AIS system-gctid341785

[Guest]

I am contemplating adding an AIS (automatic identification system) to complement the radar and chartplotter that I currently use. On another boat the captain was able to "see" a large canadian ferry leaving port that the radar would have missed due to a land mass between the boat and the ferry.

So far my research shows a simple receiver only for a few hundred to a send/receive unit for several thousand. I intend to wire it into my standard horizon chartplotter (c170).

I am leaning toward a receive only (I see the other AIS equipped boats but they don't see me) with a splitter from my existing antenna. In other words the cheaper one.

Does anyone have any experience with the different systems that are out there for sale? I am curious about how much better the more expensive ones are.

I have read that a dedicated antenna that is tuned to the AIS channels works better but I assume that a splitter from the existing antenna will work but maybe not have as great a range.

thanks

[Guest]

I have the Standard Horizon GX2150 VHF with a built in AIS receiver. No need for separate antennae. It shows targets on the chartplotter. If you want to upgrade your VHF radio this would be a good way to go. They sell for just over $300.00 online.

I really liked the performance of the unit last summer.

[Guest]

I, too, have the Standard Horizon. I tried a seperate 'black box' receiver for about the same price as the S/H, but it didn't last long. I boat a lot in the Santa Barbara Channel with lots of big ships bearing down on us. I think the AIS system is often more usful than radar because it gives me a lot more info to avoid ships. The class B ones are okay, but I think that unless you are in an area that is loaded with ship traffic putting out your own info can overwelm the ships with info, and they can't manuver much to stay out of your way anyway. Cost and ease of operation and eae of installation....can't beat S/H IMHO.

[Guest]

I have a Garmin AIS receiver and an AIS/VHF all tied into my NEMA network After one season of use I plan to upgrade to a send and receive The Garmin unit is less than one boat buck

[SomeSailor]

I would agree with Bill's approach. More important than you seeing them on AIS... is them seeing you.

[mmichellich]

Russ wrote:
I am contemplating adding an AIS (automatic identification system) to complement the radar and chartplotter that I currently use. On another boat the captain was able to "see" a large canadian ferry leaving port that the radar would have missed due to a land mass between the boat and the ferry.

So far my research shows a simple receiver only for a few hundred to a send/receive unit for several thousand. I intend to wire it into my standard horizon chartplotter (c170).

I am leaning toward a receive only (I see the other AIS equipped boats but they don't see me) with a splitter from my existing antenna. In other words the cheaper one.

Does anyone have any experience with the different systems that are out there for sale? I am curious about how much better the more expensive ones are.

I have read that a dedicated antenna that is tuned to the AIS channels works better but I assume that a splitter from the existing antenna will work but maybe not have as great a range.

thanks

I just did the exact same thing, receive only. No mods to any older VHF radio needed. Does exactly what I need. You do get about a half db loss in VHF signal to your radio without a 2nd antenna dedicated to AIS. There is a company in Seattle area that makes the lowest cost AIS units. I went with a lower cost Garmin so it would easily interface with my Garmin chart plotter. It is handy to see the big guys out there that are hidden by land masses or that are coming up behind you in the fog. I did note that many Canadian commercial vessels do not use the AIS tho, several tug boats, fishing boats, crabbers, shrimpers, etc. Make sure you can easily turn off the alarm signal as you come into port many skippers leave their AISs on and it sometimes can be disconcerting as you enter a harbor or port for the proximity or collision alarm to go off.

[Dave_Stevens]

I had a receive only AIS Black Box for several years (~$200) and last year upgraded to a West Marine Class B transmit & receive (~$500). It works great but you must understand that class B transmits at lower power than class A. Class B also requires a dedicated VHF antenna whereas a receive only AIS will work with an antenna splitter. The typical range of a class A transmit is 5-7 miles compared with 20-30 for class A. The advantage of class B is that the Vessel Traffic Control can "see" you as well as commercial skippers. Generally, you can expect a bit more "respect" if you know several stations are watching you.

