ais reciever advice please

[beerbelly]

hi first run out last weekend and an hour in the fog dropped on us to the extent I couldn't see the bow of the rib from the helm .luckily it was eerily flat calm. but to get back to the slip I had to rely on the nav which wasn't too much of an issue as its where I boat regularly and know where any hazards are. but I had to cross the entrance to the river Tees a very busy shipping channel (which was an arse nipping few mins ) . I know some will say I should have a radar reflector but I would prefer to see where ships are and just avoid them. so can I get an add on to my nav to give me an idea where ais equipped ships are around me . I have a Lowrance elite 5 any recommendations apreciated

[boristhebold]

Depends upon what inputs your gps/plotter will take, various makes of AIS black box type of equipement out there, you may also need additional connectivity in terms of antanee feeds etc.

Also various types of AIS out there, listen only or listen and transmit capability, class A and class B etc.

do some searching on google and have a read of the various types and products available.

I hate fog even with a decent chart plotter its so easy to be several metres out of position and if your navigating close inshore or in a channel that can be an issue, then there are people who drive their boats at speed in fog with no lights and no horn...grrrrr, and plotters are too slow to react which makes things worse, getting an additional more active electronic heading compass can help a bit also. Fog is always best avoided in my opinion.

[Last Tango]

Been through this, caught in fog a lot more often than foul weather and now on my third AIS so a couple of don'ts....

Matsutec......Not waterproof, lasted about two months.

Nasa............Can be made waterproof but steams up inside and very difficult to read even when it's not steamed up.

I'm now using an Icom MT500 TR that seems pretty good at the minute (transceiver) output is nmea0183 that's linked to a Garmin but it has it's own display that's much better for collision avoidance than the "clutter" on the plotter's screen. Aerial.....https://www.scoutantenne.com/en/category/ais_antennas/
better range than any VHF aerial I've encountered and not expensive although what's close is of more interest than what's 30 miles away.

[andrewjparish]

I have an ais receiver built into my icom m506 vhs - has its own small screen and talks to my chart plotter via nmea 2000 or nmea0183 works well so far. As an alternative to a receiver there are some websites that relay ais information. I guess there is a bit of lag but better than nothing in the fog. Google marinetraffic

[beerbelly]

thanks for the input folks some useful tips and brand names thanks more research needed I think

[breezeblock]

I use the digital yacht ais it transmits across n2k to the plotter and the radio it works quite well as the targets show up on the plotter so it makes it dead easy to work out where and who they are

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by beerbelly

thanks for the input folks some useful tips and brand names thanks more research needed I think

IF it was me, I’d go the extra mile & fit a transponder. It’s nearly the same amount of work.
You increase your margin of safety, in theory. Hopefully the other guy will be trying to avoid you as hard as you’re trying to dodge him. If people only fitted receivers, who would they receive ? Apart from commercial vessels over 300gt that is.
As an aside, afaik, it’s a legal requirement to fit a radar reflector if practicable.

[Tim M]

Cheapest and easiest (and probably the most reliable) AIS receiver on a RIB would be a VHF with built in AIS. Plug and play installation - will give you a list and graphical indication of AIS targets on the built in screen (both class A and B) along with closest points of approach etc etc along with target names, MMSIs etc if you need to call them up:

https://www.marinesuperstore.com/mar...th-ais-and-gps

https://www.marinesuperstore.com/mar...h-ais-receiver

[GuyC]

I haven't used them yet but these seem quite good. They sell transponders but I'd agree with PD that fitting a transponder is probably a good way to go.

https://www.em-trak-uk.com/