AIS & Raymarine e7 - Set up..

[zooplax]

Hi All

Just looking at setting up AIS with a new chartplotter (Raymarine e7)

There seems to be a huge price variation between receivers and transponders... and then VHF integrating products.. All i want is the simplest way to get AIS working on my Raymarine e7 for a reasonable price.

Can anyone confirm or guide me in what direction I require to go?.. Has anyone done this set up themselves? whats the difference between a £700 transponder by Raymarine and a £200 transponder by NASA?? they seem to do the same thing, are you just paying for the name?

1, If I only want to see what boats are out there then I only need a Receiver right? (Class A & Class B) + a VHF Antenna for it - this will then connect with my chart plotter and give me AIS. would this one work? http://www.nasamarine.com/proddetail...rod=ais_engine

2, If I want to show where I am and view other boats with AIS then I need a AIS transponder + VHF Antenna for it and then this will connect direct to my chart plotter. (does this need to be Class A & Class B)?? would this do: Comar Systems AST 200

3, Is there a VHF radio / AIS transponder that works with my chartplotter? for example Simrad RS90 Simrad RS90 VHF - Simrad Marine Electronics or Standard Horizon Fixed VHF with AIS GX2100E Standard Horizon GX2100E Matrix DSC VHF with AIS Receiver | allGadgets Marine

OR... Is there some other way i have not listed above that is more convenient, easier to set up and cost effective?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you have with them.

[a64pilot]

I just installed my Vesper XB-9000 this weekend and will be looking soon for a Radar / plotter, so far the e series is in contention, I'm largely looking for a plotter that is Wifi to send and receive data wirelessly.
I believe unless your a really large vessel, class B is all you need in a transponder. I wanted one that was Wifi so it could easily connect to an Ipad and a Laptop running Open CPN, the Vesper fit that.
I'm trying to find out if the e series will connect to the Vesper and receive AIS targets via Wifi or not.
If you only want a receiver, I believe a radio that has an integrated receiver will pass AIS targets to your e series plotter via NMEA 0183. I know my Vesper passes AIS targets and GPS position data to my SH GX-2000 radio via NMEA 0183, just remember AIS I believe requires "high speed" baud rate, 38,400 not 4,800?

I wanted a transponder, to see and be seen. I went with an antenna splitter as opposed to a dedicated AIS antenna, splitter works better, but does not have the redundancy that a second antenna does of course.

Many ways to skin a cat of course, just this is what I did is all. Installation and set-up couldn't have been easier

[Prairie Chicken]

We've just purchased the a9 series plotter. The a series now has wifi too, fyi. We have the SH Matrix GX2200 with the AIS receiver and it will connect to the plotter.

[Annie in WA]

We have a Raymarine e7 and a Standard Horizon GX2150 set up to receive (but not transmit) AIS. One of the neat things is that you can get a Standard Horizon RAM 3 remote handheld controller that you can use from the cockpit that allows you to use the VHF with a small AIS screen from the cockpit. Sometimes it is handier to use the RAM for a quick AIS check rather than the e7. Overall, it is great to have the VHF capability in the cockpit. The chartplotter does connect via NMEA 0183. I think the Baud 38,400 is correct, too. You might want to get on Raymarine's Technical Forum if you aren't already.

The other thing about this setup is that we didn't have to add another antenna at the masthead. On our boat it gets crowded up there, as does the stern.

We're cruising Mexico right now and AIS is handy, for sure.

[zooplax]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

We've just purchased the a9 series plotter. The a series now has wifi too, fyi. We have the SH Matrix GX2200 with the AIS receiver and it will connect to the plotter.

Thanks for the input

Is it right then since you have the VHF radio which receives AIS you then have this linked with a NMEA 0183 to your Raymarine chartplotter? So when you go to your Raymarine chart plotter (a or e Series) your AIS is working on the actual Raymarine chart Plotter?

Meaning you don't need a separate AIS transponder or Separate AIS Receiver or a separate antenna to get the AIS on your ray marine chartplotter?..

[hoppy]

I have the RM e7 & their AIS650 transponder. Until recently I also had an old Garmin GPS.

Installing the AIS was dead easy, I already had an antenna splitter from an earlier AIS, so all I needed to do was to connect the power, VHF antenna, GPS puck and SeatalkNG cable and it was ready to work (ok running the GPS wire was a PITA). Wiring up the Garmin to also receive the AIS via NMEA was a little more of a challenge, but not that much of a big deal.

I think that the key thing about getting a RM unit will be that they will be better integrated, how much better I don't know. Might be worth looking at your e7 manual to see what AIS features don't work with NMEA.

Personally I think that if you are going anywhere where receiving AIS will be of use, then transmitting your AIS will also be of use and you should get a transponder.

[Garrettw]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I'm trying to find out if the e series will connect to the Vesper and receive AIS targets via Wifi or not.

I have a Vesper and an e95 plotter. The e series plotters do not send or receive NMEA data, in the raw, over WIFI. You have to have the Vesper hooked up into the SeaTalkng network. From there you can set the Vesper to login into the Raymarine WiFi hotspot instead of being its own network. Doing that gets you all of your NMEA data over WiFi and also the ability to remotely control the plotter (with the Raymarine app) while on the same WiFi network.

[Annie in WA]

To (try to) be clearer about my first post:
Yes, we get AIS signals on our Raymarine e7 chartplotter that were generated by our Standard Horizon VHF GX2150 through NMEA 0183. We do not have a separate AIS transponder, receiver, or antenna.

