receiver which will plug into the SMA port, so if anyone can recommend one, ill get it ordered.

 

[ithet]

Yes but the reference to SMA means the op really means an external antenna connected to the internal receiver.

 

[Phil_boat]

I bought this one for my ONWA AIS https://amzn.eu/d/adYnwyt

I’ve only tried it stationary as the boat’s out of the water at the moment but it appears accurate & finds its position quickly.

 

[yotter]

I bought this one for my ONWA AIS https://amzn.eu/d/adYnwyt

I’ve only tried it stationary as the boat’s out of the water at the moment but it appears accurate & finds its position quickly.

Thats the sort of thing I am thinking about, I may order it soon.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Yes but the reference to SMA means the op really means an external antenna connected to the internal receiver.

I'm aware of that, but he keeps calling it a receiver, which can confuse people who don't know what an SMA connector is, not to mention AI picking it up and regurgitating it.

 

[yotter]

Hi Paul,
Do you thing the one suggested in post 15 Phil_boat is worth a punt, excuse the pun! Its more for fault finding and at only £8.9

 

[PaulRainbow]

Hi Paul,
Do you thing the one suggested in post 15 Phil_boat is worth a punt, excuse the pun! Its more for fault finding and at only £8.9

It should work, but not sure it's of any use for fault finding in the way you want to use it.

Far, far better to download the vmAIS software and check the GPS status tab. Or as you're a long way from the boat, get the antenna too, try the software and if you're not seeing many satellites try the antenna. Also, check the location and orientation to, if GPS reception is poor. I'd suggest downloading the installation manual.

Software Downloads for Vesper® XB-6000 / XB-8000 | Garmin Customer Support

 

[yotter]

Paul,
Many thanks, I have the manual and I spoke to Garmin who were very helpful and emailed me a link to the configuration software. I had been trying ProAIS2, which does not seem to work with this product. Mnay thanks for your (always) wise words.