Another AIS question

[Craig_B]

I have a Standard Horizon CP500 chartplotter and I would like to know if I can use this AIS unit https://www.amazon.ca/Digital-Yacht-...5E2RPVSGACDRYP with it.

I know very little of how these sort of things interface so please be gental with your responses.

Thanks

[maine50]

Craig- I have a SH CP300 and have a vesper 850 (transceiver) hooked to it. Justed confirmed your CP500 tales nmea input (the manual will tell what how to input nmea 183 (which is what the Dy 100 outputs are. So it should be as easy as connecting two nmea output wires to 2 of the SH 500 wires in the Acc 1 cable (contains power to the unit plus other wires. You'll need to change the port speed to 38400 (reg speed is 4800). So yes it can be done.

Once you have a AIS receiver you may wish you had a Transceiver so other boats can see you.
..

[Craig_B]

Originally Posted by maine50

Craig- I have a SH CP300 and have a vesper 850 (transceiver) hooked to it. Justed confirmed your CP500 tales nmea input (the manual will tell what how to input nmea 183 (which is what the Dy 100 outputs are. So it should be as easy as connecting two nmea output wires to 2 of the SH 500 wires in the Acc 1 cable (contains power to the unit plus other wires. You'll need to change the port speed to 38400 (reg speed is 4800). So yes it can be done.

Once you have a AIS receiver you may wish you had a Transceiver so other boats can see you.
..

Thanks for the reply. One more question if I may.
Where would i find the appropriate cable to connect the two?


I would like to have a transceiver unit but they are quite a bit more expensive and our budjet for the boat is getting eaten up fast. Any suggestions?


Thanks again.

[continuouswave]

The notion that because an AIS receiver and a display device both posses NMEA-0183 ports is not particular dispositive that the AIS receiver will output all the AIVDM sentences or that the display device will know what to do with them.

Generally in NMEA-0183 interfacing of devices, a device outputting data will specify what NMEA-0183 sentences it will be sending. A device receiving data will specify what NMEA-0183 sentences it can use.

In the case of a recreational grade chart plotter, there are no standards that defines what type of graphic display will occur with a particular data input.

In the case of AIS, there are a very large number of AIS messages possible. It is a reasonable assumption that an AIS receiver will be able to produce a NMEA-0183 AIVDM sentence from all those possible messages, but that is not a sure bet.

It is a very questionable assumption that all display devices with an NMEA-0183 port will be able to display AIS data from all AIVDM messages received on that NMEA-0183 port.

In particular with some of the more obscure AIS messages or even with AIS messages from electronic Aids to Navigation (AIS AtoN), some recreational grade chart plotters have no idea how to display that information.

[continuouswave]

Originally Posted by Craig_B

Where would i find the appropriate cable to connect the two?

With NMEA-0183 there really are no pre-made cables available.

To further complicate the interface, the recommended cable with particular wire insulation colors is just about impossible to obtain as raw cable.

If the two NMEA-0183 devices are close to each other, the typical wiring between them will employ the existing cables of each device meeting and being interconnected in some manner.

For advice on making NMEA-0183 interconnections, see

NMEA-0183 INTERFACE DATA COLLECTION
NMEA-0183 Interface Data Collection - CONTINUOUSWAVE

Welcome to my collection of information on how to interconnect marine electronic devices using NMEA-0183. This series of articles will collect information about the wire colors used for NMEA-0183 signals by various manufacturers and their various products. It also will identify the signals by their standard names, abandoning the many different names given to the signals by the manufacturers. A very simple rule to use when interconnecting them will be given. And an inexpensive and simple wiring arrangement to accomplish the actual wiring between devices will be described. By following this advice and using the information presented here it will be possible to interconnect any of the devices in the articles that follow.

[Dauntlessny]

I'll say it because it needs to be said.

If you are trying to save money and want receive only, just use the Marine Traffic app for free.

If you want big boats to avoid YOU, spend the extra $300 and get the transceiver.

I did both and the difference was dramatic.
But then I was cruising up and down the east coast and then across the Atlantic and back.

This is not the place to save money.

[Craig_B]

Wow.


I thought I was confused before.
Maybe I should consider a stand alone unit or just go without.
Nice to have but really not a necessity in my opinion.

[steffan]

Originally Posted by Craig_B

Wow.


I thought I was confused before.
Maybe I should consider a stand alone unit or just go without.
Nice to have but really not a necessity in my opinion.

Standalone may be a good choic for you. I bought a Standard Horizon Matrix GX2200 Fixed-Mount VHF Radio with GPS, AIS from Defender - https://www.defender.com/product.jsp...355&id=2426490. It's standalone and outputs NMEA 0183. The SH brochure I got at the boat show">Miami boat show this weekend makes me think they just replaced it with a NMEA 2000 model because the GX2200 is not mentioned, so maybe it will get heavily discounted soon.

I got it mainly as an AIS learning tool, as a radio upgrade, DSC and GPS addition, and because I didn't want to add a dedicated AIS antenna. I don't get enough commerical traffic in my area to make it a safety benefit. In the future we may get AIS MOB devices, and I could see it being useful for that.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Dauntlessny

If you are trying to save money and want receive only, just use the Marine Traffic app for free.

