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Jolene said..

Ramona said..

Jolene said..

Ramona said..
The Daisy AIS requires a splitter or a separate aerial. If you need a new VHF then a combined unit like the Lowrance comes out far cheaper. The exchange rate and postage is the killer for the Daisy unit. Splitters are over 40 bucks.

www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Lowrance-Link-8-DSC-VHF-AIS-Radio.html

I have a link 8, It still needs a gps to be wired to provide the ais data.

Thanks for that Jolene. Makes the Standard Horizon GX2200 suddenly better value.

yeah, I was a little disappointed it wasn't a stand alone ais receiver. Have since installed a transponder unit and I now consider the link 8 an ais back up wired to a secondary gps if my primary chart plotter/MFD fails

The Standard Horizon 2200 has the GPS on the front panel and this is used instead of a GPS puck to drive OpenCPN. Plotter wont run both at the same time so the puck will be just as a standby.
If you were replacing all the nav station then the Standard Horizon 2200 or it's equivalent in other brands could be the basis of the whole unit. It's basically $300 dearer than a straight VHF radio but you wont need a SIRF4 chip puck at around $50. Wont need a splitter at $50 for a cheap one. The two channel Daisy is $132 plus postage. So for a reciever only AIS using the masthead aerial it's worth it. Offshore here I might get a contact every few days!

Mmmmm, lot of comments here by people I believe have never used an AIS receiver in a situation.

I have, and I can tell you that large ships will not answer you unless you call them by name [which you get from a AIS receiver]
and if you don't get the name correct or miss pronounce it, they won't answer either.

Calling them as 'large ship moving off Hay point' or at night as 'ship with lights north of me' Will not work.

So for coastal work at least I would recommend a receiver at a minimum, now how you configure that will depend on your pocket.
I use a DSC radio with a mast top aerial, an AIS receiver with its own aerial on my solar panels 2m off the water and a Chartplotter all joined together and with that system I can see other vessels over 40 nautical miles away.

Someone recommended an AIS receiver/transmitter to me today costing about $400 [look on ebay and google]

Its called: Matsutec HP33A [the A is important = Australia so you can insert your MMSI number]

Bite the bullet Steve and get a full AIS.

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nswsailor said..
So for coastal work at least I would recommend a receiver at a minimum, now how you configure that will depend on your pocket.
I use a DSC radio with a mast top aerial, an AIS receiver with its own aerial on my solar panels 2m off the water and a Chartplotter all joined together and with that system I can see other vessels over 40 nautical miles away.


Bite the bullet Steve and get a full AIS.

Totally agree!!

I have exactly the same setup & wouldn't be without it.

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Ramona said..

Jolene said..

Ramona said..
The Daisy AIS requires a splitter or a separate aerial. If you need a new VHF then a combined unit like the Lowrance comes out far cheaper. The exchange rate and postage is the killer for the Daisy unit. Splitters are over 40 bucks.

www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Lowrance-Link-8-DSC-VHF-AIS-Radio.html

I have a link 8, It still needs a gps to be wired to provide the ais data.

Thanks for that Jolene. Makes the Standard Horizon GX2200 suddenly better value.

l should have mentioned that your lat and long can be entered into the Link 8 radio manually to enable CPA , TCPA etc from targets to your static location,,,never tried it though .
And to clarify, the radio will show the vessels that are in radio range (displaying their telemetry) but without the GPS input, manual or real-time, the radio doesn't know where you are in relation to them,

I have been using my Standard Horizon 2200E for awhile now and I'm impressed. Offshore yesterday and I had AIS contacts at 25 miles. Very little shipping in my area these days and I'm sure it will have a much greater range. I had the CPA warning set at 10nm and was startled when the extremely loud alarm sounded. I was surprised as I did not have AIS on the screen but it obviously is working in the background as soon as the set is energised. I turned off the alarm now that I know it works. It would be impossible to sleep through that alarm! The radio reception is exceptional. Only downside I have found is contacts from people leaving their AIS transmitting on their moorings.

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Ramona said..
Only downside I have found is contacts from people leaving their AIS transmitting on their moorings.

Moorings & marinas!! Why do they do that???

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Lazzz said..

Ramona said..
Only downside I have found is contacts from people leaving their AIS transmitting on their moorings.

Moorings & marinas!! Why do they do that???

Does the ais transceiver vhf combo have an ais shut off ? Or an ais transmitting mute ? Not being a marina type, but if I was I would be tempted to use the vhf to order latte, or eves drop on whom maybe having mud cake and cappacino !

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woko said..

Lazzz said..

Ramona said..
Only downside I have found is contacts from people leaving their AIS transmitting on their moorings.

Moorings & marinas!! Why do they do that???

Does the ais transceiver vhf combo have an ais shut off ? Or an ais transmitting mute ? Not being a marina type, but if I was I would be tempted to use the vhf to order latte, or eves drop on whom maybe having mud cake and cappacino !

some transceivers have a silent mode in which if selected you can still receive data but not transmit

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Jolene said..

woko said..

Lazzz said..

Ramona said..
Only downside I have found is contacts from people leaving their AIS transmitting on their moorings.

Moorings & marinas!! Why do they do that???

Does the ais transceiver vhf combo have an ais shut off ? Or an ais transmitting mute ? Not being a marina type, but if I was I would be tempted to use the vhf to order latte, or eves drop on whom maybe having mud cake and cappacino !

some transceivers have a silent mode in which if selected you can still receive data but not transmit

In my Frenglish manuals the translation can get a bit loose. they call this the 'invisible' switch. That always springs to mind when I'm offshore on one of those moonless nights that's so dark you can't even see the kite. Or anything else for that matter.
For coastal stuff I think AIS is a godsend.
What sucks about it is that it is somewhat dependent upon screen size for ease of use and hence level of engagement/benefit.


.

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woko said..

Lazzz said..

Ramona said..
Only downside I have found is contacts from people leaving their AIS transmitting on their moorings.

Moorings & marinas!! Why do they do that???

Does the ais transceiver vhf combo have an ais shut off ? Or an ais transmitting mute ? Not being a marina type, but if I was I would be tempted to use the vhf to order latte, or eves drop on whom maybe having mud cake and cappacino !

Mine is a receive-only. But that's an interesting point and it would be handy for liveaboards to be able to shut off transmitting AIS while maintaining a listening watch on VHF. Lots of useful info from gossiping trawler operators in those areas where fishing boats are still operating!

Xinuo make a number of plotter/ais class B transponders, the FX607B is worth a look. The Chinese charts can be updated free and their world coverage is good but not detailed enough when you get away from the major ports in OZ. They accept C-Map so that's not a real problem. My only complaint was that the ship markers don't seem to be able to be cancelled and they can obscure nav detail if there is a lot of activity around. About $300 US. You can turn off the audio alarm in the marina.