Why have dedicated AIS display

[wsfenix2002]

Thanks,Thanks,Thanks, to all. New sailor, I go to leave in cruise with the wife in 2014, catamaran Leopard, am learning very with the discussions, very important.

Wanderley

[tyqchur]

I have a question for you owners of dedicated AIS displays, where did you mount your display? Did you mount the display at the helm, over the companion way or at the nav station.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by tyqchur

I have a question for you owners of dedicated AIS displays, where did you mount your display? Did you mount the display at the helm, over the companion way or at the nav station.

Over the companionway

[beetle]

Vesper WAtchmate Vision transponder and integrated display is mounted below at the nav station. It has its own display, and also sends AIS data via NMEA to the laptop runing Coastal Explorer, and the AIS targets appear overlaid on the chart. The VHF radio is also in the nav station, sso when I want to communicate with an AIS target all the tools are right there to make the call.

The electronics on deck are boat performance instruments and an iPad in a sealed case, the iPad can display and control the laptop via a remote desktop type application (splashtop). The ipad is usually only in use in heavy fog or at night. So far it has worked well, with the important and/or fragile instruments kept belowdecks and out of the weather, and the portable display in a case (ipad) on deck is small enough to put in a sheet bag when you're done looking at it.

-rob/beetle

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by tyqchur

I have a question for you owners of dedicated AIS displays, where did you mount your display? Did you mount the display at the helm, over the companion way or at the nav station.

With the Vesper BX-8000, it's a Wifi. You can take it anywhere you like as long as it stays dry.

For the most part I would keep it on the chart table but at times I would bring it up into the cockpit to ID vessels at night when I could see their lights.

[CPYB Sailor]

We had a WEST Marine AIS aboard our Moody 44 and have about 8,000 mi. experience with it - offshore and along the ICW. It is linked and displays with our Garmin Chartlotters (4212 and 4208). The identifiers on the screen are fantastic and all of the information you want is there, right in front of you. For a video of how it all comes together, visit my uTube entry:

AIS.MOV/Aboard s/v Caribbean Soul - YouTube

[jeffrobbins]

Here's a few photos a customer sent me of a WatchMate Vision installed on his Voyage Yachts 440 Catamaran. The laptop and screen at the chart table receive their data via WiFi to the WatchMate Vision at the helm.

[ka4wja]

tyqchur,
I have a Vesper WatchMate Display mounted at my Nav Station, but can also view AIS targets on both my E-80 (at Nav Station) and E-120 (in the cockpit)...

If I didn't have a cockpit mounted chartplotter, I would have a second Vesper WatchMate in the cockpit...

Here are some photos of my Vesper WatchMate AIS Display...













I hope this helps...

John
s/v Annie Laurie

[limte]

We have the Vesper transponder mounted on a Ram mount so that it can be viewed from either the helm or the nav area. Since our radar is down below at the nav area, we frequently view both while sitting in the companionway on the bridge deck. Although the Vesper is a great unit, its limitations were made pretty clear to us last summer while returning from Nova Scotia, during a day of dense fog. The AIS had indicated many fishing boats and larger commerial vessals throughout the day, and we had established radio contact as needed. Later in the afternoon, I noted a large target on the radar, with no corresponding target on the AIS unit. Visibility had been less than a quarter mile all day, but oddly at that moment a bit of clearing gave us a view of the radar target at approx. 1 mile--a very large container ship under power with no AIS operational.
Bob Shulman
S/V Timothy Lee

[Harryws]

Your issue is not with the AIS Watchmate but with the ship which is required by law to transmit an AIS signal. Radar and AIS are just aids to navigation. Your eye is also an aid. From experience no AIS signal happens all the time with USA warships and Coast Guard vessels. Why they don't send a signal I don't know.
I have found AIS and the attached alarm far more reliable than Radar and a radar guard area but use both when required.

[limte]

We have no issue with the Vesper transponder, as I noted in my post, it is a great aid, and adds a considerable amount of security. What I was suggesting is that it should generally be used in conjunction with radar in conditions of poor visibility, since not all required vessels will have operational AIS, and many (in some areas most) fishing boats, lobster boats, recreational boats, will not have AIS at all. I'm uncertain what you mean by AIS being more reliable than radar, since in many cases they don't really serve the same function. In poor visibility, the ability to navigate in close proximity to hazards is greatly aided by radar. The presence of land contours, buoys and other aids on a radar screen is not a function of AIS, and although a good chartplotter will graphically present this information, it may not always be as accurate or reliable as radar.
Bob Shulman
S/V Timothy Lee

[tyqchur]

Paul l, Beetle, delmarrey, CPYBSailor, Jeffrabins, Ka4wja and limte;

Thanks for your descriptions of your AIS setups, very helpful and quite impressive. I guess I have my work cut out for me this winter!

Thanks again for your help,

Gary
s/v Innamorata

[Harryws]

Limte you are absolutely right. Radar, AIS and chartplotter all have different functions. Having the skill to use all lead to a safer passage but different sailing locations demand different tools.
Try watching a radar on a stormy night while 400 nm from land to look out for ships and you will soon see the advantage of AIS with an alarm.
A stand alone low amp usage AIS unit in sight of your night watch position is the optimum

[wingssail]

The most important reasons are power consumption and BETTER ALARMS!

Most chart plotters and other ais units have alarm logic which is difficult to deal with at sea in rough conditions (too many nuisance alarms due to wave action on the boat's heading) or with too many targets in a crowded harbor. The Vesper unit leads the way in this. Its a product built by boaters who actually know what we need. Good Job.