AIS Range

[TxCoastSailor]

How far away do you folks pick up AIS targets?

My range is about 10nm even for large commercial vessels. Seems like I should be able to see them farther out.

TCS

[robert sailor]

Yes 10 miles is not that far for class A units. We often get close to 3 times that but 10 miles is still much better than nothing. It is usually where your antenna is mounted that can make a difference as well as a clean non coroded cable.

[Weyalan]

1. raise your AIS antenna higher.
2. use good quality co-ax for minimum loss.

[MYTraveler]

Routinely 100+ nm. Class A (which wouldn't affect reception range, as far as I know). Antenna at about 35'

[model 10]

Ours is on the arch ( 10') and we see ships at 24 miles.

[Cap Erict3]

Antenna is about 16' off the water. Normally see about 15 miles.


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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by TxCoastSailor

How far away do you folks pick up AIS targets?

My range is about 10nm even for large commercial vessels. Seems like I should be able to see them farther out.

TCS

Is there a reason you need to see others when they are at more than 10nm?

[JPA Cate]

Approx. 66 ft. antenna height; ships 100+ mi.; sailboats, varies, depends on how high their transmitting antenna is.

[MSN-Travelers]

My AIS receive is a function of my SH GX2150 vhf radio. Antenna is 40 feet up and I "see" class A transmitters 25-30 nm away.

[DeepFrz]

The answers would be much more meaningful if people listed what AIS unit they were using, the type of coax and how high the antenna was and where it was mounted. Just like MSN-Travelers did.

[Fog Bank]

From our berth in the east bay, we pick up ships well outside Golden Gate.

[TxCoastSailor]

Thanks for all for the replies. Sounds like I need to check the cabling from the the antenna to the AIS unit. I may change out the cable running up the mast with a lower loss type. Not sure I have the best antenna either.

As to why I might want a larger range, if I'm closing with a ship at a relative speed of 25 knots I will be on top of him in 24 minutes. That might sound like a lot of time but it really isn't particularly if there is only one person on watch and they need to wake a crew member to help tack or gybe.

[nigel1]

I'm using a Vespermarine WMX850 transceiver, connected to the VHF antenna via a vespermarine antenna splitter.
Cable is RG8X, antenna mounted 60 feet above waterline.

AIS targets seen up to 100 miles.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by TxCoastSailor

How far away do you folks pick up AIS targets?

My range is about 10nm even for large commercial vessels. Seems like I should be able to see them farther out.

TCS

I don't want to sound silly - but what range have to set your AIS signal to? Usually you can set this in your plotter. I've set mine at 20nm - but I could set it a 30 or more. You might want to check your settings.

[FamilyVan]

I have a SH GX2200. Range for ships is about 10 miles. I just have a 6' whip antenna mounted on my stern.

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