Leopard 40: Installing AIS unit to 2017 Leopard 40

[Nicholson58]

We have a Watchmate 850, Vesper Marine. Excellent equipment. It is stand alone so at anchor it can remain on while you turn off the Nav. 7.5 watts I believe. It does anchor watch so this is its duty 95% of the time. It is NMEA so you can capture its signal for the chart plotter.

Ours has a dedicated antenna but Vesper also sells a reliable splitter.

[scott33308]

Originally Posted by theBigKahuna

We installed our vesper 8000 behind the switch panel. It's connected to our Axiom+ via a Seatalk conversion cable and up to our standard horizon VHF via NMEA 0183. We've been quite happy with it.

Cheers,

jBrad
sv Fuzzy Logic

I also have the Vesper 8000 and would recommend it. I LOVE the anchor watch feature.
Regarding the splitter - I also used Vesper's antenna splitter and have had been very happy with it.

[Sailing Hanse37]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Consider a dedicated "AIS" antenna lower down.
I say "AIS" antenna because these are designed specifically for the AIS frequencies and perform better than a standard VHF antenna.
The range 15-20Nm is achievable from big ships because their antenna are very high up, range for smaller vessels is not so much of an issue but we are still receiving signals from 10 Nm my AIS antenna is 3m off the water.
It is simple to install and having a second antenna low down and it can also be used by you VHF in an emergency if your mast comes down is a bonus.

Splitters do work but there can be annoying problems some VHF channels may be unusable. If there is a lot of traffic and you are also using the VHF a lot, because there is a lot of traffic it will greatly reduce the speed at which the AIS can collect data, it is quite a slow process. Power failure to the splitter usually defaults to the VHF but if this occurs it maybe sometime before you realise that you are not transmitting AIS signals.

Ok, some correction is needed here: AIS transmits on one of the VHF channels reserved for this use. As such a normal VHF antenna is fully adequate and a special AIS antenna does not exist except maybe a commercial hoax…

[Sailing Hanse37]

Originally Posted by theBigKahuna

Ours behaves the same, unfortunately. But we live with it. One benefit w/ the Vesper is that it has it's own WIFI network. So, we also connect our tablets toit to get AIS data on the tablets. That's been pretty handy!

In the plotter menu for your vessel details you have to set your MMSI number and solved

[Piscis]

Thanks a lot. Great posts!

John

[theBigKahuna]

Originally Posted by Piscis

Thanks! Our EMTrak does have wifi too.

So how did you setup your tablet to show your position on it? Which navigation software do you use?

On the tablet, i am using Navionics. We have an Axiom 9 installed at the helm. Not yet sure which navigation charts we will use there. Have to purchase a new SD card, because the charter company will take out the installed card...

John

we just connect the tablets to Vespers wifi and enable AIS data on the tablets Navionics.

[Piscis]

Thanks! Sounds easy.

[catsketcher]

Originally Posted by Sailing Hanse37

Ok, some correction is needed here: AIS transmits on one of the VHF channels reserved for this use. As such a normal VHF antenna is fully adequate and a special AIS antenna does not exist except maybe a commercial hoax…

VHF is a range of frequencies and AIS does not use the same frequencies as voice. So an antenna for AIS will be tuned slightly differently. I think that getting an AIS antenna is a perfectly sensible option if you are going to use a dedicated AIS antenna. Much more in the link.

https://www.milltechmarine.com/VHF-A...well_b_32.html

[Piscis]

Next month, we will be able to finally get the vessel handed over. First things i will install is the AIS and a Raymarine Q24W radar...

The AIS is required for us to enter Thailand, and the Radar is essential on that indian ocean crossing from the Seychelles to Thailand. Lots of traffic there and i dont want to relay only on the AIS.

Will let you guys know how all works out...

John

[Piscis]

After two months of usage of the B924 EM Trak AIS, i can say that the unit works great with the intigrated splitter and a Ray60 VHF sharig the same VHF antenna.

No issues so far. Only the Ray60 does not get any GPS information from the gps antenna or the SeatalkNg System. But that was an issue before the AIS install already.

Will open another post on the Raymarine issues i have... looks like some software or setup issues.

John