AIS integration

[callistov42]

I have RayMarine I70 instruments and a RayMarine C-95 MFD. I want to add AIS. A friend strongly recommended the Vesper "smart" AIS. Would it function and integrate properly with my RayMarine system? Is the Vesper really better that the RayMarine AIS?
Also, is anyone using the Furuno wireless radar? I am becoming accustomed to navigating from my iPad in the cockpit with my Navionics app and really like the idea of not having to install another MFD in the cockpit. Does the Furuno radar work well?

[Cool Hand Luke]

Also looking to add AIS to my sailboat. I was looking at the iCom MA-500TR:

https://www.icomamerica.com/en/produ...r/default.aspx

Were you thinking of something like that? Would anyone recommend the iCom?

[callistov42]

Luke, I would prefer not to have another screen. I was hoping that my AIS would display on my MFD or even better... my IPad Navonics charts.

[Wayne hoath]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke

Also looking to add AIS to my sailboat. I was looking at the iCom MA-500TR:

https://www.icomamerica.com/en/produ...r/default.aspx

Were you thinking of something like that? Would anyone recommend the iCom?

The ICOM is a good ais but doesn’t have WiFi which these days is a good feature to allow you to connect it to other devices. I used to have icom but moved to vesper WatchMate vision 2 which I can highly recommend.

[Wayne hoath]

Originally Posted by callistov42

Luke, I would prefer not to have another screen. I was hoping that my AIS would display on my MFD or even better... my IPad Navonics charts.

Personally I like the idea of redundancy. I display my ais on iPad overlaid on navionics and also as an overlay on my furuno radar but if any of that network connectivity fails I like that I have a screen to look at.

[callistov42]

Wayne, so the Vesper AIS does overlay on Navonics charts?
I am thinking about buying the Furuno radar so it is good to know the Vesper AIS will display there also. Do you think I can assume it will also display on my RayMarine MFD down below?
Thanks!

[michaeld]

We have the Vesper Cortex. The NMEA 2000 interface works flawlessly with our Garmin chart plotter.

[maclysaght]

I’ve currently got a receive-only AIS, which overlays nicely on my Garmin chart plotter. But I would like to add a transmit/receive AIS. Possibly the Vesper. But I like the idea of keeping my old receiver as a backup/redundancy.

Curious if anyone knows what happens when you have two sources of AIS data?

Thanks,
Rory

[Wayne hoath]

Originally Posted by callistov42

Wayne, so the Vesper AIS does overlay on Navonics charts?
I am thinking about buying the Furuno radar so it is good to know the Vesper AIS will display there also. Do you think I can assume it will also display on my RayMarine MFD down below?
Thanks!

Vesper works with navionics over WiFi. It’s on the supported list of products. For radar (well for my furuno 1835) it’s tied together via a cable. The WatchMate vision 2 is a transponder and a great anchor alarm too. Not cheap but good value.

[Wayne hoath]

Originally Posted by callistov42

Wayne, so the Vesper AIS does overlay on Navonics charts?
I am thinking about buying the Furuno radar so it is good to know the Vesper AIS will display there also. Do you think I can assume it will also display on my RayMarine MFD down below?
Thanks!

Meant to add. Check the supported products for your raymarine MFD. I suspect it will be on there but best to be sure.

[maclysaght]

I'm also looking at Vesper. I currently have an ICOM AIS receiver which works well. But I want to also transmit my location. Since I already have the receiver, if I add a transceiver, will my original AIS detect my own vessel as a target?

[goboatingnow]

Stay within the ray marine walled garden.

[Tillsbury]

I use the vesper xb8000, giving ais as well as transmitting all nmea data via wifi. Appears perfectly on my raymarine MFD but mostly I use an iPad with SeaIQ, where it's so much better. The MFD is nice to have as an emergency backup though.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke

Also looking to add AIS to my sailboat. I was looking at the iCom MA-500TR:

https://www.icomamerica.com/en/produ...r/default.aspx

Were you thinking of something like that? Would anyone recommend the iCom?

Our boat came with that ICOM AIS, with two NMEA 0183 talker wires connected directly to the Raymarine E95 plotter. The ICOM MA-500TR works very well and has a decent button-driven interface. However, it is an extra screen on your panel and as someone else points out doesn’t have its own WiFi. That’s not a bad thing though, as who wants each piece of equipment sending out its own WiFi signal?

We’ve recently upgraded to a Raymarine Axiom+ plotter that doesn’t have NMEA 0183 input, so we added an Actisense NGW-1-AIS gateway. The ICOM MA-500TR’s MEA 0183 talker wires are connected to the gateway, which in turn is connected to our SeatalkNG network. The plotter is connected to the SeatalkNG network and gets the AIS signal from the network.

The AIS is also connected on two other NMEA channels (it has three NMEA 0183 input and output channels, two for general NMEA data and one for AIS NMEA data) to our ICOM VHF and HF radios to provide GPS data for their respective DSC communications.

We have a Yacht Devices WiFi Gateway YDWG-02R on our SeatalkNG network, set up as a client of our boat’s network. This means that any phone, tablet and computer can stay connected to our boat’s network via cable or WiFi and get all the navigation information that it wants, as well as Internet if that’s available. No switching between networks depending on what you want to do, though of course we do have to power a router to keep the network active.

If we were to replace the ICOM AIS we would go with one of the new integrated VHF radio/AIS class B transceiver units (such as one of these Simrad units https://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-n...hf-radios-ais/) and again connect it to our SeatalkNG network, and of course get rid of both the AIS and VHF units. The Vesper 8000 units are nice, but most plotters have all the same functions so why pay for that twice?