AIS wanted on my Cape Dory 25D

[n5ama]

I have a Garmen 740S chart plotter/radar on my CD 25D and would like to add AIS to this equipment. Is there some forum wisdom/recommendation about what I would need to make this happen.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[gonesail]

AIS recievers are usually available with VHF radios which can interface with your chart plotter. if you want a transmitter then it gets a little more involved. in a nutshell.

[n5ama]

Hi Gonesail,
I have the receiver part with my VHF radio but the radio isn't located in a easily viewed location from the cockpit like the chart plotter.

It would be much easier to use if I could see it without going below and also the radio has a really small display, (not suitable for 74 year old eyes). LOL

[n5ama]

I don’t seem to be getting much response on this thread.

Is this because there is no AIS available to mate with my VHF radio or is it better to have a stand-a-lone unit?

Thanks

[Sailmonkey]

Do you want to transmit AIS? If so, there are lots of options.

Do you just want to see AIS on your plotter? If so, just interface the radio with the ais receiver to the plotter. Your plotter accepts both 0183 and N2k inputs so should be trivial to connect the two.

[thomm225]

If you have AIS on your VHF you can route it to a monitor using a Raspberry Pi computer and RS 422/485 USB adapter

You would just use the NMEA output of the radio.

Or does you chart plotter accept NMEA inputs? (I only have the chart plotter I made with the RPi and OpenCPN. See video)

Here is my setup (see video, no pictures available on this computer) and when it's rough I position the monitor so I can see it from the cockpit inside the cabin but I have tiller steering/autopilot so I'm usually at the companionway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TOdSCDHb2s

[n5ama]

It seems that the Garmin 800 will be the best option for my setup. I haven’t heard anything negative on the 800 and the installation appears straightforward only drilling another hole for a cable to the plotter. Everything else remains in the cabin. A cable is provided to connect the 800 to my VHF radio and the only thing I have to do is extend the existing radio coax to the 800 and install a BNC connector on the radio coax.

[more]

Originally Posted by n5ama

I have a Garmen 740S chart plotter/radar on my CD 25D and would like to add AIS to this equipment. Is there some forum wisdom/recommendation about what I would need to make this happen.

Thanks in advance for any help.

your chart plotter have NMEA 2000 and support AIS. buy eny NMEA 2000 AIS and plug in chartploter over nmea2000
this is your ploter https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/101693#specs

[Snore]

This comes up frequently—- buy a Vesper xb-8000 with Wi-Fi. Why?

1-AIS on a radio alone is useless- can’t see it when things get sporty.

2-From experience, receive only AIS is nice, but they can’t always see you. Epspecially with a small boat.

3-Vesper as a stand-alone can be updated though your phone.

4-Vesper as a stand alone “jail breaks” your data so it is visible to third party apps like OpnCpn and Navionics.

5-on a passage you can turn off your MFD and use a phone or tablet to monitor AIS, using less elect

6-Vesper has a built in anchor alarm.

[n5ama]

Originally Posted by Snore

This comes up frequently—- buy a Vesper xb-8000 with Wi-Fi. Why?


5-on a passage you can turn off your MFD and use a phone or tablet to monitor AIS, using less elect

6-Vesper has a built in anchor alarm.

Great suggestion!! to defeat the transmitted signal when not needed thereby conserving battery.

Thanks

[Snore]

Originally Posted by n5ama

Great suggestion!! to defeat the transmitted signal when not needed thereby conserving battery.

Thanks

NOOOO!!!! The only time I have turned off the transmit is coming out of Panama off Nicaragua. I rarely rant, but here it goes….There are too many idiots who turn off AIS and some even turn off lights to save power.



If you have AIS transmit ability for safety sake, keep it on. It protects you from those who are saving 3-4 watts.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by n5ama

It seems that the Garmin 800 will be the best option for my setup. I haven’t heard anything negative on the 800 and the installation appears straightforward only drilling another hole for a cable to the plotter. Everything else remains in the cabin. A cable is provided to connect the 800 to my VHF radio and the only thing I have to do is extend the existing radio coax to the 800 and install a BNC connector on the radio coax.

I’ve had the Garmin 800 for three years. They have gone back and forth as to whether a mushroom antenna is advised per my pro who made the installation. His advice is to go with the mushroom, which I have installed belowdecks. Since it was added performance has improved so I would consider it a necessary addition regardless of what the current installation instructions advise.
As a side note I have a Standard Horizon VHF (GX2400) which incorporates an AIS receiver. It is a stand alone as my preference is to have independent back up systems.

[Donnybrook]

n5ama, You might get more input by changing the subject to AIS wanted on my Garmin 740S as electronics integration is mostly independent of boat type...

I started my AIS experience with a Standard Horizon GX2200 interfaced to a Windows tablet at the Nav station via NMEA 0183 (two wires from the radio to a NMEA USB adapter). When I added a Garmin Echomap 73sv chartplotter at the helm it was easy to get AIS targets to the chartplotter via NMEA 0183. I used existing wiring. If you need to add wiring, the cable requirements for NMEA 0183 are minimal so the wire is pretty small. This was great to see what ships were around me (assuming they were transmitting AIS) but I eventually wanted to be seen.

I added an em-Trak 953 AIS transponder this year. It includes a built-in antenna splitter so I could use my existing VHF antenna. Interfacing to the Garmin was super easy with NMEA 2000, literally plug and play. The em-Trak is also connected to a Raspberry PI based chartplotter at the nav table using NMEA 0183 to provide it GPS and AIS information.

Wifi access to the data is incredibly useful so consider adding at the same time. The only reason I did not buy an AIS transponder without it is because I already have access to the data via a Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 WIFI Gateway (WDWG-02).


To second Snore's suggestion, the only time I turn off my AIS transmit is when I'm at dock in a marina. I leave it on even at anchor.

I found the people at https://www.milltechmarine.com/ to be extremely helpful and their prices are competitive.

[n5ama]

Originally Posted by Snore

NOOOO!!!! The only time I have turned off the transmit is coming out of Panama off Nicaragua. I rarely rant, but here it goes….There are too many idiots who turn off AIS and some even turn off lights to save power.



If you have AIS transmit ability for safety sake, keep it on. It protects you from those who are saving 3-4 watts.

Wow thanks, This is my first time today to be called a idiot. I'm probably long overdue.

[n5ama]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

I’ve had the Garmin 800 for three years. They have gone back and forth as to whether a mushroom antenna is advised per my pro who made the installation. His advice is to go with the mushroom, which I have installed belowdecks. Since it was added performance has improved so I would consider it a necessary addition regardless of what the current installation instructions advise.
As a side note I have a Standard Horizon VHF (GX2400) which incorporates an AIS receiver. It is a stand alone as my preference is to have independent back up systems.

I'll look into the mushroom antenna. I guess the next thing is finding a mounting position out of the way but located to add performance. Does it have to be mounted convex side up or can it be mounted on a bulkhead?

I also have the Standard Horizon VHF but it's the older model GX2200. It does have the AIS receiver but the small display is one of the reasons I would like to display the data on my chart plotter in the cockpit.

Thanks