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**boatman61** · 29-08-2020, 08:38

As a delivery skipper and still like to sail my own boat (when I buy one) this is my choice..

KEY FEATURES. Nomad is a new, portable AIS transponder with built-in GPS from Digital Yacht. Designed for recreational boaters and professional mariners, it offers a full function, Class B AIS transponder with a wireless and USB interface built in for tablets and PCs – all in a portable, compact package.

georgy.goshin · 29-08-2020, 08:45

Main reason to have the ais is to be seen be large ships. Passive ais is useless, get the radar then.

HeinSdL · 29-08-2020, 08:52

I have this one: https://www.easyais.com/produkte/ais-sendeempfaenger

Not so cheap, though depends on the features you choose to incorporate.

Was a bit surprised about not wanting WIFI. We have a selection of iPads with iNavX, ideal for using anywhere on board, including when I'm down below taking a break, can see what's going on. (And yes, there is also someone keeping watch on deck.) I don't have any other navigation screens on board.

Then the built in antenna splitter is handy: the unit takes care of the VHF and the radio receiver all using the same antenna.

Built in GPS, OK if only plastic overhead as is the case with me. Otherwise it needs an external antenna.

So a stand alone unit and if it breaks, well it will go offline, the VHF gets the antenna and we're back to the paper charts and other position keeping devices (an old Raymarine GPS receiver, which if that fails, well a bit of good old dead reckoning in that case).

barnakiel · 29-08-2020, 09:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgy.goshin

Main reason to have the ais is to be seen be large ships. Passive ais is useless, get the radar then.

It is not useless. You may see the ship sooner, you see exactly what that ship is doing, how fast approaching, how far off passing, and its name, mmsi and you name it.

A passive AIS helps make good decisions and contact the ship if in doubt.

You are 100% right, imho, about an active (transponder) unit being a huge step up - now the ships can see us too.

I have read somewhere that the newer SOTDMA are better in many ways than the earlier pre-SOTDMA units.

So when upgrading our gear here, we will move from a receiver to a SOTDMA transponder.

Cheers,
b.

thomm225 · 29-08-2020, 10:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Alarms will not work when the target coming at you has no AIS transmissions. Also, the delivery captain has no real choice as he can’t take a transponder with transmit antenna and correctly programmed MMSI.

The whole idea of using a receiver is flawed and Gerrit touches at the core of it: boats must transmit AIS or it won’t work. Also, traffic will stop “coming at you” when you transmit AIS because that traffic will adjust course to keep enough distance. Just transmitting your AIS does that for you, no course corrections required. Yes there are exceptions; on our passage from Panama to Florida we saw a little ferry in the Bahamas that did not have AIS.

Well actually a delivery skipper can take an AIS receiver with him and plug it in to any boat he would be delivering.

Most offshore boats especially ships these day have an AIS transponder so you are probably fine with your receiver only and set the alarm.

That an stand watch or set your egg timer if you are freaking out in an empty ocean as a single hander

thomm225 · 29-08-2020, 11:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgy.goshin

Main reason to have the ais is to be seen be large ships. Passive ais is useless, get the radar then.

Most all (probably all these days) ships have AIS. Set the alarm on your receiver.

I have yet to see a ship come in here without AIS turned on. And we get lots of them

I can see three right now coming and going. They are from Denmark, the Bahamas, and Norway.

I just docked. There were storms in the area so I was out playing with my reefing setup. Gusts to maybe 25-30 but I was near shore and could stand on the edge of the cockpit sit when the boat rolled to about 45 degrees over

barnakiel · 29-08-2020, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeinSdL

(...)

Was a bit surprised about not wanting WIFI.

(...)

Wifi can be had via a nmea-wifi bridge. As long as the AIS device outputs AIS data via wired connection - and most do.

---

If your wifi bridge is the AIS device then we assume this device has a multiplexer and will forward all other boat data to wifi. But how many do?

Sending the AIS data to the multiplekser and then onto the nmea-wifi bridge helps you avoid having 2 wifi boat data networks onboard and switching between these.

While swapping Apps is easy, swapping wifi networks is cumbersome and requires swiping, touching, selecting, then swiping back, touching, connecting ... on most mobile devices I have used.

b.