The difference between AIS info from the RM e7 chartplotter screen and the SH VHF screen with this setup is that the RM chartplotter doesn't show boat names that the VHF screen does show. In almost all cases, I have only seen MMSI numbers from the RM chartplotter. That's why I frequently consult both when I really want to know the name of a boat that I am seeing on both screens. One other difference is that the RM chartplotter seems to show targets from distances further away than those that show up on the SH VHF screen. Illogical, I know, but it does.

BTW, I find that the search function with the e7 online manual to be really clunky. Searches one word at a time only, takes forever, and difficult to find the results on the display. I've downloaded the manual to use my computer's search function.

[Prairie Chicken]

Originally Posted by zooplax

Thanks for the input

Is it right then since you have the VHF radio which receives AIS you then have this linked with a NMEA 0183 to your Raymarine chartplotter? So when you go to your Raymarine chart plotter (a or e Series) your AIS is working on the actual Raymarine chart Plotter?

Meaning you don't need a separate AIS transponder or Separate AIS Receiver or a separate antenna to get the AIS on your ray marine chartplotter?..

That's correct. The radio uses NMEA 0183 protocol to share coordinates with a GPS chart plotter. (Confirmed from the SH Matrix 2200 manual, pg. 17, available on line.)

The radio is a receiver only, not a transponder. You don't need a separate antenna or receiver to get the AIS on the chart plotter.

I should add this is the info we've obtained from the manuals, knowledgeble salesperson, and Raymarine & SH manuals/web sites. In truth, we have yet to install the plotter so hopefully all will work as expected. Our bigger concern is running the NMEA cable from the radio at the chart table to the plotter at the helm. We hope but doubt we can connect the two via the RAM mic at the helm.

PS, thanks Annie. Good info to know.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Annie in WA

The difference between AIS info from the RM e7 chartplotter screen and the SH VHF screen with this setup is that the RM chartplotter doesn't show boat names that the VHF screen does show. In almost all cases, I have only seen MMSI numbers from the RM chartplotter. That's why I frequently consult both when I really want to know the name of a boat that I am seeing on both screens. One other difference is that the RM chartplotter seems to show targets from distances further away than those that show up on the SH VHF screen. Illogical, I know, but it does.

Do you see the speed and direction? Do you get the CPA and warnings that a target will be entering the safety zone within XX minutes?

I like that I can display the AIS target's course vector which makes it easier to understand the CPA and what action to take.

To me these features are important and if AIS NMEA data does not allow the e7 to present that information, then that would be a good selling point to go fully integrated with an RM AIS

Having names is a nice fun feature and of could a safety thing if you need to contact the target, but if it's on the VHF, that's fine

Originally Posted by Annie in WA

BTW, I find that the search function with the e7 online manual to be really clunky. Searches one word at a time only, takes forever, and difficult to find the results on the display. I've downloaded the manual to use my computer's search function.

I used it once, but I have it on my Mac, iPhone & iPad so I will never need to look up the manual on the e7 now

[hoppy]

Ohh yeah, one neat feature with the AIS650 is that it has an USB connector which allows me to get the position and AIS targets on my Mac. Whilst not as fun as the AIS's that can send that info via wifi, but it's better than a VHF/AIS or AIS unit that only have NMEA output

[maine50]

If you are interested in a "receive only" solution, I'm selling a Smart Radio receiver (sm161) for $90 inc shipping that outputs nmea 0183 (.See CF classifieds) If your chartplotter accepts nmea 0183, this is as inexpensive as you can get. Reason I'm selling is I just ordered a Vesper Transponder 850. Tim

[autumnbreeze27]

We have a Raymarine e7d and Standard Horizon GX2150. We have to have bidrectional NMEA on the GX2150 because it doesn't have a GPS built in. We also have the remote in the cockpit for the VHF, but that is strictly to talk, I can't imagine ever preferring that little hard to read display over the chart plotter.

I share the AIS info with the raymarine and also with a notebook running opencpn. It is full featured on both, (CPA, etc).

The current model GX2200 has a built in GPS, which makes it simpler to wire and more reliable.

[hamburking]

BACK TO BASICS!
(apologies to everyone who is already familiar with AIS)

AIS receiver only:
Inexpensive (around $200). Uses little power, receives data from other vessels. Does not transmit. Needs a VHF antenna and outputs AIS data, usually NMEA. Inexpensive units are black box, without even a display. Antenna can be shared with a vhf radio. Lately, some VHF radios have a built in AIS receiver. They conveniently use the same antenna for receiving radio calls and AIS data.

Class B AIS:
A little more expensive ($500-$1000). Receives AIS data and transmits its own vessel data at 2watts. Intended for small/pleasure vessels.

Class A AIS:
Very expensive. Receives AIS data and transmits its own vessel data at 12.5watts. Transmits more frequently than class B. Required by most countries for commercial/large vessels.

Obviously there is much more to know about AIS, knowing the basics will help. The first choice for most of us between class B and receive only. IMHO, considering the effort and expense, class B makes the most sense.

And finally, I'm sure everyone reading this already knows, but you can view worldwide AIS vessel position info, live, at:
Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions - AIS Marine Traffic
This is made possible by shore based AIS receivers connected to PC's running free software to load local data to the global live database. Its a wonderful system.

[zooplax]

Right... So..

Cheapest way receive AIS onto a RayMarine e7 chart plotter would be

1, Purchase something like the Standard Horizon VHF GX2150 with AIS for about £280 ish...

Otherwise

2, I would need to purchase an AIS Receiver with built in GPS + VHF Ariel (or a VHF splitter) Approx £350 +...

However - If I want to "receive AIS signals and be visible to other AIS users" on my Raymarine e7

3, Then I really need to get a stand alone Send & receive Transponder with built in GPS antenna (£400 - £600) + an AIS splitter (£200) or separate VHF Ariel (£100).. Total approx £650+

Does that sound about right?