If you want to use it on the water and see what is transmitting around you in real time DO NOT USE an internet based source of AIS data.


Marine Traffic etc are OK for monitoring vessel movement from ashore, but are totally inadequate for collision avoidance.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by steffan

Standalone may be a good choic for you. I bought a Standard Horizon Matrix GX2200 Fixed-Mount VHF Radio with GPS, AIS from Defender - https://www.defender.com/product.jsp...355&id=2426490. It's standalone and outputs NMEA 0183. The SH brochure I got at the Miami boat show this weekend makes me think they just replaced it with a NMEA 2000 model because the GX2200 is not mentioned, so maybe it will get heavily discounted soon.

I got it mainly as an AIS learning tool, as a radio upgrade, DSC and GPS addition, and because I didn't want to add a dedicated AIS antenna. I don't get enough commerical traffic in my area to make it a safety benefit. In the future we may get AIS MOB devices, and I could see it being useful for that.

I did the same thing due to the two shipping channels here.

The AIS Data from the SH GX2200 VHF I now have displayed on a Monitor/HDTV using a Raspberry Pi 4 Computer, a $5.00 RS 422/485 USB Adapter, a $70 19" HDTV that accepts HDMI and then downloaded charts for my sailing area from OpenCPN. (with the raspberry pi from home)

It was a totally fun project.........

I also have my boat's position displayed on the monitor/TV. I'm using a "hockey puck" style GPS receiver which is USB

It's basically a chart plotter with AIS for about $200 plus the radio which I already had when I decided to add the charts and have all the data displayed on a monitor

[Davo1404]

Hi. My SH CP300i has a power cord as shown in the photo. Black & red for the power input & the other wires are for outside input. The receiver that you buy should have the same colours & instructions for connecting to your plotter. I use these to join the cables.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/crimp-wire...ctors/p/HP1270

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Davo1404

Hi. My SH CP300i has a power cord as shown in the photo. Black & red for the power input & the other wires are for outside input. The receiver that you buy should have the same colours & instructions for connecting to your plotter. I use these to join the cables.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/crimp-wire...ctors/p/HP1270Attachment 209093

Instrument data wire color is not standarized. You need to use the install documentation to match up connections between different devices when using nmea 0183 data.

[continuouswave]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Instrument data wire color is not standarized.

Actually, there is a standard for NMEA-0183 wire insulation color to identify signals, but there are three significants problems:

--even though NMEA-0183 was created in 1983, I don't think NMEA got around to specifying a wire color standard until many years later in follow-on revisions of the standard. I can't cite a specific revision because I haven't been sufficiently curious to pay $1,000 to buy it.

--when NMEA finally did specify wire insulation colors, they chose twisted pair color combinations that, for all practical purposes, cannot be obtained anywhere in small quantities, unless you happen to have a buddy that works in industrial automation control wiring, were another protocol used in that environment specifies the same wire color codes (and from where NMEA probably got the notion to use those wire colors).

--manufacturers did not begin to adhere to the wire insulation color standards until c.2017. They probably had the same problem coming up with the odd wire insulation colors specified and just ignored the color code standard.

Originally Posted by Paul L

You need to use the install documentation to match up connections between different devices when using nmea 0183 data.

Yes, this is still true today, as only a limited number of manufacturers and only in their latest models are following the wire insulation color standard.

A further problem: many self-installers think you'd interconnect two devices by wiring color-to-same-color, which, of course, is completely wrong for point-to-point serial data like NMEA-0183. The TALKER and LISTENER pairs are cross connected.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by continuouswave

Actually, there is a standard for NMEA-0183 wire insulation color to identify signals, but there are three significants problems:

--even though NMEA-0183 was created in 1983, I don't think NMEA got around to specifying a wire color standard until many years later in follow-on revisions of the standard. I can't cite a specific revision because I haven't been sufficiently curious to pay $1,000 to buy it.

--when NMEA finally did specify wire insulation colors, they chose twisted pair color combinations that, for all practical purposes, cannot be obtained anywhere in small quantities, unless you happen to have a buddy that works in industrial automation control wiring, were another protocol used in that environment specifies the same wire color codes (and from where NMEA probably got the notion to use those wire colors).

--manufacturers did not begin to adhere to the wire insulation color standards until c.2017. They probably had the same problem coming up with the odd wire insulation colors specified and just ignored the color code standard.



Yes, this is still true today, as only a limited number of manufacturers and only in their latest models are following the wire insulation color standard.

A further problem: many self-installers think you'd interconnect two devices by wiring color-to-same-color, which, of course, is completely wrong for point-to-point serial data like NMEA-0183. The TALKER and LISTENER pairs are cross connected.

When a device like an AIS has two pairs of serial tx/rx the colors are manufacture specific. Matching colors, as suggested, to another device won't do any good. Until you do the setup on the AIS you don't even know which pair might be 38.4k baud or 4.8kbaud.

[sailormed]

To resume all of the above: RTFM!