Vesper 850 Connectivity

[Donner74]

Hey everyone, I'm planning on hooking my Vesper 850 up to my NSE this weekend so that I can access AIS targets on my nav system as well as the dedicated watchmate display. Has anyone done this yet? It's not the physical connection I am concerned about as much as dealing with two sets of alarms, and confusing myself by dealing with different AIS presentations. The vesper unit has been working so well on its own ... I know it sounds silly, but I'm starting to wonder if duplicating AIS info is overkill. Thoughts?

SOOO nice to be back on the water!

-Greg

[mbianka]

Greg:

While might be nice as a backup as the saying goes:

"A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure." ~Lee Segall

I would go the with Vesper 850 alone. It is designed for one function to be an AIS unit and is optomized for that. If it fails would you really trust the data it is putting out to your Nav system? I would not. Better you use your eyes than trust the screens I say. BTW how do you like the Vesper 850? It is on my wish list for the boat.

[Donner74]

Well said sir, well said! I actually did go ahead and make the connection on the off chance I ever need the Simrad unit as a back up for AIS, but I have yet to actually enable to the overlay.
Your point regarding the Vesper unit is spot on, they really thought of everything with the 850 as it's dedicated to the task of collision avoidance. I've been in a few situations already where the filtering made some tight situations so much more comfortable. Aside from that, the screen is bright and clean, the interface is easy to understand, and the alarms and alerts are easy to customize ... it was also a snap to set up. I really think you'll be happy to have one on board!
Thanks again for the feedback ... now if you could do something about this cold rainy start to Summer, that'd be excellent! haha.

Best,
Greg