[Guest]

I've have an older single channel black box AIS receiver connected to a 4 ft ais Digital Antenna (~$90) hooked up to a computer and Raymarine chart plotter for about 5 years which has worked pretty well. However, it didn't update the data from the ships very often which meant that the ship icon would disappear from the screen for a few minutes until the next update. I just replaced the receiver with the 2675 ACR Nauticast AIS Receiver which is two channel ($118 from

http://sailsmarine.com/ItemDetail.as...–_AIS_Receiver ) and it works great. You're looking at spending about $210 for a receiver plus antenna which can connect to any chart plotter and/or computer. Something to consider.

Good luck.

Mike

Sea Shanti

1990 3288MY

[JimMc]

Class B AIS has a transmit rate of only once every 30 seconds. So if you are moving fast and only appearing/refreshing every 30 seconds on the receiving screen you can be somewhat hard to track.

Also the big guys running Class A AIS can choose to filter out Class B signals if they want.

A recent article also discussed the confusion caused by displays showing radar images and Class B Ais and how it could cause a single fast moving boat to appear as two targets.

--------

I have a Furuno Class B AIS transciever (send & receive) interfaced to my Furuno Navnet3D MFD12.

I bought this to see the big ships and their info. The Admiral loves ship watching. If the big guys know I am out there it's a plus.

[SomeSailor]

JimMc wrote:
Also the big guys running Class A AIS can choose to filter out Class B signals if they want.

I've seen SOLAS Class B units in action. You can't filter the signals out, but they do turn off the data on most all targets and annotate manually or use the default icon. When in restricted maneuvering, every boat gets a visual identification on top of the Radar plot. Given the choice, I'd much rather they see me than me see them.

[dmcb]

SomeSailor wrote:
I've seen SOLAS Class B units in action. You can't filter the signals out, but they do turn off the data on most all targets and annotate manually or use the default icon. When in restricted maneuvering, every boat gets a visual identification on top of the Radar plot. Given the choice, I'd much rather they see me than me see them.

Mike, I am curious about your reply. Even if they see you they cannot move out of the way quickly. You can. Wouldn't it be better for us smaller boats to take the lead here?

Doug

[Guest]

I've used the ship finder appy on my ipad but noticed the update is slower then I would like to see, but at least I know the vessels are in the area.

Kinda nice to have the ipad on board for multiple uses, can do Anchor watch, Navionics, ship finder, weather etc.

[mmichellich]

SomeSailor wrote:
I've seen SOLAS Class B units in action. You can't filter the signals out, but they do turn off the data on most all targets and annotate manually or use the default icon. When in restricted maneuvering, every boat gets a visual identification on top of the Radar plot. Given the choice, I'd much rather they see me than me see them.

I always figured the big ships had a much better radar than me, great vessel traffic system information with high powered shore radars in main channels, so my number one priority was to know where they were, especially in the fog or limited visibility. I find the AIS most useful for locations like Rich Passage in Puget Sound where there are very very large passenger/car/truck ferries moving very fast through a snake like narrow channel and my radar can not see them around corners. Remember there are 4 or 5 of those big boys (500 feet long) running both directions at least 18 hours per day or more. Then there are the 100 foot passenger only ferries running even faster in the same channel. I do not want them sneaking up behind me when I am going only 8 knots to save fuel and they are running 20 knots with little room for me to get out of the way and only a hundred yards between them and me when they clear a corner.

[capt._ron]

I like the idea on the river of knowing where the tows are & their names to call for passing. Also knowing their position in relation to the locks, should I slow down because one is far enough ahead that I'll have to wait at the lock. There may be one ahead that I can speed up & lock thru before they get to the lock. I have a site bookmarked on my phone that tells me what pool tows are in but not their position in the pool, it will tell me if they are locking. The iPad AIS app may be enough but may not update fast enough. A new gps is on the list so a AIS receiver might as well be to.

[SomeSailor]

dmcb wrote:
Mike, I am curious about your reply. Even if they see you they cannot move out of the way quickly. You can. Wouldn't it be better for us smaller boats to take the lead here?

Doug

If they see you... they won't be as likely to run ya down. You can stop an aircraft carrier within a length of the boat (contrary to popular myths) and the last thing they wanna do is fill out the paperwork for running over a 30' Bayliner.

I would agree to stay out of their way. But if that fails... it's nice to know that someone is being paid to watch for knuckleheads out there.

I'm not saying AIS is bad... just that AIS send/rcv is much better...