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18-05-2014, 07:42
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Boise, Idaho
Boat: Beneteau Oceanis 40
Posts: 26
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AIS and Radar
I have recently purchase a sailboat equipped with a Raymarine C90W in the B.V.I. I'm interested in sailing to St. Martin and want to make a night crossing of it. Is the AIS component reliable enough or should I consider radar as well? If I should be using radar, is there an easy add on component for the current equipment I have?
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18-05-2014, 16:35
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Boat: Morgan Moorings 50
Posts: 1,895
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Re: AIS and Radar
The C90W is set up to accept Raymarine's radar systems. The most popular for that plotter seem to be the RD418 and the RD424. As far as I know, the AIS from Raymarine should be compatible, and if not, there are companies making great standalone AIS systems, such as Vesper Marine.
Whether or not you want just AIS or radar, that's a decision you have to make. Obviously not everyone is transmitting and receiving AIS, so radar will probably help you out a little bit more.
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18-05-2014, 16:53
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Shirley, MA
Boat: Bristol 34
Posts: 235
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Plus with radar you get the added advantage of tracking squalls. That said, put the AIS in the budget for future purchase.
Don
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18-05-2014, 17:13
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#4
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Long Range Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Australian living on "Sea Life" currently in England.
Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
Posts: 12,822
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Re: AIS and Radar
There is absolutely no reason to get radar in the Caribbean. Their aint no fog here since the last ice age.
AIS is the go.
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18-05-2014, 17:13
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: on board, Australia
Boat: 11meter Power catamaran
Posts: 3,648
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Re: AIS and Radar
Quote:
Originally Posted by alyeska
I have recently purchase a sailboat equipped with a Raymarine C90W in the B.V.I. I'm interested in sailing to St. Martin and want to make a night crossing of it. Is the AIS component reliable enough or should I consider radar as well? If I should be using radar, is there an easy add on component for the current equipment I have?
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Radar provides much more than AIS for night sailing although passages in the Caribbean are generally a breeze . Before GPS plotters it was a primary tool for position fixing on a paper chart apart from its collision avoidance uses and that ability means its is a primary navigation tool.
AIS with transponder is great and something one should have thesedays but I don't believe it should be installed before Radar.
Plenty of the budget sailors here on CF will disagree (be prepared) as you use the CF search function at the top and search some of the older threads on AIS.
Cheers
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18-05-2014, 17:55
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Caribbean live aboard
Boat: Camper & Nicholson58 Ketch - ROXY Traverse City, Michigan No.668283
Posts: 6,372
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Re: AIS and Radar
Quote:
Originally Posted by DDabs
The C90W is set up to accept Raymarine's radar systems. The most popular for that plotter seem to be the RD418 and the RD424. As far as I know, the AIS from Raymarine should be compatible, and if not, there are companies making great standalone AIS systems, such as Vesper Marine.
Whether or not you want just AIS or radar, that's a decision you have to make. Obviously not everyone is transmitting and receiving AIS, so radar will probably help you out a little bit more.
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Our Vesper Marine Watchmate 850 is always on, uses only 3 watts, does anchor watch. Its stand alone so you do not need to operate anything else.
We added broadband radar to our Simrad. Broadband uses way less power than conventional radar.
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18-05-2014, 17:59
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: on board, Australia
Boat: 11meter Power catamaran
Posts: 3,648
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Re: AIS and Radar
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholson58
Our Vesper Marine Watchmate 850 is always on, uses only 3 watts, does anchor watch. Its stand alone so you do not need to operate anything else.
We added broadband radar to our Simrad. Broadband uses way less power than conventional radar.
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Vesper AIS is hard to beat.
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18-05-2014, 18:13
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: BVI
Boat: Leopard 40 (new model)
Posts: 1,385
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Re: AIS and Radar
Quote:
Originally Posted by alyeska
I have recently purchase a sailboat equipped with a Raymarine C90W in the B.V.I. I'm interested in sailing to St. Martin and want to make a night crossing of it. Is the AIS component reliable enough or should I consider radar as well? If I should be using radar, is there an easy add on component for the current equipment I have?
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I have done the night crossing from BVI to St Martin several times without radar or AIS and never felt the need for either one because a) We had eyeballs on watch all the time b) Visibility was always very good (clear air and no cloud that lets you make the most of moon /star light) and c) the close call I had was with a small boat that would not show up in AIS or radar anyway.
I love AIS for the long crossings when you worry about big ships and you may not be 100% awake all the time...
Just make sure you do not try to make that crossing with more than 15 knots in the nose or more than 5-ft wave!
Cheers
C
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21-05-2014, 06:13
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Boise, Idaho
Boat: Beneteau Oceanis 40
Posts: 26
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Re: AIS and Radar
Thanks everyone for the great input. That's what I love about this forum!
__________________
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21-05-2014, 06:41
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#10
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
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Re: AIS and Radar
AIS is not a replacement for radar and vice-verse. They do two different things in two different ways. Buy as many navigation tools as you can afford. This will provide more navigation information with which to make decisions.
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
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21-05-2014, 06:51
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Urbanna, Virginia
Boat: Tartan 4100
Posts: 702
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Re: AIS and Radar
I second what David M just said, they are two different technologies and I also want to stress the fact that probably less than 50% of the boats we saw in the Windwards had AIS on our trip last month.
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21-05-2014, 07:11
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#12
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 30,652
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Re: AIS and Radar
Quote:
Originally Posted by svlamorocha
I have done the night crossing from BVI to St Martin several times without radar or AIS and never felt the need for either one because a) We had eyeballs on watch all the time b) Visibility was always very good (clear air and no cloud that lets you make the most of moon /star light) and c) the close call I had was with a small boat that would not show up in AIS or radar anyway.
I love AIS for the long crossings when you worry about big ships and you may not be 100% awake all the time...
Just make sure you do not try to make that crossing with more than 15 knots in the nose or more than 5-ft wave!
Cheers
C
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+A1..
Apart from sailboats coming the other way the only 'shipping' your likely to get is cruise ships.. and believe me.. you'll see the 'glow' long before a boats radar..
__________________
You can't beat a people up (for 75yrs+) and have them say..
"I Love You.. ". Murray Roman.
Yet the 'useful idiot' of the West still pays for the beat of the Apartheid Drum.
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